Colombia - I'm sorry!

Oh Colombia! How I've dreamed of loving you and staying here forever. Truth is, I passed you by too quickly and really didn't even give you a chance. I know what you're thinking; "Rude!" I know, I know, so rude! Sorry.

My first stop was Cartagena after debarking from a week long adventure on a sail boat from Panama. I had no idea what to really expect as I had done ZERO research into Colombia. After getting our passports stamped, a few of my shipmates and I headed off to backpackers alley to find a hostel in the old part of town. What an ordeal that was. With too many opinions and my 2 packs getting increasingly heavy, we finally found a spot to rest our wary feet. Some of us were still not used to solid ground and the feeling of the sea swells would sometimes be overwhelming. I was annoyed that I had to wear shoes again. Our room was small, but included a private bathroom, tv and aircon for approx $10 each for 3 people. I think the best part of the room might have been the art. 

We called him Gandolph's Horse

As I had just blown my budget with the sailing trip, I found it rather important to real myself back into uber budget backpacker mode. This was kinda tough in Cartagena but I managed. We did lots of walking around and bought food off the streets. This city boasted some of the most gorgeous streets, stunning row houses with flowers hanging from its balconies and with a whiff of the nose, it wasn't hard to find a Pandaria to satisfy my hunger. For 800 COP ($0.40CAD) I would get the most delicious Pan de Mozzarella. They were always hot fresh out of the oven with yummy mozza gushing from its innerds and finishing the bread off with a crispy cheesy top. 0.40 cents is my kind of budget meal! Add some fresh fruit - apple, mango, avocado - from the street for another 0.50 cents and I was set. Thank goodness for streetfood! I was told I should try Arepas, a corn flour cake cooked on a griddle, slit down the middle and garnished with butter and aged salty cheese. I tried it and gotta say I wasn't impressed. I had something similar in Boquete, Panama and it was much better. Less cake with melty cheese in the middle.

Meh

As mentioned, most days were spent walking around the old town of Catagena. It was small, so no matter what street you took you would be able to find yourself in a place you recognize eventually. The sights were gorgeous and there was always something to see. I was looking for postcards one day walking around with Annalisa and I entered a store. I got distracted and saw a nice pair of earrings I was interested in. They were on a eye height shelf so I reached up and grabbed them to ask for the price. My sweaty elbow got stuck to a ugly plastic bracelet which came tumbling down and shattered into a million pieces. Damn! I had to pay the cost of the bracelet and there went my budget for the day. I was so upset as I was doing so good. Good thing for good friends. Annalisa cheered me up by buying me some delicious gelato. I was quite fine afterwards!

Winner of most impressive balcony

Merel and I posing during sunset

On our last day in Cartagena, Annalisa, Merel and I decided to go to the mud volcano - El Totumo! Mud spewing from a volcano?! Sounds like FUN! Tours were going for 30,000COP but we decided to be true backpackers and take public transportation. Well, first we had to take a city bus to the bus depot. Then we waited for about 30-40 minutes for another bus to take us to the town outside the volcano which cost us 7,000COP. I thought this was a rip off, but sure enough, locals were paying this price. This was a 3 hour journey that took us on every dusty side road possible. As we approached our destination, I couldn't help but notice the flat landscape. I thought to myself "Oh man, are we lost? There is no way there can be a volcano around here". The bus driver told us to get off and here we were 3 girls at a fork in the road in the middle of nowhere. Luckily there were 3 dudes on motocycles waiting for us wanting to give us a ride to the Volcano. They told us it was a 3 minute ride. Again, I looked around and saw no volcano in sight. Alright... let's go. I have to say, I do enjoy moto rides, having the wind blowing in your face and the dangerous aspect of it all is quite exhilirating! Litterally 3 mins later, we ride atop of a hill and there it was - the mud volcano. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. It must be the smallest volcano in life. Definitely not what I had imagined in my head. (Mind you, I still had the hellish climb up Volcan Baru fresh in my mind and again, did no research whatsoever).  The mount of mud stands at about 15 meters high. After donning our bikinis we set up the very slippery stairs (it was raining on and off). There was an older group ahead of us, but they turned around and yelled at us to save ourselves from this danger trap. Ya, I get it, it really was slippery and I had a death grip on the railing climbing up, but once we got to the top, and saw the pit of silky mud awaiting us, I couldn't help but crack a smile. Best of all, we had the entire mud pit to ourselves!! We spent at least an hour floating in the mud and reliving childhood memories. Afterwards, we headed to the lake where 3 ladies ripped out bathing suits off and cleaned all the mud off of us. Again we took the moto's back to the fork in the road because we were running out of time, the last bus to Cartagena apparently left at 3pm. As we waited for this bus to come, I had to bright idea to stick my thumb out and give a try to hitchhiking. The pathed road looked so appealing and I could only imagine how much faster we would get back to Cartagena. Sure enough, a combi bus stops by and for 10,000COP would take us back to Cartagena. Did we ever get there fast - 45 mins! In the end I believe we paid 27,000COP for our off the beaten track route. Though it took us all day and various forms of transportation, it turned out to be a great day with good friends.

