So... What next?

17/06/2009

There is so much fun to be had non-stop in Colombia that I can't find two hours to write a couple of things in my blog.

For now I'll tell you that I've been through Cali, Ginebra (the colombian one, not the swiss one), Armenia (not the country, but the colombian city instead), Salento (the colombian one, not the place that exist in some whatever place I'm sure) and had a trip that got me to meet lots of great people, three cities, thermal baths and one of the biggest parties I've ever seen.

I am now in Bogota with L. and M. and tomorrow we're going towards another huge party and from there to the caribbean coast for about a week. Don't know when I'll be able to post updates, but I promise lots of stuff as soon as possible.

M.

Today I would like to talk to you about... the granadilla.

No, it has nothing to do with the spanish city of Granada (or wherever else in the world happens to be a city/town/village/neighborhood/location/thing with the same name).
It also has nothing to do with grenadine, that red, liquid, chewing gum tasting thing that we used to put in our orange juice when we were kids to pretend we were drinking some sort of fancy cocktail.

What I am talking about, is a fruit! An exotic fruit, the existence of which I discovered while looking for cheap food near Machu Picchu.


I couldn't resist and I just opened it...

Its skin is orange, with white, little spots. Its outside is hard, but smooth and tender and can be easily broken, so please be gentle with it.

You can open it by slicing gently across the middle and tearing the two halves apart with your hands. You can now admire its beautiful content, a mass of black seeds, covered in a soft, transparent fleshy goodness.



Once you become more experienced, you should be able to tear it in half, while maintaining the entire content on just one half!



It is possible that for some it may not look very inspiring, but believe me, it's one the most delicious things you will ever try. Just sit back, relax, stick your tongue in that delightful ball of seeds and suck it in.



Keep it in your mouth while chewing it and let its sweet, fruity juices take over all your senses. Let yourself sink into the delight of this addiction.

Unfortunately, as all things, this too will come to an end.



But now without leaving you with a great smile on your face, giving away the satisfaction of the recently experienced pleasure! :)



Enjoy. If you happen to be in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela or Ecuador that is...

M.

13/6/2009

We finally succeeded leaving this place. Not that we didn't like it, but if I'm gonna start developing addictions already, I'm not gonna manage to see anything in the rest of the country.

The people, the food, the streets, the rum (damn rum...), the city... I fell in love with all that! And C. and E., our couchsurfing hosts, treated us so well, it was really difficult to leave.


The street market.


A local specialty. Tamal de Pipian!


The garden at C.'s place.


The two bridges of the city...


And the same bridges at Patojo village, the miniature Popayan. (Let's see, who reads my blog regularly? :p )

We spent a day at Coconuco and some thermal baths nearby.





It's really funny how they distinguish the baths depending on the water temperature: boiling water and warm water (agua hirviendo and agua tibia respectively).



That day we spent the least possible. Hitch hiked there and back (yes, it is possible to hitch hike in Colombia. Get over it!) y with a bit of persuasion, we got in the thermal baths for free. Ok, the fact that we spent quite a lot later on that night on beer and rum is another story. :)

The following day we spent it at a village called Silvia. A small, traditional, quiet village, where men and women dress up in traditional, colourful dresses.







The crazy fact of the day? Our lunch. Bandeja Paisa its name and its size ridiculous! They had told us to go there hungry and they were right!



And after these adventures, the wonderful food and the heavy drinking, we packed our things and headed to Cali...

Μ.

11/6/2009

Days go by and we're still in Popayan. We just can't escape it. If we're already starting like this, I won't have time to see not even half the places I have in mind.

Last night we went out for a few beers. Myself, P., Camilo our couchsurfing host for our first days here and Emma our current host. We went to village Patojo, which is a micrography of the center of the city. Something around the lines of "honey, I shrunk the city" sort of speak...

There happened to be a bit of a fest there, the guys found some friends of theirs and we started drinking for free. The whole rumble ends, the alcohol also runs out and after having sat around talking crap, we thought we'd set off home. However, no more than 50 meters away, the guys found more friends of their who had several bottles of rum in their possession.

