Cali

This post title is a bit of a misnomer. I tried to get to Popayan today so I went to the bus terminal here in Pereira. The only company going to Popayan told me that they had no buses going there today. They didn't say why. There was a very exuberant driver who said the best way would be to go to Cali then to Popayan. Fine. Pay him and get to Cali three hours later. I walked around to every bus desk that said they had buses to Popayan, but they all had the same answer. No buses.

What's going on?

Here's the scoop. There is a coffee plantation workers strike all throughout Colombia. They are protesting the government not standing up for them on world markets and demanding higher prices for Colombian coffee. As a result, they've blockaded major highways...mainly the roads to Medellin and Popayan. The people at the bus terminal in Pereira could have told me this, but they didn't.

Cali is so hot. So very hot. I couldn't stay there. So I hopped back on the bus to my new home away from home...Kolibri Hostel in Pereira. It only took 5 hours because we stopped in every single tiny town along the way! I've been here for about a week now and I have to say I really like the vibe I get from this town, the owners and the other longer-term guests. There's also a really nice restaurant called Crepes & Waffles (all in English) nearby which serves designer ice cream creations. They really are works of art. I got the Vanilla Hot Chocolate, where you get old style vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce which you pour all over it. I'll try to get more pics of other ice creams. Even if it means going there every day. This place puts Demetre's to shame.

Eco...Yoga...Farm

Three words which should never be together. Also a place you will not want to go.

Maybe the more frou frou among us would like it, but even they would be hard pressed to like it. But if you are like me, you wouldn't like it.

This is the reason I haven't posted in a while. There was no internet out there. The farm has a good concept, and a good reason for being. They help the community a lot and they teach the children English and such things. But they should not call themselves an eco-farm. The organic practices on the farm were non-existent other than not using pesticides.

It was not a comfortable experience for me, and I decided to leave early. Now I'm back in Pereira and should be in Ecuador by the weekend!!!

Pereira

Pereira is a sleepy little town.

So much so that I've slept more here than anywhere else in Colombia. Yesterday was spent in and out of naps. And today I took a siesta after going downtown. There's not much to see in Pereira itself, travelers use it more as a base for the coffee country attractions. There are many farms, haciendas and plantations. The land is fertile and rich. I plan on checking out the countryside on Saturday when the buses run more frequently. There is a 6:20am bus to Salento on weekdays, but I have no intention of catching it. And the bus after that is at 11:20. Since it's a two hour ride out and two hours back, it doesn't make sense to try to make it for a weekday. Buses are hourly on the weekend.

Since it is coffee country. I decided to have some street coffee. It's really really really good. Really good. I'll take video of the guy making it tomorrow when I go back for more. It's so fresh and so cheap. Gotta love living where it grows. Farm to table at it's finest.

Downtown Pereira has one of the more interesting monuments to "El Libertador". It's called Bolivar Desnudo. It's a sculpture of Simon Bolivar naked on horse back riding into war. Somehow I think he had more armour than that!

In the same plaza there was a man and his son playing music. His other son was trying to sell the CD. Quite the enterprising bunch. I didn't buy the CD, but you can watch the music video below. I did tip him though. Just in case you were wondering...nosy people.

Speaking of enterprising, I saw a novel way of advertising products on the street. When there's a red light, these kids just walk out into the street with a giant banner and place it in front of the cars. The drivers have nowhere to go and have to look at the signage. It's genius!

The area I'm staying in seems like the "rich" part of town. You can tell by all the newer looking cars, the expensive restaurants and the decreased homeless presence. You can also tell by the massive five level mall which is gleaming it's so new. At least it looks really new. Feels like home, except better...and in Spanish...and pesos.

Medellin to Pereira

I travelled to the heart of Colombian coffee country today. I didn't have my camera out, because you probably shouldn't do that on a bus. But it was an expensive bus, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I played it safe anyways and left it in my bag. So no pictures.

When I got the the bus station in Medellin, I checked with a few bus operators, certain that I had found the best deal I went out to the bus. When I was giving the porter my bag to toss in the back, he told me that the bus didn't actually stop at the Pereira terminal, but would drop me on the road to Pereira as they continued onwards. No wonder it was so cheap!

