SALENTO AND OUR ENCOUNTER WITH EL PUEBLO DE CALLES CORTAS Y RECUERDOS LARGOS (THE VILLAGE OF SHORT STREETS AND LONG MEMORIES)
We arrived in Salento, a lovely little town in the heart of the Coffee region of Colombia. Agreeable weather, friendly people, a speciality of fresh trout and endless amounts of fresas con crema (strawberries and cream)...we were already having an incredible time! The fresas con crema obsession began fairly quickly....we managed to convince ourselves (didnt take long) that it was the best lunch option, the best dinner option, made a great snack and a delightful dessert!! Took me right back to the English summer and I was happy to embrace that feeling.
We spent the first day lazing about, always a standard after any bus journey no matter how long or short. The next day we head of to the Valle de Cocora, where the Wax Palm Trees are. These palms are incredible....they grow up to 60m in height, survive in altitude as high as 2500m and can be as old as 200yrs!!
It is a great valley for hiking, so away we went.....we soon stopped (by soon I mean after about 30 mins) to take some photos and admire the view. Within 5 mins we were seated, 10 mins we were lying and 4 hours later we were still there! Decided that hiking was overrated and chilling on the grass in the sun was the more sensible option!! Didnt wanna exhaust ourselves or break our new trend or ultimate laziness! (im in training for London 2012!)
After some reading, journal writing, snoozing and chit chat. Beks and I decided to stop being ridiculous and get going...we did...back the way we came....we had seen fresas con crema down were we had started the "hike." That accomplished, we head back to Salento and regaled the wonders of hiking!! I love this life!
The next day, was umm....a lazy one! We got up, had brekkie in the sunshine, watched the England vs Ecuador match with all the Colombians (who were obviously supporting Ecuador...and Rebekah, as she was proudly wearing an Ecuador Tshirt...traitor!!) Had time for some further lazing about, journal writing (how am I STILL behind!), book reading and of course fresas con crema (had you guys worried for a minute!)
Monday morning, we got up, sorted and head out for a day at Don Gustavo´s coffee plantation. It was a beautiful walk down, despite the blistering heat. We got showed around by Don Gustavo himself, had a look at the process of growing coffee and processing it from start to finish, had a wonderful cup of the good stuff, had our photo taken for his new brochure (?!) and wandered off through the valley back in search of Salento. Got to Boquia, (a town where we needed to flag down a bus to Salento) watched the bus we needed to flag down drive past, had the guy giggle at us, and managed to flag down the next!
Fabulous!
Vij, Ive got ya some coffee....wanna send it, but the postal system is pretty expensive out here. As a result I am carrying around half a kilo of coffee beans.....handy!
New photos up folks!
MANIZALES AND OUR FRIGHTENING ENCOUNTER WITH A CAR CRASH, CADAVER AND THE REALISATION THAT THE BUS DRIVERS TRULY FEEL NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR PASSENGERS!
The bus journey to Manizales was fairly uneventful...as usual I sat there listening to my iPod, trying to convince myself that I was asleep, when in fact I was going out of my mind with the boredom of staring at the inside of my eyelids and listening to little kids scream! We were caught in some pretty horrendous, slow moving traffic which only served to prolong our agony. The root of the problem soon became clear when we witnessed the remnants of a horrific crash between two huge trucks, which had spread across the road! As we gawped out the window, people around us began to question whether "hay muertos" (are there any deaths?!) Their question was soon answered when a body laying on the grass slowly came into view....it was laid out with one if not both of its arms missing...a tough reality to swallow! As people crossed themselves and our bus pulled into the clear part of the road, I soon remembered how dangerous the bus journeys that I have since become immune to, really are!
I realised that the reason for such a high number of bus crashes in South America would be because the bus drivers dont feel a shred of responsibility for their passengers. Our bus driver obviously had nothing on his mind bar speeding up in order to make up for the lost time due to the traffic we had hit earlier. As the speedometer hit about 130 kmph, or perhaps that should be 1300 kmph, I started to worry that perhaps this guy was on a suicide mission! There were an unusually large number of kids on our bus, but this seemed to make no difference to our madman, whose conscience must have been crystal, as he continually pummeled the accelerator!
I think this was the first bus journey where the speed made me feel uneasy, I guess it must have been the visual I had just seen and had firmly stuck in my mind, that brought me back to the reality of what possibly lay ahead!
Anyway fears aside and full faith in the driver, we soon (I should bloody well think so with those speeds!) arrived at Manizales....safe, sound and in one piece (apart from my nerves which were obviously shot!)
Manizales was a pretty town, the weather was a bit miserable but we walked around the city, took photos of everything and anything and spent the next couple of days relaxing. So much so, that we booked ourselves in for pedicures. I was thoroughly embarassed when I had to take of my mucky flip flops and unveil my street urchin-like feet! I think next time round I will give myself a couple of pedicures before heading for a professional job!! The lady seemed fairly disturbed by the prospect of it all!
And here endeth another delightful tale!
Mum, dad, grandma, grandad, Vijay, extended family, friends, foes, one and all....I hope I havent alarmed y´all....in fact the bus situation is ok, because in the bus terminals they have massive boards with stats of accidents, injuries and deaths occurring for each company. We regularly check them and choose the safer companies!!! Problem solved!
