There´s a lot to tell about the past few days.
When I was getting my money at the Western Union, I met two girls from Germany. They were in jail for narco-trafficing, but only had to go there at night, had a key to get in and out and had free internet. One of them told me it was a five star jail. I sure seem to meet people closer to the bottom of the totem pole, but they are the people I like. Life is real down here, and with out the bottom of the pole, there would be nothing to hold the top up.
I bought my plane ticket which holds me in Dallas one night against my wishes. It´s going to cost a lot for that one night I am sure. I hope things go ok because the number I took to be in line at the office was 666. As soon as that was out of the way, I headed for Henri Pittier National Park. The name of the town I quickly saw in my Lonely Planet was Playón. I later saw that it wasn´t by any means the most highly rated spot in the park, but it turned out to be good for me.
I went hotel shopping and the cheapest ended up being right by the beach. Most of the rooms started at $30, but they had one for $13 that I took for two nights as I was worried that the town would fill up Saturday night. It was the first time I booked a place for more than one night at a time even though I wasn´t too impressed with the town.
After that, I went to the beach which was ok, but nothing to write home about – oh, that´s what I´m doing. There weren´t many people hanging out for a Friday night at the concrete square just off the beach, but I chatted with a guy who said he painted clothes and sold them for a living. It´s nice when people take the time to understand my Spanish. He told me to go to another beach the next day which was a 15 minute bus ride away.
I took his advice, and it was a nice beach. There were hundreds of people there, but there was room for everyone. I didn´t find people very chatty, but I really enjoyed swimming in the turquoise water and looking at the spectacular scenery which brings me to today´s title. About 1 in 5 women here wear thong bikinis. Surprisingly it is a style that transcends the age and size of the ass the thong is in. It seemed most popular with mothers, but some women over 40 would wear them as well as children that were just entering their teens. It must have something to do with the name of Venezuela´s capitol, Caracas.
I find the cultural differences relating to sexuality peculiar between Canada and Venezuela and South America in general. For instance, no girl I know in Canada would wear a thong to the beach, but some don´t mind letting the boobies hang free whereas no girl would let the girls out here. Hugging in Canada is really common between men and women. Here, girls flinch more if I try to give them a hug than they would if I grabbed their ass. If a girl gives you a hug here, chances are you will be going for a roll in the hay in no time. Teenage pregnancy is as much the norm as it isn´t here. I met one proud mother of 6 who was 21. I now see teenage pregnancy as a natural current that we strongly swim against at home. Here, society drifts on down the stream.
I noticed the most beautiful girls on the beach were walking up and down, selling handmade jewellery. They stopped where I was swimming and played a popular game, batting a ball back and forth with paddles and then took turns swimming. They were far too beautiful for me to try to say something cleaver in Spanish to. I thought they had the perfect life, doing some easy work and taking some great breaks on the beach. There was a big storm starting to roll in so I headed for the bus stop.
By time the bus arrived, it was raining as hard as I have ever experienced. When I got to Playón, it was still raining. I took shelter under a roof of a store than hung out into the street and bought a beer. The cute beach vendor chicas were there too. Some guys were trying to make time, but the girls didn´t seem to happy about it though they did show some grace. To my surprise, one started talking to me. Yessica and Nairobi were to become good friends of mine in no time. They were cousins from Caracas and had been in Playón two months. They were going back to Caracas in two days because they liked living there more. That statement baffled me. It rained for a while and after some time I offered to buy them beer. They wanted something called Malta instead. It was cheaper and darker, but similar to beer. I tried a sip, and it tasted like beer before it is fermented, really sweet. I didn´t like it much. When the rain stopped, we arranged to meet at the beach later that night.
When I got there, they had a table of stuff set up with a local guy that was about my age named Israel. He was a real character with lots of latino energy and a voice that sounded like it came from a vibrator for people who had their voice box removed. It seemed like he was helping and looking out for Nairobi and Yessica as they were only 18 years old, freshly away from home. The girls went to bed a bit early as they had a big Sunday planned for sales the next day on the other beach. Israel asked me which girls I liked here. I said that the nicest ones just left. He really showed his latino spirit when he said,¨I like them all.¨
I hung out with Israel and bought a boar tooth necklace off of him. He really had some nice work, particularly a talent for bending wire. He might have been the only guy in town who spoke a little English which was nice. After a few beers, I was ready for bed. He was talking to a cab driver friend of his who was really drunk. When I said good night, he told me I couldn´t leave because some girls from Caracas that he knew had just shown up. When he told them I was from Canada, they screamed and danced around as tourists seem rare in Venezuela and there weren´t any foreigners in Playón.
It was time for a whiskey run, so Israel insisted I jump in the cab. He probably wanted me to chip in, but I think he was more afraid to leave me alone with the chicas. He probably thought that I might be in my hotel with all three before he got back. The liquor store that was still open wanted too much for a 40 in Playón, so we went to the next town where it was the same price anyway. The driver was Israel´s friend and had a drunk permasmile and his eyes were so squinted that I never did see them. It was a little sketchy, but no more so than most of the bus rides in Peru and Columbia. It didn´t seem to be a problem with the police as one officer was right there when he was getting in his car and it was obvious that he was really drunk and he had some whiskey on the rocks in his hand.
It was a cool beach small town scene in Playón. There were about 8 or 10 teenagers with moto scooters looking cool – some with shades. Other taxi drivers were drinking by their cars, taking the occasional fare. There were some guys playing percussion instruments on the beach and had great beats going. They took long breaks so then we would dance to whatever music was being blasted from the car with the loudest stereo. Israel sure was a good dancer. When he started dancing with the cutest girl, she had bedroom eyes at him that lasted the rest of the night except when she was trying to hide it from her friends. One girl wanted my necklace really bad. I told her that I wanted 20 babies for it, but pointed to another Israel had for sale that would be her´s for only 3 babies. I figured this was probably a typical South American negotiation. One time when I told a guy I was 30, he said,¨Well your young in Canada, but your old here.¨ The cab driver was too drunk to walk, so he drove home. Twice, when I said I was leaving, Israel gave me a big hug and said that I can never leave. Finally I managed to escape.
The next day I got to the beach at about 11. The girls were getting ready to go to the other beach. I think that they stuck around longer to watch Israel. I don´t think he went to bed or stopped drinking because he was a mess. He had his table set up, and people jumped back from the smell of his breath when he would talk to them. A couple of other guys that were there the night before were in similar condition, but Israel was a disaster. I felt a little crappy, but a couple of hours swimming in the ocean had me feeling a lot better. It was a crouded day, but there is always space in the ocean.
When I got back to the square, there was a cool jeep with the hatch open, blasting Spanish hip hop from a wall of speakers pointing at the beach. Israel, was singing and dancing to the music and introduced me to the jeeps owner, a huge black guy who was a Venezuelan boxing champ. He was cool and relaxed and told me that he liked Canada because he beat a Canadian in the Olympics. I felt like I was in a Snoop Dog video or something. Some other guy was passing a 40 of some Sambuca type stuff around. I was surprised that I was enjoying it again as a rarely drink two days in a row.
I had enough of the hip hop and went for another swim. I left my shirt and camera in the care of the vendors. When I got back, my shirt was gone with the hotel key, shades and camera in the pocket. Nairobi and Yessica were back and explained that Israel was in jail. Another person told me he was in my shirt when he was arrested. Apparently he was caught peeing on the beach so he desirved to be in jail but my shirt was entirely innocent. A guy went to the police station which was right beside the square and they told him that Israel was in Jail in the next town and would be out tomorrow. Nairobi offered to go with me to get my stuff as she had to ask him what he wanted her to do with his stuff that was still on display. It turned out not to be necessary as a cop dropped off a bunch of stuff to us including my shirt with all the stuffin it and Israel´s pants. I wish I would have had a chance to say goodbye to him. Maybe he will be there next year.
