So... What next?

29/07/2009

The day has come to leave Colombia. In a few hours I'll be boarding the plane that will take me to the United States, to an environment dramatically different to the one I've been used to for the past two years.

I'm happy I'm going to the USA. I got many reasons to want to be there and many new experiences to have. Nevertheless, that does not make it any easier to leave Colombia. I stayed in this misunderstood country for two months and I fell madly in love with it. Especially after a year and a half in south america, in the argentine capital, Colombia was a gift. An utterly different south american culture, which still maintains all the wonderful and impressive elements of this side of the world.

I could be talking (okay, writing) about Colombia for hours, but I won't do that now. A detailed article will follow at some point. For now, I'll say farewell to this magical place that gave me so many intense sentiments and I will take you with me all the way to the USA. I'm leaving Colombia behind, I ain't leaving you guys too! ;)


"Live Colombia!"

Μ.

25/07/2009

That is the title of the international cuisine festival that took place during one of the weekends in Bogota. (well, freely translated anyway...)

ALIMENTARTE





In all essence, the best and most renowned restaurants of the city gather up in a park and present their gastronomic creations, provided for especially "spicy" prices. It's a shame they don't charge something more approachable for the everyday people, but as usual (for better or for worse), the greedy man wins against the gluton...







Μ.

23/07/2009

So I finally made it to Bogota and one of the very first things I had arranged was to meet up with a local journalist. We met up and she took me for lunch to a restaurant called Andres carne de res. The place was so impressive, we ended up spending a large part of our meeting talking about the decoration of the restaurant.

Andres carne de res is not just a simple restaurant. It is a whole experience of visuals and flavors.







Μ.

20/07/2009

The very same moment that I left Cartagena, the countdown also started. Medellin, Bogota and that's that with Colombia. And in the end, I realised that the best parts were already behind me. :(

I had heard only the best about Medellin, but personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Of course, with all the couchsurfers we had a great time. I even met a greek guy living them!



And the city itself is beautiful, taken well care of, clean, well organised but I feel it lacks character. It kept giving me the impression that everyone is so focused on maintaining their "perfect" image that the society dictates (in the clothing, their buildings, their external appearance -plastic surgery is a BIIIIG business here-, in their behavior) that they actually forget to "live" Kai even more so when we're referring to Colombians, the alleged ambassadors of being alive.









I spent a week in Medellin before setting off to Bogota and I can't think of anything fascinating to consider as memorable. Man, I really should not have left the beach!

Before reaching Bogota though, I just couldn't resist and made one more stop in Ibague for a day, to spend yet another crazy night with the nutters I met the first time round we passed through with L. And I certainly did not regret it! The guys gave their best selves and sent me off to Bogota with the warmest hugs I have ever received!


The Ibague group

M.

13/07/2009

The following day I set off towards playa blanca, yet another gorgeous caribbean beach. I was told: "You're better off taking the boat there. It's too complicated getting there by land."

You can already imagine how I went. :) Indeed, the ride was a bit difficult, but definitely worth it. I put my hammock on my shoulder, which I transformed into a bag by putting all my food and drink in it, and set off.

First part of the journey was in a bus, which left me at the toll booths.
Second part was again in a bus. A bus so full I actually had to do the whole ride hanging with my "bag" on the outside of the door, with just four fingers and a foot on the inside (no, it wasn't going slowly AT ALL).
Third part was in a shipwreck of a naval construction with which I had to cross the artificial channel that the spanish had opened during their conquering years (yes, I know, you don't give a crap).
And fourth and final part, the motorcycle of horror. A crappy little motorcycle, ridden at its limits on a nasty dirt road, full of gravel and mud. I practically shit myself on the way there, but made it in one piece.

So here I am, once again, in a caribbean dreamy image. Clear white sand, turquoise water and hammocks all over the place. I stayed there for three days, two of which I spent with the guys I was traveling in Tayrona with, who happened to show up out of nowhere. It was a truly beautiful beach, although after having seen the beaches of Tayrona, it did not impress me much. Nevertheless, it does have its character and when I found out that this is where "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed, I appreciated it even more. :)







On sunday I went back to Cartagena, intending to get to Medellin. Did I? Nope! Because two girls I had met in my hostel convinced me to stick around one more night until the following morning that they had to catch their flight outta there. Truth is, I had no real reason to be in a hurry and when we started coming up with ideas on how to spend the night (one of which was to attempt to dye S.'s hair), I was fully convinced.

