laurailok

Sorry for not writing for a while, this as well will be a quick one as we want to look around the city a little and then take a great 30 hour bus ride to Quito, with stops.

After Cartagena we took an interesting trip with lots of different jeeps and buses and boats to Playa Blanca, a beach which is very touristy with Colombians I guess, but which is with white sand and absolutely turqoise water, very Caribbean paradise. We stayed the night in a simple beach hut, sleeping in the open air in hammocks, which was not all that comfortable but atmospheric, the cocks started screaming at about 5 so didn´t sleep that much, but swam and spent the day in the sun, then took a boat to Cartagena which was beautiful, we were going to walk , but a group of really nice spanish tourists took us for free for a little tour of the Islas of Rosario, which were beautiful, but have a resort on basically each one.

Then we took a bus to Santa Marta where we visited taganga a fishing village turned again a little touristy, playa negra, which was a bay where I snorkelled in coral reefs for about 2 dollars.. beautiful, it was really cold, almost lake water. On the second day we went to the national park, where we hiked for a day and saw such amazingly beautiful scenery, from jungle woods to boulder beaches.

Now yesterday after a 15 hour, freezing bus ride we are in Bogota, unfortunately leaving in a bout a few hours, for a 15 hour ride to Popayan, then 7 hours to the border and then another great 5 hours to Quito, I have had absolutely enough of buses.
Bogota is really beautiful, we are staying in the old city, yesterday e walked around the city, went to a Botero exhibition (he is from Medellin, Colombia) which was really good and free as he just donated 123 of his paintings to this museum, then went out with a really nice Colombian group to a disco with very bad music, the music that comes from Europe to here, is mostly really old and bad, or heavy metal.. of course there is else, but it is like good international music, which is hard to find in Vienna too.
I don´t want to leave Colombia, it is really such a gorgeous country, we have just had a great time here without any problems whatsoever. I got robbed a piece of paper and 20 dollars from my bag, but that can happen anywhere.

Take care all, my last days in Quito will be quite busy, but I will have the time to write a little.

Hi all,

Okay at the moment in Cartagena, again my description will be that it is yet another old colonial town, expanded now into one of the biggest cities in Colombia, like Cali as well, as we went to a zoo in Cali which was interesting and colourful, we took a bus that literally went around all the city before arriving at our doorstep and we saw how huge the suburbs were, the grey inner layer which was just dirty poor city and then almost country side and beach hut style architecture around that.
Then on thursday evening we took a "direct bus" to Cartagena, which ended up being changing in Medellin anyway and waiting there for an hour and then a trip that stretched by 2 more hours as we stopped really often, so we were in total perhaps 23 hours in the bus. Most of it in the night so that was alright, and then during the day it is interesting anyway as you look at the landscape. Colombia is so much more rich with nature, rich with openess and culture in contrast to Ecuador which seems so much more tranquil, people, climate and landscape wise, I guess these are all connected. Like people and climate in Finland.
Yesterday I was robbed yet again on the street here, but they took a piece of paper which in the end effect was quite funny, it was still kind of scary as somebody just grabbed my arm from behind, held it and took whatever was inside.
Today we looked around the old city centre which is where we are staying in a hostal thats owner is from Vienna.. its really beautiful, broken down dorms with brick walls and some sort of brick oven(?) and a kitchen on a balcony outdoors.
The old colonial city centre is really gorgeous, we went to the beach as well where everyone tries to sell you everything, women just start to massage you etc. the city is beautiful, but we want to see some nature and have some more natural beaches, so tomorrow we are most probably heading on to Santa Marta, visiting some islands there and going snorkling. We did meet some really nice people here, people get married so early, I find it so funny when people are shocked that I don´t have children yet with twenty..
Today perhaps going to the cinema, maybe just going for a drink somewhere.
We had these horrid American guys from Alaska who were in our hostal in Cali that coincidentally took the same bus to Cartagena. I hate speaking English here, especially since everyone thinks you are american anyway, it was literally so annoying and embarassing as they had this dominant air of wanting to ask all the questions needed to be asked that we could have done so much better with our Spanish, they speak with the "du" form of German instead of "sie", tu not usted.. and that just makes them come off even more rude and ignorant.
Colombia is quite pricy, buses are so incredibly expensive compared to Ecuador, stupid as we travel alot with them and long journeys.
On the bus ride got stopped by military again, but a very routine check up, friendly man, its good that there is the military on the streets not guerillas. IT still takes alot to get used to to see men with machine guns on the street.

Send my love from the beautiful Caribbean sunshine

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

Made it over the border to colombia. Our first stop, a beautiful Colonial town of Popayan, very friendly people, cheap nice hostel. Yesterday arrived late at night, today walked around the small city, ate breakfast in the park at sunshine and talked to some friendly ladies that pick up conversations. I had to explain to a woman yesterday why there are no wars in Finland and no street children either..
Tomorrow going further to Cali.

I´ll stop now, just to say that I´m safe and it seems to be alright here, a little scared to move anywhere just because Colombia has such a bad reputation.
The internet is really slow so Ill get off now, we`ll stay here one more night.

Take care,
Í`ll keep on writing
Laura

Just shortly, our plans to go to Colombia have been delayed a day, made it about 200m down to the park near our hostal, then felt really sick, funny how it happens now as I haven´t really been sick all this time. Now hoping that it will be considerably better until tomorrow, then leaving with the bus in the morning.

We´ll be absolutely careful. I think there are just some annoying rules you have to follow like not do a 7 hour bus trip in the night, which really is quite annoying, we´re only doing the coast, North and coming down again, which is the safest part, we´ve got money in different places etc. etc. I think the chances of you being kidnapped or getting into anything more serious are very very slim so don´t worry.

Now spending the whole day in the hostal, not all that exciting.
Take care.