Leaving Colombia

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The morning of last Sunday (4th April) was actually spent updating the blog, as I remember. I spoke to Yissel and she told me to wait for her before having lunch...so I did.

At around 1pm, she arrived at the hotel and we wandered out onto the main street to wait for a bus to go to a place that she had picked out for us. As the bus arrived we could see that it was full to bursting point with people pressed up against the doors. Undeterred, the driver told his son (I assume that it was his son) to shift over at the front and we squeezed in up front. It was the first time that I'd ridden in the front of a bus in Colombia - well, ever I think!

Yissel had pulled my leg and said that the place we were going to was an hour away. In fact it was only about 20 minutes away (heading north out of Popayán).
We were dropped outside a place called...

...and that's as far as I got with this particular entry before all the lights went out, along with the internet connection. The whole town (Otavalo, Ecuador) is without electricity until 5pm this evening. So much for my plans to get my blog updated! Well, I'll carry on in Notepad for as long as my battery lasts!

So, on with the story of last Sunday. We were dropped outside a place called Santa Catalina - a small farm that doubles as a restaurant which lies on the main (Cali) road heading North out of Popayán. It had been raining pretty heavily in the morning and the ground was damp, but we found an outside table that had reasonably dry benches (although, oddly, not a very dry table top) as our spot to eat.
Of course, we ordered way too much food (although we'd been assured that the portions were individual sized.

We had a delicious assortment of beef and pork along with the standard accompaniments of rice and plantain and wot not.

Next we decided to go for a little walk around the front of the farm and down by the river. The ground was squidgy underfoot

and I wished that I'd put on my waterproof trainers. Still, it was lovely to spend some time down by the flowing water - the peace and tranquility broken slightly by the cars passing on the main road a few yards behind the trees.

Yissel said that the place across that same main road served the best deserts in Popayán. Although I was stuffed, I can always make room for the best deserts in any town! So we headed across the road and picked up something similar to an egg custard (but without the pastry) and something similar to rice pudding (but there was another flavour that I couldn't quite place). Well, the deserts were delicious indeed and, having scoffed the lot, we headed back to the main road to wait for a bus.
Typically when I've waited for buses, it's not been on a dual carriageway and, I confess, I was a little concerned that one of the crazy motorists that went past would wipe us out. After maybe 20 minutes, our bus arrived and picked us up.
One thing that really don't see in Colombia in my experience, is advertising on public transport. So I was a bit surprised to see a big poster facing us as we sat down on the bus. But then, having read it, it was clear that it was some sort of homage to the father of the driver of the bus (who had presumably died). It read something along the lines of "Dad, I'll always carry you in my heart" and there was a large, soft-focus picture of father and son in the center of the picture. It was a bit odd to say the least!

The bus really struggled to keep moving forward and every time we went up a hill, I was sure that the engine would turn its last revolution and give up permanantly. But, remarkably, we kept moving forward and made it into Popayán.
We passed turn-off for Campobello and approached the Campanario shopping center - this was all familiar territory to me by now. And then I saw what was the most disgusting scene that I have witnessed in Colombia.

As we were waiting at the lights, an old lady approached the car that was alongside us (two lanes to the left). She was carrying as sign that said something like "Deaf Mute - please give me money". The woman was waved along by the driver of the car. Next to approach the car was a street vendor - selling fruit, as I remember. The driver bought some fruit (or whatever it was that the guy was selling) and this was witnessed by the old deaf mute woman. Then just as the lights turned to green, the old lady approached the car again and spat in the face of the driver!
The gasps from the bus told me that this was not a regular occurrence. It really was quite disgusting. I didn't see how the situation panned out because we pulled away. I was left wondering how I would react in such a situation...I'm not sure that I'd be able to control myself.

We were dropped off near my hotel and I pointed out to Yissel that there was a homeless guy sleeping under the canopy of a nearby shop. Perhaps we should give him our left over food? (Of course, we'd had it bagged up for takeout). Yissel pointed out that this guy was almost certainly a drug addict and that the very last thing that we should do is approach him...and at that moment I was super glad that she was around. Of course, it was obvious that we shouldn't approach the guy. I wouldn't do it in London, why did I even consider doing it in Popayán?

Well, there's not really much more to tell about Sunday. I had an early start the next morning (I'd booked a flight from Popayán to Quito - via Bogotá), so I went back to the hotel to pack and do some investigations into where I might want to go in Ecuador. To be honest, all of my pre-trip planning had been focussed around Colombia and there wasn't much that I knew about Ecuador at all. Fortunately, a few days before, a guy called Rob from South East London had contacted me via the site and he pointed me in the direction of his blog which contained bags of useful information.

So Monday morning I woke up with a real sadness in my heart. I would be leaving Colombia...and I would be leaving Yissel.
It's difficult to explain just how hard it is to move on from each place - to leave behind people that you've become genuinely close to...to be heading off into the next unknown, to be, for a short time (one hopes) utterly alone, once again. It's all part of the experience, I suppose. But it's a part that I really don't like and no matter how many times I do it, it doesn't get any easier.

Yissel came with me in the cab to the airport which lies just behind the bus terminal. Popayán is about as small an airport as you could hope to encounter. As you enter the gates leading to the airport, your car is checked for explosive devices. Then as you enter the terminal itself, everybody's bag is screened.
There was nobody waiting at the desk so I was checked in pretty quickly - although I had to go to have my luggage manually searched by the police (I believe that this was because I wanted my bags checked in all the way through to Quito). Then, after I'd checked in, I had to go back to the police for a stamp of some description. I really didn't understand what was going on. But eventually, we went to get a coffee and to wait for our call. Oddly, there were no screens indicating departure times or gates.