I chatted with Yessica most of the rest of the evening. I really liked her. She understood my Spanish better than anyone else, and knew how to repeat things with different words in a way I would understand. She was also really mellow for a latino and had a big heart. As the night fell, the girls took their jewellery back to their house for the last time in Payón. They said they were coming back and we would swim together. It was really nice watching the stars, and swimming with the girls. None of us wanted to leave as we were going to Caracas the next day. They left early in the morning, I slept in. I think there plan was to go right back to work when they got home. I don´t think many people take days off here. When I would ask them how buisness was, they always smiled and said they sold lots. We will probably have dinner together tomorrow before I leave. They insisted I call.
What a great time in a sleepy little town. It was the perfect mix between experiencing culture (travel) and having good times (vacation). I really want to come back to Columbia and Venezuela, but spend at least a month in each country. The people on the Caribbean cost have been the warmest people I have met. It´s really cool how the beautiful girls who I expect to be cold turn out to be really nice here. When you look at them, they look away and kind of put their nose in the air. If you talk to them, the perceived wall crumbles and from behind it emerges a warm person. Even the tourists, though few, are a lot more interesting and fun than those in the other countries. There are a lot of other places I have been told to check out in Venezuela including an island called Margarita. There are also a lot fo national parks.
I´m looking forward to being home. I have a lot of insect bites on my feet and there won´t be any bugs in Canada in November. Two months was a good period of time. I think that I would be more comfortable if I didn´t travel so fast and would have had more time with the good people I met instead of needing to move on. I´d really like to be back here in a year. I sort of feel like this was a learning experience for how and where to travel in the future. I also have more desire to learn Spanish. When I am using words I am familiar with, I feel like a more passionate, expressive person when I speak.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Screwed by Brazil and the Credit Union
So I went to the Brazilian Embasy here in Caracas to get a visa. My Lonely Planet said that it was easy, took less than two hours and I needed a passport and a proof of onward ticket or bank statement to show suficant funds. Maybe they didn´t do their research or maybe it was a typo, but ¨or¨ should have been ¨and¨. Ok, I went to a call centre and called Taxi Taxi and got my boss Jeremy to give me the phone number for my bank. I then called my bank and gave them the fax number and told them I needed 4 months of back statements to be safe. I told them that it was urgent as the embasy closed at 1pm here which is 11 am at home. They told me that they had a lot of bank buinsess to take care of and would do it in an hour. I went to the ebasy and waited and waited the statement never arrived. At least two hours had passed and they kicked me out of the embasy. The woman working there had a wicked grin as if she almost reached orgasm in flexing her power denying a lower class griniko entry into her country. I hope the devil is shapening his pitchfork for her. I had a good wad of cash to show her, but that wasn´t enough. Furthermore, Canada is one of about only 5 countries of who´s citizens require visas for Brazil.
Now I have to do what I should have done in the first place and buy a ticket from Caracas to Dallas to hook up with my flight home. Between that, buying the ticket from Caracas to Sao Paulo and how much I would have saved in the first place if I would have flown out of Caracas instead of Rio, it was a $2000 boondogle. Thanks to my mom for comming to the rescue. I´m thinking of changing banks as well, but I can´t think of a bank less evil than the credit union - can you?
Damn banks making the rich richer and foreclosing on the poor. Taking the family farm and selling it to Tyson or Cargill foods. I bought a Hugo Chavez shirt today and he looks mean on it - like he´s ready to fire a scud missle at the World Bank. Every time I walk into the Bow Valley Credit Union, I´m going to wear it and hold my right fist in the air while I wait in line. Viva Chavez.
Last night was pretty cool. I watche El Empirio - I think it´s Roma in English at a bar owned by a Columbian. I was going buisness to buisness, trying to sell my Columbian pesos for some Venezuelan Boliviars. It wasn´t an easy task after bank hours, the same crap I went through the day before in Coro. This fellow was a proud Columbian and traded the money at par, giving me an extra 7% on the mid-market rate.
After that, I watched the Chicago White Sox win against the Astros. It was a big deal in Venezueala as the White Sox manager is Venezuelan. There were random fireworks, horn honking and even some guns fired into the air. It reminded me of when I was in Bolivia and an Isralie guy ran into a resturant when he heard firecrackers to avoid falling bullets he thought were being fired. He explained that many people in Israel die every year from guns being fired into the air, mainly at weddings.
Anyway, tommorow I buy my ticket and head for the beach. I´m not sure where I´m going but I hear Venezuela has some great beaches. I might go to one of the 6 national parks near Caracas.
Caracas is a lot like a Canadian city with maybe a little less matainace. Actually it´s like a big downtown Edmonton (about 4 million people here) There is some very modern buildings and some road infrastructure that is pretty complex. It´s strange to see parking lots at resturants and stores like at home. Normaly in South America, a big department store will have about 6 to 10 parking spots for cars, but here, Hooters has a bigger one. It´s hard to walk most places as the sidewalks are very narrow. It´s even hard to cross at lights as they are very short and almost every change still allows cars across your path. There is one giant `pedestrian street that must have about 10000 people on it at any time during the day.
I just ate a fantastic chicken sandwich there where I met an author born in the States, but a long time resident here. He wrote a book about Chavez and Venezuelan society and told me to go to the presidential palace and talk to people in the park there about politics. I think I´ll do that after the beach. I´m a bit worried that hotels here might be really full. Í was told that I can only stay tonight in mine.
Man I´m mad at Brazil. At least I don´t have to spend any money there or pay their outrageous entry and exit taxxes. If you have been thinking of going to Brazil, go to Columbia instead. It´s so nice in Columbia. If only I had more time there. I have to go back sometime. Columbia is the best. I hope I can travel there in my malaria pill dreams tonight.
Now I have to do what I should have done in the first place and buy a ticket from Caracas to Dallas to hook up with my flight home. Between that, buying the ticket from Caracas to Sao Paulo and how much I would have saved in the first place if I would have flown out of Caracas instead of Rio, it was a $2000 boondogle. Thanks to my mom for comming to the rescue. I´m thinking of changing banks as well, but I can´t think of a bank less evil than the credit union - can you?
Damn banks making the rich richer and foreclosing on the poor. Taking the family farm and selling it to Tyson or Cargill foods. I bought a Hugo Chavez shirt today and he looks mean on it - like he´s ready to fire a scud missle at the World Bank. Every time I walk into the Bow Valley Credit Union, I´m going to wear it and hold my right fist in the air while I wait in line. Viva Chavez.
Last night was pretty cool. I watche El Empirio - I think it´s Roma in English at a bar owned by a Columbian. I was going buisness to buisness, trying to sell my Columbian pesos for some Venezuelan Boliviars. It wasn´t an easy task after bank hours, the same crap I went through the day before in Coro. This fellow was a proud Columbian and traded the money at par, giving me an extra 7% on the mid-market rate.
After that, I watched the Chicago White Sox win against the Astros. It was a big deal in Venezueala as the White Sox manager is Venezuelan. There were random fireworks, horn honking and even some guns fired into the air. It reminded me of when I was in Bolivia and an Isralie guy ran into a resturant when he heard firecrackers to avoid falling bullets he thought were being fired. He explained that many people in Israel die every year from guns being fired into the air, mainly at weddings.
Anyway, tommorow I buy my ticket and head for the beach. I´m not sure where I´m going but I hear Venezuela has some great beaches. I might go to one of the 6 national parks near Caracas.
Caracas is a lot like a Canadian city with maybe a little less matainace. Actually it´s like a big downtown Edmonton (about 4 million people here) There is some very modern buildings and some road infrastructure that is pretty complex. It´s strange to see parking lots at resturants and stores like at home. Normaly in South America, a big department store will have about 6 to 10 parking spots for cars, but here, Hooters has a bigger one. It´s hard to walk most places as the sidewalks are very narrow. It´s even hard to cross at lights as they are very short and almost every change still allows cars across your path. There is one giant `pedestrian street that must have about 10000 people on it at any time during the day.
I just ate a fantastic chicken sandwich there where I met an author born in the States, but a long time resident here. He wrote a book about Chavez and Venezuelan society and told me to go to the presidential palace and talk to people in the park there about politics. I think I´ll do that after the beach. I´m a bit worried that hotels here might be really full. Í was told that I can only stay tonight in mine.
