Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Salento/ Manizales
Salento is a small village in La zona cafetera up in the mountains. We arrived at night and the hostel we planned on sleeping in was full. In short time we found another cozy little place closer to the center of town. The weather was comfortably cool and the hostel was beautiful. That night we walked around the town square, found something to eat and shot some pool at a local pool bar (Victor kicked my butt). The following morning we caught a jeep into el Valle de Cocora, which is the biggest local attraction. It is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, with a unique type of palm trees that you'll only find here called palma de cera. We rented horses for the hour and a half long ride through a trail in the mountains that ended in a beautiful waterfall. Our guide was very knowledgable and a little slick (at least he thought he was). What he didn't know is that we were from the 305 and duped his plan to gip us out of a few bucks. It was more about principle than money. We got some great shots and had a good time riding horses through the steep trails. Later on returned to Salento and hopped on a bus to Mamizales, I mean Manizales, where we spent the night. Manizales was alive with young people and energy pulsating through the streets. I was very surprised. The following day we hopped on a bus to Medellin again.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Cali
One thing I learned about long bus rides in Colombia is that they are COLD! I was just coming off a hang over from the night before and wearing some comfortable light travel clothes. It was the roughest ride i've ever had. I trembled for 8 hours and by the time I arrived in Cali my body temp had risen high with fever (even Dr. Vic seemed worried and wanted to go to a clinic or something). I just wanted to get to our destination. I popped in a couple of Tylenols, an antibiotic and jumped into bed for 8 hours of sweating. By morning time I was fine and on my way up for the remainder of the trip.
Our stay in Cali lasted only a couple of days and we were there early in the week. One of Cali's finer points is the night life. Besides getting propositioned by an intermediary for a prostitute and a few hops to empty bars/clubs not a whole lot was going on during a monday night in Cali. There was the option of a strip club we were recommended, but passed on both the ho and the show.
The highlight of Cali for me and one of the best parts of this trip was paragliding. This was always something on my "bucket" list of things and powerless flight has always intrigued my attention. Coming from MIA, where all is flat except the tail end of a Cuban woman, paragliding is only possible with either a motor or tow. We got picked up at the hostel around 9:30 am by Felipe a native Caleño and went to go pick up Heinz a 25 year paragliding vet from Sweden. Another German guy (forgot his name) and a young guy also named Victor. On the way up to the take-off point, Heinz and I had a long and interesting conversation about psychedelics (mostly psilocybe cubensis). Since the areas where the paragliding trips ended were usually cow pastures, Heinz made it a habit to pick mushrooms when the time was right after landings. Once we arrived at the mountain top it was set-up, take off, fly for about half hour, then land.
Words fall short of the experience of paragliding. It is dream-like for a man to be able to fly through the air in this manner without the use of machinery. It is such a pure and liberating experience. The keys to paragliding/ hangliding is through the use of thermals. These are tornado like pockets of air that circulate briefly between the clouds and ground. Birds are often seen circling in these thermals in order to rise up, then glide down. The concept is the same for paragliding. Find the thermals and your ride is longer and higher. Timing is key. My flight lasted just over thirty minutes and we rose over 2,000 meters above sea level. Incredible!
The rest of our Cali trip was just about exploring the city and met some shady characters as well as some interesting travelers. I wake up early, Victor wakes up late! I spent one morning looking for music in the city with Maria a woman from Portugal who once had a Cuban boyfriend when she lived in Spain. Another one of my mornings I met Rafa a very happy energetic woman from Italy who convinced me to travel to Rome. She gave me some brief examples of how similar Italian is to Spanish and how easy it would be to learn some Italian and get by in Italy with very little. Never considered Italy much before, until now. Thanks Rafa.
Our stay in Cali lasted only a couple of days and we were there early in the week. One of Cali's finer points is the night life. Besides getting propositioned by an intermediary for a prostitute and a few hops to empty bars/clubs not a whole lot was going on during a monday night in Cali. There was the option of a strip club we were recommended, but passed on both the ho and the show.
