Careful what you wish for

After waiting in San Gil for a few days for the Rio Suarez to be low enough to raft, I was finally able to go today. I was told by Ivan, the helpful owner of the hostel I´m staying at that the river was had class 5+ rapids. After being told in both Ecuador and Panama that we were going down rivers that rated 3-4 and being somewhat disappointed, I thought that 5+ would be a really good ride.

We had to wait until noon to set out to let the river get a bit lower. We picked up the 12 people going on the trip from various hostels and grabbed the rafts, kayaks and guides. Arriving at the river, it was a muddy brown torrent and looked like it was going to be intense. We did the standard safety talk and hopped in the two rafts to practice a bit. Along with the two rafts we had three other guides in kayaks to grab anyone that fell in. Little did I know how key they would be. The raft I was in had two people that had rafted before and four who had never rafted. The other raft had people who had all done at least 4´s before.

We set off down the river and the first rapid we hit was a 4. I was in the front and we went in sideways and I got thrown out when this big wave knocked me across the raft. I got trapped under the raft for a few seconds (it seemed like much longer) but was able to push my way out, just to get a massive mouthful of water when another wave hit us as I was getting pulled in. We pulled over to the side of the river to regroup and I saw that the other raft had gotten through with their crew intact.

As I tried to catch my breath and calm down a bit, I realized that I was definitely getting more than my money's worth on this trip. We made it through the next couple of rapids ok, and then pulled over again to get instructions on the class 5 that was coming up. Coming into the first part of this one I´m not sure what exactly happened, but I think we just took too direct a rout through this wave that was about 8 feet tall. The entire raft tipped up on the side and we tried to high-side, but the whole thing flipped. Once again I was under the raft and struggled to get out. I couldn´t get a hold of the raft and ended up having to ride through the entire 400 meter rapid on my back. It was damn scary - every time I could get my head above water I would get sucked back down and swallow more water. This repeated about six times until one of the kayaks got close enough to me so I could grab on. I was on the front of it, but had to move to the back so we could pick up another one of my raft mates. We finally got out of the worst of it and got near enough the other raft so they could pull us aboard. I was so spent that I couldn´t offer any help and it ended up taking two guys from that raft to pull me aboard. I couldn´t get my breath and threw up a little water.

We stopped again so the guides could get the flipped raft on the right side of the river and to allow everyone to recuperate. At this point this Irish couple let the guides know that there was no way they were doing the last class 5. The guides told them they could walk around the last rapid, and asked if anyone else wanted to walk it. I sort of did at that moment, but there was no way I was admitting that. The guides did a bit of re-arranging of people so all the inexperienced people weren´t in the same raft, and we set off again. The next two rapids were class 3, and we got through fine. We stopped one last time for instructions on the final class 5. I was REALLY hoping I would stay in the raft/not have it flip here. Being 0-fer on the class 5´s and swallowing another bunch of water was not something I wanted to have happen on my trip.

We headed down towards the last big rapid minus the Irish couple. I was really nervous going into this one through some hard-earned experience. We hit the rapid, navigated the first little class 1 and plowed into this massive class 5. We were set up right going into this one, and had a roller-coaster ride through the waves which the guides later told us were over 9 feet high. A few times I though we were going over, but the raft stayed upright and almost before I knew what had happened we were through. I felt completely exhilarated as I realized there were just little choppy waves ahead of us and the guide said we were through!

We paddled down the river a bit to a beach where we pulled out. Snacks followed and then we loaded in the van and headed home. I was talking to this German guy sitting next to me who turned out to be a river guide, and he said that there was no way people with no experience should have been going out on that river in it´s current state. I told him that I had gone rafting about seven times on 3´s and 4´s, and he said even that was about the minimum that you should have to do that kind of whitewater.

I think I´ve learned a few valuable lessens. First, don´t go rafting down a hardcore class 5 with a bunch of inexperienced people. Second, don´t take class 5 rapids lightly. Third, stick to class 4´s, because they skew more on the excitement side of excitement/terror. Actually, scratch that third one as now that I´ve had a few hours, I´m ready to try one again.

Minus the fact that I don´t have much hair left on my left shin from the rubbing on the raft while trying to keep myself in and possible dysentery from drinking half the water in the Rio Suarez I´m pretty much no worse for the wear. I was supposed to catch a night bus to San Augustine on the coast tonight, but after getting back to the hostel, there was no way I was hopping on a bus for 12 hours. I´m staying one last night in San Gil and then heading out tomorrow evening after the Cup final. I´m going to sleep well tonight.

