Mompos and Magical Realism

Mompos and Magical Realism

It seems that Gabriel García Márquez said of Mompos in one of his novels, “…Mompos doesn't exist; sometimes we dream about it, but it doesn't exist....».

Absolutely true. What we’re going to see of Mompos in this post surely existed at some point, in another era, but it’s also certain that we’ll wake up and realize it was all just a dream…

HOW TO GET THERE FROM CARTAGENA DE INDIAS

Part of Mompos’s charm is that it’s so tucked away that, for now, it has managed to avoid the hordes of tourists pouring in from Cartagena. Just getting there hints at the magic that awaits us.

From Cartagena, you have two options: take the regular bus that leaves at 7:30 a.m. and endure an 8-hour winding drive to Magangué, or take a minivan that, for 40,000 COP$, will drop you off at the docks in just five hours.

I decided to take the second route since it was shorter and out of sheer curiosity to see what the ferry ride would be like… or whatever it took to cross the river. I arrive at the dock. Just seeing it makes you suspect that a very special day is about to begin….

Once you're at the pier, if you weren't able to catch the ferry (public transportation), you'll have to find a spot on one of the chalupas You'll see them docked there, and for 8,000 COP$, they'll take you down the Magdalena River to the next stop on the route: Bodega; the 25- to 30-minute trip is well worth it

From Bodega, the last step is to take a colectivo (small bus), and in another 40 minutes—for 13,000 COP$—you'll have arrived.

MOMPOS: WHAT TO SEE

When you arrive in Mompos, you'll find yourself in the “Pompeii of South America.”

A town frozen in time. Residents who are as charming as they are eccentric, and customs and traditions straight out of another era. Our great-grandparents belong to this town—not us.

I suppose I should now describe its streets, squares, etc…

But no. The best way to explore Mompos is to learn about the trades of its people and talk to them. Let's pop into their shops, stores, and warehouses to see what we can find.

Next to the hotel is a huge, stately house called “Casa del Reposo.” The manager catches me taking a photo from a distance and very kindly lets me in. It’s a nursing home, and it seems we’ve caught them during their siesta.

It's a typical colonial-style house with a huge inner courtyard. No matter where you go in Colombia (and elsewhere in South America), you'll come across this type of house.

All of them have a huge interior courtyard (many with their own well) that created ventilation and a continuous flow of air between the hot air in the courtyard and the cooler air in the rooms. These rooms generally have very high ceilings (more than 3 meters) so that the sweltering Caribbean heat—being less dense—would rise to the ceiling and not affect the room’s occupants as much.

Since I'm already inside, I take a good long walk around. There are rocking chairs creaking listlessly on this Sunday afternoon and ancient wooden tables where elderly people seem to be playing games or chatting. They even have a private chapel with furniture and carvings that belong in a museum. Many of these houses (originally owned by wealthy people) had their own chapel inside.

We left La Casa del Reposo and continued our walk. A young woman sitting on the street corner outside her store greeted me with the “at your service” that’s so typical here in Colombia, and that was all it took for us to step inside… an old-fashioned liquor store!

Further down the street, there’s a store with some strange paintings, but it’s not an art gallery… it’s a jewelry store! It seems Mompos is famous for its goldsmithing, and the owner, Javier, lets us take a peek inside his workshop.

Not a single piece of 20th-century equipment—just some kind of old machine that looks like a lathe or something like that. Just his hands and his talent.

Here is the result:

After talking with Javier about life and love, we left him to attend to some customers.

Let's keep walking, and we'll come to one of the many squares along the river.

Again, if you’ve already been to South America, these pastel-colored churches will already be familiar to you. Why were they painted this way? The Spanish Crown’s Laws of the Indies stipulated that major buildings (cathedrals, town halls, governors’ residences) had to stand out visually from the rest of the urban landscape to consolidate the political and religious power of the Conquistadors, making it clear who was now in charge there. Furthermore, this fit well with the tradition of indigenous peoples of painting their own temples in bright colors.

After taking a few photos, I continue my walk and notice a store that everyone seems to be going in and out of. It’s the village drugstore, just like the old-fashioned grocery stores of the past.

I ask the owner if I can take a photo, and he tells me, flustered, that the store is a mess. In reality, everything is arranged with military precision, so I start taking pictures of everything, haha.

Here's another one: the photo shop.

I ask the owner if the old cameras on display still work, and he says yes. Then, just for fun, I ask him to give me one as a gift, and he replies sarcastically that the problem isn’t giving me the camera, but that they don’t make film rolls for them anymore…

And finally, the Magdalena River… Time hasn’t changed the river’s currents either, where there’s not the slightest trace of technology: everything is just as it was, just as it should be… Fishermen dive beneath their boats right in the middle of the river, and children cross back and forth across the river in a rickety boat that ends at a set of wooden stairs that have seen better days.

And that wraps up the tour… let’s leave the neighbors to enjoy the solitude they seem to love so much 😊

If you liked this post or have more information to add, let me know in the comments!

And if you want to know more about Colombia: https://999millas.net/category/paises/colombia/

Texto y fotos : Mike !