Silky smooth skin and dreaded hair in the making

The following day, Annalisa and I decided to head to Santa Marta. I read up a little on it and it sounded like an beautiful seaside town which bordered Parque Nacional Tayrona - a private sanctiuary of protected beaches. I was ready for the beach again, so was excited at the prospect of sand and surf. We arrived in Santa Marta in the evening just before sunset. We found our hostel and decided to walk around. Um....ya. Not the scenic little coastal town I had imagined, maybe I should have read up more on it. The smell of urine was overwhelming, and no, I am not exagerating in the least. We walked to the coast where local kids swam in less than inticing murky waters. Walked around town for a bit and returned to our hostel. Both Annalisa and I looked at each other and thought the same. "Let's get outta here!" The next day I had made plans to go to a hostel just outside of Parque Tayrona as recommended by a friend back home. The owner of the hostel was going to be in town that night and offered me a ride into camp the following morning. This meant another day spent in Santa Marta. We walked around the town and grabbed some groceries to hold us over while secluded in the park. On our way back, not 15 feet away from us, I witness my first mugging. Two young men approached a gringo couple, one was doing the talking, the other sided up to the girl clutching onto her wrist purse. In no time at all, the other guy snatched the purse, tugged hard and they both ran away fast. All the locals around got up and made tons of noise, then slowly returned to their seats. Nobody ran after them. The poor girl was scared witless and when I asked her if she was ok, all she could muster out was "They stole my purse". This place was getting less and less appealing by the minute. That afternoon Annalisa headed for Taganga beach and I, unsure what to do and really not in a great mood surfed the net. What?!... a flight to Medellin for $30 from Cartagena!? Without even thinking about it, I booked it. I felt this was the right thing to do.... yes, I was so close to endless beaches, but I made the decision and wasn't looking back. An important thing to note about traveling is never regret your decisions. I'm on an adventure, and no I won't be able to see or do everything in one go. I have my whole life to travel, and I was set on looking upwards and onwards.

That night we met a couple of Englishmen and a German. We ventured into the centre again, sans purse & money in bra, as everyone was hungry. Salchipapas was the object of everyone's desires and there was only one vender who would be able to deliver. We had witness his work earlier on in the day and let me tell you - Comidas Rapidas Carlos (I think it was Carlos, but I could be wrong) - made fries and sausages look like art and its preparation an artform! I imagine we spent about 1.5 hours there, watching this guy making loads and loads of the same order one after the other. He was a master and I couldn't stop watching. I've seen Salchipapas before and they are litterally fries with cut up pieces of weiners on top. Side of ketchup and mayo. Not these! Let me explain the steps into creating this masterpiece.

So first they make the fries like you should. Blanche them in water, then cook at a low tempurature in oil. Then again in hot oil. Makes for soft on the inside, crispy on the outside fries. He starts off by layering fries in the bottom of a bowl. He would then lightly drizzle on ketchup with a few flicks of his wrist, followed up by mayo then a pink sauce (which I later found out was a mixture of mayo and ketchup. Ha!). Another layer of fries were then added, with another layer of sauces. He then sliced up thinly some sausages, deep fry them and add them atop of the fries with of course another layer of the sauces. We're not done! On came the expertly sprinkle some shaved morcels of fried potato crisps, then (of course) more sauce. A layer of lettuce, tomatoes and onions, proceeded, then more sauce, then more of the potato crisps, then another healthy layer of sauces. Et voilà! Salchipapas delight. I had a few bites, it was heaven. I've yet to see another street vendor or restaurant make salchipapas to this epicness. As I had no camera on me, I have no pictures, but I Google Image searched and here's a pic that resembles the closes to Carlos' fine creation!

The Poutine of Latin America

The following morning I left Annalisa and Santa Marta for Cartagena. Spent another night walking the streets and eating my fav Mozza Bread and after a nights rest, I headed for the airport. Medellin here I come!

