Showing posts with label colombia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colombia. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Medellin
I have been too busy to write my blog which is a good sign that I am having a great trip!
We spent three fabulous and fun packed days and nights in Medellin. As we left the city in a taxi, I said to David that even if we did nothing else in Colombia, I would consider my trip to have been amazing. I hardly took any photos in Medellin as we tended to leave our phones safely in the hotel. I took my camera out a couple of times, so I'll be able to download my photos later.
Medellin is quite different from other parts of Colombia. Firstly, the climate is absolutely perfect. It's known as the "City of eternal spring" as the temperature stays at around 25 degrees all year round. Secondly, the people proudly "Paisa" which means that they are very proud of their Antioquia roots. People from Antioquia are known to be hardworking and independent. The region seems to have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and is the main place for coffee growing and exportation. The "Zona Cafetera" is also probably still the main region for drugs...Medellin has had a fairly violent recent past, and today it is still considered to be a little edgy. It's only listed as the 14th most violent city in the world now. Big time drugs gangster Pablo Escobar was killed in 1996 and although there are still a lot of small drugs cartels based around here, it is nothing like it used to be.
We had booked a hotel called the Dan Carlton Belfort in the leafy Castropol area of the city between the neighbourhoods of Poblado and Industriales. It was a fairly traditional, but beautiful 5 star hotel up in the hills with good views of the city. They upgraded us to a suite which made me very happy after 12 hours on a scary bus.
I'll post some highlights as separate blog entries
We spent three fabulous and fun packed days and nights in Medellin. As we left the city in a taxi, I said to David that even if we did nothing else in Colombia, I would consider my trip to have been amazing. I hardly took any photos in Medellin as we tended to leave our phones safely in the hotel. I took my camera out a couple of times, so I'll be able to download my photos later.
Medellin is quite different from other parts of Colombia. Firstly, the climate is absolutely perfect. It's known as the "City of eternal spring" as the temperature stays at around 25 degrees all year round. Secondly, the people proudly "Paisa" which means that they are very proud of their Antioquia roots. People from Antioquia are known to be hardworking and independent. The region seems to have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and is the main place for coffee growing and exportation. The "Zona Cafetera" is also probably still the main region for drugs...Medellin has had a fairly violent recent past, and today it is still considered to be a little edgy. It's only listed as the 14th most violent city in the world now. Big time drugs gangster Pablo Escobar was killed in 1996 and although there are still a lot of small drugs cartels based around here, it is nothing like it used to be.
We had booked a hotel called the Dan Carlton Belfort in the leafy Castropol area of the city between the neighbourhoods of Poblado and Industriales. It was a fairly traditional, but beautiful 5 star hotel up in the hills with good views of the city. They upgraded us to a suite which made me very happy after 12 hours on a scary bus.
I'll post some highlights as separate blog entries
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Roller-coaster ride through the Andes
Were we out of our minds? Why on earth did we think that it would be a good idea to take a bus from Bogota to Medellin? It only costs 50 dollars to fly there and takes an hour. By bus it costs 30 dollars and is supposed to take 8-9 hours. Obviously we got there in one piece or I wouldn't be writing this blog entry, but there were times on that hellish journey that I thought we wouldn't make it. Let me back up and explain why we decided to take a bus...
When we travelled in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, we mainly travelled by bus. It was a fantastic way to see the countryside and, because of the huge distances involved, we frequently spent 24-30 hours on a bus. The buses were very safe and comfortable. The drivers drove carefully, there was entertainment and regular stops. We'd forgotten the nightmarish bus trips in Peru and Bolivia. The human mind is very selective and tends to blot out the less positive memories when making decisions. Predictably, we remembered our experiences in Argentina fondly and decided to get the bus.
The receptionist at our hotel in Bogota, Paola, called us a taxi and asked us what our plans were.
Us: We are taking a bus to Medellin
Paola: Por que? (Why?)
That should have given us a clue...
We bought tickets at the bus terminal, grabbed some water and a couple of chocolate bars, went through security and got ready to board the 9am SuperExpress to Medellin. The bus came in at 9 and on we got. There was plenty of legroom and the bus was clean. So far so good. One of the staff members from the bus company, Bolivariano, got on once we were boarded and explained the rules. She then took out a camcorder and recorded all of the passengers "for your own protection". I'm still not sure why they do that. We had to show ID to buy bus tickets and they had our names. David had some theories which did not reassure me. There was also a camera on the bus recording everything. They never did that in Argentina...