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So....some details....
At 9:45 am on 21st June 2006: Magrethe Vesterdahl was born weighing in at 2.5kg
And just a minute later (better late than never) at 9:46 am on 21st June 2006: Ingrid Vesterdahl was born weighing in at 2.2kg!!
SOOOOOO EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also Folks,
I published 2 blog entries (you may have missed them because they are backdated) So check out:
CALI, PART II: THE CASE OF THE MISSING CAMERA, THE CROOKED POLICE AND OUR SURREAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE THIEF WHO SPOKE PERFECT ENGLISH!
and
SAN AGUSTIN AND THE BADLY TIMED ENCOUNTER WITH A GROUP OF ANDEAN HIGHLAND MUSICIANS.
ANNOUNCING......
...THE ARRIVAL OF THE VESTERDAHL TWINS!
Folks,
I am extremely proud and excited to announce the arrival of my two little nieces.....
Ok, so I am slightly outta the loop with respect to names, weights, eye and hair colours etc etc...BUT I do know that
1. they were born at about noon-ish on 21st June 2006 (day after the Gemini star sign ends!) and
2. I am an aunt!!!
Woo woo hooo!!!
CALI, PART II: THE CASE OF THE MISSING CAMERA, THE CROOKED POLICE AND OUR SURREAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE THIEF WHO SPOKE PERFECT ENGLISH!
After an afternoon relaxing in the comfort of the cinema´s air conditioning, we arrived back at the hostal only to be greeted by a rather frantic receptionist who was talking rather quickly and very frantically. We managed to decipher a few words...thief, police and iPod. Oh no! We hastily entered our room only to discover that both Rebekah´s iPod and digital camera had gone missing.
We were told that the police had Rebekah´s iPod (no mention of the camera) and that we should head to the "reclamar" section at La Estación Flora. Once there, we asked a dozing police officer where we could find the "reclamar" section, only to discover that there was no said section....go figure! Ok....how about just picking up the recovered iPod then...we are fine about there not being a formal section! Umm...that didnt work, the guy still didnt have a clue. Great...this is gonna be easy! After much persuasion and at least 3 explanations of what had happened in our hostal (though we still actually weren´t clear on the series of events ourselves) the guy insisted on ringing our hostal (?!) to confirm our story and gauge the details...strange approach. He FINALLY decided to get on the walkie talkie, radio-d a number of people (seemed like most of the force), asked us for a detailed description of the iPod and then we were told to wait!
So, as we sat on a bench, outside the station and swatted mosquitos, the 3 officers that surrounded us, all as useless as each other, were alot more interested in The Case of the 4 Labradors.
The Case: A middle aged guy had joined us with 4 Labs in tow, each a different colour, wearing a different coloured scarf and attached to a different coloured lead...strange! Anyway it transpired that the guy had got in trouble with a few of his neighbours as when he walked the dogs, they claimed he allowed them to excrete on their property.
Accused: Claimed that he always had a plastic bag to hand and without fail scoooped the offending poop on every occasion....(just as he wrapped up his defense he brandished a plastic bag from his pocket with noticeable flair!)
Police: Thats all well and good, but why is that bag empty...where is the poop that you have picked up today?!
Accused: (Stuttering) Umm, once i pick it up, i deposit it elsewhere...
Police: Elsewhere...like where?
Accused: (Beginning to sound less sure of himself) Umm...like in rubbish bins?!
Police: Well...that is also illegal...you should be using the animal waste bins...
[Priya´s Note: I dont think these even exist out here!]
....and so the case went on, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth (yes, it really WAS that tedious!) Until finally, the police, the accused and the angry neighbours all managed to tire themselves out to such an extent, that they literally stopped arguing mid sentence and all went their separate ways!
Uh hmm...oops, sorry, sorry to interrupt, perdón, disculpa... just one thing...there was that little case about a stolen camera and iPod?! Oh sure, it´s not important...we can wait! (Have you got a queue we can stand in?!)
So after about 20 (patient) mins of waiting, a motorcycle pulls up...the two police officers walk up to us, ask us about the case and ask us to describe the iPod (again!) [I would just like to mention that we DONT KNOW about the case, as we had had a very confused version briefly relayed to us, were merely told to pick up the goods and return.] Anyway after listening to what we had to say, we then tried to ask a few questions of our own. Where did you find the guy? Do you have the camera as well? Whats going to happen to the thief? All questions were met with a stony silence until the officers replied, "We dont know about your case" -What the bloody hell?! Why the hell where they so interested and inquisitive and wasting our time? What is going on. Rebekah understandably is fairly upset at this point. Especially as everytime we asked a legit Q it was met with a "wait a minute" or a Q in response usually relating to our length of travels, nationalities, civil status, occupations, thoughts on Colombia etc....surely small talk wasn´t overly relevant at this moment in time...Oh, im sorry, or are we standing in a bar or some other kind of social setting?!
Rebekah is fuming by this point, and the situation (and our relationship with the officers) is deteriorating rapidly. A particularly obnoxious officer, that went by the nickname of Gordito (Fatso) then began to laugh every time we opened our mouths. Oh no.... I was ok and managed to stay calm, but Beks lost it. (Fair play to her...I know for a FACT that if I had had my stuff stolen, the frustrated tears would have arrived alot earlier. I cried when I had to pay the penalty for missing my flight, for godssake!)