Man I´m mad at Brazil. At least I don´t have to spend any money there or pay their outrageous entry and exit taxxes. If you have been thinking of going to Brazil, go to Columbia instead. It´s so nice in Columbia. If only I had more time there. I have to go back sometime. Columbia is the best. I hope I can travel there in my malaria pill dreams tonight.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Weapon Insepection at the Venezuelan Border
Well, my prostitute friends were to busy to hang out with that night. I at least I managed to say a proper goodbye. I´m not sure if they were smiling because they were making good money, if they were enjoying their work or both. I suppose with the right mind set, prostitution might have its good nights. I tried to be a gigalo once, but too many guys are giving it out for free. I hung out with some good people I met in the hotel. The tourists that go to Columbia are much more interesting that the other places I have been. I even met a fellow cab driver from Portland. She was a real charactor.
I could no longer linger in Columbia. Father time put his hand on my shoulder and said that it was time to go. He couldn´t stop me from leaving part of my heart there. By far, Columbia has been the best part of my trip.
Leaving Columbia would have been a tough trip had I not met the most beautiful girl in the world on the way out. She even has been looking at emigrating to Quebec - something that would benifit the whole northern hemisphere. She spoke English which is very rare for a Columbian. With some luck we will have a couple of hours together in Caracas.
Everyone on our bus got searched at the border. They went through everything. I got taken into a room that was a little uncomfortable. I had to unbutton my shirt, then my pants. I wasn´t wearing underwear and when I showed him my weapon, the search suddenly ended.
After crossing the border, we all had to show our ID at police checks 4 or 5 times. This was so the police could collect money from Columbians who don´t have proper ID. The last time, we each pitched in about 1000 Bolivianos to get though the checkpoint quickly as it was known for being infested with bugs. That one still took the longest.
Venezuela is full of V8´s. This is probably because of the extremely low fuel prices. It costs them as much to fill a tank as most of Europe pays for one litre. Although I know it´s not the best for the enviornment, it is really cool to see all of the 70's and 80's big luxury cars. Most have big mags. By far the most common car is the Chevy Caprice. The other down side is that there are a lot of cars here and walking is much more difficult. It's the same disaster that has infested North America. Venezuela has't left a good impression so far and I don´t have much time to change that.
Today, I arived in Coro on my way to Caracas. The buildings are prettier than your avergage South American town, but the number of cars really brings down the enjoyment level.
Today was really hard. I woke up early to the houskeeper knocking on my door several times, trying to get me to pay a little more to sleep in until a reasonable time. I left without a shower into the sweltering heat. It is so damn hot here. I took an uncomforatable bus to Coro, a good place to stop before Caracas. When I got here, I went looking to change my Columbian Pesos to Bolivianos. That proved to be a nearly imposible task. After barking up every tree I was told to - every bank and even a trip to the airport, I was begining to accept the fact that I had to sleep in the park. Finally I went to a shop that said they bought gold. The guy ripped me off big time, but I got enough for a hotel and maybe enough for a bus to Caracas tommorow where I know I can change Pesos.
I´m sure glad I'm not sleeping in the park tonight and my hotel has air conditioning. I wouldn´t be able to sleep without. The average temperature here is 30 c. Way to hot. I'm looking forward to freezing my wang off in Canada.
I could no longer linger in Columbia. Father time put his hand on my shoulder and said that it was time to go. He couldn´t stop me from leaving part of my heart there. By far, Columbia has been the best part of my trip.
Leaving Columbia would have been a tough trip had I not met the most beautiful girl in the world on the way out. She even has been looking at emigrating to Quebec - something that would benifit the whole northern hemisphere. She spoke English which is very rare for a Columbian. With some luck we will have a couple of hours together in Caracas.
Everyone on our bus got searched at the border. They went through everything. I got taken into a room that was a little uncomfortable. I had to unbutton my shirt, then my pants. I wasn´t wearing underwear and when I showed him my weapon, the search suddenly ended.
After crossing the border, we all had to show our ID at police checks 4 or 5 times. This was so the police could collect money from Columbians who don´t have proper ID. The last time, we each pitched in about 1000 Bolivianos to get though the checkpoint quickly as it was known for being infested with bugs. That one still took the longest.
Venezuela is full of V8´s. This is probably because of the extremely low fuel prices. It costs them as much to fill a tank as most of Europe pays for one litre. Although I know it´s not the best for the enviornment, it is really cool to see all of the 70's and 80's big luxury cars. Most have big mags. By far the most common car is the Chevy Caprice. The other down side is that there are a lot of cars here and walking is much more difficult. It's the same disaster that has infested North America. Venezuela has't left a good impression so far and I don´t have much time to change that.
Today, I arived in Coro on my way to Caracas. The buildings are prettier than your avergage South American town, but the number of cars really brings down the enjoyment level.
Today was really hard. I woke up early to the houskeeper knocking on my door several times, trying to get me to pay a little more to sleep in until a reasonable time. I left without a shower into the sweltering heat. It is so damn hot here. I took an uncomforatable bus to Coro, a good place to stop before Caracas. When I got here, I went looking to change my Columbian Pesos to Bolivianos. That proved to be a nearly imposible task. After barking up every tree I was told to - every bank and even a trip to the airport, I was begining to accept the fact that I had to sleep in the park. Finally I went to a shop that said they bought gold. The guy ripped me off big time, but I got enough for a hotel and maybe enough for a bus to Caracas tommorow where I know I can change Pesos.
I´m sure glad I'm not sleeping in the park tonight and my hotel has air conditioning. I wouldn´t be able to sleep without. The average temperature here is 30 c. Way to hot. I'm looking forward to freezing my wang off in Canada.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Tricks and Trees - Santa Marta to Tayrona National Park
Santa Marta seems to be about prostitutes, cocaine and marijuana - in that order. The first night I was here, prostitutes outnumbered other people 10 to 1. I ended up having some beers with some girls who I figured out were prostitutes after a short time. They were nice people with tough stories. One gave me a ride on her motorbike. She was new to the buisness, freshly divorced with children to feed. I liked her. There wasn´t much I could do for her though. It seems like there is a culture of prostitution here. I wouldn´t be surprised if husbands have to pay their wives. It seemed like the entire singles scene was based on prostitution.
I left in a hurry for Tayrona National Park. The girl running the hotel managed to get a taxi driver to drive me for about $4 Canadian. The ride took an hour and a half and would have cost more than $200 with a proper tip in Banff.
Tayrona National Park was the tropical paradise that I always dreamed of. I stayed at two different campgrounds that offered hammocks for $2-3. Each had a small resturant that cost about $6 a meal as everything had to be hauled in by mule. The beaches were mostly small and cozy, seperated by massive outcroppings of rocks.
In the Jungle, it was hard to see much wildlife other than the nurmous lizzards hunting on the path. I did see some poison dart frogs and a lot of ants. The amazing thing about the jungle was the sounds of all of the creatures that I cound´t see.
I had some fantastic sleeps as the sound of the waves and the jungle are so much better than anything pop music has to offer. On the second night, I awoke to a chicken that hopped onto my hammock. It might hve been the one day I didn´t eat chicken. The next day, I awoke to a puppy messing with my pack under my hammock. Both were a delightful surprise as it was time to get up anyway.
It sure was a lot different than Banff. There were only a few family run buisnesses. The place I stayed at for two nights had a generator that they fired up and sundown and it turned off seemingly when their favourite TV show ended. After that, you had better have a flashlight or at least a lighter to find your way to your hammock because the moon wasn´t coming up for a couple of hours. I did do a moonlight swim one night.
I´m back in Santa Marta now and will head to Venezuela as quickly as I can. I met my prostitute friends, kissed them on the cheak as is customary here, but they seemed busy. When I left for Tayrona, I had a bad feeling about Santa Marta. This time, I feel a lot better. I was greeted by I guy with an eye infection that I bought some drugs for last time. The woman who gave me a ride on her motorbike pulled up beside me and another guy I had a beer with greeted me all in the fist half hour. A girl I met in the park from Peru checked into the same hotel as I. I met some other good people here and on the street.
