Advertisement
Published: September 11th 2007
I watched as the 8 year boy ran lithely down the slope with my bag. His mud covered feet deftly moving whilst I slipped and slid my way towards the bottom. I began to wonder if I was going to see it again. Months on the road had lodged a fair chunk of wariness and distrust in my psyche. Sadly I had heard too many stories of being ripped off, held up and taken advantage of.
But there he was, patiently waiting and no doubt wondering why I was taking so long. He reached for my hand, my bag still securely in his and lead me to the lake. Countless locals were already submerged in the water, scrubbing the volcanic mud from every orifice and laughing at the sight.
I relaxed as my bathers were deftly extracted from my body and tried not to drown as buckets of water were poured over my head and fingers poked the mud from my ears.
The foreign office had said not to come to Colombia. The news reports screamed of danger, corruption and violence. Yet all I had met with was kindness, generosity and hospitality.......
A disheveled old man, his
Our military friends
After they had pulled us off the bus for not having our passportscrumpled clothes hanging from his malnourished body, surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke and reeking of alcohol hobbled towards us with his hands out. It took a moment to register that he wasn´t asking for money but was offering us help us solve the problem of being lost. He went out of his way to figure out the right direction and waved us off with a smile and wheezing cough.
An elderly women with blond hair coiffed and red framed glasses in the same shade as her lipstick thrust her hand into my shopping basket and before I could protest, hoisted out my avocado. With a shake of her head and corresponding waggle of her hips she scurried off leaving me wondering whether I had been in possesion of some sort of contraband. She returned moments later with a sensational avocado which she presented to me with a flourish and an a melodramatic nod of the head to indicate that this one is 'much better dear'.
The owner of a restaruant (recently voted among the top 2 in all off Colombia) served a generous portion of hospitality when he offered our small group of ten VIP entrance
My stint on Colombian radio
I got the opportunity to chat in Spanish about my life in Australia and how much I loved Colombia! (and an open bar) to watch a band at one of the most exclusive clubs in Cali. He followed it up with a succulent private after party in his restaruant and some vigorous salsa dancing. Total bill to us $0.
The military, once the frisking and passport checking is over (and the bus that they have hauled you off is long gone) insist upon flagging down civilian cars and instructing the occupants to drive you to your destination. As you squeeze between the kids in the backseat, offering your embarrassed apologies, the driver shrugs and smiles as if picking up military detained gringos from the side of the road happens all the time. As the car pulls away and the men in green wave, they are happy to chat about Australia and its proliferation of kangaroos!
I love Colombia!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0461s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Olga4073
Olga Lucia
Great pictures, great comments
Hi Mel, it sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Please continue sharing your time in Colombia with us. We have enjoyed reading about your experiencesa and it really has helped to change peoples ideas they had about that wonderful country. We thank you for that and love you too. Olga