The story so far

So when I last checked in, I was planning on heading to Tierradentro, a archaeological site near the village of San Andres. I was all set to catch the bus there when I realized I was a bit low on money and that there were no ATM`s in the town. I went to get money out in San Augustine and discovered that both ATM`s in the town were down, and wouldn`t be up till the next afternoon. The local bank could only give cash advances on Visa`s, not the Mastercard or AMEX, which was all I had. Counting my remaining pesos, I realized I did not have enough to both pay my hotel bill and the bus fare back to Popayan. It was time to start scrounging.

I eventually found a place that would exchange my $15 remaining dollars for pesos at a borderline criminal rate (apparently Colombia is flush with dollars, can`t imagine why) which got me enough money to get me back to civilizations, but just barely. It was an interesting bus ride back to Popayan that had the bus driver and conductor jumping out of the bus to fight a truck driver that wouldn`t let us pass for 15 minutes (they won), waiting 30 minutes for a road closed by the army to open, passing an army camp with tanks and APC`s parked on the side of the road and seeing some beautiful scenery. I got my money and my luggage I had left in Popayan and then hopped a bus to Cali.

Rolling into Cali I immediately liked the city. It was warm, had a pretty nice downtown and just gave off a vibe that I liked along with having toilets where you could flush the paper. It reminded me of Panama City a bit, but I really disliked Panama City, while I loved Cali. Go figure. I found a decent hostel, met some new people and cooked a few meals.

On Thursday, me and a few of my new friends set off to find a salsa club, as apparently Cali is the salsa capitol of the world. None of the downtown (aka non-sketchy) ones were open so after a few drinks we caught a cab to this one outside the downtown that we had heard about. It was an interesting ride with 7 people stuffed into a tiny, and I mean tiny, Hyundai cab.

We got to the door and the bouncers were having none of us. Apparently you need a 1-to-1 guy/girl ration, and we were rolling with a 5-2. While trying to talk our way in, we saw several lone Colombian guys walk right in, so I think we got racially profiled. There was a bar next door so we rolled over there, looking for three more girls. Just wanting to get in, let`s just say we aimed low...

We met three middle-aged Colombian ladies, but they wanted to stay at the bar a bit longer and even with our spectacular charm turned on full, we couldn`t talk them out of it. After a drink there, everyone was getting tired, so we decided to call it a night. We had to walk back by the salsa club to rat-pack another cab, and were witnesses to a massive brawl outside the club. So maybe it was for the best we never got in.

Friday, I had planned to take a day trip to this river in the jungle accessible only by motorcycle modified to drive on train tracks, but it was pouring rain and I decided against it, and instead wandered around Cali a bit and put a dent in this book I am reading about recent Colombian history. My original broader plan was to head to coffee country after Cali, go through Medellin to the Caribbean coast and then circle back through the Tierra Paisa before finishing in Bogota and heading home. However, while in Cali I heard that there is this massive, free, three-day music festival Sat-Mon in Bogota called Rock Al Parque (Rock In The Park). It sounded like a good time so I decided to rearrange the itinerary.

Friday, I caught a night bus to Bogota from Cali. It would have been a nice, restful ride except for a few factors. First, the bus (a big, comfy one) had this digital speed display, visible to the passengers. Apparently buses in Columbia are not allowed to go over 80 km/hr. I`m of the opinion that it is not so much the speed that Colombian drivers go that is the problem, but the passing on blind turns on windy mountain roads, but what do I know? This digital readout would make this buzzing noise every time we went faster than 80. The driver was hovering right around 80 on any flat, straight stretch, and the buzzer was constantly going off. Not conducive to a good night`s sleep. Second, the a/c was cranked. I was wearing a jacket and pants, but my flip-flop clad feet went numb and I could never really get warm. Why you need a/c while going through mountain passes at midnight is beyond me, but again, what do I know? Finally, the bus left at 9 p.m. and was supposed to get in around 6 or 7. I left a nice cushion so I could get to a hostel and find a tv before the 9 a.m. Argentina/Germany match up. What I didn`t factor in was the road being closed for 3 hours for reasons I still don`t understand. So I missed most of the game.

I then tried to catch a bus to the hostel I wanted to stay in, but caught the wrong one and ended up in the ghetto. When I finally got a cab out of there, the cabbie told me about 10 times how dangerous the place I was in was.

Bogota is a pretty ugly city that sprawls forever. Hopefully the culture here makes up for it. I haven`t got out to explore it to much yet, but am about to head over to the concert in about an hour. I don`t recognize any of the acts beyond one of Bob Marley`s countless kids but it`s free, live music with hundreds of thousands of other people in attendance. Should be fun.

Tomorrow is still up in the air, and Tuesday I want to check out a couple of museums before heading off to parts yet unknown. All in all, it`s been a nice few days, but with the end of my trip getting closer, I`m starting to miss certain things about home more.

That`s it for now. Hopefully I discover some good bands at this concert!