I hope my prostitute friends aren´t too busy. They were earlier as the town is really busy tonight. I really enjoyed my time with them last time - it was their stories that left the bad taste in my mouth. If not, most of the other travelers here are really cool. It seems that for the most part, only cool people go to Columbia.
Chris
I left in a hurry for Tayrona National Park. The girl running the hotel managed to get a taxi driver to drive me for about $4 Canadian. The ride took an hour and a half and would have cost more than $200 with a proper tip in Banff.
Tayrona National Park was the tropical paradise that I always dreamed of. I stayed at two different campgrounds that offered hammocks for $2-3. Each had a small resturant that cost about $6 a meal as everything had to be hauled in by mule. The beaches were mostly small and cozy, seperated by massive outcroppings of rocks.
In the Jungle, it was hard to see much wildlife other than the nurmous lizzards hunting on the path. I did see some poison dart frogs and a lot of ants. The amazing thing about the jungle was the sounds of all of the creatures that I cound´t see.
I had some fantastic sleeps as the sound of the waves and the jungle are so much better than anything pop music has to offer. On the second night, I awoke to a chicken that hopped onto my hammock. It might hve been the one day I didn´t eat chicken. The next day, I awoke to a puppy messing with my pack under my hammock. Both were a delightful surprise as it was time to get up anyway.
It sure was a lot different than Banff. There were only a few family run buisnesses. The place I stayed at for two nights had a generator that they fired up and sundown and it turned off seemingly when their favourite TV show ended. After that, you had better have a flashlight or at least a lighter to find your way to your hammock because the moon wasn´t coming up for a couple of hours. I did do a moonlight swim one night.
I´m back in Santa Marta now and will head to Venezuela as quickly as I can. I met my prostitute friends, kissed them on the cheak as is customary here, but they seemed busy. When I left for Tayrona, I had a bad feeling about Santa Marta. This time, I feel a lot better. I was greeted by I guy with an eye infection that I bought some drugs for last time. The woman who gave me a ride on her motorbike pulled up beside me and another guy I had a beer with greeted me all in the fist half hour. A girl I met in the park from Peru checked into the same hotel as I. I met some other good people here and on the street.
I hope my prostitute friends aren´t too busy. They were earlier as the town is really busy tonight. I really enjoyed my time with them last time - it was their stories that left the bad taste in my mouth. If not, most of the other travelers here are really cool. It seems that for the most part, only cool people go to Columbia.
Chris
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Two more days in Cartagena
What a couple of days I have had. Yesterday, I went to a mud volcano. It was a 15 metre high volcano of mud. You climb up it and there is warm mud to soak in in the middle. It was amazing how high it made me float.
I met some good people there. We went fro drinks after and a couple of us ended up dancing for quite a while in a really cool small club with some nice local folks. I think there were 6 of us in the club, the size of crowd I like.
After the club, I was walking a fantastic woman I met in the hot springs back to her hotel. We decided instead to get something to eat and go for a swim in the ocean. Then the night took a nasty turn for the worse. One of two street kids who were harasing us for money stole her wallet that she had tucked in her skirt. A mob of local street people caught the kid and turned him over to police. He had gotten rid of the wallet somewhere in the chase whcih thankfully only had cash (about $25us).
Quite a fuss was made over it, but my new amiga was in tears and just wanted to go back to her hotel. The small mob didn´t want this kind of thing hapening in their community and wanted justice. I told the police that we don´t want the kid to get beaten or anyhitng, just to scare him a little. I walked her back to the hotel with a quick cab ride to avoid some people following us who didn´t seem to happy that a hungry kid was being persicuted for steeling some grinka´s money out of desperation.
I woke up in the morning with a bit of a hangover, but what really made me feel bad was the realisation of the kids desperation. I realised that when you look at the big picture, he was the real victom and resolved that I had spend some money on food to feed homeless people that night.
After being stood up by a smoking hot local girl I actually felt pretty good. Now I could go by chicken for the poor. On the way to the poor part of town, I saw some incredible afro-caribean dancing by kids of about 12 or 13 years of age. Seeing it gave me a big high as the beats were fast, and the dancing was the fastest I have ever seen. It really was great.
I went to a fast food chicken joint and ordered a lot of KFC style chicken and some other cheap starchy potato like vegitebles. I walk around the streets and parks where people were sleeping and handed out the goods. I thought it would make me feel going, but I felt terrible doing it. I got some big thank-you´s, but most of the people jsut had desperate, bewildered looks and took the food quickly and quietly. There wasn´t nearly enough to go around. I gave some money to people digging through the days garbage telling them it wasn´t necisary tonight. I also found the kids one of whom stole Charlette´s wallet and gave them money as I was out of food. Oh, one decaying hooker I gave the a potato type thing to offered me a blow in reaturn - I declined.
After I´d given out the food and all the money I could part with, I walked back to the rich part of town, looking for this internet cafe. I was so disgusted by the fake boobs, fancy clothes and expensive wine. I couldn´t even look at the people I was so disapointed in them and myself. I like them have jsut been walking over the poor.
It may sound like I´m a good man for doing this, but it really was nothing. Most of these people will be hungry tommorow and some will die soon. I offered no solution. I wish I had the cash to do more. You can feed people here for about a dollar a day, but I have to watch my money so I can go back to my world that creates this poverty by screwing 3rd world countries out of their resources and ensuring they stay poor so there is a place for cheap labour and God forbid some kind of South America Socialist revolution.
I´m sure I will feel better tommorow. Writing has already lifted a lot of weight off my chest. I hope I return home more determined than ever to rise up against the western world´s Paul Martin Steven Harper Tony Blair Goerge Bush WTO G8 Halbitron and the rest of the cartel´s neo-liberal war against the poor.
I met some good people there. We went fro drinks after and a couple of us ended up dancing for quite a while in a really cool small club with some nice local folks. I think there were 6 of us in the club, the size of crowd I like.
After the club, I was walking a fantastic woman I met in the hot springs back to her hotel. We decided instead to get something to eat and go for a swim in the ocean. Then the night took a nasty turn for the worse. One of two street kids who were harasing us for money stole her wallet that she had tucked in her skirt. A mob of local street people caught the kid and turned him over to police. He had gotten rid of the wallet somewhere in the chase whcih thankfully only had cash (about $25us).
Quite a fuss was made over it, but my new amiga was in tears and just wanted to go back to her hotel. The small mob didn´t want this kind of thing hapening in their community and wanted justice. I told the police that we don´t want the kid to get beaten or anyhitng, just to scare him a little. I walked her back to the hotel with a quick cab ride to avoid some people following us who didn´t seem to happy that a hungry kid was being persicuted for steeling some grinka´s money out of desperation.
I woke up in the morning with a bit of a hangover, but what really made me feel bad was the realisation of the kids desperation. I realised that when you look at the big picture, he was the real victom and resolved that I had spend some money on food to feed homeless people that night.
After being stood up by a smoking hot local girl I actually felt pretty good. Now I could go by chicken for the poor. On the way to the poor part of town, I saw some incredible afro-caribean dancing by kids of about 12 or 13 years of age. Seeing it gave me a big high as the beats were fast, and the dancing was the fastest I have ever seen. It really was great.
I went to a fast food chicken joint and ordered a lot of KFC style chicken and some other cheap starchy potato like vegitebles. I walk around the streets and parks where people were sleeping and handed out the goods. I thought it would make me feel going, but I felt terrible doing it. I got some big thank-you´s, but most of the people jsut had desperate, bewildered looks and took the food quickly and quietly. There wasn´t nearly enough to go around. I gave some money to people digging through the days garbage telling them it wasn´t necisary tonight. I also found the kids one of whom stole Charlette´s wallet and gave them money as I was out of food. Oh, one decaying hooker I gave the a potato type thing to offered me a blow in reaturn - I declined.