Before long a meatwagon pulls up and two MORE police officers get out (oh, did I mention that another had since arrived on his pushbike?!) Same ole routine....us relating the story that we didnt know, describing the iPod in great detail and just asking for the goods to be returned. Lots of inappropriate Qs being fired back at us but finally we glimpsed the mystery iPod. And the camera, have you got that too?!
So this was going nowhere, an officer explained that we needed to file a report for the theft, giving stements and do some paperwork in order to get the iPod back. They didnt know anything about the camera. Ok fine, lets do it! Oh, you guys have to wait....
Why?! Whats happening, over an hour had ticked by already and no one had the decency to explain protocol or WHAT WE WERE WAITING FOR!! Every time a Q was aske, we would be shsssed and told to wait?! Aaaaarrrgh! Eventually we were told that we needed to head over to El Palacio de Justicia (Palace of Justice) to do the required paperwork. Ok fine, lets do it! Oh, you guys have to wait....
Found out that we were waiting for some documents to arrive that we needed to take with us to the Palace of Justice. Ok, where are they coming from? Shsssh...pls wait!
We decided to distance ourselves from the force, (well, there were 8 of them milling about!!) So we head over to the kerb and sat down. After 20mins, the 2 motorcyclists head off (they went to get the documents). A further 20 mins later...they returned.
Meanwhile....
I asked an officer about the camera. -they didnt know.
Ok, where were they holding the thief? -in the station
what he´s been in there since before we arrived? -yes.
So why didnt anyone have a clue what was happening...oh never mind.
Could you please ask the thief about the camera -oh, ok...yes we will!
After the documents arrived, the thief was led out past us and put in the meatwagon, we were then loaded into the front section and an officer climbed into the driver seat. I wasn´t keen....positive that the thief who looked very dodgy would make like a llama and spit on me before long! Beks climbed into the front passenger seat, I bundled onto her lap. The officer wasnt having any of it and I was relegated to stare at the grill from the back!
We started off...and soon a voice drifted from the back of the wagon, "Do you girls speak English?"
Yes, we do...do you?...hang on...how come you speak English? Where´s the camera? What actually happened? Oh man...why did you have to choose our room man? Whats your name? Nice to meet you. Dude, did you steal a camera too?
Turns out 35yr old Ricardo, had lived in New York for a number of years was a Psychologist and Language Teacher by trade. He had been hiding from the police, managed to scale from one building into ours through an upstairs window, then run down the stairs and hid under George´s recently vacated bed in our room. As he was leaving he swiped what he could and made a run for it, being caught 3 blocks away by the police! He wasnt sure what was gonna happen to him, but was very apologetic. Wiiierd...what is going on?!
So we are driving along in the meatwagon towards the Palace of Justice, but Im not feeling too good about the journey, we are headed towards a seriously dodgy area and im starting to think that this may be some kind of elaborate setup?! Burning trash cans, broken glass, run down buildings, lots of homeless people and crazy looking people, where the hell are we?! Just as I start to repeat my fears to Beks (again!) we turn the corner and the Palace of Justice is sprawled out in front of us...oh ok, panic over...false alarm!
So the four of us (officer, thief, Beks and I) sign in, and then Ricardo gets led away to be processed and we are left standing around....waiting! Officers walk up to us at random intervals and we are relieved that we are finally getting the process rolling, only to be back at square one when we realise we are being asked how to troubleshoot problems with THEIR iPods. WHAT?!
Eventually our officer, Jhon swung by with a fistful of forms (the ones he had previously had to go and collect and then bring with us) and began to fill them out. Another guy, Alejandro had joined our party and was having to help him out at every entry (I think i was Jhon´s first case...great!) Jhon walks off after a while, we glance over to see where he has gone and see Ricardo (thief) happily wandering about unattended...
After a couple of hours we are lead through to the back of the place , into a room to give statements (even though we weren´t there, didnt have the full story and had heard most of what we knew from the thief?!) So we enter a room and lying under one of the desks snoozing is Ricardo! Oh well as long as you guys have made him comfortable, dont worry about us (shouldnt there be doughnuts and kwaffee available?!) So we sit, and Beks begins to give a statement, Alejandro then wants me in the other room....he wants me to give a statement for something else?! So I sit, as Beks and relate what happened to her?!
As I sit there correcting Alejandro´s Spanish and practically typing out the statement, while he asks me the usual personal Qs, Ricardo wanders through for a little chat...tries to make himself comfy in the corner of my room, then decides he wont be and wanders back out! Im glad Ricardo isnt a murderer at this point!!
The evening progressed like that, just as we were wrapping up, we needed Ricardo to give his details one final time. He was very distracted and tasking ages and yet again we had the chance to talk to him. Wouldnt have chosen to but Ricardo´s opening line was, "you girls are wasting my time!" Excuse me?????? Dude, YOU are the one who nicked OUR stuff....how are we wasting your time!! A small, light hearted argument ensued as everyone else sat around a bit baffled by the scene!
FINALLY after a long evening, Beks and I walk out, statements in hand, exhausted.
Q: Whats going to happen to Ricardo?
A: He needed somewhere to sleep so they were gonna let him sleep there, then release him in the mornin.
