Mompos, Colombia
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Mompos (often spelt Mompox) is a friendly, sleepy town on an island on the Magdalena river, which thrived during colonial times as it was the main resting port for ships traveling up the Magdalena from Cartagena to Honda. It has beautiful colonial architecture which rivals Villa de Leyva’s, and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Few Colombians, however, seem to know about this place, and being on an island without any bridges reaching it makes it rather inaccessible; as a result very few tourists come here except during Christmas and Holy Week. The mayor is keen on promoting tourism here, and a bridge is being constructed at El Banco, meaning it will soon be within easy-ish reach of the Bogotá-Santa Marta road. So get here while things are still non-touristy!
Population: 40,000 Average temperature: 28 degrees Celcius. Tel: 095 | Editing history.
Places to stay:
Note that all accomodation prices increase substantially during the Christmas vacation and Holy Week. Mompos is hot, and you may want to consider staying in a room with air-conditioning.
La Casa Amarilla (4 comments) La Albarrada con Santa Barbara Cra 1 #13-59 Tel: 575 685 6326 Tel: 301 362 7065 Website: www.lacasaamarillamompos.com Website: Email: lacasaamarillamompos at gmail dot com Cheapest night: 7 US$/night. Dorm beds available. Private rooms available.
Newly opened in 2008 the first addition to Mompos' hostel scene. Not to be confused with the Hostal Dona Manuela which is the luxury establishment in town.
La Casa Amarilla has clean and comfortable dorms (4 to a room including a bathroom) and a couple of private rooms all with en suite bathrooms and roof fans that sleep couples and more.
As of Easter 2009 LCA will have 4 more private rooms with private bath and air con in the extension. Later in the year this will increase to 6 rooms.
The owner's stepmother, an artist of international repute came to the house in June 08 to paint murals in each of the rooms giving the hostel a different more homey feel.
There is a communal kitchen, hammocks, Cable TV and plenty of DVDs, book exchange, laundry service and ample comfort.
They also rent bicycles - 6000 COP for 4 hours continuous and 10,000 COP for the whole day.
Prices start at 15,000 COP per person in the dorms and the private rooms are based on double occupancy at 40,000. Rates can be negotiated if a period longer than 5 days is anticipated.
In Semana Santa 2009 the prices are as follows
Dorm Beds 25,000 per night
Private Rooms without air 1/2 people - 60,000
Private rooms with air 1/2 people 100,000
La Casa Amarilla has a good information board with all sorts of tips for accommodations in Colombia and the manager or owner can help you out with your travel plans in getting to or from Mompos.
La Cuarta (0 comments) Cra 4 No. 18-57 Tel: (095) 684 6127
This is not a colonial building, as it has been recently built. Service was friendly. There are rooms with fans and air-conditioning available.
Hotel La Cassona (0 comments) Cra 2 No. 18-58 Tel: (095) 685 5307 Private rooms available.
This hotel is set in a colonial building. There are rooms with fans and air-conditioning.
Casa Hotel San Andrés (0 comments) Cra 2 No. 18-23 Tel: (095) 685 5886 Private rooms available.
Colonial building with choice of rooms with fans or air-conditioning.
Hostal Doña Manuela (0 comments) Cr 2 No. 17-41 Tel: (095) 685 5142 Tel: 685 5621/ 685 6175 Email: mabe at hotmail dot com
This is reputedly the best hotel in town, although it seems to be a bit overpriced. Rooms have air-conditioning, of course, although are somewhat basic for the price. It does, however, have the only swimming pool in Mompox. If you want to stay at a colonial hotel, and save a bit of money, it may be best to stay at a cheaper hotel, and pay the 4 USD daily swimming pool entry fee.
Things to do:
There are various colonial churches, of which the Iglesia de Santa Barbara is probably the most famous as it appears on many representative photos of Mompos. It is unusual in that it has a Moorish-style tower with a balcony. Most of the churches only open for mass, which is unfortunate. The best time to take photos of most of the churches is in the morning, as their facades are not in the shade.