After I´d given out the food and all the money I could part with, I walked back to the rich part of town, looking for this internet cafe. I was so disgusted by the fake boobs, fancy clothes and expensive wine. I couldn´t even look at the people I was so disapointed in them and myself. I like them have jsut been walking over the poor.
It may sound like I´m a good man for doing this, but it really was nothing. Most of these people will be hungry tommorow and some will die soon. I offered no solution. I wish I had the cash to do more. You can feed people here for about a dollar a day, but I have to watch my money so I can go back to my world that creates this poverty by screwing 3rd world countries out of their resources and ensuring they stay poor so there is a place for cheap labour and God forbid some kind of South America Socialist revolution.
I´m sure I will feel better tommorow. Writing has already lifted a lot of weight off my chest. I hope I return home more determined than ever to rise up against the western world´s Paul Martin Steven Harper Tony Blair Goerge Bush WTO G8 Halbitron and the rest of the cartel´s neo-liberal war against the poor.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Cartagena
I survived something I was told not to do in Columbia - I took a night bus. I was ready to go, but I didn´t have enough pesos to but the ticket and they wouldn´t take American dollars. I had to go downtown to change my money, and it was quite the process. I asked a taxi driver where I could change money. He lead me to the Police who took me to an apartment building and there was a guy on the third floor that changed my money. Medelin was supposed to be the cocaine capitol of Columbia, you´s think American dollars were all over the place.
Anyway, the last day bus left at 7:30 am and I had to wait until 5 pm to take the first night bus. It did seem like the people on the bus got a little edgey every time the bus would stop. The bus was searched by the police twice while I was awake. I think one of the times was by a private milita. They only looked in the lugage compartments under the bus. I don´t think they were interested in finding anyhting somebody could fit in the carry on carpartments. My big regret though was not seeingthe scenery well. The moon was ope night before being full, so I could tell that it was pretty damn nice out there, but it would have been nice to see it better.
Today, I finally swam in the ocean. The water was the perfect temperature. I could live in it given the right facilities. I´m in Cartigena, a city that resembles Quebec City as it is surrounded by a wall and cannons. It´s a lot older than Quebec though which shows in the decaying wall. The city inside the wall has been kept well, most of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and ther streets are mostly closed to traffic other than taxis. The beaches here are nothing special though, so I will move on tommorow after checking out a fort that along with the walls to a couple hundred years to build.
I finally have met some people other than Columbians here. I met a couple of American guys with big heads and some Germans with cold hearts. Fortunately, the locals are very friendly, but they have a hard time understanding my Spanish as Columbians aren´t used to hearing someone speak Spanish with an accent other than Columbian. They don´t understand that they have to speak slowley either. I´m really glad to be at the ocean. The rest of my days will all be spent on beaches unless I decide to go inland in Brazil which isn´t likely as I have only 5 days there.
That´s it for now.
Anyway, the last day bus left at 7:30 am and I had to wait until 5 pm to take the first night bus. It did seem like the people on the bus got a little edgey every time the bus would stop. The bus was searched by the police twice while I was awake. I think one of the times was by a private milita. They only looked in the lugage compartments under the bus. I don´t think they were interested in finding anyhting somebody could fit in the carry on carpartments. My big regret though was not seeingthe scenery well. The moon was ope night before being full, so I could tell that it was pretty damn nice out there, but it would have been nice to see it better.
Today, I finally swam in the ocean. The water was the perfect temperature. I could live in it given the right facilities. I´m in Cartigena, a city that resembles Quebec City as it is surrounded by a wall and cannons. It´s a lot older than Quebec though which shows in the decaying wall. The city inside the wall has been kept well, most of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and ther streets are mostly closed to traffic other than taxis. The beaches here are nothing special though, so I will move on tommorow after checking out a fort that along with the walls to a couple hundred years to build.
I finally have met some people other than Columbians here. I met a couple of American guys with big heads and some Germans with cold hearts. Fortunately, the locals are very friendly, but they have a hard time understanding my Spanish as Columbians aren´t used to hearing someone speak Spanish with an accent other than Columbian. They don´t understand that they have to speak slowley either. I´m really glad to be at the ocean. The rest of my days will all be spent on beaches unless I decide to go inland in Brazil which isn´t likely as I have only 5 days there.
That´s it for now.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Long Road to the Beach
Popayan was incredibly beautiful. Most of the buildings downtown are hundreds of years old. The parks were fantastic. I suppose when you have an ideal growing climate and such diverse vegitation, the only real limit is a gardener´s imagination. In the main park, I watched one of the Andean Indian bands I´m sure you have seen at a festival or in a shopping mall. Lots of people gathered around as if they had never seen a traditional Andean band before. Although many people have some native blood, pure blooded indians only make up about 1% of the population in Columbia. The band made their money by selling braclets, necklaces, dream catchers and instruments in between songs. It´s quite a contrast to Peru, where these types of bands are the mainstream.
I can see how British Columbia got its name. There are many simalarities. Although much of this country is prestine, unspoiled wilderness, even the areas that are used apear quite natural. The farms here are incredibly beautiful. Most are a bit larger than in other South American countries, looking more like plantations with surfs doing the work. With the exception of some large sugar cane fields, the mixture of banana trees, coffee, pinaple, oragne, lime, watermelon, bamboo, cattle, and a bunch of other plants that must be useful made every farm look more like a garden than a buisness. I´m sure it is no accident.
Last night was spent in Cali. I didn´t like it much. It was noisey and busy. Prostitutes folowed me as I walked, begging for a little buisness. They all looked like they were decaying. They would have to pay me a lot of money to get any action.
In contrast to Cali, the city I am in now, Medellen seems culturally rich. After I checked into my hotel, I went for a walk, and there were a lot of people in a park watching a concert. There were a lot of different bands that were qutie good. I´m not sure if they were playing for free or if the town was paying them. It was a little strange though because my hotel is in prostiute central, but just half a block away is the park full of families. The prostitutes don´t hastle me, and some of them don´t look diseased - quite refreshing after last night. It was the first time I have felt that my safety was in jeprody on this trip. They really were freaky. All of them. At one point there were about five of them following me.
I still can´t get over how beautiful this country is. I really wish I had more time here. Today´s bus ride from Cali to Medellen was 9 hours, but I enjoyed the scenery so much, it seemed like no time at all. Even the cows were beautiful. They were almost all pure white and had white cranes following them around.
It´s such a shame that there is so much violence and political unrest in this country. Though the only evidence of this I have seen has been the heavy police and army presence, it sure does keep travelers away. I still haven´t met anyone from a country other than Columbia here. In Popayan, I wandered the streets for quite some time looking for a place to exchange American money. I had to ask directions 4 times to find the one place in town. It was pretty formal too. There was a big form I had to fill out and I even had to give a fingerprint. It´s the first time I have given a fingerprint and now CSIS and the CIA probably have it. Oh well, I guess I´ll have to wear gloves when I J-walk now.
Tomorow is the last of my long bus rides. I´m going to take the 13 hour trip to Cartagena. It´s supposed to be about the most beautiful city in the Americas. From there, I will take it slow accross the coast, hanging out on beaches. I hope there aren´t many tourists there either, but I suspect I will meet some. This kind of reminds me of my trip in the north where people are excited just to meet someone from somewhere else. This country must be the most beautiful country in the world. It´s too bad that hardly anyone knows it. I hope they find peace here, but apperently now is the most violent time since La Voilencia in the late 40's and early 50´s. I haven´t heard a gunshot or seen a dead body yet though.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Ecuador to Columbia
Well, I am now in the country that people have either told me is the best in South America or not to go there. My plan is to steam through most of it right away as time is short and I want some quality beach time.
It took some time to get through the border. There was a long wait for my exit stamp from Ecuador and then anoth wait for my entry stamp to Columbia. On the Columbian side, there were a lot of police who looked like they were from the future. The Equiptment they had on was all black and looked like the hockey gear from ¨Strange Brew¨or ¨The Running Man¨.