Medellin, home of famed Cocaine Cartel boss Pablo Escobar. Aside from this fact, I didn't know much else about Medellin. Turns out it's now one of Colombia's safest cities and riding down the hills into the valley in which lays Medellin, the vast blanket of red brick houses took my breath away. Such a pretty sight. At the airport I had a list of 3 recommended hostels, I decided to call to see which one had availability. I called the Black Sheep Hostel first and they had room. Taking a collectivo taxi I forged into town. The airport is a 45min-1 hour ride from the city. I enjoyed the views and relished in the prospect of what this city had to offer.

That night I made quick friends. A British couple from Manchester named Charlotte and Jon, a Canadian couple from MTL named JP and Vanessa, an Aussie named Ryan and an American named Travis. We had great fun together and soon fell into some sort of routine. Sushi, Asshole, Drinks. Yes, it's true. I'll explain. I started my week off by doing some activities such as riding the cable cars up the hills for stellar views of the city and going into the city centre to see Botero's work in the plaza and museum. I adore Fernando Botero's work who depicts all of his subjects in sculptures and paintings as fat.

Rosita, 1973

After 3 days of not touching a drink as I had put myself in a self imposed detox, I felt good and as I had such cool people around me, I decided, why not... let's go out for a night of fun! Afterall I was leaving early the next morning for la zona caffetera (Coffee Region). Yaaaaaaaa.... all of that went to hell when Ryan - who by the way is Canada's biggest endorser - brought us to his favourite shot bar and introduced us to Bongzilla. I watched as the bar mixed every type of hard liquor, juice and beer into a huge pot. In it went and with all of us doning ridiculous hats, the countdown to inebriation was on. Once the whistle blew I was immediately brought back to my time at U of S res in Uni. Open the hatch and let it all slide down! It was all too easy and this was the beginning of the end. Soon after we found another place and I agreed to share a bottle of Rum with a couple other people. A Bottle!  RUM! If you know me, you know that Rum always spells trouble. The night went on and soon the sky was turning light.

All Hail Bongzilla!

My plans of leaving at 7am were obviously thrown out the window. I woke up at 11am in a haze and stumbled out the door desperately in search of some water. I bumped into my friends who were all up and dressed to head out on a day trip. "Come on Dina, join us!". I believe I used some profanity in response and immediately dove back into bed. Hangovers, the constant reminder of why not to drink heavily. I blame this one on Ryan! I think I regained conciousness at 4:30pm. The next few days we had happily settled into our routine of Sushi, Asshole, Drinks. Charlotte, Jon, Ryan and I would wake up and meet in the common room. Had breakfast and would surf the net and chitchat. When lunch came around, the obvious question arose and Sushi was always the answer. We'd walk to Zona Rosa and order our pick of one of the 10 rolls for 10,000COP. #8 was clearly my favourite. Then we'd slowly saunter back to the hostel, sometimes stop in to Exitos, the biggest and greatest grocery store I've encourntered thus far on my trip. Once settled back in the common room, someone would suggest "Asshole?". Out came the deck of cards where we'd play for hours always trying to grab the illustrious position of Prez and try our best to avoid the position of Asshole. Unless you were Ryan and were in a really comfy seat. As night would come, beers would join our hand of cards and sometimes, just sometimes, we'd switch it up and play Poker. Travis was an avid online poker player and taught us all a thing or two about Texas Hold'em. Speaking about Travis, he has what might be the greatest traveling story in life. He was in the Philippines, walked into a bar and chatted up a girl. 15 minutes later they were off to a tattoo parlour and that's how the site www.myfaceherarm.com came about. Check it out, it's effin' hilarious!

Well after almost a week in Medellin and barely anything to show for, we were all itching to leave, even tough we were all quite comfortable in our routine and in great company. Ryan, Charlotte and Jon booked a flight to Cartagena, Travis booked a flight to Barcelona, Spain, JP and Vanessa were off to Turbo and I booked a flight to Quito, Ecuador. I had my sights set on Canoa, a sleepy little coastal town in Ecuador that Kyla, Tash and myself had visited 2 years earlier. I found a cheap 1.5hr flight to Quito (versus 30 hour bus ride). We said our goodbyes and wished everyone safe journeys. Until we meet again.

And that was it. 13 days in Colombia, 3 cities. I felt slightly ashamed that I really hadn't toured as much as I wanted to. But I had a good reason! Mom and Dad were soon arriving to meet me in Cusco, Peru. I had less than 3 weeks and a ton of kilometers to conquer to make it to my destination. I couldn't wait to see them. Yet great adventures in Ecuador were still to be had until then!

Next post I tell you all about them!

¡Hasta luegos amigos!