The highlight of Cali for me and one of the best parts of this trip was paragliding. This was always something on my "bucket" list of things and powerless flight has always intrigued my attention. Coming from MIA, where all is flat except the tail end of a Cuban woman, paragliding is only possible with either a motor or tow. We got picked up at the hostel around 9:30 am by Felipe a native Caleño and went to go pick up Heinz a 25 year paragliding vet from Sweden. Another German guy (forgot his name) and a young guy also named Victor. On the way up to the take-off point, Heinz and I had a long and interesting conversation about psychedelics (mostly psilocybe cubensis). Since the areas where the paragliding trips ended were usually cow pastures, Heinz made it a habit to pick mushrooms when the time was right after landings. Once we arrived at the mountain top it was set-up, take off, fly for about half hour, then land.
Words fall short of the experience of paragliding. It is dream-like for a man to be able to fly through the air in this manner without the use of machinery. It is such a pure and liberating experience. The keys to paragliding/ hangliding is through the use of thermals. These are tornado like pockets of air that circulate briefly between the clouds and ground. Birds are often seen circling in these thermals in order to rise up, then glide down. The concept is the same for paragliding. Find the thermals and your ride is longer and higher. Timing is key. My flight lasted just over thirty minutes and we rose over 2,000 meters above sea level. Incredible!
The rest of our Cali trip was just about exploring the city and met some shady characters as well as some interesting travelers. I wake up early, Victor wakes up late! I spent one morning looking for music in the city with Maria a woman from Portugal who once had a Cuban boyfriend when she lived in Spain. Another one of my mornings I met Rafa a very happy energetic woman from Italy who convinced me to travel to Rome. She gave me some brief examples of how similar Italian is to Spanish and how easy it would be to learn some Italian and get by in Italy with very little. Never considered Italy much before, until now. Thanks Rafa.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Medellin
It's hard to keep up with these blogs, because of how mobile I have been. Trying to cram in an entire country in less than three weeks is impossible! Guess that means, I'll be back!
Medellin is a very beautiful modern city. It has a very well developed and efficient transportation system that includes a metrorail and cablecar system. I made sure to ride them both. During this leg of the trip, we decided to stay with Victor's family, which was different than the rest of the trip. It was sort of a pampering few days. It was the first hot shower I had since arriving in Colombia and we had people driving us around almost the entire time we were here. Cesar (Victor's cousin) and his girlfriend took out to La Piedra del Penon. This is an enormous rock with 649 steps that towers over 200 meters in the air. Shit! I was tired when we reached the top. The views were magnificent though! Later on we went to one of the other cousin's cabin retreat that was close by and hung out there for the rest of the day. Luis, Vic and I went kayaking in the river at the foot of the property.
The climax of our stay in Medellin was a birthday party on the weekend for an uncle. It was to be at their ranch in the countryside. The ranch was beautiful and the party was a hit. Tents were set up all around the property to provide additional sleeping space for all the guests. The props and set-up for the party was great. It came complete with an adult pinata filled with adult toys, condoms, and other stuff. It was funny to see all those drunken adults fumbling and scrapping it out on the ground for plastic tits and rubbers.
After a lot of rum, beer and some salsa with Maria with the 2 left feet who almost gave me a linebacker tackle during one dance, I threw up and decided to call it a night. Next day we were off to Cali.
Medellin is a very beautiful modern city. It has a very well developed and efficient transportation system that includes a metrorail and cablecar system. I made sure to ride them both. During this leg of the trip, we decided to stay with Victor's family, which was different than the rest of the trip. It was sort of a pampering few days. It was the first hot shower I had since arriving in Colombia and we had people driving us around almost the entire time we were here. Cesar (Victor's cousin) and his girlfriend took out to La Piedra del Penon. This is an enormous rock with 649 steps that towers over 200 meters in the air. Shit! I was tired when we reached the top. The views were magnificent though! Later on we went to one of the other cousin's cabin retreat that was close by and hung out there for the rest of the day. Luis, Vic and I went kayaking in the river at the foot of the property.
