Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cali, Colombia

I am just back from a week in Cali and had a ball........!
 
According to Wikipedia, they describe Cali as:
 
"The third largest city in Colombia. It is very famous for its plantations of sugar cane. Cali is known as the "World Capital of Salsa". In Cali there are many skillful salsa dancers and very important Salsa groups. Cali is also a very modern city. It is an industrial city and its airport is the second in Colombia. Near Cali is the port city of Buenaventura in the Pacific Ocean. Cali is located in a valley of the Andes. The name of the Valley is Cauca because it is crossed by the Cauca River."
 
DIFFERENCES TO BOGOTA
 
Cali is about 8/9 hours by road from Bogota (would only be 5 hours if the road was better) but it may as well be a different country.
 
Salsa, Salsa, Salsa, Salsa................God love you if you come to Cali and you don't like Salsa. Cali is the "World Capital of Salsa" and it is nearby impossible to find a bar or club that won't be playing salsa. They take their salsa very seriously and am told that the moves made by the dancers here are far more advanced that what you would see in another city. My only regret while there was not taking salsa lessons as you are lost on the dancefloor without it and everybody dances here!!!!!
 
Secondly, the weather. I went from c 10 degrees in Bogota to high twenties in Cali. It still rained a bit in Cali though but there are experiencing very strange weather here in Colombia at the moment where the entire country is getting hit with serious downpours. At least it's not snow though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The people in Cali are equally friendly but everything is much more relaxed. Bogota is a huge city of c 9 million people where is Cali is a smallish city (by Colombian standards) of 2.5 million. Everything moves at a slower pace here and people never seem to be rushing. Bogota, like every capital city, is engufled by traffic and is the home of Colombian business. Cali on the other hand, seems to have all day and you do struggle to work out what day of the week it is when there.........!
 
You would need a few weeks to get a proper feel for Bogota but Cali is more compact and easier to get around. Bogota has more variety and more to do but what Cali lacks in this, it gains in its more relaxed and fun environment.
 
Despite all the differences, there are both contrasting but great cities.
 
MUJERES (WOMEN)
 
The women in Cali are a little bit easier on the eye than Bogota. It is common in Colombia to see the mujeres with fake boobies and would you believe fake asses! It was more prevalent in Cali than in Bogota to see this. The ladies like to catch your eye here and are more flirty than Bogota. It can be difficult sometimes to get chatting to the ladies if you don't dance salsa as this is the first question you get asked when you meet.......ie do you want to dance salsa!!! We met an Italian salsa dancer there who was getting serious attention from the Cali ladies. It was no surprize to then hear he had spent the last three months in Cali after only intending to stay a few days.
 
CHARACTERS
 
Cali has its fair share of characters.
 
You met great characters walking up and down the main streets every day. Most of them are trying to sell you something but even if you decline they will still smile and have a laugh with you. One evening when out, we got our shoes polished by Manual. Manual looked like such a funny character that we just couldn't say no to him. After he finished shining our shoes, he then joined us for a beer. He was such a jovial character that you couldn't help laughing even when looking at him. He was in great form until we questioned him about his family. He broke down when telling us about how his son is missing as they believe he has been kidnapped by Terrorists. They were still looking for him. This wasn't a sob story with Manual looking to swindle cash as he never asked for anything but it was amazing to think this man with this great personality has this ordeal to deal with every day of his life.
 
I can't finish this blog without mentioning the character of our hostel, a great Swede called Pontus. Pontus was my drinking buddy in Cali and we had many great night out, mostly down to the colourful antics of Pontus. He works as a chef on a type/sort of cruise ship so he gets long breaks which he takes advantage of to travel the world. Pontus is in his mid 30's but has the mentality and the enthusiasm of somebody in his early twenties.
 
There are many funny Pontus stories but I will leave you with just the one. One evening we were having good fun, if you know what I mean, with two Colombian ladies at a bar and when the night finished they kindly offered us a lift back to the hostel. This girl´s car was at least 50 years old and on its last legs. Well, we are only a few blocks from our hostel when it starts to lash and surprize surprize there is no air conditioning in the car and the window wipers are broken, so all of a sudden we can't see anything in front of us. Pontus, bring the resourceful guy that he is, proceeds to climb out the window while the girl is still driving and starts trying to clear the front window so we can see. This hilarious act had myself and my friend in the back in stitches.
 
