Absolutely true. What we\u2019re going to see of Mompos in this post surely existed at some point, in another era, but it\u2019s also certain that we\u2019ll wake up and realize it was all just a dream\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HOW TO GET THERE FROM CARTAGENA DE INDIAS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPart of Mompos\u2019s charm is that it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Magangu\u00e9, or take a minivan that, for 40,000 COP$, will drop you off at the docks in just five hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Cartagena-a-Mompos.png?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI decided to take the second route since it was shorter and out of sheer curiosity to see what the ferry ride would be like\u2026 or whatever it took to cross the river. I arrive at the dock. Just seeing it makes you suspect that a very special day is about to begin\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-36-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a>Embarcadero en el r\u00edo Magdalena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nOnce you're at the pier, if you weren't able to catch the ferry (public transportation), you'll have to find a spot on one of the chalupas<\/i> You'll see them docked there, and for 8,000 COP$, 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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-37-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a>Surcando el r\u00edo Magdalena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nFrom Bodega, the last step is to take a colectivo (small bus), and in another 40 minutes\u2014for 13,000 COP$\u2014you'll have arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MOMPOS: WHAT TO SEE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen you arrive in Mompos, you'll find yourself in the \u201cPompeii of South America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2014not us.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-38-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a>Las tranquilas calles de Mompos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI suppose I should now describe its streets, squares, etc\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next to the hotel is a huge, stately house called \u201cCasa del Reposo.\u201d The manager catches me taking a photo from a distance and very kindly lets me in. It\u2019s a nursing home, and it seems we\u2019ve caught them during their siesta.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-39-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt'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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2014being less dense\u2014would rise to the ceiling and not affect the room\u2019s occupants as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cat your service\u201d that\u2019s so typical here in Colombia, and that was all it took for us to step inside\u2026 an old-fashioned liquor store!<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"Licorer\u00eda](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-40-1024x768.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nFurther down the street, there\u2019s a store with some strange paintings, but it\u2019s not an art gallery\u2026 it\u2019s a jewelry store! It seems Mompos is famous for its goldsmithing, and the owner, Javier, lets us take a peek inside his workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-41-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nNot a single piece of 20th-century equipment\u2014just some kind of old machine that looks like a lathe or something like that. Just his hands and his talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is the result:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-42-768x576.jpeg?resize=768%2C576\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAfter talking with Javier about life and love, we left him to attend to some customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let's keep walking, and we'll come to one of the many squares along the river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/DSC02578.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAgain, if you\u2019ve already been to South America, these pastel-colored churches will already be familiar to you. Why were they painted this way? The Spanish Crown\u2019s Laws of the Indies stipulated that major buildings (cathedrals, town halls, governors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After taking a few photos, I continue my walk and notice a store that everyone seems to be going in and out of. It\u2019s the village drugstore, just like the old-fashioned grocery stores of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"Droguer\u00eda](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-43-1024x768.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here's another one: the photo shop.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"Tienda](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/image-44-1024x768.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI 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\u2019t giving me the camera, but that they don\u2019t make film rolls for them anymore\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And finally, the Magdalena River\u2026 Time hasn\u2019t changed the river\u2019s currents either, where there\u2019s not the slightest trace of technology: everything is just as it was, just as it should be\u2026 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.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/999millas.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Cartagena-a-Mompos.png?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI decided to take the second route since it was shorter and out of sheer curiosity to see what the ferry ride would be like\u2026 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\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>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<\/i> 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<\/p>\n\n\n From Bodega, the last step is to take a colectivo (small bus), and in another 40 minutes\u2014for 13,000 COP$\u2014you'll have arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you arrive in Mompos, you'll find yourself in the \u201cPompeii of South America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2014not us.<\/p>\n\n\n I suppose I should now describe its streets, squares, etc\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next to the hotel is a huge, stately house called \u201cCasa del Reposo.\u201d The manager catches me taking a photo from a distance and very kindly lets me in. It\u2019s a nursing home, and it seems we\u2019ve caught them during their siesta.<\/p>\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2014being less dense\u2014would rise to the ceiling and not affect the room\u2019s occupants as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cat your service\u201d that\u2019s so typical here in Colombia, and that was all it took for us to step inside\u2026 an old-fashioned liquor store!<\/p>\n\n\n Further down the street, there\u2019s a store with some strange paintings, but it\u2019s not an art gallery\u2026 it\u2019s a jewelry store! It seems Mompos is famous for its goldsmithing, and the owner, Javier, lets us take a peek inside his workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n Not a single piece of 20th-century equipment\u2014just some kind of old machine that looks like a lathe or something like that. Just his hands and his talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is the result:<\/p>\n\n\n After talking with Javier about life and love, we left him to attend to some customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let's keep walking, and we'll come to one of the many squares along the river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, if you\u2019ve already been to South America, these pastel-colored churches will already be familiar to you. Why were they painted this way? The Spanish Crown\u2019s Laws of the Indies stipulated that major buildings (cathedrals, town halls, governors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After taking a few photos, I continue my walk and notice a store that everyone seems to be going in and out of. It\u2019s the village drugstore, just like the old-fashioned grocery stores of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here's another one: the photo shop.<\/p>\n\n\n 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\u2019t giving me the camera, but that they don\u2019t make film rolls for them anymore\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, the Magdalena River\u2026 Time hasn\u2019t changed the river\u2019s currents either, where there\u2019s not the slightest trace of technology: everything is just as it was, just as it should be\u2026 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.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a>MOMPOS: WHAT TO SEE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n