The climax of our stay in Medellin was a birthday party on the weekend for an uncle. It was to be at their ranch in the countryside. The ranch was beautiful and the party was a hit. Tents were set up all around the property to provide additional sleeping space for all the guests. The props and set-up for the party was great. It came complete with an adult pinata filled with adult toys, condoms, and other stuff. It was funny to see all those drunken adults fumbling and scrapping it out on the ground for plastic tits and rubbers.
After a lot of rum, beer and some salsa with Maria with the 2 left feet who almost gave me a linebacker tackle during one dance, I threw up and decided to call it a night. Next day we were off to Cali.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Volcan de Lodo, El Totumo
Local legend says that the volcano once indeed produced hot lava and ash- but the local priest, seeing that it was the work of the devil, sprinkled it with holy water... changing the lava into mud to drown the devil.
I sure hope it was holy water and not a place where they once went to take a piss or crap. Somewhere between Baranquilla and Cartagena, our bus dropped us off on the side of the road near the entrance to the volcano. It was about a one kilometer walk in to the volcano on a dirt road with nothing on the sides. From a distance we finally began to see the volcano. It looked more like a giant ant hill than a volcano. As soon as we got close we were instantly surrounded by about 3 or 4 little kids who were very persistent in helping us. After we paid our entrance and climbed up the stairs into the mouth of the volcano, we handed our new escorts the cameras and our gear. In we went, happier than pigs in shit! The feeling was unlike anything I have ever felt. Your feet do not touch bottom, and the mud is soo thick that it does not allow you to sink. It was definitely worth the trouble to get there. After you get out of the mud pit, you climb down the stairs and into a small river where some of the local women help wash you off.
After a short while we proceeded to walk back up the road and find a place to catch the bus. After a couple of kilometers walking, we stopped at a food stop on the side of the road and had some juice. Different people gave us different information about where to catch the bus to Cartagena. The juice guy talked to one of his friends and offered us a ride to where we could catch the bus. I have to admit, that the ride sort of freaked me out at first. I mean he got off the main road and cut through some dirt road trail that seemed like it was going to a guerilla hiding place. The only thing that eased my worries some was the fact that there was some older woman in the back that he was giving a ride to also. We finally got to stop, hopped on a huge chiva bus that was too packed. We met 2 women that were traveling around the world, but with no airplanes. One was from France and the other from Belgium. I believe they caught a cargo ship from southeast Asia to South America. Crazy!
Anyway one more night in Cartagena then were off to Medellin.
I sure hope it was holy water and not a place where they once went to take a piss or crap. Somewhere between Baranquilla and Cartagena, our bus dropped us off on the side of the road near the entrance to the volcano. It was about a one kilometer walk in to the volcano on a dirt road with nothing on the sides. From a distance we finally began to see the volcano. It looked more like a giant ant hill than a volcano. As soon as we got close we were instantly surrounded by about 3 or 4 little kids who were very persistent in helping us. After we paid our entrance and climbed up the stairs into the mouth of the volcano, we handed our new escorts the cameras and our gear. In we went, happier than pigs in shit! The feeling was unlike anything I have ever felt. Your feet do not touch bottom, and the mud is soo thick that it does not allow you to sink. It was definitely worth the trouble to get there. After you get out of the mud pit, you climb down the stairs and into a small river where some of the local women help wash you off.
After a short while we proceeded to walk back up the road and find a place to catch the bus. After a couple of kilometers walking, we stopped at a food stop on the side of the road and had some juice. Different people gave us different information about where to catch the bus to Cartagena. The juice guy talked to one of his friends and offered us a ride to where we could catch the bus. I have to admit, that the ride sort of freaked me out at first. I mean he got off the main road and cut through some dirt road trail that seemed like it was going to a guerilla hiding place. The only thing that eased my worries some was the fact that there was some older woman in the back that he was giving a ride to also. We finally got to stop, hopped on a huge chiva bus that was too packed. We met 2 women that were traveling around the world, but with no airplanes. One was from France and the other from Belgium. I believe they caught a cargo ship from southeast Asia to South America. Crazy!
Anyway one more night in Cartagena then were off to Medellin.
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