The military presence is big too. I walked from the border to the nearest town and passed soldiers patrolling on foot. I wanted to get to Popayan, so keeped asking directions to the bus terminal. There aren´t many grinkos in Columbia. There are a few people with pale skin and brown eyes, probably of Spanish blood. I haven´t seen any eyes other than brown yet. People look at me as if I am different, not in a bad way, just in a strange way.
The bus ride to Popayan was the most beautiful drive I have done yet. It quicky switched from fields were cut all different shapes and sizes on rolling hills to massive mountains. For about 3 hours, the road was etched into the side of a cliff. It was probably the most amazingly engineered road I have been on. The cliff was so steep that it was rare to see the river in the valley bottom thousands of feet below.
The ride was a little scarey too. True capitolism exsists in the third world as people try to make a buck anyway they can - and the government permits this unlike at home. On busses, this meens picking up anyone on the side of the highway that flags you down. It also means that if there is a bus in front of you, you had better pass it to get that flag before he does. It also means that you don´t let yourself get passed. Usually as soon as the bus would pass another, someone would ask to get dropped off and the race is on again. When there is a military check point, there is no attempt to pass, but things don´t slow down much. The military doesn´t seem interested in busses much, but about half of them look alert like they are working. The one time I have been seached was in Ecuador, and I could have had a gun and a pound of cocaine and he probably would have missed both. The bus I was on had a special light that would flash when passing on a blind corner. People think I should watch out for crime here. I think that the bus rides are the real danger. Most criminals let you escape with at least your life. If the bus goes off a raod like the one I was on today, there is absolutly no chance anyone would survive.
I can´t get over how beautiful the first day in this country has been. In half a day, I ahve passed through many different mountain formations and many different types of vegitation. We passed a lot of Wan Valdez looking people either riding horses or donkeys, the trailers they pulled, or leading them with goods on the horses backs.
There has been a sudden change in the apearance of people when I crossed the border. Most changes in people´s appearance is more defined by region and takes distance to manifest. Columbian´s are much taller and tend to have more European blood. There are also a lot of black people. Most people of all races are tall and slim.
Columbia has left a fantastic first impression. I wish I didn´t feel the need to speed through. On the other hand, I think that I have got a basic feel for each country I have been to which is good though. If I speed through to the Atlantic beaches, then I can take my time for the rest of my trip. From what I hear, the Columbian beaches are the best.
It took some time to get through the border. There was a long wait for my exit stamp from Ecuador and then anoth wait for my entry stamp to Columbia. On the Columbian side, there were a lot of police who looked like they were from the future. The Equiptment they had on was all black and looked like the hockey gear from ¨Strange Brew¨or ¨The Running Man¨.
The military presence is big too. I walked from the border to the nearest town and passed soldiers patrolling on foot. I wanted to get to Popayan, so keeped asking directions to the bus terminal. There aren´t many grinkos in Columbia. There are a few people with pale skin and brown eyes, probably of Spanish blood. I haven´t seen any eyes other than brown yet. People look at me as if I am different, not in a bad way, just in a strange way.
The bus ride to Popayan was the most beautiful drive I have done yet. It quicky switched from fields were cut all different shapes and sizes on rolling hills to massive mountains. For about 3 hours, the road was etched into the side of a cliff. It was probably the most amazingly engineered road I have been on. The cliff was so steep that it was rare to see the river in the valley bottom thousands of feet below.
The ride was a little scarey too. True capitolism exsists in the third world as people try to make a buck anyway they can - and the government permits this unlike at home. On busses, this meens picking up anyone on the side of the highway that flags you down. It also means that if there is a bus in front of you, you had better pass it to get that flag before he does. It also means that you don´t let yourself get passed. Usually as soon as the bus would pass another, someone would ask to get dropped off and the race is on again. When there is a military check point, there is no attempt to pass, but things don´t slow down much. The military doesn´t seem interested in busses much, but about half of them look alert like they are working. The one time I have been seached was in Ecuador, and I could have had a gun and a pound of cocaine and he probably would have missed both. The bus I was on had a special light that would flash when passing on a blind corner. People think I should watch out for crime here. I think that the bus rides are the real danger. Most criminals let you escape with at least your life. If the bus goes off a raod like the one I was on today, there is absolutly no chance anyone would survive.
I can´t get over how beautiful the first day in this country has been. In half a day, I ahve passed through many different mountain formations and many different types of vegitation. We passed a lot of Wan Valdez looking people either riding horses or donkeys, the trailers they pulled, or leading them with goods on the horses backs.
There has been a sudden change in the apearance of people when I crossed the border. Most changes in people´s appearance is more defined by region and takes distance to manifest. Columbian´s are much taller and tend to have more European blood. There are also a lot of black people. Most people of all races are tall and slim.
Columbia has left a fantastic first impression. I wish I didn´t feel the need to speed through. On the other hand, I think that I have got a basic feel for each country I have been to which is good though. If I speed through to the Atlantic beaches, then I can take my time for the rest of my trip. From what I hear, the Columbian beaches are the best.
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Jungle
Finaly, I got to the Jungle. It really is amazing how life can´t seem to stop here. There are so many differnt plants insects and birds.
Today, I took a bus from Baños to Tena. It was one of the most scenic trips I have done. I even saw some wild parrots. I suspect I dropped in elevation a bit as it is slightly uncomfortably humid and warm at 8:30 pm. Back in Baños and Puyo, the temperature was perfect as it has been most of the places I have been. In fact other than Boliva, which I was slightly underdressed for, the weather in Western South America is close to perfect. Daytime highs average around 20-25 degrees and at night it´s usually about 15 degrees.
I was in Baños when Ecuador tied Uraguay in a soccer (futbol) game. People were extatic. All of the taxis had Ecuador flags, some covering the whole hood (bonnet for Brits) of the car. About 1/3 people where wearing the jersey of the national team. Some women had Ecuador flags painted on their cleavage, making me excited for the country as well. The reason they were so excited about a tie was that it secured a spot for Ecuador in the world cup. I have come to appreciate watching soccer although it´s nothing like a good hockey game.
I sure wish I had more time. I guess I have to come back. Two months seemed like a lot, but Now I think that an average of one month per country would be more realistic. I´ve seen the Jungle, now I have to get to the beaches. I´m going to do this primarily on the Atlantic side of Columbia and Venezeula. I hope my passege is safe. I´m going to have to be smart in Columbia. I wish that there was onlt one kind of militia in Columbia, but both the left and right are represented. If it was just the FARC, I could wear a Che Guavara shirt and feel a little safer, but there are right wing militias as well. I´ve been told that grungy backpackers are rarely a target and that the vast majority of the 8000 kidnapings a year are Columbians with a minority of forgien oil workers. To put things in perspective, it´s estimated that 8000 people die in car accidents in Brazil each year. I´m sure very few of the kidnapped find it to be their final story.
Having said that, Columbia boasts the greatest variety of plant, bird and animal species per unit area of any other country in the world. I´ve also been told that Columbians are among the friendliest and most outgoing in South America which is really saying something.
Some of my most enjoyable times have been on the busses. If I do more than 8 hours, it can be too much, but I have met so many wonderful people on busses and seen incredible landscapes. A couple of days ago, I was fortunate enough to have purchased a reserved seat on a bus that really filled up as we went. There was a mother with her one year old that was being squashed against my leg. I picket him up and put him on my lap. He Quickly feel asleep. Later on, I think the mother went to the back to go to the bathroom. Later still, I saw her walk past me and off the bus. I don´t know if she forgot or was just putting her bags down. The driver started to pull away and I yelled, ¨¡Parada, parada!¨
The bus stopped and the mother ran to me and grapped her child.
Ecuador hasn´t been to eventful so far, but it has been very pleasant. I don´t need any excitement here. It´s nice to relax after the ups and downs in Peru. I would recomend this country for travel to anyone. My hotel in Baños was $5 a night for a really beautiful room overlooking the town and the valley. I´m sure the room would be well over$100 in Canada. It even met Canadian hygenic standards. I wish I had time to go deeper into the jungle. It´s good to keep time precious though. Every moment is a gift.
