I'm up in Costa Rica now. My friends have an apartment here in San Jose. One big bonus is that I don't spend much money here. One thing that I found refreshing was flying on an aircraft that didn't cross the post 911 freaked out paranoia zone. It was a lot easier getting on the plane than it was to go to a soccer game in Bogota. The police who searched me didn't have the long serious faces that you see in north america. They were enjoying their work, smiling, even dancing a bit when they had time.
I'm not really sure where I am going to go from here. There is a lot of serious flooding in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and it's hard to find out where I can go. I have also experienced 3 earthquakes in the 4 days I have been here. The first was as soon as I got of the plane.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Heading back north
The bus ride from San Augistin to Popayan was slow and bumpy. It sure was beautiful though. It was total wildernes through the most diverse forest I have seen. There were many different odd looking trees in mountainous terrain. It was rebel territory. There were no houses driveways or even paths visible. The night before a bus was robbed on this route. The bandits were found dead in a nearby town square the next morning. I didn´t know any of this until I was on the bus.
Popayan is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. There are many majestic buildings that are all white. The people dress well and there seems to be a lot of money here. Colombia by far has the most beautiful cities and towns of any country I have visited. Having beautiful cities seems far more important here than feeding the poor.
We only spent a couple of days in Cali, sugar city. Cali is a little dangerous I am told. It has a bit of a bad ass look. I wish I could have snapped a picture of a security guard siting on a chair in an empty street in the middle of the night with a shotgun on his lap. He was hunched like he was sleeping but it was hard to tell because he had sunglasses on.
Police, army, and security guards get a lot of respect in Colombia. I haven´t seen anything like it anywhere else. If I have to ask directions, I go to someone with a gun. One thing I like about them is that if they don´t know something, the will say that they don´t know. Most Colombians will give you an answer no matter if they know or not. I think the police get respect because they are so helpful. I´ve seen them help people with car trouble, clearing fallen trees from the road and just being good guys. They don´t carry the judge and jury attitude that I see from the police in Canada. Sometimes when I ask directions, they are happy to walk me a block or two in the right direction and talk a little. Even when I get searched for weapons (usually at check points on the highway) it is usually followed by a thank you and a common Colombian phrase,¨moi a marvle¨
Sugar is huge in Cali. The fields seem to go on for ever. I saw many semi trucks pulling four full sized trailers full of sugar cane. Quite the contrast to the horses used in San Augustin for the same purpose.
Now, we are in Medillin. Medillin looks more like a north american city with it´s modern tall builings, it´s metro that is 20m high in places and complex intersections and elevated roads. What makes it better than north american cities is the vast market area. There are lots of streets only open to pedestrians and they are full. It is absolutely mind boggling the number of stores. Most are in 3 or 4 story buildings and are very small you don´t actually go in the stores, you stand in the halls and tell them what you want. There is also a mall in the area that looks like a majestic church, probably 10 stories high.
The design of the upscale malls in Colombia is really something. Each one is unique. One I was in yesterday had a tree that was probably 30 meters high yet it was still under a roof. The tree had to be there before the mall because trees like that need hundreds of years to grow.
Next we are of to Cartagena. It is like a Spanish Quebec city only much older. From there I will fly to Panama.
Popayan is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. There are many majestic buildings that are all white. The people dress well and there seems to be a lot of money here. Colombia by far has the most beautiful cities and towns of any country I have visited. Having beautiful cities seems far more important here than feeding the poor.
We only spent a couple of days in Cali, sugar city. Cali is a little dangerous I am told. It has a bit of a bad ass look. I wish I could have snapped a picture of a security guard siting on a chair in an empty street in the middle of the night with a shotgun on his lap. He was hunched like he was sleeping but it was hard to tell because he had sunglasses on.