Finally, to all my friends who surf bigger waves, I think you are nuts. The whole being held under thing is pretty damn scary.

San Gil

I`ve been in this decent-sized town called San Gill for the last few days. It`s a bit up in the mountains and I really like it. There is apparently some great rafting around here that I`ve been waiting to do, but the river has been too high for the past couple days which pushes it above class 5 or whatever is considered raftable. I`m holding out hope that tomorrow the river will be open, and if not I`m heading on.

In the meantime, I`ve been taking little treks to different villages and seeing the area. If rafting still isn`t an option tomorrow I might go paragliding. Who knows..... My camera battery died today so no pictures.

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!

San Augustine

I´ve been in this town up in the mountains called San Augustine for the last two days. There are a bunch of cool stone sculptures up here from these Indians that used to live up here. I´ve been checking out the archaeological parks and tomorrow am going to head too this village called San Andres, which has these tombs you can go down into. Apparently they are pretty cool.

I was almost going to skip San Andres after hearing that the FARC put in a little appearance in the town the day of the recent presidential elections, but I guess it is pretty safe. That was the first time in years they had been seen there and they only made an appearance because it was election day. I met this German guy who was standing right next to one of the guerrillas when he came into this little shop and asked to use the bathroom. Apparently he was really polite and didn't give the gringo any problems. Should be interesting...

Pics from the last few weeks

Mompiche, land of no change

Hostel in Mompiche

Hostel in Ibarra

Park in Ibarra

Some church in Ibarra

Again

I really wanted to offer to buy this sign but it was too big to lug around

Tamale de pipan

Popayan, the white city

Cool old bridge in Popayan

Massive patacone

Columbia

After spending a few extra days in a city called Ibarra in Ecuador due to "stomach issues," I finally made it to Columbia last Thursday. I stayed in a town a couple hours from the border called Pasto the first night and then bussed it 7 hours to Popayan, where I've been since. Popayan is a beautiful colonial city up in the mountains at about 6000 feet. I´ve been hanging out, trying lots of local food and walking all over town. Tomorrow I'm going to head to a place called San Augustine to see a bunch of crazy sculptures in the desert made by a bunch of shrooming Indians way back in the day. Should be interesting.

The border crossing from Ecuador to Colombia was strangely easy. I had expected security to be tight due to the fact that guerrillas are still active in the area and there are tensions between the countries over a raid Colombia made on a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory a few years ago. Instead it was the easiest I have ever made. If I wanted to be an illegal immigrant I could have just walked across without getting any of the stamps as no guards or anything stopped me on either side. After a hair-raising mini-bus ride to Pasto on the Panamerican I crashed out early. (Dear Colombian Drivers, Maybe if you didn't drive like maniacs, there wouldn't be crosses on the side of the road every few feet. Just a thought. Love, Nate).

The next day I got to Popayan in the evening and checked into a pretty sweet hostel. I discovered that Popayan was recognized by UNESCO as a world culinary city or some such thing, so I was excited to try the local specialties. Ive had some tasty tamales de pipan (chicken with this spicy peanut sauce) but overall the food has been a little disappointing. My favorite thing Ive eaten was the chorizo and white bean soup I made the other night. I got the chorizo from this little meat market down the street and it was fantastic. There was a Mexican restaurant in town that was supposed to be really good, but turned out to be pretty crappy. Today while watching The Battle of the Ghosts of Sovereign Debt Default Past and Future Mundial match, I had my first patacone - a mashed, fried plantain that can be topped with different things. I picked one at random without knowing what it had on it and ended up with a patacone heaped with sausage and shredded chicken smothered with melted cheese. It was so massive I couldn't finish it. I know, I know...

Also of note was the Colombian election. Juan Manuel Santos smoked Antanas Mockus in the runoff round to get elected president. There was a nationwide ban on selling booze from Friday through Monday morning (the election was on Sunday) as apparently political parties used to hand out free booze to get people to vote for them. A nice bottle of bourbon might get me to rethink my no voting stance. Maybe.

Tomorrow I'm getting up early to watch the US play Algeria if I can figure out what channel the game is on as the regular one that televises the games is showing England/Slovenia and then hopping on the bus as soon as it is over for San Augustine. Its a 7 hour ride on dirt roads to the town, which just sounds like a great time.