- "Drink up guys" they kept saying.
- "Ok, we might as well. We wouldn't want to offend you" we kept saying.
- "All the rum's gone" they said.
- "Well, we'll just head home" we said (about 2am by that point)
- "Nonsense. We'll go to my place, there's more rum there. Get in the car" says one of the girls.
- "But it's 10 of us all together! And one of your guys is throwing his guts up! How are we gonna fit?" we said.
- "Just get in, will ya?" they insisted.

So out of nowhere, I ended up in a car with my three friends and six other random people, the one of which that was throwing up got shoved in the back seat, under a couple of others and one could say he was struggling.

Dancing, rum (eat up your beard captain Jack Sparrow), foolishness, complaints by the neighbors (around 40-odd the owner of the apartment and leader of the party), drunks falling apart, salsa lessons, olives, mango fruit... I guess they're right. Five Colombians in the same room turn it inevitably into a party.

M.

07/06/09

Bus from Cajamarca to Chiclayo.
Bus from Chiclayo to Piura.
Bus from Piura to Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Bus from Guayaquil to Tulcan.
Taxi from Tulcan to the border.
Taxi from the border to Ipiales, Colombia.
Bus from Ipiales to Popayan.

And all this in just 50 hours!
I'M HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!!!!!!

For a few more details of the trip so far, I added up a few elements of the route since Buenos Aires.

I left Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 19th of may in the morning and arrived in Popayan, Colombia on the 6th of june at night.
This is 20 days and 19 nights.
Which means, approximately 480 hours.
The distance from Buenos Aires to Popayan is roughly (very roughly) 6000 kilometers.
Out of those 19 nights, we spent 6 sleeping inside some bus.
Of the 480 hours that the trip lasted, we spent 185 inside some sort of public transport (bus, train, car or boat).

Yes, I think we'll just take it down a notch now...........

M.

05/06/09

I came for one thing and left with another from beautiful Cajamarca. I came to fulfill a promise I had made to myself a number of years ago and in the end, I am leaving here not only having succeeded to do what I came for, but also having given a new promise to myself and to others that I will come back.



30 hours were enough not only to be dazzled by the character and the genuineness of this city (thanks to the lack of tourists), but also to appreciate the open heart, the generosity and the smiles of the local people.





Giancarlo was our official couchsurfing host who kept driving us from and to everywhere.
Sergio opened up his house for us and made us feel more comfortable than in any other part of this journey.
Jose would make sure with every opportunity that we'd be well fed and "watered"; beer by the litre, tequeños on the spot, the best ceviche in town, pisco, more beer, even an aubergine desert (yes, aubergine! Delicious!!) made by his wife!






ceviche - Latin america's sushi. Raw fish, mied with lemon and onions

Thanks to these guys, we spent two days like kings and got to know Cajamarca much more than I was expecting. Honestly, I cannot thank them enough.

Shortly we will be boarding the bus to leave from here. A huge route awaits us on this final leg of the distance to be covered: Cajamarca, Peru - Popayan, Colombia without any stops! Good luck to us...

M.

We arrived at Cusco after a ride full of weird events. Just the guy that got on the bus, stood in the middle of the corridor and before beginning his rythm shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen... I shall sing!" to remember, is more than enough!

So, Cusco it is and we're here only for one thing: Machu Picchu.
Words are not necessary. The photos say it all.


Aguas Calientes. The village at the bottom of the mountain.







We were there from 6am in order to get out priority number to enter Huayna Picchu, the tall peak in the middle, onto which they only allow 400 visitors per day.
Now for that one, what can I say? About the long and hard hike to the top?



About the incredible altitude which we reached?


Just look where the river is and Machu Picchu on the left in relation to my feet!

About the even harder hike downwards and around the mountain to find the infamous big cavern?

Or maybe about the fact that after going up and down endless steps and losing tons of sweat, we asked and were told that through this whole route that we followed, out feet experienced about 13.000 steps?!?!?!


Yes. 13.000!

When we got back to our hotel well in the afternoon, we went straight to sleep, only to wake up the next morning and head back to the center of Cusco. The long ride to Cajamarca is about to begin...

M.