Falling for Colombia

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Crossing the border in to Colombia is very easy. And I will soon find out that it will become one of my favourite countries.

First things first, after a night in Pasto I continue my travels to Popayan; the white city. This another Latin American colonial city, pretty like other cities where most buildings are painted white.

Salento has a totally different vibe. This town with 7000 habitants and is located at 1895m altitude and it is one of biggest coffee areas of Colombia. Coffee is Colombia's first export product, drugs is second. Here in the hilly green surroundings of Salento I visit 2 different coffee plantations. The colours of the various flowers are truly breathtaking. The area is peaceful. The town itself is interesting with its colourful balconies and window frames. Naturally I try the coffee myself as well, but to make a judgement as a non-coffee drinker is difficult. According to others it is very tasteful. I'm very charmed by the old man who owns the organic plantation.

Medellin is the city where Pablo Escobar is born and which has been swept by violence due to Pablo's career as a drug lord.

At the height of its power, the Medellín drug cartel was smuggling fifteen tons of cocaine a day, worth more than half a billion dollars, into the United States.

Now the city is at peace and very clean. I visited here 2 different plaza's;
One is Plaza Cisneros. It is a jungle of light posts, 24m in height; there are 300 reflection mirrors (7 per each tower) and 170 grounded lights. I have seen it during the day, but it was still a beautiful somewhat odd sight. It is considered an artificial jungle around bright space.

The other is Parque de las Esculturas. Here you can wander around and admire the voluptuous statues by Fernando Botero. Not everyone appreciates his style, but I enjoyed it very much.

Fernando Botero Angulo (born April 19, 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist. His works feature a figurative style, called by some "Boterismo", which gives them an unmistakable identity. Botero depicts women, men, daily life, historical events and characters, milestones of art, still-life, animals and the natural world in general, with exaggerated and disproportionate volumetry, accompanied by fine details of scathing criticism, irony, humor, and ingenuity.

I also went to a famous club 'Mangos' one night. To say it was very interesting is a big understatement. The club is full of rich mafia like people and whore-ish women. They have dance shows on stages, switching half naked gorgeous women in military outfits off with hot and very fit man dressed up as cowboys. But in between they let dwarfs dance on stage for laughter of the public. I found it reprehensible, but it seemed hilarious for others, especially when they danced mixed with the sexy man and women. Also the toilets were an experience, after entering you walk in a room with toilets randomly standing around. One door further was the actual toilet with stalls. Here however the sinks had faucets which were real stuffed horse heads. That was a little disturbing. All together it was an unique experience which will stay on my memory for a while.

From Medellin I have a day trip to the outskirts of the city where you can visit Guatapé rock which takes you within 649 steps to the top at 200m. Wherefrom you can enjoy the pretty view over a lake like district and local farm land.

F

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