Colombia - The Highlights

Once again, I hate to summarize the last few weeks of travel, especially an entire country, but I'm afraid it's either that, or spend tens of thousands of pesos on the internet while I try to document every detail. Bare with me, I will try to stay more current!

Before leaving Peru, I spent my last day back in my village of Socma. It is not the easiest journey to make. You have to know whether there is a big truck, carrying people and supplies going up and which town it is leaving from. I left Cusco around 6am in order to get to Pachar, a small town just before Ollantaytambo, by 8am. From there, I walked for about 20 min to a point at which I'd been told that there may be a truck passing by and into the valley. I was in luck. I climbed in the back to find several ladies from Socma and a nearby village also heading up. It was so nice to be recognized and we shared bread and chatted all the way up.

Once we arrived in Socma, I climbed down and was instantly surrounded by the people that had been working in the main field. I had been looking forward to surprising them and it was such a warm feeling to be amongst the people Id become so close to again! I toured the coops of some of the houses, visited with those that were still home and when I returned to the school grounds, the kids saw me and came running over. I've said this before, but there simply is nothing like the love of a child and to have 3o of them rush towards you, calling your name and scrambling to hug you... ahhh, words cannot suffice. They even broke into song and dance and I caught it on video! Eventually, I had to pull myself away. After being invited for soup at one home, I was told I must join the ladies down by the river for their artisans training. I sat in the circle of ladies, watching them learn to sew dolls and weave the most intricate designs. I shared in their snack of corn and rice and even helped sew a little. My heart swelled - those are the moments (days) that stay with you and that you can never get as a tourist!

I said my final goodbyes to Cusco (for now at least) and boarded 3 planes to Barranquilla, Colombia. I did not have much of a plan, so I just chose an airport in the north. Turns out, my instinct did not choose well this time and Barranquilla is just a big city. Luckily, I stayed with a sweet couchsurfing couple, one American and one Colombian and they got me started. I had a fantastic night of dancing before I left for Cartagena.

Cartagena

• A famously romantic city, with 3 distinct areas: The charming old city, surrounded by castle-like walls and towers, rainbow colored buildings, women in Columbian flag ruffled dresses selling fruit from baskets on their heads, horse drawn carriages, jungle-like plazas and latin music reverberating from one venue or another. Boca Grande, a lizard tail peninsula of expensive high-rises and packed beaches and what I consider the real city, a fairly dirty, congested and poor area with a lack of green and too many vehicles.
  
• Incredible heat and humidity!
• Delicious variety of street foods, especially the cups of fruit.
• Interesting night life, with dancers performing in the streets, salsa, rock and reggaeton. The juice shops begin selling smoothies with a dash of rum - yum!
• A friend of mine and I, went to Columbia's largest mud volcano (I don't know how many actually exist) by bus and motorbike. Through lush green scenery, as I imagine the african savanah to look, we zipped until we came to the base. Up the ladder we climbed and it was one of the coolest experiences that I've had in Columbia. You submerge yourself, but only just below the surface. You can't reach the bottom, but you can't go further down. It was almost like anti-gravity! Men in the crater push you to a spot and then give you a massage (for a tip of course) and then afterwards you descend to a lake nearby where a lady grabs you and begins to bathe you. She reached in my top and cleaned out my ears... Ha, I knew they would also ask for a tip, but how often do you get bathed these days! I wish I could do it again!

Medellin

• Again, as a tourist/backpacker you don't really get to see the real city. Most of the hostels are in a ritzy, very safe and cool area, quite removed from down town.
  
• THE place to hang out is "the park". Surrounded by cafés, restaurants and clubs, you will most likely meet everyone there at some point. Most nights started here with a bottle or two and eventually the group, that had slowly grown over time, would decide on one club or another to dance the early AM hours away.
• My hostel had everything. A restaurant, bar, internet, comfy TV lounge with cable and a huge DVD library and even a pool. When the weather was rainy, I found myself more than once cuddled up amongst the pillows and 10 other backpackers watching movies - quite nice for a change.
• I spent one day seeing the rest of Medellin. I joined a worker from the hostel on his bike around down town, not much to see really besides a couple nice buildings, statues, a nice big market with whole animal carcasses on display and more prostitutes than I've seen anywhere else. We continued about an hour out of town to Santa Elena, a tiny town set in lush greens and flowers. I spent the day relaxing in the fresh air, hiking around the paths and generally enjoying the slow pace of the countryside.
• I was lucky enough to be in town to see Colombia play Chile in their quest to qualify for the World Cup! Ahh, there is nothing like football in South America and even though they lost, I relished in the competitive, happy, frenetic atmosphere of a crowded stadium.

Bogota

• I had been warned against Bogota on grounds of violence and theft. I decided I wanted to see for myself and was rewarded with a holiday in town and therefore an extended cyclovia where several of the main roads are closed and thousands of people ride bikes, rollerblade, jog and walk their dogs through town. I was delighted to find families, kids and friends of all ages outside, enjoying their city, watching an interesting mix of street performers (a great guineapig show and a talented set of rappers to start) and getting some exercize!
• El Monserrate is an imposing mountain looking over Bogota with a pretty church atop. I was only able to admire it from below unfortunately because the rainy weather would not have permitted a view.
• Once again, the bakeries and street food stalls were like magnets. I cannot resist trying something new and there seems to be no end! Delicious.
• Being a bit museum-jaded, the Gold Museum is definitely worth a visit.
  
• San, a new traveling buddy and I decided to check out the famous Salt Cathedral. I was not expecting much, since I'd been to the salt capital of the world in Bolivia, but this was apparently the number one marvel in Columbia. I was so very impressed! The town that it is situated in, Zipaquirá, was a lovely little town, clean, wide streets and friendly plazas. The salt cathedral itself was actually carved inside the mountain and incredibly unique. Symbolic chambers, cool lighting, a beautiful mirror pond, a great guide and a cheesy but funny 3D movie! I just wish I had had time for Colombia's highest rock climbing wall!
• I couchsurfed once again with a guy named Oliver and he was a wonderful host! These interactions truly enrich my experience and I want to send a big thank you out to him!

I left cold and rainy Bogota with a list of things to see when I return. What was supposed to be an 11hr journey turned into 15 for some reason and I am now in the salsa capital of Colombia, Cali. Last night, I joined a friend at his dance studio for a class and it was fantastic! They even mixed it was a little hiphop and reggaeton - so fun! Afterwards, we went to one of the hottest salsotecas in town and I was in such awe of pure talent there! I can only hope that one day I will be able to dance like them!