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.