WHAT A DAY!
Final thoughts: The Police stole the camera (this often happens!) They probably wouldnt have handed back the iPod either if it handed have been handed in by a member of the public, who had then alerted the receptionist at the hostal that the police had their hands on it.
On a more serious note: I also had my flashlight stolen, but seeing as it was 99p from Woolworths, I have managed to come to terms with my loss and move on. Thought about heading to the police to file a report for insurance purposes...but figure I might give that fun activity a miss as I dont have 3 days to spare at the moment!!
CALI, PART I: OUR CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE AND RESTLESS SLEEP DUE TO THE UNAVOIDABLE ENCOUNTER WITH AN OAF!
Arrived into Cali late Saturday afternoon after a VERY long and tedious series of bus journeys. Our day had commenced at 6am and unlike other days when waking up early in order to ´seize the day´ can be quite a satisfying feeling, this most certainly wasn´t.
Once at our hostal, we decided to get a light dinner (we felt that a good, clean salad would help neutralise all that fried, sweet, salty and other general junk food that we had consumed along our journey!) and then catch a film at the cinema.
Objective 1, dinner. It was nice...a bit on the pricey side (30,000 pesos each, which converts to about $15 BUT you have to bear in mind that an average 3 course meal out here is 3,500 pesos) but clean, fresh and the neutralisation process had definitely already begun! Furthermore, we were brought a scratchcard with our bill and won a voucher that entitled us to 60,000 pesos off our next bill...score!!!
Objective 2, the cinema. By the time we got to the cinema, we only had the choice between The Da Vinci Code (which Beks had already seen) and La Profecía. La Profecía it was...what is that anyway...kinda looked like a horror of some sort, which ordinarily I am not a big fan of (I get more freaked now than I did when I was about 7yrs old and sneakily used to watch Child´s Play and IT without my mum knowing...(sorry ma!)) but we decided it was our best bet. Got ourselves seated, watched the trailers and the adverts and then the opening credits began.....and the film we were watching was....The Omen, the remake. Great, just what I need, to watch a 2hr film which features a freaky little kid who is the child of the devil...what fun lay ahead!!
It successfully managed to scare me sh*tl*ss...loved it, hated it, loved it....jumped, giggled nervously, hid my eyes behind my hand whilst peeking through my fingers, squirmed, put my fingers in my ears to block out the noise and actually full on screamed (in Beks´ ear) at one point...nice!!! It was also bloody cold in there, which most defintiely added to the chill factor! Urgh..what a well spent yet uncomfortable couple of hours. (On a brighter note, the days are piping hot in Cali, so Beks and I have figured that we shall be going to the cinema again during the daytime, to cool down...even if it means having to resort to watching The Omen again!)
After an exhausting days travel and evenings entertainment, I was looking forward to a bit of shut eye! Beks and I were placed in a dorm with one other lad, an oaf named George. Off to bed we went and within no time I was in dreamy dream land snoozin.
Woke up at an unearthly hour due to....snoring! As I lay there staring at him, laying there snoring in his big, white grundy underpants, I desperately tried to think of a way to turn him over without actually having to touch him....
The Hypothesis: I soon realised that all I needed to do was launch the Canada juggling ball (present from a couple of guys I met in Rio) at him. Finally the reason for me carrying around 1/3 of a set of apparatus that I dont know how to use, became clear! I figured that I would clip the oaf with it, it would rebound off the bed therefore leaving no trace of evidence, he would roll over, or at least be disturbed enough to stop snoring and we would be able to get some sleep! (Rebekah could hear him through her earplugs..something needed to be done!)
The Experiment: I launched the ball in George´s direction, it landed "thwack" on his shoulder and rolled off onto his pillow "thud". He woke up, picked up the offending object to examine it and then slowly turned towards me....sh*t! My reaction was to put my forefinger up to my lip and "shush" him. Realising that it was a fairly rude way to approach the situation, seeing as I had just woken the guy up by hurling a 500g weight at him....I quickly added "sorry mate, I was just trying to figure out a way to get you to turn over and stop snoring." I then quickly flung myself over to face the other direction and buried myself in my blankets...
The Conclusion: Though the hypothesis was a stroke of genius, it was spawned from a sleep deprived and frustrated moment very early in the morning.I hadnt really considered the true weight of the apparatus and its lack of bounce factor (which didnt help with trying to hide the evidence!) Oh well, worked a treat as the desired outcome was achieved! Pity it didnt have lasting effects. When we went to bed that evening, within 5 mins of the light being turned off, George rolled over and began....snoring!!! We didnt stand a chance!
SAN AGUSTIN AND THE BADLY TIMED ENCOUNTER WITH A GROUP OF ANDEAN HIGHLAND MUSICIANS.
We made our way to one of South America´s most important archeological sites. Inhabited by a mysterious pre-Colombian civilisation, which left behind hundreds of free-standing monumental statues carved in stone. The site was a ceremonial centre where locals buried their dead and placed the statues next to the tombs. 500 statues have been found and excavated to date....so this should be an interesting couple of days!
