Colombia: Ellis, Cali & Popayan

---

I got off the bus to hot cali after 11.5 hours. The ride was fine but we stopped constantly as other trucks and buises mades there way up and down the curvy mountain roads. The scenery was beattiful, the mountains shrouded in mist as the sun rose. There were palms and sows and cranes and farms; really words cannot do it justice. I got to cali early in the morning and took a bus to a nearby mall called catorce calima. I finaly found my new friends Juan jose and Christian, and another whom I was only with for an hour or so. The next four days in cali would be filled of much time with these guys as well as otheres, their friends, drinking , dancing and a look at typical Colombian life. We walked to Christians house where I learned a little about the sport that brought this group togewthor, parquer, which is a kind of urban gymnastics, I was to try it the next day to the detriment of both my legs and the unfortunate big toe on my right foot. We went right outside to play some Frisbee where a few locals, whom I were to find were in a gang, approached me as I was obviously “a gringo”. One of them talked to me for a hwile, he had lived in florida, until he was deported and had failed to make it back over the bnorder so here he was talking to me. We talked a little about things here in Colombia, in America, and then deviated to an offer which I had to refuse,- bringing a hundred thousand in fake US dollars back to the states with me. I unfortunalty declinded as I maintain my desire to stay out of all Colombian or south American prisons.  the conversation ended and I made my way back to Christians house where his mom had made us all a typical Colombian lunch - rice, fried platano, potatoes, and a little beef. It was really good and im happy I got to try a REAL Colombian meal and not just ones from markets and restaurants. I shared some of my candy from Halloween, the corn ones, and they all liked it; especially Christians little brother who was 4 and whose Spanish, to an American like myself, was incomprehensablie beyond the occasional, aja (meaning over there). We left and that night I was told we were going out to a barbecue , and as a gringo, the ladies would not be hard to find. HAHa well I guess I didn’t realize how different a Colombian bbq could be; we went over and met another one of juans friends- walter whom I came to like a lot and we went over to another friends house where we set up a grill inside, only to start heating oil to fry some pork with. ( in Colombia a lot of food is fried-ive come to make jokes about it, ill say: in Colombia any food may very well be found fried). Anyway, we started with hot chocolate with the typical cheese at the bottom, followed by boiled potatoes to dip into guacamole. Then the pork: I must add that in Colombia everything is shared, no matter who pays for it makes it, whether you’re the best of friends , giving to a begger who asks, or even the man driving your cab- its truly amazing. I might add-don’t expect to buy a chorizo on a stick thinking its yours, I assure you it wont be for long. We went out after ward to the feria de cali where there are free salsa concerts each night for the holidays. Now let me start by sdaying that I don’t dance, never have, and never thought I could have. But everyone was so inviting, and the atmosphere so fun that I found myself not onlyt learning salsa, but playing the campana, (similar to a cow bell) to the tune of ti-ti-cah along with the locals. People would stop over and show the gringo some tricks and how to dance better and it was absolutely amazing fun. I danced with everyone-adua- walters girlfriend, melany-christians girlfriend, as well as with juan jose and walter. It doesn’t matter who with, here in Cali salsa is king and I was here during la feria, - you couldn’t be closer to the centor of the salsa world if you tried. The beer was cheep too I might asdd- I showed my new friends shotgunning a beer, and am proud to say I didn’t disappoint: they seemed pretty impressed-I don’t think chugging beers is typical.! We ended that night back at Christians. The next day we went to a nearby park to do some parquer. I was able to do some but in my attempts to defy gravity in my flipping attempts I seem to have forgotten how powerful a force it can be. I hit the ground toe first, body second so my toe swelled to be a lovely shade of grape, not until the next morning would I feel the true soarness parquer could impose- my legs have just begun to feel better today, three days later. That night we went to la feria again, this time we began by taking one of the mini buses- watch carefully as your dirver gives you change while weaving in and out of traffic. We got there and there are lights like you really canot imagine- the them this year , I think, was the history of salsa here in cali. The lights were p´laced everywhere, on the streets, in the trees, hanging above the river- all to the theme of cali s salsa. Ill try to post photos because words aren’t good enough. We made our way to an outdoor stadium where we sat and watched tonights themed show, Cuban salsa. I ended uo buying a hotdog which came with gaseosa (soda) , don’t expect a new york dog here, youll be getting something a little more- Colombian. It was more bun than dog, but for 2000 pesos, 1 dollar it was fine. We watched and then it ended, we walked around some more eventually ending up back at walters. For tomorrow- the plan is to go swimming in the morning in a river. We woke up , grabbed another bus, and headed to Pance, an amazingly beautiful town an hour or so outside of cali. we took a trail up the mountains, passing