74 kms. 1321 vertical meters. A long, heavy and beautiful day. Had a good breakfast at 07.00 hrs and set off. In the beginning nice temps, later hot again. All day slowly uphill. At app. 50 kms we passed the sign: “Autopista del café, Bienvenidos”. We are definitely in the Zona Cafeteria (or Cafetero), the coffee area of Colombia. Indeed, at an altitude of  app. 1400 we saw many slopes with coffee bushes. The roads in this arera are new and are not on our maps yet. According to a local they have been built by Americans. At app.16.00 hrs we checked in in one of the many hotels in Santa Rosa de Cabal, hotel Santa Rosa. A bit up-market, very convenient, 2 blocks away from the central square. The town is a bit messy, but very lively and full of joyous people. We just visited a “grand café”, where they played traditional music, and where there were billiard tables for 2100 COP per hour, a gambling table with some 15 people playing and a crowd of people drinking very much beers and stronger stuff. A very merry place. Opposite of our hotel there’s another place like that. The Santa Rosans (?) surely know how to enjoy. Well, it’s Saturday evening and there is a 48 hour working week in this country. Understandable behaviour I would say.

Pics of yesterday and today: from here.

The track: Download 20100213esttipica_strosadecabal.gpx