Pontus is not getting much joy here so he then decided to go a step further and take one foot out of the car and attempt to take control of the wipers and physically push them from side to side while the car is still moving forward. All of a sudden the wipers reawaken and start going into overdrive while Pontus, half in and half out of the car, starts getting rocked all over the place resembling a computer about to explode!!!!!!
 
I don't know how he survived it but it made for great comical entertainment and made for a great story in the hostel. Pontus being the great character he is, always laughed it off. He reminded me of a mix between Morgan "Mongo" Tierney & Conor "Tanoy" Freeney and he was always up for a laugh!
 
I am currently back in Bogota where I am meeting a few old friends and tomorrow arrive in Medellin, which was the home of Pablo Escabor, Colombian's most famous drug-lord and also the current location of Pontus! Am sure will have a few more stories from there!
 
Hasta luego!
Hanbo
 
ps still have to put up me photos but they take ages to load but will do soon!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Bogota, Colombia

Hola mis amigos!

I´ve spent the last week or so in Bogota and have just arrived in Cali (another city). Before I waffle on about my experiences in Bogota, I have included below a few facts and figures (as the Great Shane Daly would say) about Colombia´s capital city:

Bogota
1 - Population of c 8.5 million
2 - 33rd World´s Most Populated City
3 - Capital City of Colombia
4 - Perched at a height of 2,600 metres as is siutuated between mountains
5 - Average Daily Temperature of 14 degrees
6 - Far from the worst effected place in Colombia by Terrorism but the FARC did have a strong influence here c 5 years ago
7 - Most famous person born here is probably Juan Pablo Montaya (F1 Driver)
8 - If you search Google under worlds most dangeropus cities the first link that comes up is this one
http://www.gustey.com/2010-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world and Bogota comes in this websites Top 10

Despite all this my greatest memory of Bogota will be the rain! Yes the rain and this is coming from an Irishman who is well accustomed to the night´s skies falling asunder from a height. It has rained every day that I have been in Bogota and a lot of that rain has been a downpour. An English guy from my hostel told me the weather has been pretty much the same for the last 6 months. And to top it off it is pretty cold too - similar to October temperatures at home! So as amazing as it may sound....there is a place in South America that can rival us for the poor quality of our weather!!!

Rant over as this is the only complaint I have about my time in Bogota. Firstly, the people are incredibly friendly. I have rarely met a people who are so obsessed with a foreigner´s opinion of them. I suppose this stems from the negative perceptions of their bloody past and as a result want they go out of their way to ensure they leave you with a positive perception of their homeland. For example, one evening walking the streets looking for a taxi and conscious of being late, I bumb into an elderly gentleman on the way home. He senses I am struggling to get transport, asks me if I am looking for a taxi and where I am going. He then proceeds to wait (c 15 minutes) until a taxi arrives and has a 2 minute chat with the taximan to ensure that I don´t get ripped off. Once I get in the taxi he ambles off home without a care in the world. I have been fortunate to have had numerous similar experiences. Or on another occassion, myself and a Belgian friend got our Spanish mixed up and we overpaid for a taxi by pretty much double the fare. As we are about to leave the taxi suddenly the driver starts handing us back our change and only then it dawns on us eijits that we overpaid! Doubt you´d see it happen in Dublin!

Bogota, despite all the bad press, feels pretty safe so far. I am sure there a numerous no-go areas, as in every city, but walking the streets during the day you never feel threatened and you wouldn´t be on your guard as you would be in Rio.  You get approached by the odd beggar but no more then you would be at home. At nightime, the streets are well lighted and each corner is marshalled by a fully armed member of the police or army. You are not advised to walk the streets at nightime but I have walked home a few times and never felt in danger.

On the going out front, I have had a very enjoyable time. I have been lucky to be shown around by Linus, a Swedish buddy I knew from Dublin, but who is now living in Bogota teaching English to the locals. A night out here is so much more enjoyable than home. The Colmbians know how to enjoy themselves and salsa seems the order of the day. You do as much dancing as drinking but it´s much more fun than at home and it´s also much more condusive for strangers to approach each-other. The locals also know how to enjoy their life and regardless of their economic position tend to concentrate on what they have rather than what they don´t. Jaysus we have a lot to learn from this attitude!

For the lads the cailins are attractive enough and very flirty. By and large it is the guys who get chatted up and even if you approach somebody they will always have some fun with ya even if they are not interested. It reminds me a lot of Brazil in this way. I can sense a few of you clicking on the cheap airline websites already!!!!!!