There was an announcement that I didn't understand and Yissel explained to me that Bogotá airport was closed and that there would be no flights until tomorrow. The smile on her face (and the fact that nobody else moved from their seat) assured me that, in fact, that was NOT what the announcement had said. But there was a delay of 40 minutes. On my previous two flights with Avianca, I'd been worried about connecting flights. But on this occasion, I had a 4.5 hour wait at Bogotá before my flight to Quito so I wasn't too concerned.

Eventually the plane landed (a prop driven Fokker) and I made my way to the gate. Sniff.

It didn't take too long until we were let out of the waiting room and ushered down the ramp for the short walk to the plane. Relatives and friends were pressed up against the glass of the terminal building as we made our way down the ramp. And there, at the end of the window, was Yissel waving me goodbye. Double-sniff.

Shortly, we were heading down the runway. I'm not used to flying prop driven aircraft but I was pretty sure that we weren't picking up enough speed. Still we trundled along and I wondered what was happening. Then we slowed down and the pilot spun the aircraft around at the end of the runway. Well, that was something that I hadn't experienced before. Then, finally, with a whir of propellers, we set off at a decent speed and took to the air for the 50 minute flight to Bogotá.

It seems that we landed at the cargo area of Bogotá airport and I needed to get a bus to the international departures section. Except that my bus only stopped at the domestic departures section (I recognised it well - I'd been here twice before, remember).
I queued at the unusually busy connections desk only to be told that I would need to queue for another bus to the international departures section.
Well, it was a bit confusing, but eventually I worked out that I needed to check-in again (I didn't get a boarding pass for the international leg of the trip at Popayán).
As I was checking in, my Avianca rep explained that I needed to go to desk 34 (I think) across the floor to get a stamp that would mean that I didn't have to pay a tax (or something). I dutifully went over to the window and queued again to get a photocopy of my passport stamped and was sent on my way back to the check-in desk. Then, after I'd been checked in and got my boarding card, I was told to go back to desk 35 (again, across the floor). I really didn't understand why. The kindly Avianca rep escorted me there, my earlier photocopy in hand, and queue jumped me. She reeled off some spanish the clerk at the desk who looked at my photocopy and stamp and then took 60.000 COP out of his drawer and gave it to me.
I can only assume that I was being paid back the tax that I'd paid on the flight...but no matter, I was 60.000 COP up 😊

Then it occurred to me that I'd still got a load of receipts in my luggage for things that I'd bought, hotels that I'd stayed at etc. Maybe I could claim the sales tax back? I asked around and it seemed that I could!
So I went to the relevant window (desk 19, I think) and asked them what the situation was. Apparently I couldn't claim for meals or hotel accommodation, but I could claim for clothes, jewelery etc. Great! A bit of form filling later and I was 150.000 COP to the good (well, the money won't hit my credit card for 3 months - but it's still a bit of a bonus).

So if you're planning a trip to Colombia, I suggest you buy everything on credit card, keep all your receipts (you'll need both the invoice and the credit card receipt) and give yourself plenty of time when you get to the airport for the cashback bonanza! :-)

Well, all that time checking in had killed an hour and a half of my waiting time. I saw that there was a Crepes & Waffles upstairs and I was super-hungry (hadn't had time for breakfast at the hotel and had only had a light bite at Popayán airport). I headed upstairs only to see that there was a huge queue to get in 😞
I had time to kill, obviously. But I was also mega-hungry. To my great shame and with my head held low, I bit the bullet and wandered into my first (and hopefully last) McDonalds of my trip so far. Shame on me!

With my hunger satisfied, I had a wander around the shops in the departures section of Bogotá international. I picked up a week-old copy of the Economist and the equivalent Colombian magazine. I'd decided at least a week before that I wanted to pick up some speakers for my iPhone - it's a bit of a hassle trying to listen to music as you sleep if all you have is headphones. So I found a shop selling something that would do the job. Quite why I didn't think to wander through to the duty free section, I have no idea. I ended up killing a bit too much time because the queue at border control was huge and
slow moving. I made it to the plane in time but ended up skipping through the duty free 😞

We were boarded for the just-over-an-hour flight and set off down the runway. I tried not to think too much about the fact that I was leaving Colombia, consoling myself with the thought that I would be back soon. The jets roared into life and we were pushed back in our seats, only for us to be thrown forward as the brakes were slammed on. We came to a full stop. The pilot came over the PA and explained that somebody had pulled out on him! Well, that was something that I hadn't experienced before either! Fortunately there was enough runway left for us to be able to take off without going around.

Once again we were pushed back into our seats and thundered down the runway. As the distant mountains shrank beneath me, I reflected on all of the amazing experiences that I'd lived through in the past 7 weeks. I hope that you've at least been able to get a small taste of what this (sorely misunderstood) country and it's people have to offer.

I'll be back.

For me, this couldn't be adios. For me this was merely hasta luego...

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Photos

10 - Yissel and me
Need to lose some weight!

Comments

[anita]

sniff
You look like a lovely couple.. awww bless.. It's been great following your journey hon. x

[Andres]

One of Us
I think that being Colombian is appreciating what this country and its culture are, you are now one of us. Colombia and its people will always welcome you back as one of its own. Thank you for keeping me entertained all these weeks, I've been vicariously travelling through you. Im now in the states. Best of luck on the rest of your journey. : )