After wrapping up my Colombia trip, I'm thinking I should stop telling other backpackers that I'm flying everywhere and sometimes staying in expensive hotels for free. Of course, I am writing this from my ivory tower in the VIP Lounge at the Bogota airport before boarding a red-eye flight in business class to Sao Paolo.
As anyone reading this blog is surely tired of hearing about the logistics of my travels too, I guess I'll simply recap amazing beautiful Colombia.
Colombia has, as everyone knows, a bit of a dangerous reputation. I would say that the reputation is probably warranted, but it has improved significantly in the recent past. To combat this nasty reputation, and acknowledge it in either an humorous or slightly backfiring way, the Colombia tourism bureau published a new slogan, "Colombia: The Only Risk Is Not Wanting to Leave." This is being published all over, and even has corresponding videos of Gringos who have succumed to the draws of Colombia and never left.
After 12 days in Colombia, I can agree that this slogan is pretty accurate.
Colombia is an amazing place that can probably be summed up with DD's (and I'm not talking the size of every Colombian woman's breasts after the compulsary plastic surgery...) - Dancing and Drinking.
Colombians seem to wake up dancing and singing, dance and sing throughout the day, and go to sleep dancing and singing. And there is always drinking to accompany this: Rum, Aguardiente, Aguila and Club Colombia. When I arrived in Bogota, James picked me up at the airport around 10pm, hustled me into my "going out" clothes and then we went out drinking and dancing until 3am. We showed up and Diana and her boyfriend were already there an before we knew it we were sipping our first of several bottles of rum. It's typical to buy a bottle of rum and share it among your friends instead of getting individual drinks, which is what we did several times. This actually makes sense because we all know when you start going "rounds" there is always that guy who disappears when it's his round. Walking back that night, we passed several groups on the street, still keeping the party alive by singing and dancing in the streets.
Beyond drinking, Colombians seem to be born dancing. And they know the word to every song, especially if it's the traditional music known as Vallenato. On one Saturday night, we went to a live music club with a group of 7 people. No less than 6 times, I was asked if I know anything about Carlos Vives. I didnt, but I sure did after having this conversation 6 times. Carlos Vives is a musician who has been very popular since the early 90s for his Vallenato music. He is somewhat of a national hero in the Vallenato world. He also owns the club that we were at (or his brother owns, it depending on who you are talking to).
Carlos Vives is also married to a former Miss Colombia, and her picture was plastered all over the club too. I thought I was pretty funny saying that it isnt that impressive that he is married to a Miss Colombia, especially because Diana is a former Miss Colombia herself. Maybe my joke was just lost in translation.
Anyhow, I had never heard of him, but apparently he is a Big Deal. Well, imagine our surprise when Carlos Vives himself makes a rare surprise appearance and puts on a full concert!! The place was NUTS.
After my first 3 days in Bogota, I was under the impression that the city was this amazing utopia of glamorous Colombians who carouse all over town eating, drinking, dancing, and cross fitting.
And then we left the north of Bogota. After dark.
The whole drive there at dusk, James kept mentioned how certain streets was so dangerous and we did not want to be on the street after dark. I've been a lot of places that "can" be very dangerous, but this is probably the first place in the 100s of cities I have been in where I know for a fact, had I been walking on the street, I would have been mugged within a block.
While we were sitting at a red light, we notice these 2 guys lurking up ahead, walking in and out of traffic as if they were canning for Thon. I hear James say, "These guys are looking for something." There were 4, it turns out. One approached from either side while we sat in the car. I was petrified. I looked down, to avert my obviously gringa light eyes. Before we know it, they both had their grimy little hands on the side rear view mirrors and were off like the wind.
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We also did other things too, and I'll list them out in order to give James credit for being an amazing host:
- Visited Zipaquira and this massive underground Cathedral in the salt mines. Strangely, there is also a rock climbing wall there, so of course we had to do that too.
- Took a country drive and stopped at a dairy
- Rode an aerial tram to Monserrate, which overlooks all of Bogota. I ended up buying a cow leg that is to be used as a flask, drank some warm aguardiente, and ignored James when he tried to get me to try ants.
- Visited La Calanderia, the old town including Simon Bolivar Square and the Fernando Botero museum.
After I left Bogota, I had some extremely memorable experiences in Tayrona National Park/Santa Marta and Cartagena. I met Kim from Leeds was my instant travel bud and partner in crime. I also met a host of other characters that I hope to see again, especially Karin from Germany who is back to real life and I think ready to hit the road again.
Here are the highlights from the post-Bogota trip:
- Hiking in the rainforest and along the gorgeous beach in Tayrona National Park to Cabo San Juan where I spent the night (freezing in a storm) high above the ocean in a small palapa in a hammock.
- Lunched in the courtyard of the historic Hotel Santa Rosa in Cartagena and had a special dining companion
- Shenanigans in beautiful Cartagena with Kim, most notably the volcanic mud baths, lots of dancing and an adventure out to Playa Blanca
All in all, I loved my time in Colombia and I think I can agree with the slogan - the only risk IS not wanting to leave.
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