Walk around the streets of the Colonial centre and along the river front, which are all very beautiful. If it’s too hot, you can arrange an hour’s tour of Mompos on a mototaxi (10,000 COP); it’s also a good way to get your bearings and if you’re lucky, learn some of the local history.
There’s a museum on the Calle Real del Medio. This opens infrequently and marches to an irregualr beat, but if you do happen to find its doors ajar step inside (entry 3000 thereabouts). On show there are some religious relics and some Bolivar memorabilia.
The botanical gardens appear, at first sight, to be rather unkept and overgrown. For me, the principal reason to visit this place is to talk to the guide, Don Ernesto, who resembles a living encyclopaedia with his extensive knowledge about all the plants and trees in the garden, including their medicinal properties. Although this man has never received a formal education he is extremely knowledgeable in general and we found him very interesting to talk to. Sadly, the future of the Botanic garden seems to be uncertain, as the local council are not supporting it, and the owners are considering selling it as they cannot afford to keep it running. Don Ernesto loves receiving visitors and gladly shows one about his garden.
It is possible to go on tour to the Cienaga del Pijiño if you are interested in seeing wildlife such as birds and reptiles. Every hotel in town can hook you up with a guide for the Cienaga. Some of course are better than others. Recommended is to leave at 2pm so that you can far out into the wetlands for the sunset and dusk when the birds are all coming back to roost. The tours can last 4 hours. Of course as always, the more people you get on your tour, the cheaper it will work out.
It's worth striking up conversations on the street with the friendly locals, and they may let you peek into their colonial mansions. Pay particular attention to the elderly folk in front of the old age home on the Calle del medio, this is the most beautiful house in Mompos and has its own crypt chapel.
Try the local wine at ViniMompox (Cra 3 No. 20-34), where they sell various wines made of banana, guayaba, mamon, orange and tamarindo.
Buy silver jewellery at various workshops around the Calle Real del Medio. Gold jewelry is also produced, but is less common. Jerusalem stocks fine silver filigree but a little further out, two blocks upstream from the Iglesia Santa Barbara you can find the Joyeria El Kilate. The owners here are keen to bargain and being a little bit out of the way offer better discounts.
With regards to going-out, the so-called “Zona Rosa” has several bars along the riverfront, quite a pleasant place to have a drink in the evening. The traditional bar is the Luna de Mompox. Unfortunately a bit of its character and ambience has been destroyed with the arrival of the other bars. Depending on your taste you can listen to Vallenato, Reggaeton or Salsa in this strip.
Practical information:
There are two banks with cash machines near the Plaza Bolívar. The Banco Popular has two cash machines that are ATH and receive most international cards and adjacent to these is the BBVA with another cashpoint. One block further along the Calle del Medio you can find the Banco de Agrario and they have a new cash machine as well. Remember, on weekends, in particular puentes and holidays, these cash machines have been known to run out of money. Be prepared. Don't even consider changing money with the guy in the Plaza Bolivar, his rates are terrible. Do so in Cartagena beforehand or find a backpacker heading to Venezuela who needs dollars.
There’s also a tourist information office at the alcaldía (town hall).
Internet - On the Calle del Medio there is Planet Net and on the Alberrada in front of the river there is Cable Net. There are other internet cafes springing up in town. The connection is not fast, but then, remember where you are!
Getting around & transportation:
From/to Valledupar or Maicao, there are some early morning buses which take the ferry straight to Mompos with Cotracegua (6 hours from Valledupar, 30,000 COP).
From/to Medellin and Cartagena, you need to travel to Managué via Sincelejo. Then take a chalupa across the river, and take the short trip to Mompos. There are direct buses from Medellin that do the route overnight. If you miss these then head to Sincelejo. Here in Sincelejo you can find a plethora of buses and collectivos going to Magangue.