Today, I took a bus from Baños to Tena. It was one of the most scenic trips I have done. I even saw some wild parrots. I suspect I dropped in elevation a bit as it is slightly uncomfortably humid and warm at 8:30 pm. Back in Baños and Puyo, the temperature was perfect as it has been most of the places I have been. In fact other than Boliva, which I was slightly underdressed for, the weather in Western South America is close to perfect. Daytime highs average around 20-25 degrees and at night it´s usually about 15 degrees.
I was in Baños when Ecuador tied Uraguay in a soccer (futbol) game. People were extatic. All of the taxis had Ecuador flags, some covering the whole hood (bonnet for Brits) of the car. About 1/3 people where wearing the jersey of the national team. Some women had Ecuador flags painted on their cleavage, making me excited for the country as well. The reason they were so excited about a tie was that it secured a spot for Ecuador in the world cup. I have come to appreciate watching soccer although it´s nothing like a good hockey game.
I sure wish I had more time. I guess I have to come back. Two months seemed like a lot, but Now I think that an average of one month per country would be more realistic. I´ve seen the Jungle, now I have to get to the beaches. I´m going to do this primarily on the Atlantic side of Columbia and Venezeula. I hope my passege is safe. I´m going to have to be smart in Columbia. I wish that there was onlt one kind of militia in Columbia, but both the left and right are represented. If it was just the FARC, I could wear a Che Guavara shirt and feel a little safer, but there are right wing militias as well. I´ve been told that grungy backpackers are rarely a target and that the vast majority of the 8000 kidnapings a year are Columbians with a minority of forgien oil workers. To put things in perspective, it´s estimated that 8000 people die in car accidents in Brazil each year. I´m sure very few of the kidnapped find it to be their final story.
Having said that, Columbia boasts the greatest variety of plant, bird and animal species per unit area of any other country in the world. I´ve also been told that Columbians are among the friendliest and most outgoing in South America which is really saying something.
Some of my most enjoyable times have been on the busses. If I do more than 8 hours, it can be too much, but I have met so many wonderful people on busses and seen incredible landscapes. A couple of days ago, I was fortunate enough to have purchased a reserved seat on a bus that really filled up as we went. There was a mother with her one year old that was being squashed against my leg. I picket him up and put him on my lap. He Quickly feel asleep. Later on, I think the mother went to the back to go to the bathroom. Later still, I saw her walk past me and off the bus. I don´t know if she forgot or was just putting her bags down. The driver started to pull away and I yelled, ¨¡Parada, parada!¨
The bus stopped and the mother ran to me and grapped her child.
Ecuador hasn´t been to eventful so far, but it has been very pleasant. I don´t need any excitement here. It´s nice to relax after the ups and downs in Peru. I would recomend this country for travel to anyone. My hotel in Baños was $5 a night for a really beautiful room overlooking the town and the valley. I´m sure the room would be well over$100 in Canada. It even met Canadian hygenic standards. I wish I had time to go deeper into the jungle. It´s good to keep time precious though. Every moment is a gift.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Peru to Ecuador
Well, I got sucked into a scam. When I was in Tumbes, a guy asked me if I was going to Ecuador. I said that I was and he told me that I had to go that night because the border would be closed due to protests the next day. He told me he was going too. We got in a taxi and headed for the border. Everything seemed fine, but he told me I should watch my stuff because there were thieves at the border.
Now the border check points are about 10 km apart. I suspect it may have somehting to do with disputes over it's boundries though I read that they were resolved six years ago after some deaths on both sides. The guy asked me for $7 to pay the police to let us through. He paid the police and away we went. We made a tight turn into an alley, and that's when I knew something wasn't right. It was very dark. A police man came out, and talked to the guy I was with. I was told I had to pay the driver $10, not 10 sols as we had agreed to. I also had to give the cops a buch of money to get out of this place that looked like some kind of temporary jail.
Oh well, $50 isn't too bad considering I had another $600 in my hidden pocket. It's pretty spooky walking around with that kind of money, but I lost my bank card and travelers cheques are a real pain in the ass down here. Some want as much as 10% commision and you have to pay commision when you buy them.
I'm happy to be in Equador. The first night, I stayed in a city called Machala that was ok, but nothing special. There were really nice parks and people, but it seemed like everything was built for funtion rather than having any meaning or style.
Today, I took a bus from Machala to Cuenca. It was such a beautiful trip. The banana plantations were homogenious, but very green, and the bus went through places that had wild vegitation but were not parks. It was almost like my first taste of the jungle. The houses in the countryside were much nicer than those in all of the other countries I have visited. Another thing that surprised me was the number of privately owned cars - most of which are newer and nicer than mine.
Cuenca is the most beautiful city I have seen in South America. Many of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and the gardens and parks rivial those of Victoria. There is a little more traffic than the rest of South America, but nothing you could compair to Canadian cities. I had some fantastic ice cream and pasteries. It was a real treat considering the only food I have really enjoyed so far is the juices.
Tommorow, I'm headed for the town of Banos. The name sure doesn't sound good if you know any Spanish, but it's supposed to have good acces to the Amazon Jungle. It seems that Ecuador is going to be my last chance at the Amazon as Columbia and Venezuela are supposed to be a little dangerous in those areas.
That's it for now.
Now the border check points are about 10 km apart. I suspect it may have somehting to do with disputes over it's boundries though I read that they were resolved six years ago after some deaths on both sides. The guy asked me for $7 to pay the police to let us through. He paid the police and away we went. We made a tight turn into an alley, and that's when I knew something wasn't right. It was very dark. A police man came out, and talked to the guy I was with. I was told I had to pay the driver $10, not 10 sols as we had agreed to. I also had to give the cops a buch of money to get out of this place that looked like some kind of temporary jail.
Oh well, $50 isn't too bad considering I had another $600 in my hidden pocket. It's pretty spooky walking around with that kind of money, but I lost my bank card and travelers cheques are a real pain in the ass down here. Some want as much as 10% commision and you have to pay commision when you buy them.
I'm happy to be in Equador. The first night, I stayed in a city called Machala that was ok, but nothing special. There were really nice parks and people, but it seemed like everything was built for funtion rather than having any meaning or style.
Today, I took a bus from Machala to Cuenca. It was such a beautiful trip. The banana plantations were homogenious, but very green, and the bus went through places that had wild vegitation but were not parks. It was almost like my first taste of the jungle. The houses in the countryside were much nicer than those in all of the other countries I have visited. Another thing that surprised me was the number of privately owned cars - most of which are newer and nicer than mine.
Cuenca is the most beautiful city I have seen in South America. Many of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and the gardens and parks rivial those of Victoria. There is a little more traffic than the rest of South America, but nothing you could compair to Canadian cities. I had some fantastic ice cream and pasteries. It was a real treat considering the only food I have really enjoyed so far is the juices.
Tommorow, I'm headed for the town of Banos. The name sure doesn't sound good if you know any Spanish, but it's supposed to have good acces to the Amazon Jungle. It seems that Ecuador is going to be my last chance at the Amazon as Columbia and Venezuela are supposed to be a little dangerous in those areas.
That's it for now.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Up and down in Peru
Well, Peru continues to have its ups and downs. Just before I left Cusco, Ihad the good fortune to see it at night. I never knew a city could be so beatiful at night. They really put some thought into their lighting.
Putting thought into things is nothing new to the Inca people. There is obviously a lot of pride in their past and present. There are many grandstatues of past Inca leaders as well as more recent war hereos. The Inca flag is more common than the Peruvian flag around Cusco. Much to their dismay, the gay commuity has decided to make the inca flage their own.I´d be insulted as well, they could at lest change one of the 7 colours.
NEVER TAKE A BUS FROM CUSCO TO LIMA!!!!!!! It took about 20 hours and twisted like no road has twisted before up and downmountains with almost no vegitation. The day I left, I took my anti Malariadrug which gives me nightmares the same night. After the first nightmare onthe bus, I was afraid to fall asleep. I´ve never experienced anything like itbefore. I could see that I was on the bus through my eyes moving in REM, butit felt like an evil spirit had entered my body and I had to fight it. I wastrying to scream for help, but I don´t think it came out, some sounds may have. I heard trywhat I was ing to say in my head as if it was 20 voicesspeaking at the same time. I kind of knew that I was dreaming, but could notwake up. It made a terrible bus ride horific.