Police, army, and security guards get a lot of respect in Colombia. I haven´t seen anything like it anywhere else. If I have to ask directions, I go to someone with a gun. One thing I like about them is that if they don´t know something, the will say that they don´t know. Most Colombians will give you an answer no matter if they know or not. I think the police get respect because they are so helpful. I´ve seen them help people with car trouble, clearing fallen trees from the road and just being good guys. They don´t carry the judge and jury attitude that I see from the police in Canada. Sometimes when I ask directions, they are happy to walk me a block or two in the right direction and talk a little. Even when I get searched for weapons (usually at check points on the highway) it is usually followed by a thank you and a common Colombian phrase,¨moi a marvle¨
Sugar is huge in Cali. The fields seem to go on for ever. I saw many semi trucks pulling four full sized trailers full of sugar cane. Quite the contrast to the horses used in San Augustin for the same purpose.
Now, we are in Medillin. Medillin looks more like a north american city with it´s modern tall builings, it´s metro that is 20m high in places and complex intersections and elevated roads. What makes it better than north american cities is the vast market area. There are lots of streets only open to pedestrians and they are full. It is absolutely mind boggling the number of stores. Most are in 3 or 4 story buildings and are very small you don´t actually go in the stores, you stand in the halls and tell them what you want. There is also a mall in the area that looks like a majestic church, probably 10 stories high.
The design of the upscale malls in Colombia is really something. Each one is unique. One I was in yesterday had a tree that was probably 30 meters high yet it was still under a roof. The tree had to be there before the mall because trees like that need hundreds of years to grow.
Next we are of to Cartagena. It is like a Spanish Quebec city only much older. From there I will fly to Panama.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Bingo Dancing Cockfights
The part of Colombia I am in now has the most ancient history. There are tombs and stautues that date back 2000 years. The past few days have been spendt near San Andres. It´s a beautiful region in the mountains where the people are almost entirly indiginous. The most remarkable thing here is that there are no police or military. The only real economy is agriculture.
The first day we wandered aroundthe hills, going into tombs that are dated back to about 7AD. Some of them were in excellent shape. That night, we went to the cock fights. It was the place to be on a Saturday night, about 3km from town. It was really a family house that turned the living room into a dance hall and sold drinks from the bedroom. The backyard hd the cockfighting ring. In the rafters the roosters were pearched, one leg tied up. Sometimes the a rooster would slide the rope close to another and a fight would break out above. There were a lot of kids there, some taking bets. I bought a roster for $10 but it ended up in the kitchen. It really was some party. I met a lot of outgoing people.
The next night was the Indiginous festival. I´d guess there were about 1500 people there, most were treated to a free trip to San Andres via chivas. Chivas are kind of like school buses only they have huge tires and are a little wider. People They are usually colurful but still look mean - like monster buses. Often there are more people on the roof and hanging off the sides than inside. The most remarkable thing is that the drivers tend to be careful. On the way into town, we got the seat to the left of the driver (5 people to the right.)
I really liked the festival because there were about 20 different vendors of beef on a stick. The bingo was something. One of the prizes was 3 cows. 2 people won. I´d hate to be te cow in the middle. Indiginous people here are really short. I was the only gringo and towered over everyone.
The first day we wandered aroundthe hills, going into tombs that are dated back to about 7AD. Some of them were in excellent shape. That night, we went to the cock fights. It was the place to be on a Saturday night, about 3km from town. It was really a family house that turned the living room into a dance hall and sold drinks from the bedroom. The backyard hd the cockfighting ring. In the rafters the roosters were pearched, one leg tied up. Sometimes the a rooster would slide the rope close to another and a fight would break out above. There were a lot of kids there, some taking bets. I bought a roster for $10 but it ended up in the kitchen. It really was some party. I met a lot of outgoing people.
The next night was the Indiginous festival. I´d guess there were about 1500 people there, most were treated to a free trip to San Andres via chivas. Chivas are kind of like school buses only they have huge tires and are a little wider. People They are usually colurful but still look mean - like monster buses. Often there are more people on the roof and hanging off the sides than inside. The most remarkable thing is that the drivers tend to be careful. On the way into town, we got the seat to the left of the driver (5 people to the right.)
I really liked the festival because there were about 20 different vendors of beef on a stick. The bingo was something. One of the prizes was 3 cows. 2 people won. I´d hate to be te cow in the middle. Indiginous people here are really short. I was the only gringo and towered over everyone.
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