We head to the bus station to purchase tickets, the man selling the tickets wanted us to pay $24,000/ticket for the 5-6 hour journey. By merely walking away, saying it was too much and doing a little seemingly disinterested bargaining we got him down to $18,000! Nice! We went out to wait by the bus and as soon as we saw it all we could do was laugh...it was a beaten, broken, abused little thing that looked like an old school bus. I got on and sat next to the window, I feel very strongly about the curtains on the buses in South America and that they should not be touched at any cost! The foul curtains on this particular bus did not have ties, what to do? what to do? Luckily I had a roll of sellotape handy and proceeded to plaster the curtain in it and attach it firmly to the window in order to hold the curtain back and away from me so that i did not have to spend the ride with it gently caressing my face.
Beks seat was horrific, its resting position was slightly less than upright with a lean forward and would not stay in any one locked position but rather would move with the sweet rocking of the bus. This would be OK if we were on a paved road but we were actually on the opposite of a paved road. This meant that every time that the bus moved or Beks moved or I moved or the guy behind her moved or the lady behind me moved or really anyone on the bus moved, Beks´ seat with her in it moved. She looked like a chicken pickin at corn in a farmyard.
When we got into town after a horrendous 6hrs of bumpy, bumpy (much like sitting on a pneumatic drill type) driving, we needed to find a place to stay. Most of the recommended places were outta town, so rather than start walking we found ourselves at "Cambi" -this random little hostel had only one room available and it was next to the "restaurant" which didnt seem to be in business so we figured it would be fine.
Although the beds are hard and there is someones shoes already under Beks´ bed, we decided to stay. We to get a beer, very necessary after the hours on the bus. There wasn´t any electricity in the town, but the beers are still cold....priorities! We seat ourselves in a strategic position at a place with a balcony so that we can make observations about the people bustling about.
[Important observation: I should have bought shares in a Colombian hair gel company! The males in this town LOVE hair gel, they all wear it! Their hair is actually in a great variety of styles many of them looking like abstract sculptures but no matter what the do, it is held in place with massive amounts of gel!]
We decided that we were ready for some dinner. Head to a restaurant which was mediocre, ordered a fruit salad to try and salvage the fact that the meal had been pretty traumatic! The fruit salad came out, there was a glisten of pure excitement in my eyes, but as I dove into the first bite all that joy just slid away. The fruit would have been scrumptous if it hadnt been drowned in nausea-inducing, out of date yoghurt and honey (for those that dont know, I am NOT partial to a bit of bee-poo!)
Back to the hostal for some down time. I inevitably fall asleep with my face in my book...it is coming up to 9pm after all! A couple of hours later, I was woken up outta nowhere by some extremely loud music. Was totally disorientated and didnt have a clue what was going on, until I realised that there was a full on Andean music concert going on...outside our room! I glanced over at Beks, who had still been trying to read at this point, and instantly cracked up...her face said it all, "less than impressed" would be a term that didnt even come close to scratching the surface!
She was close to boiling point but the two of us decided to have a peek at what was going on....didnt manage to as we were scared to open the door and come face to face with the masses, so we shoved our video camera out the crack in the door instead!! The harrowing sound of panpipes continued to float through our room...and bones and each time they launched into a new song, Beks and I broke into a new round of stitches!
Novelty over...time to return to dreamy dream land...except, well...I couldnt. Crazy Andean music is not conducive to falling asleep, was going to have to resort to counting sheep or ants or something!
After the onslaught the previous night, one would have expected to have had the opportunity to lay in until 7am or something....oh could I have possibly made a more unreasonable request?! 6.30am: the breakfast gang arrives, wreaks havoc and successfully manages to wake us both up. Beks face this time round was absolutely priceless, laughing didnt seem quite so appropriate and as much as I wanted to lighten the situation, the spark of humour had definitely passed away over night!
That day we changed hostals, head to the Archeological Park to see the sculptures and generally counted down the hours until our bus the next day outta the place! The Archeological Park was interesting enough, but with absolutely no information on the San Agustin civilisation, I found myself less than enthused and gradually becoming disinterested. Yet another ancient civilisation which opens the floodgates for endless questions which I am not able to have answered. Very frustrating! Our highlight of the day was actually playing with a little puppy that we stumbled upon in the ruins. Does that say something about us, or the people who recommended that we go?
All done and dusted, time for a cool drink and as we sat and enjoyed the drink, I glanced up to notice a cute, itty, bitty squirrel running about the tree. "Aww look Beks, isnt he a cutie pie!" No sooner had I said that, the squirrel began to pee and just managed to miss me!! Urgh...thats where being a nature lover gets you....!
Decided to leave the next morning, woke up at the crack of dawn....only to wait a couple of hours for the bus to arrive. Once on, there were only two free seats, right in the back corner. The seats had absolutely no legroom, (usually this isnt a problem for me) but I actually had to wake the guy up, in order to un-recline his seat, so that I could just get into my seat...set the tone for the rest of the bumpy journey back....
All those thinking of coming to Colombia....you can give San Agustin a miss!
POPAYAN AND OUR ENCOUNTER WITH A MACHETE WIELDING MADMAN!
After our fulfilling stopover in Pasto, Rebekah and I head north 7 hrs to one of Colombia´s most beautiful colonial cities, Popayán. The city was pretty, peaceful and full of yet more friendly locals. The cobbled streets and whitewashed buildings created a clean, inviting and easily navigable town...so easy to navigate in fact, that Rebekah and I found ourselves walking the same set of 10 streets over and over, all day long.
