Otherworldy Days

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Living in a hostel is great and bad at the same time. Because you get to meet and hangout with all these cool people, but just as you do they move on or you move on. And then it is tough to make the effort to once again get to know a new group of people. The group of people I had been hanging out with in my first few days left to go trekking for a week to the lost city deep in the jungle. This was not in my plans.

I am so deep into Colombian life that it is crazy. Yesterday for example on my way back from the beach I hailed a motorbike taxi and for only 50cents found myself whizzing through the side streets of Cartagena at speeds I didn’t think possible. I was bouncing along on the back and holding on for dear life. I had the helmet on, but it didn’t go down all the way b-c of my big head. My big feet were perched precariously on the exhaust pipe. Later on that night a guy in the hostel showed me some burn marks that he got from one ride. Anyway, he got me there in a third the time.

Last night I got hungry, and since my new friends had left, I went wandering around my alley which I now think rocks to find some food. I see this dimly lit restaurant so I duck in for some grub. I got an absolutely delicious full portion of chicken beans and rice, soup, juice, and a beer for $2.50. Great local atmosphere too. In this place I was the only gringo.

Now, to the other part of my trip for the past two days I have been hanging out with the guy I met on the plane and these two Colombian girls at the beach. It has been amazingly relaxing and otherworldly. It’s been like one of those, “Am I on a real vacation or is this all happening in a dream”, moments. I can’t even begin to describe some of the stuff that has been going on. Maybe if you ever run into me on the road I’ll tell you over a few beers.

I have moved out of the hostel and I am now in a nice hotel very close to the beach, but I think that either tomorrow or the next day I will try to get plane tickets to fly down to Cali. My fellow backpackers say it is a little more dangerous than Cartagena, but nothing I should be getting all in a bunch about. They say the nightlife is killer, pardon the expression, and the girls, dancing, and rum drinks that are handed out on the street are intoxicating. We’ll see.

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Photos

Beach at Boca Grande
I went walking here today when I ran into some friends.

Golden Face
This poster was in my room in the hostel in Cartagena and I just thought it was bad ass.