In Cali

In Cali,

Stopped over in Popayan, a beautiful small colonial city, now came here to Cali, which is obviously one of the rich cities in Colombia.
We have a hostal which is super cozy, run by a Swiss man who has married a Colombian woman here and lives here now, met lots of people travelling here or some that live in Cali.

Cali is very modern, really very safe, you can see that especially in this area where we live, people are quite well off. Funnily I ran into the two Finnish girls that Marja-Liisa knows in Popayan in the hostal, as they are now making their way to Ecuador.

I met the Finnish Consulate here today, a Colombian man that really has no connection to Finland whatsoever.

It is absolutely beautiful, but very comfortable sunshine here, not humid like in the beaches and south of Ecuador.

Of course travelling in Colombia seems risky and I guess there is a small risk, but as we are doing only the main main routes the risk is very very small, there is just a heck of police and military out on the streets, which is just intimidating in itself. We are being more than careful, doing 9 hour busrides in the day, which is worth it as well not only for safety but also to see the amazing landscapes here, it is such a beautiful beautiful country.

People here are alot more open and direct, but in a nice way, just they speak very unclearly compared to the slow, very calm and articulated Spanish that people speak in Quito.

Cali is also the capital of Salsa and as I do know how to dance perhaps we should have gone dancing here, but well.
Either we stay here one day longer or tomorrow we head to Medellin and from there to Cartagena on the Pacific Coast.

Take care all, I will write again, probably from Cartagena.

Laura