It was a lovely drive. I started at the top of a mountain and ended up in the valley. The driver was in some sort of death race against the clock and we were careening around corners at breakneck speeds. I hear this is the norm for long-distance buses. I also hear that Peru is much worse. Mario (my friend from the place ride down) recommended some motion sickness drugs that have the added benefit of knocking you out for the duration of the trip. That should be fun.

Luckily, there was a local bus just as I got off the long distance bus heading for the bus terminal. The hostel is only 5 minutes from the bus terminal, so that was a fortuitous event if there ever was one. Got the the hostel in one piece with a few hours to spare and went to the local mall. It reminded me of home. They even have the new Die Hard movie in English with Spanish subtitles. I'll probably watch that tomorrow.

That's all for today...nothing crazy exciting. That's how it goes sometimes.

La Piedra

A day trip from Medellin is to the quaint little town of El Peñol. It is about 2 hours away from the city centre and is also the home to La Piedra. To get there, you have to take the metro to the bus terminal, then haggle with the bus terminal people, then get on a bus to the place. There are about a thousand little farms on the way to El Peñol that dot the hillsides. La Piedra is a massive geological formation set among rolling hills and rivers in the countryside. That's just a fancy way of saying it's a huge rock in the middle of nowhere. But oh what a rock it is!!!

It's a 200m tall rock/mountain with stairs in the side to climb to the top. It was $10,000 pesos to climb it, and I was not about to spend my money to climb some stairs. They also have several lookout points from the base of the rock (which is on top of a mountain) providing amazing views of the surrounding land. Check the pics below! The pictures don't really do it justice, I tried my best.

Farms from the bus

La Piedra from a distance

Getting closer...

And closer...!

Finally made it!

View from the road up to La Piedra...me on the right

 

Why is there no elevator?

Rock information

 Amazing views below.

Medellin

Medellin is a city in Colombia set in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains all around. It's known as the "City of Eternal Spring" because the nights are cool and the days are warm, not hot.

There is a cleanliness to the city that I haven't seen in other places in Colombia. The transit system connects two barrios to the main city, although there are many more. This is the first place where I've seen a "shantytown". I went to the Parque Arvi today. It's a lovely park set on a mountain about 45 minutes away from downtown Medellin. You can take public transit to get there. And that's exactly what I did. There is a train that runs the length of the city, north to south. To get to the park, there are two cable car systems that you have to take. One is included in the price of the train, the other is extra cost. The cable cars offer really spectacular views of the city as well as the barrio as you ascend higher and higher, quite literally, into the clouds.

Looking down from the car, you can see houses EVERYWHERE. As far as the eye can see, there are houses upon houses stacked on each other. Some houses have proper rooftops. Some have roofs made of corrugated sheet metal which are held down by cinder blocks. It makes you feel very privileged knowing where you've come from and what you've had. It also makes you wonder why in Canada and the US there is this never-ending quest for more land, more space, more, more more. If you've got a roof over your head that's not held down by cinder blocks, you should be thankful.

Back to the Parque Arvi. At the end of the cable car line, there is a little market as soon as you exit. I bought strawberries and cream which they topped with Arequipe sauce and chocolate rice krispies. It was so good. The cream was unlike anything I've had before. I went for a hike around the park, not really knowing what to expect as I went because I hadn't researched it beforehand. It was great to just be in nature and see families enjoying each other's company. 

I walked about 1.5 hours to a lake that was almost dried up. Appropriately it's name was Laguna Seca (dry lake). And turned around and went back to the entrance and back to the Centro(downtown) where I'd heard about this place called Paisa Pueblito on Cerro Nutibara.

It is a replica of an Antioquian town on the top of a 80m high hill in the centre of Medellin. I walked up the stairs....

And more stairs....

And more stairs...

Oh man, I was tired, and sweaty and out of breath. I'll blame it on the al-a-a-a-a-al-ti-tude!

To the top...where I was highly disappointed with the overt commercialism and touristy feel to it. You can't even take a proper picture of the replica town because the vendors are in the way. And because there are so many vendors, everyone is just eating. Chomp...chomp...chomp...garbage. The architecture was nice, but helped me make an important decision for tomorrow...not to go to Santa Fe de Antioquia where there is supposed to be an entire town in this style. I'm going to Guatape instead (stay tuned tomorrow). The one redeeming aspect of the entire visit was the view. It really is quite amazing and makes you feel quite small. 

