Ch. 9: Travel pictures

Something about living and working in a country on a volunteer stipend affects one’s travel habits. I think twice before saying, “It’s only $20”, for example, because $20 converts to a little under 60,000 COP and with that I can buy food for 2 weeks. I love doing everyday things and am in less of a hurry to go to museums and attractions. I am obsessed with Couchsurfing. I no longer say “I love so-and-so-city!”, but rather the specific things I’ve seen and experienced in the city. Because if it’s anything like what tourists say about Cartagena, I’m sure I haven’t seen enough of the city to say that I love the whole thing.

Over the past year, I took advantage of the generous amount of national holidays and cheap transportation to wander around the country. It turns out that from its culture, people, food, and even to the Spanish, Colombia looks and sounds distinct region by region. This is a visual recap of my wanderings.

San Jacinto

Over a long-weekend, couple of the volunteers and I hopped on a bus to a nearby town called San Jacinto to enjoy their local festival. I saw my first bull-fight and all the ugly things that go with it. At night, we mingled with the other Colombians who had traveled to San Jacinto for the festival. They pulled us into their dancing circles, invited us to their homes and fincas (despite the fact we will never see them again), and passed around rounds of Aguardiente shots so that we will dance better.

El Totumo Mud Volcano

My first mud volcano. The buoyancy allows you bounce around (and also turn into an awkward tangle of limbs) like you’re on some anti-gravity trampoline. Coming out of it with my skin smooth as a baby’s butt for a week was an unexpected plus.

Medellin

I’ve gone back to this city three times. On my first visit, I spent the weekend at a finca outside of the city with my Couchsurfing host. The second time with my family. Then finally as a personal getaway for spring break. I am obsessed with its story of being the most dangerous city in the world to one of the most innovative in less than 30 years, not only because it is a miraculous feat for any city but because it’s such a story of hope for Colombia.

I must say that Medellin at night is my favorite. Because the city lies at the base of the mountain, when you look out at night, you see “stars” lit up all around you at eye-level.

Guatape

A quaint town located 1–2 hours outside of Medellin. I’m not sure if it is the “best view in the world” as the sign claims, but La Piedra certainly was worth all 740 steps we climbed the see it. Seeing the sprawled out speckles of islands woven together by the lake made me feel like I was seeing a pirate treasure map brought to life.

Salento

Possibly one of my favorite stops in Colombia. It’s located in the heart of the coffee triangle and its cool, fall-like weather almost brought me to tears after sweating for months in Cartagena. I splurged on coffee like a dumb tourist here, and probably took more pictures than I should have because the town was like a pop-up storybook.

Cocora Valley

Colombia’s national tree is the wax palm tree, and this park in Cocora Valley is full of it. The 5–6 hour hike in the park made me feel like I was wandering around in Jurassic Park, except instead of man-eating dinos, we had palm trees and hummingbirds.

Bogota

I am one of the only people I know who is a fan of the city’s cold, rainy climate. I was almost too comfortable in this city. There were moments in which you could have told me I was back in D.C. or downtown Manhattan, and it would have sounded right.

Santa Marta

I think Santa Marta, a smaller sister town on the coast with the same costeño soul, is what Cartagena could have been if it had not sold its soul to tourism (oops, too blunt?). Also its breeze is to die for, a delicious side effect from being hugged by the mountains of Sierra Nevada.

Cali

I really don’t have many pictures from Cali. It’s where I spent my New Year’s Eve. My Couchsurf host, a fellow Couchsurfer, and I cooked and stuffed ourselves from 4pm to 1am, gorging ourselves with grilled meat, fries, and fried plaintains, and washing it down with gazpacho and wine. We mused about our new year plans and last year reflections over ice cream and brownies (and concentrated Spanish on my part). And when we couldn’t eat anymore, we went to my host’s family party and danced salsa until 5 o’clock in the morning.

Popayan

The pretty little southern town of Colombia is known for its whitewashed walls that make the entire town look like a wedding cake. It’s also known for being the hometown for the most number of Colombian presidents.

San Agustin

After Cali and Popayan, I had decided to make a 24-hour stop at San Agustin before continuing onto Pasto. What I had hoped to be an easy day-trip ended up being a fiasco. After waking up at 5am to get an early start, my first bus was cancelled and I was rushed to another. After dozing in the bus for a few minutes, the driver rushed me out saying that it wasn’t my bus. Having missed all the early buses at that point, I waited in the station for the next, grumpily eating breakfast. I finally got on the new bus and as soon as we pulled out of town, it broke down. By the time I finally got to San Agustin, what should have been a 5-hour trip had turned into a 10 hours.

I made the most of it. In fact one of my highlights in Colombia is waking up early to have the entire San Agustin Archeological Park and its thousands-year old statues and burial sites practically all to myself.

And finally, in order to make up for lost time, I got to Pasto via a shortcut affectionately named as “La Trampolina de la Muerte”. Considered as Colombia’s “Death Road”, it is a narrow, single-lane that wraps around the Putumayo mountains to reach altitudes of above 7,500 feet above sea water. After I’d made peace with the worst of possible consequences, I managed to enjoy the gorgeous view as we breezed through clouds and over waterfalls.

Pasto

My favorite Colombian experience is the Blacks and Whites Carnival in Pasto, a week-long celebration of floats, parades, face paint, and foam street fights. During the day, we (my Couchsurfing host and fellow surfers) would watch the parades rolling by and get into a massive foam or paint war with passerby in our spare time. During the night, we’d wander into the square and engage in even bigger foam wars with people we’d just met, go out for beers with the same strangers after dying in laughter, and then try to dance salsa and vallenato in the packed plazas covered in foam and powder.

After the craziness of the carnival, we drove out to hike Laguna Verde, an emerald-green lake located at the base of Volcano Azufral.

Oh, and I also tried the local delicacy, el cuy. Also known as the guinea pig. Also known as a former pet of mine.

Cartagena

I unfortunately and ironically have very few pictures of the city in which I’d spent a year. But it seems wrong to end this entry without showing pictures of my temporary home.