How was Colombia?

Honestly, absolutlely fantastic. It's probably not a big secret that Morocco was something of a disappointment for me. And I'm sure that someone will give me hell for saying this, but Morocco was great - except for the Moroccans. Which is why Colombia has been such an antidote for me: the Colombian people are curious, and sweet, and clever, and determined and warm and wonderful. Colombia has no Macchu Picchu, no Igazu Falls, no Galapagos. But it's lovely, varied, interesting, and dymanic nonetheless. Muchos gracias, Colombia, for not just showing me your wonderful country, but for restoring my faith in the goodness of people, travel, and the world.

Things Colombians Love

Mandarinas



Molasses Soft Drinks



Juan Valdez



Empanadas



Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas



Their Country!

Bogota, A Welcome Respite

Got off the plane in Bogota to a 25 degree temperature drop, here in the third highest capital in South America. Met up with a friend of a friend, who is a contractor for the US government here in Bogota. We had lunch, he handed me the keys to his apartment, and was off on a mountain biking trip for the weekend. So basically we have free accommodations for the weekend in an apartment that is a 20 minute walk from the central district of El Candelaria. Righteous.

Yesterday we visited the world famous Museo Del Ora (Gold Museum), housed in temporary quarters while they refinish the museum. Pretty cool:



We explored the Plaza Bolivar, home of the Colombian legislature, the cathedral, and the rather young Justice Palace, rebuilt after a deadly raid by the (now defunct) guerrilla group M-19.

From there we found ourselves in a local bar, where we befriended a group of Colombians, and were off to a long night in the Bogota night life scene. Today we had planned to head north to the Salt Cathedral and the colonial town of Villa de Leiva, but decided that we just needed a day off after last night's shenanigans. Tomorrow we hope to make the trip, as we must return to Los Estados Unidos on Tuesday morning.

Hermit Crabs

Today Chase and I went on a boat tour, and spent the afternoon at beach on a local island. The beach was called Playa Blanca. It was sandy and nice and there were too many guys trying to sell us necklaces. But we saw a hermit crab prancing along the sand and it was cool.



Tomorrow we fly to Bogota.

Caribe!

Cartegena is hot, really hot, but quite lovely. Strangely, its an awful lot like Essaouira, Morocco. (Also, see below for a new post on Medellin).

Locals Tour of Medellin

As part of its remarkable comeback story, Medellin´s metro system includes a cable car that reaches high up one of the mountains that surrounds the city.



For the price of admission to the subway - about 75 cents - one can ride up for a lovely view of Medellin and a peek at one of the neighborhoods that make up Colombia´s second city.

We alighted the cable car to have a look around yesterday afternoon. As ususal, many of the locals eyed us with great curioisity - not avarice, nort suspicion, just genuine, good-hearted curiosity. A couple of young men, Juan Carlos and Carmilo, asked us our names and where we were from. We chatted for a bit, and I gave them each a postcard from Washington, DC and some bracelets I had back from Otavalo, Ecuador. Then our new 12 year old friends insisted on giving us a tour of the brand new library in their barrio, very proud of this towering, hillside stone building, largely funded by the Spanish crown.



After the tour, the gentlemen walked us back to the cable car, and off we were back to central Medellin.

Marbellous Medellin!

This place has come a long way from the grim days of Pablo Escobar. It has probably the most modern metro I´ve ever ridden, clean streets, low hassle for toutists, friendly locals (even met a guy on the street who owns a Cleveland Indians jersey who gave us directions, how rad). It´s traffic is awful, but has numerous taxi drivers, who, get this, are not allowed to idle in taxi stands. They stand in their car with the engine off, and literally push their car up when they move towards the front of the line. Amazing.

This morning, we had the gut busting local dish known as bandeja paisa. Dish might not be the best way to describe it. It varies a little from place to place, but the meal starts out with some fried and grilled breads with an avocado like dip, then you get a small cup of bean and potato ¨country¨ soup. From there come the main part, in our case ground beef, chorizo, a fried egg, half an avocado, a bowl of beans, a fried plantain, a fried pork crackling, and a twice fried banana. Something like this -



I want the Weight Watchers people to tell me how many points that was. Wow. Tasty though*.

Off to the Caribbean colonial jem (via aeroplane) of Cartagena tomorrrow.

Hasta mañana!

*Anthony Bourdain´s `No Reservations´ recently featured this dish on a trip to Medellin. Check it out if you can.

Busy Fellas

After a 6 hour, bone-jarring ride on a mostly washed out road, we arrived in San Agustin, hostel hunted for a spell then settled into the central, but slightly dingy Jardin hotel. We made it out into town for dinner and a few beers, and were up early to see the mysterious ruins of San Agustin. (Pictured below). We hired a guide with acceptable English, enjoyed a walk through the ruins, and in three hours we were back in town, then in the back of a pickup truck en route to Tierredentro. We made it to Pitalito, but with no bus for 2 hours to La Plata, we grabbed a shared taxi to Garzon, then on to La Plata. Unfortunately, we arrived rather late in La Plata, where we spent the night, dut to a 90 minute wait to cross a bridge - some sort of army blockade, I don´t know. La Plata, a small, city with a charming 100 plus year old ceiba in its main plaza., hosted us in a nice, modern hotel, with no hot water (brrrr!). From there we were on to Tierredentro. The bus there was no trouble - more of Colombia´s lovely mountains, valleys and rivers, if a tad bumpy. We saw the caves, hiked around, and were set to return to Popayan (where we had left much of our gear and a few loads of laundry), when we were informed that the road was washed out. So, an overnight in the small, tourist hotbed near the museum (the museum and park had 10 visitors in the last 7 days according to the log book), where we found a Canadian and English woman to rock the town, enjoying something called Vino de Coca and a local beverage called Chicha.

The next morning, we boarded a jeep (with packages on top and people hanging off the back) to the sight of the landslide, crossed on foot, and boarded another jeep to Inza, where we boarded a bus for the very, very bumpy ride back to Popayan. We grabbed our gear, got a bus to Cali, then changed to get to the grim, industrial town of Armenia - almost totally destroyed in a violent series of earthquakes in 1999. We stayed at a nicer hotel, but in the heart of the prostitute alley of Armenia. We ordered from grilled meats from a street vendor, and the helpful hotel manager got us a couple of beers, and we ate on the curb, dodging the working girls strolling by.

From there, we were on to the Zona Cafetera, and a lovely hacienda set amid coffee bushes and plantain trees, 30 kilometers from Pereira. A lovely pool, great food, charming hosts, and an afternoon to just do nothing. This morning we had a short hike on the farm, and now we are off to see the formely infamous, Medellin.

We are on the way to an overnight at a coffee farm. Trip is great!

San Agustin

Tomorrow, I'm going here.



Not sure where after that, but hopefully here.



Tomorrow is a 5 to 7 hour bus ride to get to San Agustin, and Tierredenntro is another 5 from there, if you are lucky (2 changes on the side of the road on local buses). So it's all a little up in the air right now, but that's part of the adventure.