I have met a real mix of people travelling here. When I travelled 7 years ago, there were tons of English and Isrealis mixed with a few Yanks, Europeans and Aussies. Here the hostels have more Spanish speaking people with a lot of other South American travellers which is an interesting phenomenon. I have also come across a lot more Aussies but that could just be the hostle I am staying in.

Bogota, like a lot of South America, is a place of extremes. The city is divided north and south by the city centre. The North is where all the affluent and wealthy live and the South houses the majority of the poor locals. The City Centre divides the two and houses the majority of students in Bogota which engenders a cool and fun vibe to the city. I did spend an evening in the South party area called Zona Rosa and have to admit that for all the bars and tons of people, I was not a huge fan. There was a lot of attitude, its very cliquey and the people were very much inthemselves and not so friendly. Picture Crystal, Harcourt Street on a Saturday night and it would not be too different.

Bogota and Colombia in general has a colourful history. Within the last 200 years it is amazing to think that Colombia, Ecudaor, Panama and Venezuela where at one point all part of the same country. Things appeared to have changed considerably over the last 10 years where Colombia has gone from South Americas problem child to one of their most progressive countries. The government have succeeded in pushing the FARC/Terrorists to the most obscure parts of the country and this has resulted in a lot of new tourism which the locals have embraced. Despite the positive impacts of all the changes, there is still an   undercurrent of a darker side to the country.  The drug trade appears to have a strong influence on the countrys economy which has the knock on effect of corruption, fear and intimidation. I have not experienced any of this at first hand but have spoken to enough Colombians and gringos living here to believe there has to be some truth in it.

I don´t have any real funny stories or any crazy experiences to report, which is a bit strange for me. I did meet a few headers/characters in the clubs but nothing too exciting to talk about.

I have no doubt there will be plenty of funny stories to report later on!



I now am in Cali where thanks to be to God the weather is warmer and no rain to report yet. According to Lonely Planet, Cali is more dangerous than Bogota. Regardless of all this, I don´t think it will make a difference as so far so good in Colombia, which is defintely a place worth visiting!

James.

ps for some unknown reason the pictures I took will not load up on the page so will upload them at a later stage.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Itinerary

Here ye go - Hanbo's itinerary is below.

Enjoy and will be in touch!

Indicative Itinerary

DATE
LOCATION
COMMENT
Colombia


Tue 16/11 to Mon 02/01
Bogota
Cali
Medellin
Cartagena
Get acclimatised
Study Spanish (2 week course)
Meet Linius & Paul Reidy (friend of Greg Moran)



Venezuela


Tue 03/01
Travel to Merida
May have to stay overnight in Maracaibu
Wed 04/01 to Sat 09/01
Merida

Sun 10/01 & Mon 11/01
Travel thru Los Llanos

Tue 12/01
Travel to Santa Angel

Wed 12/01
Santa Angel/Angel Falls




Brazil


Thu 13/01 to Sun 16/01
Travel to & around Manaus

Mon 17/01
Boat to Belem

Tue 18/01 to Sat 22/01
Belem
Study Portuguese
Sun 23/01
Travel to Fortaleza

Mon 24/01 to Wed 26/01
Fortaleza

Thu 27/01
Travel to Olinda

Fri 28/01 to Sun 30/01
Olinda

Mon 31/01
Travel to Salvador
Meet Lucas
Tue 01/02 to Sun 06/02
Salvador

Mon 07/02
Travel to Belo Horizonte

Tue 08/02 to Sun 13/02
Belo Horizonte
Study Portuguese – Meet Saulo & Andrea
Mon 14/02
Travel to Rio

Tue 15/02 to Sun 20/02
Rio
Meet Celia and mb Mauricio
Mon 21/02
Travel to Sao Paulo

Tue 22/02 to Wed 23/02
Sao Paulo

Thu 24/02
Travel to Porte Alegre/Florinapolis

Fri 25/02 to Wed 09/03
Porte Alegre/Florinapolis
Carnaval
Thu 10/03
Travel to Iguazu Falls

Thu 10/03 to Sat  12/03
Iguazu Falls




Uruguay


Sun 13/03
Travel to Uruguay

Mon 14/03 to Wed 16/03
Uruguay Beaches

Thu 17/03 to Tue 22/03
Montevideo
St Patricks Day



Argentina


Wed 23/03
Travel to Buenos Aires

Thu 24/03 to Tue 05/04
Buenos Aires
Ireland v Uruguay March 29th
Wed 06/04
Travel Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!