The first part of our journey was on a dual carriageway and I relaxed, read my book enjoying the scenery and the Colombian fiesta music. I stopped reading once we got to the Andes as the road became very windy and it made me feel a bit sick. I guess I should have looked at the route more closely before deciding to take a bus. The entire journey is through mountainous areas. There is only one lane in each direction and the road is full of massive trucks and big buses. We wove up and up and the road became more and more windy. This is fine, but I can't believe the speed we travelled at for the rest of the journey. Each time we came up behind a truck (mostly enormous gas ones with PELIGRO (danger) written on it), we'd put our foot down and overtake. This meant going onto the other side of the road. At top speed. On bends. Agghhhh!!! Absolutely terrifying! Other buses and trucks coming the other way were doing the same thing of course. In order not to die of fear, we rationalised this practice. Thousands of vehicles make this journey everyday, but we didn't see any evidence of accidents and we hadn't been warned of the danger. Presumably there is a system whereby you expect to meet another vehicle coming the other way and are ready to break / let someone in / swerve so that there isn't an accident.
The journey took 12 hours in the end with only one 20 minute stop to shovel down some chicken-rice.
Any positives? Gorgeous scenery. Mountains. Villages. Rivers. Farms. Oh, and we didn't die. Also, we have a sense of smug satisfaction that we roughed it and live to tell the tale. As someone on Radio 3 said last week you don't feel that you have travelled properly if you just teleport in. We are still flying around Colombia from now on, mind.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Unplanned visit to the commercial district, Bogota
On our first morning we were up and about before the museums opened, so wandered around in the sunshine. We found a bustling area where traders were selling their hearts out. There were enthusiastic calls for just about anything. Mostly, traders were trying to entice people into their shops. Where there were no shops, there were shopping trolleys full of stuff. No shopping trolly? No problem. Load up a child's push-chair (stroller) and get selling. Actually they do that on Henry Street in Dublin too. It seems that some traders run thriving businesses this way. All you need is some merchandise (lollies, popcorn, soft toys, fruit, pictures of saints, lotto tickets, lighters, bootleg DVDs) and a trolly or basket and some pegs (so that you can clip said merchandise onto the sides of the basket or trolly). Another successful business model is to chain up a couple of mobile phones to your cart and charge people 200 pesos per minute to make a call.
Similar shops cluster around the same street. For example, one street had three hat shops on it. I liked "Sombreros Brando" best because of the name, but all three seemed to have the same hats. I love that there are hat shops in Bogota. And gentlemen's clothing shops. It's from another age.
Another street was full of bookshops and sellers were outside pushing their wares. Many were very persistent: "Books, books..Want some books?". We always want books, but this time we said "no, gracias". I can just imagine how that conversation would have gone if we had said "si, claro". They would have desperately tried to get us to buy one of their medical textbooks.
We found a lot of soft toy shops. Three floors of little furry faces squashed against the window. You'd almost want to rescue them. There were malls full of jeans shops too. All the mannequins were much curvier than average. Much closer to shapes of real women. Hooray for Colombia!
So, we went out to see museums and churches, but ended up in the commercial district. However, we really enjoyed this unplanned detour. We turned back when we got to Plaza Jimenez, a massive tatty square lined with hardware stores containing a heavy presence of riot police, a few protesters, lots of pigeons and scattered litter.
Similar shops cluster around the same street. For example, one street had three hat shops on it. I liked "Sombreros Brando" best because of the name, but all three seemed to have the same hats. I love that there are hat shops in Bogota. And gentlemen's clothing shops. It's from another age.
Another street was full of bookshops and sellers were outside pushing their wares. Many were very persistent: "Books, books..Want some books?". We always want books, but this time we said "no, gracias". I can just imagine how that conversation would have gone if we had said "si, claro". They would have desperately tried to get us to buy one of their medical textbooks.
We found a lot of soft toy shops. Three floors of little furry faces squashed against the window. You'd almost want to rescue them. There were malls full of jeans shops too. All the mannequins were much curvier than average. Much closer to shapes of real women. Hooray for Colombia!
So, we went out to see museums and churches, but ended up in the commercial district. However, we really enjoyed this unplanned detour. We turned back when we got to Plaza Jimenez, a massive tatty square lined with hardware stores containing a heavy presence of riot police, a few protesters, lots of pigeons and scattered litter.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
La Candelaria, Bogota
We are staying in the old town or "La Candelaria". Our hotel is in a Spanish colonial building and has simple rooms around a series of courtyards. It's a bit more rustic than we are used to, but it's quite charming. Whitewashed walls, wooden floors, exotic plants on the patios. Our room is tiny and the floorboards creek and move when you walk on them sending the wardrobe wobbling. The safe is in the bathroom. That's a new one. Despite this, we had a great night's sleep last night and the breakfast was fabulous. Juice, fruit, bread, eggs, cafe con leche. We sat on a little balcony looking over rooftops below and Montserrat Church high in the mountains above. We are within walking distance of Plaza Bolivar and most of the museums, so the location is pretty good. Even at night, the streets around us are fairly busy and it doesn't feel dangerous at all. There are a couple of universities nearby so there are always plenty of students around. We walked around a bit last night from dusk. We stayed off the quiet streets. We aren't so naive to think that the whole city is as safe as La Candelaria is. There are a lot of police around. With guns.
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