Riding Through the 2021 Colombian Protests | Colombia Vlog EP7 | Mark Wallace

Last time there was a protest. I just kept going and going and eventually... We rode back to Santa Marta and rested for one last night before making the return trip to Bogota. The city was so peaceful and we had no idea what was in store for us the next few days. We left Santa Marta and headed south to Aguachica. We took highway 45 which is known as Ruta del Sol or the sun route. In the northern part of Colombia the road passes through the lowlands which means the road is wide and fast. The only difficulty we experienced the first day was some heavy rain but our climb riding suits kept us warm and dry something we'd really appreciate the next day. Before long the rain cleared up and we were able to get to Aguachica before dinner time. The next day we headed south to Barbosa. We'd be heading back into the mountains facing narrow winding roads again. How is the road Mark? This road is fun. It's got a lot of construction with no work and washed out sections and landslides and a lot of interesting things so hopefully as long as we don't get in caught in rain I think we're going to be fine but if it starts raining all that's going to be mud lots of mud that's going to be bad. While we were stopped at the construction zone Aileen learned about protesters blocking the road ahead. Okay this guy is saying we can cross Vélez to Barbosa. Every two hours it's opening the road but it's not back. All right so we might have to wait for two hours that's the yeah because if we go back to go around all right well this is gonna be fun. We made it out of the road construction and we're just a few miles from our destination. The scenery was beautiful and then we ran into our first road block of the day. Where are we? I don't know. We're in uh Vélez. What is it? Vélez. Vélez Chapata. We are going to Barbosa. We waited at this roadblock for about an hour which seemed like forever since we were just 28 miles from our hotel. The roadblock was cleared but we only made it to the other side of Vélez where we were stopped once again by a group of protesters. To understand the rest of this trip we need to go back in time. In 2019 I was stuck in Buenos Aires for nine months while Argentina was in complete lockdown due to the pandemic. In an attempt to get out of the city and begin to cross international borders I became a member of the American International News Service. I was planning to use my press credentials to cross borders as a reporter. I have a press pass that allows me to get around the city and I've been using a temporary press pass that my friend Damien made. This guy right here. This gets me through all the checkpoints and things but um I have some official press passes that are all made up that I'm now going to go get from him. Hey how are you? It's Damien. Damien has helped me with international packages for years now. So these are my press credentials that I have been waiting for for I don't know how long. So look at that. Yeah it's all official. So this helps me um get through the city because I can't get the permits to to ride legally. So what this allows me to do is I can show my press credential and then that gives me legal authorization to go. So fantastic. I didn't use my press pass to get out of Argentina but Aileen and I thought it might work to get through the roadblocks here. I showed my press credentials to these protesters. I told them we needed to get to Bogota to report on the protests. I asked them if we could take photos of their protests and after some negotiation they agreed. After taking a few photos and videos they let us through. We finally made it to Barbosa where we had a much needed rest. The next morning we left Barbosa and headed south to Sepikira. Almost immediately after leaving Barbosa we encountered a truck that was trying to block the We were able to ride around and keep heading south but we didn't make it far before we ran into a huge traffic jam. We rode past these trucks but we didn't make it far before we ran into another roadblock. I showed the protesters my press pass and asked if we could get through. This time the negotiations were a bit more difficult and my Spanish was just good enough for them to understand me. Fortunately they let us through. Just a few more minutes down the road we were stopped again but this time the press pass didn't help us at all. We got stuck here and they will not let us pass so we're trying to find a way around this. All the other protesters have let us pass because we're on press but these guys are saying no. So we're going to see if we can figure out a way around this. So Aileen is talking to somebody right now. She has a route around and hopefully we can get around these teenagers. Aileen spent about 30 minutes talking to the locals and other travelers but there were no other options. We would have to wait at this roadblock for about four hours. The local protest leaders gave speeches while we waited around and eventually there was nothing left to do but to try to get to know the protesters and enjoy our time together. They put a Colombian flag on me and then asked for selfies. They taught Aileen and me a local dance. And after we both had a short lesson we gave the crowd a show. After a few hours the road opened and we were able to pass. We didn't make it far until it began to rain and then we hit another roadblock. We saw some smaller motorcycles that had made it around the trucks and the locals were telling us to ride around but our bikes were just too big. And then the locals spotted an opening. There was a break in the roadblock and we didn't hesitate to get through the gap. This was a bit dangerous as one of the trucks tried to stop us from passing. Luckily he hit the brakes before he hit us. We pushed on through the rain and once again hit a roadblock. We were told to move to the side. We could hear the truckers blowing their horns. It's a sure sign that things are about to happen. The roadblock was open for a few minutes. Just enough time for us to make it through. We were climbing in elevation and the weather was getting wetter and much colder. We were very thankful for the waterproof riding gear Climb had provided for us at the beginning of the trip. We made it a few dozen miles and were stopped again. Once again we used my press pass and were allowed to make it through. After a few minutes