We wandered about the town indulging in (fairly) fine cuisine, (actually we found a place that had scrummy pasta-pesto so you know I was gonna be happy!) and taking photos of the sights and delights of the place.
Rebekah and I found ourselves at the main square, decided to take a left and walk up to a church a couple of blocks up that was on yet another narrow, cobbled street surrounded by pretty whitewashed colonial houses (it is nice honest!) Once up there, we snapped away and as Rebekah took a photo of the street we had just walked up, a cute little ole man walked out of a house close by. I was just about to say...."Aww, he´s just been made a member of my ´Grandad Club*´"
No sooner had that thought come to mind, the grandpa stalked up to us and picked up a smooth yet very (very!) large stone. I thought it was a bit strange for him to be picking up stones to put amongst the rubbish that he had just brought out, but then he came right up to Beks and waved it above her head continuously. He had seen her take the photo of the street and had either been upset as he thought she was talking a photo of him, or perhaps knew she was photographing the street and he wasnt happy about that either!
So, as the madman continually threatened to crack Beks over the head with the stone, Beks maintained her cool, reasoning with the clearly crazy and most unreasonable madman, I grew bloody frantic and urged Beks to move away. FINALLY....my request reaped results and we started off back down the street, had just enough time to chat to a guy who had witnessed the heated exchange, before I happened to glance back up the street and realise that the madman was in hot pursuit of us, this time wielding a machete!!! Oh great!!! I was NOT impressed as HE was clearly NOT stable, so I picked up speed and recommended that Rebekah, who was now milling about editing her photos, do the same. She STILL didnt seem alarmed by the situation whereas I had already played out the beginning, middle, gorey end and had her eulogy ready in my head.....goddamit...how DO we get ourselves into these bloody situations!
We turned a few corners and crossed a few roads and within no time at all had lost him..phew, close call!! The rest of the day was alot less shocking and we were soon lulled back into the sleepy, slow moving pace of Popayán. It was a nice city and a hit (for most part) for us!
[*Note: The Grandad Club, was a club founded in the 80´s by my late Grandad Sodhi, he was a very cute grandad and I felt that all the cute grandads of the world should have the opportunity to be a part of a society that enabled them to mix with other cute grandads and also provide them a forum with which they can be represented -ok thats rubbish, I just derive great pleasure from looking at all the cute grandads and having them in a club! So no sooner had the club been founded, the members began to flood in. Grandad Roy was obviously the 2nd member (and is actually on the board at present!) playing an important role and challenging people´s stereotypical impression of grandads. As the treasurer of the local Gurdwara, a board member of Kingston´s Racial and Equality Committee, until recently a Sikh minister at a number of (both men and women) prisons and often seen cycling about town and countryside on his pushbike, Grandad Roy has given rise to the age of the "Active Grandpa"..! The Grandad Club continues to thrive, almost 20yrs after first being opened, with more members than ever before. Since coming to South America, I have noticed a marked increase in the number of Latin Grandad memberships and only hope that this trend continues to rise!]
I INVITE YOU ONE AND ALL......
Folks,
I know that I have been very lax on both the email and the blog front. I can only apologise and ensure y´all that there isnt a day that goes by that I dont think about each and every one of you (ok, maybe the occasional day....but rarely...oh so rarely!! hehe!)
So anyway, if any of you guys are actually out there and reading my blog...please feel free to leave comments as and when you please....actually...I would really appreciate your comments, thoughts, feelings, things-to-do lists, wisdom and insight etc etc!
Everyone is able to (have changed the function which may have prohibited non members in the past!) so get online and get cracking....
Heaps of love. xxxxx
PASTO AND A FUN MORNING AT THE POST OFFICE!
When we got to Colombia, Beks and I didnt intend to spend our first day on a mad goose chase, but hey....sometimes ya just cant help it! Beks had a wee package worth of stuff that she wanted to send home, so we thought it we´d get that sorted then head to breakfast.....people, from now on, unless you have good reason to complain about The Royal Mail...I would prefer that you didnt....
-Beks and I arrive at the post office and join the...queue....we wait to be seen.
-After a fair while, I decide to ask the lady behind a different counter if they provide boxes for us to pack Beks´ stuff into. They dont, so we head out of the post office to find a box...did so and returned.
-Queued to see the teller.
-told we needed to provide our own brown paper and sellotape, with which to wrap the box. Did so and returned.
-Queued to see the teller.
-told to go out and make 2 photocopies of a document needed to send stuff abroad. did so and returned.
-Queued to see the teller.
-Beks was told that she needed her passport, or at least a copy of it, in order to send the package. Returned to the hostal, picked up the relevant document and returned.
-Queued to see the teller.
-after wrapping the parcel, writing her address on it and filling out the forms, the teller weighed the parcel, and declared that it would be in excess of 100,000 pesos to send.
-we didnt actually have that much money on us, so we head out of the PO to return to our hostal AGAIN, to pick up the necessary cash BUT Beks decided that 100k was actually a total rip off!So we returned...
-Queued to see the teller.
-picked up the parcel, head back to the hostal, unpacked the parcel, repacked the contents into her backpack, threw away the box, sellotape, brown paper, two filled out forms and photocopy of her passport....
.....time for breakfast!