mango trees, tropical butterflies, neon blue hummingbirds, and a truly tropical setting that anyone with eyes would claim paradisical. The view from the top was even more stunning, the mountains are beautiful and I hope to post some photos because again my writing will pail in comparison to my photography. Btw, let me mention that this hike upwards is only made more difficult by the fact that I had legs that were incredibly soar from the parquer best accented by my bum toe. We got to the fiver, where there was much more than expectd- (if you noticed I said I was hiking up, and yes youd think that the river would be at the bottom of the hill, but no, we were going for a swim in the swimming hole at the bottom of a twenty or thirty odd foot waterfall. When you looked out from the waterfall you were on top of mountains and could see the surrounding hills, mountains and covering forest, it was spectaculatr. There we met some more friends from the parquer team as well as a 2 month old puppy they managaed to bring along,- which I cannot imaging because even for me it was a pretty tuff trail. There were about 12 of us now and we hung out, taking photos, some of them practicing parquer- doing headstands under the waterfall- which to me is crazy, one slip and there head would be followed shortly after by there body down another 15 foot piece of falls. We ate a little torta which they brought along, of course everyone shared as always. After our swim we headed back down, stopped at a mango tree to pick some and got to town. We sat down to drink chichi, a slightly fermented alchoholic drink made of corn and I have to say it wasn’t my favorite. Imagine fermented corn,.. and you have an idea of how it tasted. We went back to cali to relax and shower for that night.
That night I went with a group of guys, some from that day and a few extras,along with sadua, walters girlfriend to a local barro, where there was billards, a 3-ball game variant of billiards with no pockets, and a game called Sapo. This was one of those Colombian experiexec I would not have had if not for couch surfers. It was located on the corner of a stadndard corner in a cali neighborhood. It had the above games set up, a few plastic tables, and 2 loud, happy-go-lucky bar tenders. I learned about Colombia n drinking music- songs in Spanish, usually about losing the one you love. This was absolutrely a guys hangout spot. There was a orinal in the front corner, the one closest to the corner of the street, nothing hiding it but a curtain,. We sat at a table and each round was taken care of by one person in turn, as always everything gets shared around. Btw a fun way to make your neighbor drink faster is to hit their glass bottle beer top with yours, the volcanic activity to ensure is a race- you against the beer.  It was a great, raucous bar scene only complemented by the drunken blind man who mad ehis presence known when hw would awake from a light boozen state to grab onto me, or anyone else within arms reach. His intentions were unclear, especially to me since I had know Idea what he was saying- his drunken, blind attempts to walk around and then leave were interesting to watch to say the least. After barely managaing to cross the street and crashing into a potted plant on the other side; he disapearwed and then returned after 20 minutes to cause more drama. Twice I thought there would be a fight, the first was when two men at a nearby table began shoving but this one was split up, the other was when the blind man grabbed and hugged a man I presume he didn’t know. All told nothing ended up happening but I was stunned at how my friends didn’t look as surprised as me even though they had never seen this before either. That night was great- a lot of beer, hangin out with the guys, and lots of great drunk food; conveniently being sold on the next corner in a small store with a stand outside. Chorizo, a type of fried batered potatoe, a colmbian version of hambergesas, flowed as person after person bought something to be shared by all 7 or 8 of us. The next day was easy going, the mild hangover didn’t help- we ate breakfast and then hung out, walked around getting icecream, and finally got on a bus to Popayan.
On the way to Popayan we were stoipped by the military to be checked, a standard procedure here in the south. It was all fine- they checked my passport and the lot and everyone got frisked. This is by know means the first time ive been friskesd, nor the first time ive seen a machine gun armed soldier patrolling the streets- its been a daily occorece. TO ALL OF YOU CONSIDERING COLOMBIA- the police, and soldiers are here for YOU and I don’t resent their presence at all. They are great and this country is too. Don’t be scared by the stereptypes- if you miss Colombia you ARE MISSING A LOT!
Anyway, now im here in Popayan staying in my friend Juan s house. We got up and he showed me around the “white city- ciudad Blanca” and it really is nice here. We checked out the market and the colomial churches and met another couch surfer friend. Tonight is New Years though so im going to have to get going. (I say that as im sitting here watching the Simpsons in Spanish, ). Wish me luck , tonight should be fun!

---

Comments

[bubby&zaidy]

hiDanny
Katie pulled up your post for us - what an interestingtrip you are having - we enjoy reading about your travels and sometimes tribulations -- have fun but please be careful - right now we are in Orlando celeb rating zaidy's 80th brithjday -- Katie w0rks atthis hotel which is big and very lovely. Take good care of yourself and we look forward to seeing you soon. Love you, Bubbie and Zaidy.