From Cartagena there is a direct bus with Unitransco from the terminal that leaves around 7am. This arrives in Mompos (when the bridges are up) around 3pm. It includes the ferry at Magangue. For a faster route, catch any bus to Magangue and then head to the riverfront and catch a chalupa (6000 per person leaving when full) the 25 minutes to Bodega. At Bodega hop into a waiting collectivo (7000 per person) the remaining 45-1hr to Mompos. The driver should drop you at your digs.
From/to Bogotá and Bucaramanga, the best route is probably via El Banco. From Bogota you can take Copetrans or Omega from the terminal directly to El Banco. These buses leave at around 4pm and arrive in El Banco towards 9am the following day. In El Banco head to the market place and look for the 4x4s going to Mompos, these cost in the region of 25,000 per person (cheaper if you sit in the back and don't benefit from air conditioning) and take 2 and a half hours when the road is good and will drop you at your desired location.
While there is a direct bus from Bucaramanga to El Banco you are better served catching any of the big buses to Santa Marta (sometimes the same goes for the journey from Bogota) and asking to be dropped off at El Burro (the junction off the main coastal highway to connect to El Banco some 45 minutes beyond Aguachica). Here where the paved luxuries end, you can catch a collectivo all the way to El Banco and then make the connections to Mompos. This option works out as a little bit more expensive but definitely faster. There is the real possibility of catching the direct Copetrans from Bucaramanga and not making the last 4x4 to Mompos and either, having to stay the night in El Banco or braving 2 and a half hours riding pillion on a motorcycle.
From Barranquilla Unitransco also runs a service but as of late this has been suspended. You can catch the early morning Brasilia bus to Magangue and make connections from there.
River travel has become increasingly scarce. In high water season, winter, there are occasionally boats that do the run from El Banco to Mompos. However when the river is low there is a problem with silt accretion and the boats cannot pass. Your best bet if you are trying to come from the coast is to head to barranquilla and see if there are any cattle ferries running back into the interior empty and negotiating to sling up a hammock.
Another option to cut out all the journeying by road from Bucaramanga is to head to Barrancabermeja where you can catch an AM chalupa all the way to El Banco. This is a different way of doing things and will require a night in Barrancabermeja.
From Santa Marta there are two ways of making the haul to Mompos. Either catch an early bus o Bosconia, find a collectivo there to La Gloria and on to Santa Ana. This whole leg should take in the region of 6 hours. At Santa Ana ask to be dropped at the port and then cross on the ferry (really cool, three boats lashed together) and then find a collectivo in Taliagua Nueva to Mompos. Otherwise, you can liaise with the Casa de Felipe in Taganga or La Casa Amarilla in Mompos about a collectivo that goes all the way for 50,000 per person leaving in the early am and at 1pm.
It’s also possible to fly to Mompos if you have a private prop plane or a friend with one!
Mompos is small and easy to get around in. Mototaxis take passengers to any point with the town for 600 COP. Note that they may take several passengers to different places at the same time, so they are unlikely to take you directly to your destination.
Travelguides:
Walking La Albarrada, Mompos: Perhaps the most scenic and evocative stroll along the Magdalena River in Mompos.
Bicycle to San Ignacio: Fall in line with the slow paced nature of Mompos, rent a bicycle and head out to a country finca
Trip to the Cienaga de Pijino: Get back to nature and get out there in the wetlands surrounding Mompos
Reviews
Comments
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Peter (Moderator) (Dev team) says on Nov 21, 2008, 07:57: Here's a Mompos slideshow: Poor but snappy 0 funny, 0 helpful. |
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jameselliot says on Feb 14, 2009, 06:05: Here's a map of Mompos/Mompox:
0 funny, 0 helpful. |
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emp99 says on Aug 3, 2009, 13:35: It is worth noting that I am working on an independent Mompox website. It is in the early stages, but bear with me and in the coming weeks I will have further info about hotels, restaurants and activities
0 funny, 0 helpful. |
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provinciavalledupar says on Aug 30, 2009, 07:35: PROVINCIA HOSTEL VALLEDUPAR Is the first HOSTEL in this young city with lots of energy....
0 funny, 0 helpful. |
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