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Published: October 20th 2008
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When I told my friends and family that my trip included Colombia, I was met with a series of gasps, and cries of 'you will get kidnapped at gun point' or at the very least they were convinced that I would have all my valuables stolen. Although in my heart I knew that this was as remote as me becoming the next Prime Minister, I did have a slight feeling of trepidation on entering the country. Every time I saw a uniformed army officer my stomache hit the ground just in case it happened to be a FARC rebel. As it happened all my fears were misplaced, I am still alive with all my valuables intact.
Colombia....as it turns out is no different to any of the other countries we visited along the way. In fact it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The country has a great deal to offer, the people are friendly and I am sure in a few years it will be on every gringo's to do list, but at the moment is relatively untouched by tourism.
Cartagena was the exception to the rule....the colonial city is very beautiful, colourful and also very touristy. It resembles
the towns of Granda and Seville in southern Spain. There are hundreds of restuarants, bars and musuems. The days are hot and humid and it is quite easy to spend your days wandering the streets and watching the world go by from a street cafe.
Medellin our next stop was once the most dangerous city in the world. In one year there were over 6500 deaths. This was mainly a result of waring drug cartels. Natalie our hostess told us stories of drug cartels killing innocent people in night clubs and dropping flyers to tell people not to go out at night or they would be murdered. These incidents happened around the 1980's so the wounds have not yet healed for the Colombian people. At the moment I think there is tendancy to brush the past under the carpet because things are too painful to deal with.
Our next stop was in the coffee region. Salento a small hilltop town surrounded by coffee plantations and fruit trees. We stayed at the Plantation House Hostal, which was run by some British wideboy by the name of Tim. Tim loves the sound of his own voice and boy did we hear it.....he
could talk the hind legs off a donkey....usually about nothing!!!! He took us down to his coffee plantation so that we could see how coffee is grown and produced.....its actually quite simple and boring. Tim's explanation was a little hazy to say the least....I don't think Tim does any of the hard work.
NOTE -; Colombians may know how to grow coffee....but they don't know how to make it!!!!! I don't think I had one good cup of decent coffee the whole time I was in Colombia.
On the walk back to the hostal, Bev got bitten by Godzilla the psycho dog, blood was running down her leg. Luckily some locals on horses came past and picked her up and took her to hospital. Turned out that Tim's brother was bitten by the same dog two weeks ago....thanks for the warning Tim!!!!!
Cali is said to have the most beautiful women in Colombia.....so all the boys were looking forward to this stop. It is also one of the cheapest places to have plastic surgery....you do the math!!!! I personally didn't see any difference to any of the other Colombian towns.....but then I wasn't looking that hard. Just imagine living in
a city which is famous for having beautiful women...if you are average looking or worse ugly....what do you do? move?
Popayan was another colonial town all whitewashed. Unfortunately the main plaza or square was being remodeled so photo's were not that great!
Our final stop before hitting Ecuador was Ipiales. The town itself is not that interesting, but about 7km outside the town is a gothic Cathedral built between a valley on a bridge. It is quite a sight to behold both from a distance and close up. Apparently some virgin was seen there and from that time on people have been flocking to the area for its theraputic powers. The site is second only to Lourdes in France for miracles.......I think I should have drunk the water because at the moment I need a few miracles........tbc
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