Total time spent attempting to post a parcel which never got sent: 90 mins!
QUITO - COLOMBIA AND OUR BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH THE FARC!
Rebekah and I decided to head to Colombia first thing on Monday morning...so after waking up bright and early and messing about, wasting time for most of the morning, we eventually made a move!
Head over to Terminal Terrestre (the main bus station) and caught a local bus to Tulcan (an Ecuadorian town on the border) After a delightful 6 hours of travelling in the hot, crowded, noisy and fairly dirty bus we arrived!!! Oh but wait, we still had to get a taxi to the border, walk the bridge, a bus to Ipiales, a town on the Colombian side and from there catch another bus to the town of Pasto which is where we wanted to stay the night. (and according to the Lonely Planet, is the first safe Colombian town to stay in?!) All good, BUUUUUT...due to our extraordinarily high levels of time wasting earlier in the day, it meant that the clock was ticking, nightfall was on its way and with stern warnings not to travel the roads by night due to general FARC activity...the question was, whether or not we would make it to Pasto in time or not.....dah dah dah daaaaah!!!
Ok....taxi to the border was fine, (time check: 6.31pm) got ourselves into the Ecuadorian Immigration office and joined the queue. [Aside: Ordinarily I am a fan of the queue...I think it is something that has been ingrained in me as a British Citizen, c´mon guys, admit that you do like a good queue. However, my one condition would be that the queues operate in a logical, orderly and fair manner...reasonable request?! Well, after 5 and a half months out here, you think I would have learnt....I still hold out hope each time I join one, am let down badly every single time, would save myself a fair amount of heartache and my stress levels would be significantly lowered! (Pops, you have NO idea what stress is until you start queuing in South America!)Alternatively in my time out here, I could have used my time more productively and worked on my how-to-queue-jump-without-looking-like-you-are-queue-jumping strategy... It works like this: 1) You enter an ultra busy place and locate the counter, desk, checkout, window etc with the longest queue. 2) You amble (note: amble...because usually your business as a queue jumper is NO more important than anyone else´s in the room) up to the front of the queue, barge directly pass the person who is already being seen to, and finally 3) commence to sort out your own stuff! Works like a dream everytime!]
Sorry about that...so...Beks and I are stood in the queue, being jumped by practically everybody, we eventually get seen to (time check: 6.57pm), the guy stamps my passport in a horrid place [Aside 2: I think my stress levels are alot higher when stood waiting to get my passport stamped...will he, wont he....yes he will stamp it in a horrid place....the whole "I still hold out hope each time am in the line, am let down badly every single time, would save myself a fair amount of heartache and my stress levels would be significantly lowered!" jangle applies in this circumstance too!] So...im pretty done with Ecuador by this point...we are stamped and ready to go....we walk over the bridge of Rumicacha (time check: 7.07pm) into the Colombian DAS (immigration) and join the...wait for it...queue! Surprisingly no one hops in front of us (i like Colombia already) and when the guy goes to stamp my passport I gently suggest a suitable location for the stamp, which he takes quite well and obliges (Colombia Rocks!!). We change a bit of money at a rubbish rate and look into finding transport to Ipiales.
Get ourselves squished onto a colectivo (small public mini bus) and away we go...it is already dark by this point...oh no, does that mean we cant travel on further, but technically its not nighttime, its really only late evening, does the FARC know that, would they consider it nighttime as soon as it gets dark, or do we have a couple of hours travelling time left....lets find out what the other passengers think. I strike up conversation with the guys next to me...he is more interested in telling me that the England shirt he is wearing is an original (that´s nice, thank you, i am truly happy for you, but there is this small matter of the FARC...do they class 7pm to be evening or night? Oh, Steven Gerrard..yes, thats so interesting...yes, he does play for Liverpool, uh huh...true, true...what fun?!?! HEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO!! I dont even LIKE football that much...but I think I like the Guerrillas less, so perhaps some info?) How is Rebekah doing in the search for information...she has struck up conversation with a nice, friendly looking old guy, surely he wants to let us know whether or not it will be safe to travel at this time? Ummmmmmm no. He just wants to let Beks know that she can stay at his place in Ipiales if she wants to! Thanks, but I think I would rather go and stand in that queue!
We get to Ipiales and the general consensus is that it would be fine to travel the 2 hours further to Pasto...woowoohoo!! Get ourselves sorted with yet more transportation and away we go. Am squished between Beks (who is sat next the the window, so gets to take a cheeky snooze) and a guy who just luuurves to sing along to the radio. Was highly amusing at first, Beks and I looking at each other, trying not to crack up...but then it starts to get tedious, she goes to sleep and I am left to have him sing in my ear...for the rest of the journey along the windy, nausea-inducing mountain road...I love Colombia!
Get dropped off at the terminal in Pasto a couple of hours later, catch a cab and settle ourselves into our hostal. Oh but before we turn in for the night, we head out to find some dinner. Only thing open is a bakery, purchase a loaf of bread, (despite us both being able to speak Spanish, it is surprisingly hardgoing trying to convince the ladies that we DONT want cheesy bread!) borrow a knife back at the hostal and lather on the peanut butter which I have been carrying around with me....mmm mmm!! Night!
Oh and in case you where wondering about our FARC encounter....we managed to avoid one...this time!
