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Published: August 6th 2007
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Firstly I just realised that their was a major crash down of the site. Unfortunately my last 5 entries were lost, as well as some of my pictures. All apologies for those who have missed reading them but it will be too much work to write it all down again.
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Colombia is nothing like what foreigners imagine. You need to visit the country and see it with your own eyes that guerrillas and narco-trafficants only represent a small percentage and are very much isolated from the main tourist areas. Even though they have severely tarnished the country’s image and history, the situation has surprisingly improved in the last decade thanks to drastic actions from the actual president.
For many backpackers it has become the hidden gem of the continent. I wouldn’t go as far but it is definitely home to the friendliest people. Compared to other countries I have been to, you see fewer gringos on the gringo trail. Therefore it seems to make a Colombian’s day when he spots a white gringo face. It feels good not to be treated with a big dollar sign on my face and they do not hesitate to
Guinnae pig
a South American delicassy help you with their arms wide open.
I crossed the border from Ecuador with a Spaniard and an Aussie that I met in Quito, our first stop was the town of Ipiales. It is the home of the spectacular sanctuary of las Lajas. A neo-gothic church built on a stone bridge hanging over a deep gorge and very popular among local pilgrims. Many locals go there because they believe that an image of the Virgin Mary popped out from an enormous rock back in the 17th century.
We just stayed there overnight and then headed further north to Popayan. Our bus drove through the Andes giving us a mind blowing scenery. Every thing was running smoothly until 4 hours later when the engine also blew up and left us in the middle of a guerrilla zone controlled by the E.L.N movement (Ejercito de Liberación Nacional). Even though isolated, the guerrillas are very much present in the south of the country and on the pacific coast. We stopped in a village full of E.L.N graffiti and waited for another bus to pick us up. All there was to do was kill some time in the local bar,
which wasn’t that bad as we were well accompanied by 4 off-duty cops from the anti-narc squad. These guys were heading home to their families after spending 3 months in the jungle burning cocaine labs and fighting guerrilleros. It was great fun getting to now them but we didn’t know whether to feel reassured of having some kind of protection or scared of probably witnessing their execution. Our stress was quickly drowned with the help of many beers paid by our new pals and listening for 2 hours all their fascinating stories spent in the jungle.
We finally got to Popayan 5 hours later than expected. We only stayed two nights in what they call the white colonial city for the stunning uniformity of its chalk-white facades. It was a very nice place but apart form its churches and white buildings, not much was going on and all that whiteness was quickly going out of our heads. The Spaniard, Magi and I continued our road east to the isolated small town of San Augustin. Undeniably we were jinxed with bus rides; it took 8 hours to do a 150 km route due to muddy and pothole roads with
Chilling with the anti-narcs
With the spaniard Magi and 2 anti-narc cops on the right. buses and trucks skidding all over the place. We only spent two days there but were well busy. We rented some horses to visit some burial sites scattered around the green hills surrounding the town. No one knows the origin of these burial sites but what made it really interesting was seeing the statues guarding the tombs. An approximate of 500 statues was left behind by that enigmatic pre-Colombian civilization. Many of these are of anthropomorphic figures, resembling sacred animals or masked monsters. They were all very comical to see and hard to keep a serious face when looking at them. Going trough the lush mountainous land, we visited a good 50 by horseback and then spent the afternoon by foot seeing the rest of them in the Archeological Park.
After that nice feel of nature, we went off to Cali for the weekend, the third biggest city in Colombia. I really had my hopes high when guide books said it was the best night life in the country and the capital of salsa. However it all went crushing down when I found out that clubs closed at 2am, never thought they were such early birds. I was
then told that it was for security reasons because of the increasing threats and activities of the Cali Cartel.
After that disappointing weekend, I left Magi behind and moved on my own to the capital Bogota where I stayed in the old town. A very pleasant place to stay in, with many bars, restaurant and great cafés lost in narrow streets. My stay was just under a week, enough time to visit all the many cultural sights the city offered. Went and saw one of my favourite Latin American artists Botero. For those who don’t know him, he has a particular and strange fetishism for fat stuff. All of his artwork is of obese form: people, animals and objects of daily use.
Having known the capital, I moved on with people I met in the hostel in Bogota, to the coffee zone of Colombia just south of Medellin. This zone only covers 1% of Colombia’s total land and produces enough coffee to give the country the status of world’s 2nd biggest exporter. Visiting the region was a good break from big cities and a real taste of local culture. We spent two days walking along coffee fields and trying
the product from one rustic village to the other. By the end of it, I was buzzing in caffeine and there was no way of sitting still for the next 24h. The rush was high enough to stay up all weekend and go party in Medellin.
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Paula P.
non-member comment
Pucha la vida de este.....
Hola po Nico, la cago cada vez me impresionan mas tus andanzas, de verdad que te envidio por estar haciendo este maravilloso viaje. Muchos besos y abrazos.