The last part of the bus ride would have been ok if it didn´t smell of BO andif my joints didn´t ache from being still for so long. It was a vast desert,mostly without any sign of life whatsoever that extended to the ocean. Idon´t know how it doesn´t ever rain right next to the ocean. In some placesthere were a few cacti and there were a lot of places where they were experimenting with agriculture in the desert. I think it involved mosty chemical fertalizers although I saw the biggest compost pile I have ever seenin one place.
It´s interesting how much more the land is used for agriculture here. You mayno even notice at first glance, but the land is used much as possible. Nobody would think of mowing a lawn. That would be wasting a valuable resource. You can turn those lawnclippings into wool and lama steak. In city parks, even atmachu Pichu they have lamas grazing, keeping the lawn nice. Their little dearlike turds keep it fertilized as well.
I haven´t been in a national park where there were more than 5 people who livein the park, but there are many sheep, cattle and lamas grazing. Everywhereelse, if someone can grow their own food, they do. The deforestation isunfortunate, but it´s not like in Canada, where it is done only for money. Here, it is done so people don´t go hungry. Wood isn´t used much at all here, all houses are made from mud or brick.
Lima was the most dismal city I have ever seen. Dispite being sick of the bus, I got another ticket to get out. There is a permanent fog that blocksout the stars and sun, and every block looks like the last. I got a hotel room for a few hours because I didn´t even want to walk the streets. To save$1 I washed my shorts in the sink, broke it, and payed $20 to have it fixxed.
Now I am in Huaraz. It´s a small mountian city, and you can see Peru´shighest mountain from here. I did a couple of tours the past two days thatwere nice. I met a girl from New Jersey who was with her mom, sister andfriend hwho live in Lima. It was sure nice to have her to translate for me,and just nice to be ble to speak English to someone. They invited me to Lima,and it was tempting, but I need to move on, not back. When they were leaving,I didn´t have any liquid cash whatsoever, and owed the tour company and myhotel moeny. It was really hard to get a travelers cheque cashed here. Iwent about 20 hours without food and little water that I was rationing. I was really getting dizzy by time I did manage to get some cash. I went straight to a orange juice stand and had a couple of glasses of fresh squeezed juice.It was a lot more expensive than Bolivian orange juice, but I forked out the 35 cents a glass. Oranges sell for about $.50 a kilo here.
One of the tours I did with my adopted family was called Chavin. It was made in1200BC. It was largley in good shape until about 1945 when rain destroyed alot of it. I some ways I like it more than Machu pichu because you could goinside the temple and there was a large maze of halls and rooms. It´s hard tobelive I was in such a building that was made over 3000 years ago. There weretunnels made for carying voices long distances, and complex water canals aswell as fantastic carvings. What made Machu Pichu great was the that it wasnear the top of a mountian, and the views were spectacular. It was in aboutthe same shape a Chavin, but Chavin is about 2000 years older.
Another cool thing in the tour the day before was a natural spring. Therewere lots of bubbles coming up with the water and to drink the water was like drinking carbonated water. I don´t like carbonated water much, but it was an interesting natural thing to experience.
I´m going to make it to Equador as quickly as I can, then hopefully I can slow down, maybe spending some time on some nice Columbian beaches. Maybe I´ll even have time to see Angel Falls when I am in Venezuela. I bought a plane ticket to fly from Caracas to Sao Paulo at the end of October.
Putting thought into things is nothing new to the Inca people. There is obviously a lot of pride in their past and present. There are many grandstatues of past Inca leaders as well as more recent war hereos. The Inca flag is more common than the Peruvian flag around Cusco. Much to their dismay, the gay commuity has decided to make the inca flage their own.I´d be insulted as well, they could at lest change one of the 7 colours.
NEVER TAKE A BUS FROM CUSCO TO LIMA!!!!!!! It took about 20 hours and twisted like no road has twisted before up and downmountains with almost no vegitation. The day I left, I took my anti Malariadrug which gives me nightmares the same night. After the first nightmare onthe bus, I was afraid to fall asleep. I´ve never experienced anything like itbefore. I could see that I was on the bus through my eyes moving in REM, butit felt like an evil spirit had entered my body and I had to fight it. I wastrying to scream for help, but I don´t think it came out, some sounds may have. I heard trywhat I was ing to say in my head as if it was 20 voicesspeaking at the same time. I kind of knew that I was dreaming, but could notwake up. It made a terrible bus ride horific.
The last part of the bus ride would have been ok if it didn´t smell of BO andif my joints didn´t ache from being still for so long. It was a vast desert,mostly without any sign of life whatsoever that extended to the ocean. Idon´t know how it doesn´t ever rain right next to the ocean. In some placesthere were a few cacti and there were a lot of places where they were experimenting with agriculture in the desert. I think it involved mosty chemical fertalizers although I saw the biggest compost pile I have ever seenin one place.
It´s interesting how much more the land is used for agriculture here. You mayno even notice at first glance, but the land is used much as possible. Nobody would think of mowing a lawn. That would be wasting a valuable resource. You can turn those lawnclippings into wool and lama steak. In city parks, even atmachu Pichu they have lamas grazing, keeping the lawn nice. Their little dearlike turds keep it fertilized as well.
I haven´t been in a national park where there were more than 5 people who livein the park, but there are many sheep, cattle and lamas grazing. Everywhereelse, if someone can grow their own food, they do. The deforestation isunfortunate, but it´s not like in Canada, where it is done only for money. Here, it is done so people don´t go hungry. Wood isn´t used much at all here, all houses are made from mud or brick.
Lima was the most dismal city I have ever seen. Dispite being sick of the bus, I got another ticket to get out. There is a permanent fog that blocksout the stars and sun, and every block looks like the last. I got a hotel room for a few hours because I didn´t even want to walk the streets. To save$1 I washed my shorts in the sink, broke it, and payed $20 to have it fixxed.
Now I am in Huaraz. It´s a small mountian city, and you can see Peru´shighest mountain from here. I did a couple of tours the past two days thatwere nice. I met a girl from New Jersey who was with her mom, sister andfriend hwho live in Lima. It was sure nice to have her to translate for me,and just nice to be ble to speak English to someone. They invited me to Lima,and it was tempting, but I need to move on, not back. When they were leaving,I didn´t have any liquid cash whatsoever, and owed the tour company and myhotel moeny. It was really hard to get a travelers cheque cashed here. Iwent about 20 hours without food and little water that I was rationing. I was really getting dizzy by time I did manage to get some cash. I went straight to a orange juice stand and had a couple of glasses of fresh squeezed juice.It was a lot more expensive than Bolivian orange juice, but I forked out the 35 cents a glass. Oranges sell for about $.50 a kilo here.
One of the tours I did with my adopted family was called Chavin. It was made in1200BC. It was largley in good shape until about 1945 when rain destroyed alot of it. I some ways I like it more than Machu pichu because you could goinside the temple and there was a large maze of halls and rooms. It´s hard tobelive I was in such a building that was made over 3000 years ago. There weretunnels made for carying voices long distances, and complex water canals aswell as fantastic carvings. What made Machu Pichu great was the that it wasnear the top of a mountian, and the views were spectacular. It was in aboutthe same shape a Chavin, but Chavin is about 2000 years older.
Another cool thing in the tour the day before was a natural spring. Therewere lots of bubbles coming up with the water and to drink the water was like drinking carbonated water. I don´t like carbonated water much, but it was an interesting natural thing to experience.
I´m going to make it to Equador as quickly as I can, then hopefully I can slow down, maybe spending some time on some nice Columbian beaches. Maybe I´ll even have time to see Angel Falls when I am in Venezuela. I bought a plane ticket to fly from Caracas to Sao Paulo at the end of October.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)