THE ROAD FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO COLOMBIA
So after a really cool day with Em and Hannie, I head back to my hostal to get myself sorted for my flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. First, I dropped by an internet cafe to do a bit of last minute emailing. So, I was reading a hostal booking confirmation from Lima (I had booked in for the 5th and 6th but had stipulated that I may not 100% be able to make it on the 5th, but def on the 6th) and the reply email said..."no worries, just let us know if you cant make it tonight" Tonight? what the hell is he talking about....im clearly in Brasil tonight....and then...noooooooooo...oh please no.....oh no no no!!!!! "Disculpa....Cual es la fecha hoy dia? cual es la fecha por favor???....es 5 de junio? si??? ...en serio....... "F*********************@@@@@@@@@@@@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Threw money at the cafe ppl much to their amusement, ran (yes, ran!!) back to the hostal grabbed my ticket, gingerly opened it up to find.....my flight was in fact on the 4th!!! So all day, the whole "what luck we have the day together Em, what luck" was in fact all down to my shere inability to catch my bloody flight!!! Useless!! I must be the worst traveller in the world.. Anyway, went to the travel agent the next day, had to pay a penalty but managed to get on the flight leaving that evening. After three plane changes and a tedious 5 hours of flying, I arrived in Santa Cruz. It was the early hours of Weds morning and seeing as I didnt have a hostal booked (or even know of a hostal for that matter) I decided to sit in the airport until the morning and see if I could grab another flight.... Sat, read, sat, read....what a fun night I was having. Didnt dare sleep as wasnt in the mood for getting robbed, but eventually succumbed and had a cheeky nap! Woke up a wee while later and spotted a flight boarding. Found out that it was going to Lima and that I would be able to buy a ticket for the flight.
I decided to check out the other flights leaving that day...one was going to La Paz. Was told that I woiuldnt be able to get a ticket (strange that I could for an international flight but not for a domestic...what logic!) Anyway, sauntered back to the ticket desk of LANPeru and queued up with the rest of the folk. The flight was due to take off at 6am and as the clocked ticked on, I began to get frantic!! The guy on the other side of the counter didnt seem too bothered though, so I figured I would relax and just see what happened.
Well, luckily for me they dont seem to mind selling tickets at the hour that the plane is due to depart...so 6am, I buy my ticket to Lima, (the guy then has the cheek to tell me to make haste run over to check in, queue up to pay the airport tax, get myself through security and begin to board the plane...job done!
After a couple of days hanging out in Lima, catching up with Jam-es and the rest of the crew, I decided to splurge and buy an airticket to Quito (didnt really have a choice as I had overstayed my scheduled time in Lima and needed to get to Ecuador smartish!)....all well and good. Got a great price...almost too good to be true...correct!! Too good to be true, because it wasnt! The guy comes over the night before I am due to leave and proudly hands over my ticket to Guayaquil...Guayaquil?!?!?!?!...dude, that 10hours away from Quito...I need to be in Quito Sunday lunchtime...not Monday lunchtime..whats up with that?! C`est la vie....have to buy myself yet ANOTHER connecting flight...ends up being the most expensive journey across South America...ever!!!
Once in Quito....the sun was shining, birds singing, was happy to be back in the familiar, umm...the sun was shining (by the way, for all y´all who think I am out here sunning myself etc...umm...noooo...its winter ie. rainy, miserable, chilly, winter in london-like...!) I mill around for a couple of hours til Rebekah arrives. Met her mum and sister, (they came down for a family holiday to the Galaps!) [Sniff, sniff...Maw, Paw, Vij: where were y´all when I was in the Galaps?!] had dinner and a jolly old reunion and then prepared ourselves for the road to Colombia.....
MY FIRST FRIENDLY FACE FROM HOME....WOOWOOHOOOO!
After a fun week in Rio and many preparations for my onward journey to Colombia....lady luck struck! Emily Fletcher...(yes, that would be Jessica Fletcher´s sister for all those not in the know) was flying into Rio on Monday 5th June @ 8am to visit her friend Hannie, who has been living here for the past 10mths as part of a uni exchange programme!
Sooooo...after a couple of frantic emails to Jay and Hannie, I managed to get the relevant contact and itinerary details and arranged to hook up with the pair when Em arrived!
Em arrived, the clock struck 11am and I was on the blower. We arranged to meet at Post 9, Ipanema beach....what fun! I ran around like a headless chicken for a couple of hours as I made last minute preparations to leave the country that evening....and then hopped onto a bus and hurtled towards Ipanema. As I approached, Post No. 9...there was that familiar face that I have come to know and love....Miss Em!!! Was very hyper (for a change) and all choked up for a little while. Pushed the emotion aside...didnt wanna scare the poor girl...and went about getting ourselves stationed on the beach!
After a good ole natter, a spot of sun soaking and the usual harrasment from beach hawkers, we were ready for lunch. Head over to an all you can eat place in the square...that would be all you can eat meat, salad, fish and more....
Once fed, we made our way to Botafogo, where Hannie lived...messed around for a while longer before I was walked to the bus stop, put on a bus and waved a teary (no exagerration!) goodbye. Needed to get myself to the airport to catch my flight to Bolivia.
Now, if I had had one wish that day: It would def be to spend just one more day with Em and Hannie.....oh, hold on...
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