CTG to MDE

I decided to fly from Cartagena to Medellin. It would only be $20000 pesos more than the bus ($10CAD). But the hassle of this airport and this airline were second to none. This airport has no indication of the time anywhere. There is no time on the arrivals or departures board (which was digital, surprisingly). There are no payphones. There was a family from the US here who needed to call home because the airline they were using messed up their tickets and they couldn't call anyone. There is no travel agency...at least no clear indication of one. There is one on the second floor that looks like it's off-limits to passengers, but it's not marked and not advertised.

Colombia is strange in this regard. Most other areas in the world would like to make or close the sale. But here, it seems like whatever happens happens in the business community. I've been trying to strike deals with some people, and when I walk away, they just let me. It's so strange...I'm not used to this kind of bargaining at all. Even the cab ride here, the hostel owner told me it's no more than $10000 pesos to get to the airport. Conversation between me and the cabbie:

Me: How much to the airport?
Cabbie: $15,000.
M: No...they told me 10 inside
C: Ok, 12!
M: NO! 10.
C: Okay, you got me. I was just trying to rip you off. (He didn't actually say that, just got quiet and drove to the airport. That's what he said in my head).

The airline I'm taking is new. It's called VivaColombia. It's meant to cater to the intra-Colombian traveller, between cities. It's really cheap if you have no luggage (~$40000 pesos). But the website doesn't take international credit cards. In fact, very few of the major airlines take international credit cards on their websites. When you call them (Viva) to find out why your card isn't working, they tell you the best time to try is between 2am and 4am. What?!?

So I figured I would just go to the airport and buy my ticket. That seems easy enough. (This is why I know there are no travel agencies here). This is Colombia's most heavily touristed city. How is this possible? The system for the airline was down...for 3 hours. So I missed the 12 o'clock flight and now have to take the 4 o'clock. Got here at 10am. When the system finally came back up, the lady told me to hurry and pay her because it could go back down at any time. Now, I would understand if they even accepted credit cards...but I was paying by CA$H. Finally, purchased my ticket. But wait...what's the guy doing behind the desk...let me take a look. OHHHH! He's writing my name down (in pen) on the manifest. Because they don't have a printer. And he's also writing out my boarding pass by hand. I guess they don't have a printer.

 -___-

Wow.

In the end, they nickle and dime'd the price up to about $30000 more than the bus...but at least I don't have to do a 17 hour bus ride. Medellin better be as good as everyone says it is. Cuz the way there has been way too bumpy.

Bocagrande

I went to the Colombian Starbucks today. Juan Valdez coffee is a Colombian brand known around the world. For those who know me, I don't drink coffee, but since I'm in one of the coffee-producing capitals of the world, I figured I might as well! It's good coffee. Strong and rich...pretty much everything I am and want to be. The company gives the higher profits it receives to the farmers because it is owned and run by a farming coop which includes farmers from all over the country. Maybe farmers in our part of the world can learn some best practices.

The name of the main touristy beach in Cartagena is Bocagrande! I don't know why it's called that. I took no effort to do anything but go to the beach today. It's a lovely beach with warm water and a smooth ocean floor. The views are spectacular. They are all sorts of condos and hotels on this stretch of land, and they are building more. I wouldn't mind owning a little bit of property here. It's way cheaper than Florida.

As per the norm, I decided to walk it to the beach today. It was about 45 minutes and I got some good sunshine. There are a couple of touristy pirate ships which do tours of the bay with dinner and music. It seemed really tacky was well-attended by older folks on vacation. The sun looked huge hanging in the sky. The pictures don't really do it justice. That was it today. It was a good day. Tomorrow I leave for Medellin. Fellow travellers have nothing but good things to say about the city. No more being ripped off just because my Spanish isn't that good. YAY! I actually heard the chorizo guy tell a Latino guy that the price for a chorizo was $1500 pesos and then when I went and asked, he told me $2500. Bastardo...

Good from far

Good from close too

Sunset after a great day at the beach