I forgot my USB cable, so pictures will have to wait until the next post. Until then stay classy.

Things that are possibly of interest only to me

The economics of change
Last week I was in Mompiche, a little town on the coast of Ecuador. Beyond it being cloudy, one of the things that cause me to leave was the complete lack of change and the nightmare of buying anything. I came to town with about $5 in coins, a couple of non-coin dollar bills, a five and a bunch of twenties (Ecuador uses the US dollar after they switched over, trying to curb rampant inflation). I figured this would be enough money, especially after I had no problem breaking twenties in Canoa, a town somewhat similar to Mompiche. It turned out to be plenty of money, it was just the act of spending it that was a nightmare.

It seemed no one in town had any change. I got a $.20 discount on a milkshake because I only had $.30 in change and a two ones, and the vendor couldn´t give me $.50 in change, so accepted $1.30. A pizza place me and a couple friends ate at couldn´t give us the $10 change for a $20, even after we had spent over $10 there the day before. Numerous places couldn´t break a five for charges in the range of two to three dollars. I was reduced to giving places larger bills, and just keeping running tabs with them so I could buy things. The final annoyance was when my hotel didin´t have five bucks to give me change for $60 on a $55 dollar bill. The frantically scrambled around for 20 minutes trying to find someone with change, almost causing me to miss my bus.

Thinking about this, I coudn´t figure out why on earth a town with a decent amount of tourist dollars coming into town would be so short of spare change. I´d experienced the no-change phenomenon in other parts of the country, but never on the level I encountered in Mompiche. Granted, it is a fairly isolated place, and I have no idea how far away the nearest bank is. At least an hour I´d assume.

Initially, I thought that the influx of tourists dollars would be a boon for getting change - more money in circulation, hence more change. This obviously wasn´t the case. Thinking about it further, I decided that tourist money must be the problem - take me for example. I spent about $120 in the town total. Upon arrival I carried about $12 in non-twenties. Despite adding the aforementioned $120 to the town´s economy, little of that was in bills that helped the change problem. In fact, my $120 actually compounded the problem, putting into circulation money that wasn´t very useful for most purchases you could make in the town.

I did a little looking into academic research on change, and couldn´t find anything on it. I wonder if any economists have looked at this problem?

Political advertising
During the Mundial (World Cup in Spanish) broadcasts in Ecuador about one in two commercials are ones the Ecuadorian government pays to air. There is one that consists of four people talking about how the opponents of the government are variously trying to: return to the rule of the powerful, treat people´s rights like a business, and steal all the countries wealth. They do these stupid hand movements to represent each different thing and then wraps up with a guy saying don´t fall for it and an old lady saying "we already have a free country, to victory always!". I tried to find this commercial on youtube but it´s not there.

I´m not sure exactly how the add is funded (it seems to be paid directly from government funds) and its pretty aggressive. One of the hand motions this girl makes is a gun. I was trying to figure out parallels in US political advertising, and couldn´t think of any real examples with maybe LBJ´s famous "Daisy" ad against Goldwater being an exception.

Being hammered over the head multiple times during each game broadcast with this ad got me thinking about Ecuador´s political future. The President, Rafael Correa, seems to be taking the country in a more and more authoritarian direction - jailing journalists, trying to set up local committees to report on "counter-revolutionary" activities and demonizing his political allies as a bunch of plutocrats looking to loot the country. Though considering Ecuadorian history that last one isn´t exactly crazy.

Yet Correa maintains his approval ratings, which last I saw were at about 60%. I can only imagine that the country is going to look more and more like Venezuela in the coming years. But what do you expect when you elect a guy who openly admires Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro? And now I´m going to get deported as foreigners are not allowed to engage in any political activities while here...

Mystifying decision
I am a big fan in general of SI.com´s soccer reporting. Grant Wahl is very good, and the rest of the crew is solid as well. Yet the editors there decided to send their inane and mystifyingly popular football reporter Peter King (who's reporting consists of penning loving tributes to Brett Favre and bragging about all the players and coaches who reply to his texts) to the Cup. Did I mention he knows next to nothing about real football? His opening column consisted of talking to Tim Howard while Wayne Rooney walked by and then making some stupid American football analogies. Crazy. I would have loved to be at the editorial meeting where this was considered a smart move.