The next evening I finally made my way out of Cartagena, leaving the Caribbean behind me for an undetermined amount of time.

Μ.

10/07/2009

Last stop on the caribbean beaches was Cartagena where, truth be told, I had no idea neither what to expect, nor how long I'd stay.

Cartagena is Colombia's most touristy city. There are people who fly from whichever place of the world to Bogota and from there immediately take a flight to Cartagena. Of course, that comes with the usual consequenses: sky-high prices, lots of tourist shops, alteration of the original lifestyle, WAY too many vendors per square meter that will bust your balls trying to sell you stuff and a high number of tourists, just enough to forget at times that you are actually in Colombia.







My hostel (yes, I stayed in a hostel. The only city in Colombia where I did not manage to get a couch to surf) was very central and the street in front of it full of prostitutes.



Next to them one can observe the dudes that are checking people out, trying to sell all sorts of drugs to the tourists, or at least save them from the trouble of needing to carry their wallet or camera all the way back to their hostel. And still, everyone kept telling me what a safe area this is. Sure... You can say whatever you want, but I'll keep listening to my instincts if that's ok with you.
I also tried paying a visit to the bars around the area, but they were all ridiculously expensive.

So, keeping all this in mind, I got bored of this place by day three.

As an attempt to escape, I paid a visit to volcano Zargaboo (can't remember what it's called). Nothing extraordinary, but the highlight of the visit was the hot mud bath that we tried out. One hell of an experience! You step inside a semi-solid substance, inside of which it is impossible to sink and the sensation it gives on the skin is incredible.



And as if that was not enough, there are these guys inside the pool that massage you at the same time. They rub you (I don't wanna hear any idiotic comments!), you chill for a while and then you get out.



Don't think that the experience ends there. Noooooooo nonononono. Afterwards, you are shown towards the -greener than anything and filthy as hell- river just behind the mud bath, where an old woman grabs you and washes you from head to toe. At some point in fact, she says to me: "Take it all off."! What?? Whoa there, wait a minute my dear... Shouldn't you at least buy me a drink first, ask me about my life?







From the beginning till the end, the trip to the volcano was a crazy experience, during which I did not stop laughing. Was definitely a good excuse for me to still be in Cartagena.

M.

05/07/2009

There are so many screams of happiness and achievement in my head that I don't know where to start and which images to describe first.

I am at the exact stereotype of most people's paradise. A quarter-circle beach covered in fine, light-colored sand and rocks on either side of it that form a closed hug that protects it by the waves of the open sea. At the top of the rocks of one side there is a simple, cylindric construction made of wood and palm tree branches for the roof. Some people have put up their hammocks in there and get softly rocked at night by the slight wind.
From there one can see the background of this image, a bright-green mountain with thick, tall vegetation that ends with a row of palm trees at its foot. And I, lying on my orange hammock that I put up between two of those palm trees, listening to the waves crashing at five meters away, pushing the water all the way under my hammock, writing about how much in love I am with this country, while drinking the milk out of the coconut I cracked open not so long ago.


Our shopping for a week on the beach.












My bedroom. :)





During our first evening there something happened that I had never witnessed in my life. The sun was close to its dusk while we were putting up our tents. Suddenly, I sensed this strange light in my eyes. I can see everything orange! No, it's not my obsession with that color. The moment the sun went down a red veil covered the sun, washing everything with a light, orange filter. As the light was getting less and less, the scenery was getting more and more red. I have never seen such colors during a sunset.





This, guys, is the caribbean. In the heart of this picture we spent almost a week with L., M., D., E. and A. Spending every day from the sea to the hammock and from the hammock to the sea, lighting a fire to cook in our huge pot, drinking coconut milk and enjoying fine colombian coffee filtered straight through a sock. This is the life!!!







At some point, however, I had to leave the beaches of park Tayrona. I am now in Santa Marta, the neighboring beachtown and tomorrow I'll be setting off towards Cartagena, always sticking near the coast. After almost two months of traveling, I am now traveling solo. :)

M.