we could see smoke ahead and we were stopped again. Aileen negotiated with the protesters. She quickly asked me to show them my press pass. They took a look and let us through. This same scene happened again and again. Every few miles we'd be stopped. Aileen would negotiate, I'd show my press credentials and eventually we'd be allowed to pass. Aileen and I were a team. I didn't have the language skills to negotiate with the protesters. Aileen didn't have the credentials to make it through. Together we were able to press on. There were other people who weren't with us on the ride who made a huge difference. Craig in Phoenix Arizona who sent my credentials to Argentina. And Valentina in Spain who translated the documents into Spanish. And Damien in Buenos Aires who got everything through customs and printed the Spanish versions in his print shop. And our Colombian friends who kept us up to date on the road conditions and the protests. Esteban and Sarah who were in the mountains outside of Bogota. Yesenia and Medellin. Sori and Jorge in Cali. And so many more on social media. We continued to ride as the altitude increased and the temperature fell sharply. It was getting very cold and wet outside. We were stopped once again. Aileen took my press pass to the protesters and made some new friends. I know you're freezing. The idea of hot coffee sounded terrific. It's cold here. All right what's the name of this place? Tausa. Boqueron. We've gone through yet another barrier. These guys are fantastic. They get us coffee and some shelter and some warmth and a nice fire. So far we've had some very nice protesters today. These people are amazing. We are in Boqueron, Tausa, Cundinamarca state. After our short break we weaved our way out of town and soon we were riding through cold slushy roads. We had to ride slow because of the patches of ice we couldn't see. Before long we left the slush behind and rode on through the cold rain. We hit another small roadblock. Aileen showed the group my press pass and after I took a few photos they allowed us to continue on our way. We were almost to Sipiquira. Our teamwork at the roadblocks was working most of the time but then we hit a roadblock that seemed impossible. Now we're at a part of the protests where there's a ton of trucks and things behind us or in front of us actually and my motorcycle's too big to fit through them and the way around is just a ditch in really thick mud. We're trying to find a route through all of this and so far we're having no luck so if we can't find a way through this then we'll have to find a way around it or we'll just have to stop for the night and find a hotel or camp and then try again tomorrow morning but I think we'll probably have to wait till these trucks move but Aileen has walked she's walked to the front to try to talk to people and see what the situation is up there so once she gets back we'll find out. We looked at our maps and talked to locals. We were able to find a way to backtrack and take a different route to Sipiquira. We made it to town just a few miles from our hotel when we were stopped. We were told that we couldn't pass until the next day but Aileen talked to the protesters and negotiated and was able to change their minds. After I took photos and Aileen interviewed a few people we were allowed to pass. We finally made it to our hotel just after sunset. We were exhausted. The final leg of our journey would take us from Sipiquira to Bogota. All right it's the morning of our last hopefully ride of this trip. Aileen we are headed trying to go to Bogota. Normally we're in Sipiquira. Is that the name? Sipiquira. Normally this would take an hour and a half but today we don't even know if it's possible because every single road is blocked by protests and it looks like we might not be able to make it there. So we have I don't know we have two options is that right? Two options but maybe in 10 hours I don't know if if there's a problem in the road we have to go back here. Yeah so we're gonna try just to get to Bogota all day. That's all we're doing today. We'll see if we make it. We'd stayed up late the previous night talking to locals in Sipiquira and friends in Bogota. They told us all of the roads in Bogota were blocked and it would take us 10 to 12 hours to make it but most likely we'd have to return to Sipiquira and wait for a few days for things to change. When we arrived at our first roadblock we understood what our friends were telling us. There were thousands of people waiting to get out of town. It took us about an hour but we were able to ride slowly along the road and finally get to the front of the line. We made it to the front and we're with a new friend Claudia. Hey how are you? And we hope to get through this in one hour. You think an hour? Yes I think. I'm gonna try it but it's a little a little crazy right now. This is the first one. While I was taking photos of the roadblock Aileen was talking to protesters. She learned that the roadblock was about to open and all of the roadblocks were going to be open for about one hour. She told me we had to ride fast. With almost no warning the roadblock was opened. Aileen told me to hit the gas and we rode as fast as we could. We beat all the other motorcycles to the next roadblock. We made our way to the front and tried to get through with my press credentials. Good morning. Once again we rode as fast as possible. We wanted to get to the next roadblock before anyone else. We started to see a traffic jam but soon we realized it was just a long line of cars waiting to buy gasoline. We pressed on and to our surprise found ourselves in Bogota. Oh my god. I think we did it. We did it. We made it. We survived. We survived the protest in Bogota, Colombia. The universe loved us. Man, that was crazy because we were... They opened the gates. So fast. And then the press pass worked twice. Bam, bam. Through. Yeah, I kept thinking there's another block. There's another block. There's another block. And then, no, no, no. Really? We are in Bogota. We're here. It's nine. We made it in two hours. Two hours. Almost like a normal day. Almost normal. It would be normal. Days later, I said goodbye to Aileen. She returned to her home in Coyequi, Chile. I put Shifty Drifty in a crate and returned to my home in Phoenix, Arizona. Our Colombian adventures have come to an end. But there are always new adventures on the horizon.