Kidnapped in Colombia

Drug cartels, bloody wars, assassinations, torture?

Modern Colombia is desperate to shed its dark image. Sun kissed beaches, vibrant carnivals, passionate soccer/football supporters, water sports, colonial architecture and fresh food. That’s what they want to be known for. But what would I find?

Coming here though was never part of the plan. I was aiming on a return to Bolivia. Just needed the business visa, which was why I’d returned to London. But through various mishaps I hadn’t got it. Some of my friends in Bolivia said to risk a return (I was way over my tourist visa already).

But I asked in the airport if I could get to Bogota instead of La Paz. After a lot of arm waving, rapid speech, annoyed looks all of which you come accustom to in South America, one of the Latin check in staff stepped forward and said it was possible. Ticket to Colombia. After a small fee.

Coming into land the city was no more than a speckling of lights. Darkness hide the rest. It was however warm and muggy. Enough for you to wonder why you were still wearing a jumper.

The city is laid out into zones. The hostel was located in the historical quarter, called La Candelaria. Arguable the safest and most interesting part.

This was where the senate met, the President has his house and other important buildings were located. As such military personal patrol the streets like red ants in search of food. While this gave the impression that the city was under siege, strangely it felt safer.

Interesting? Grand colonial buildings, exotic foods, museums full of gold, night life, mountains that erupt up around the city, Colombia’s rich past and potential future. Not taking anything away from the other zones. But you wouldn’t go far wrong with this one.

The town can be explored on foot. The main square, Bolivar square houses some impressive Neo-Classical buildings. It is steeped in history. Being built initially by the Spanish Colonials it had not avoided the impacts of the infamous Pablo Escobar.

Monserrate is the mountain that towers over the city and offers beautiful views from it. You can walk up it. It usually takes about an hour and a half. But the advice is to be down by 4pm, as the route can get dangerous around sunset. I though took the cable car. There is a church and a market to explore. And a restaurant to have a beer in afterwards.

Alcoholic Drinks
Beer – There is a reasonable variety of beers here. Reasonable. The commercial beers Argullia and Colombian Club are lighter larger beers. Perfect for the intense heat along the coastal regions. Heavier red and dark beers are produced by the Bogota Beer Company (BBC). Some regions, towns or villages produce their own artisan beer. Prices range from 2000-3500 pesos ($0.60-0.90, €0.55-0.80 or £0.40-0.60).
Agua Dinentes- If you like aniseed drinks, this is a must try! If you don’t avoid it. Colourless liquid normally served as a shot.

Buses-
Many will say that it gets very cold on the buses. But personally I’ve been on very cold buses. Throughout Asia for example. Colombia though presented me with a bit of a mix. Some cool buses. And some which simply lacked a/c and you were happy with the fast (manic) driving for the air that rushed through the cabin. Different from other countries some of the buses had charging points for your cell, mp3, camera, etc.

Even for Long journeys (over 5 hours) the buses don’t tend to stop. Instead people are invited on in villages that the bus rumbles through to sell their wears. Sandwiches, crisps, juice, dried shrimps. Depending on how well they do they sometimes get off in the following village. Then board a bus heading in the opposite direction.

Public Holidays
Apparently Colombia has more public holidays than anywhere else in the world. Reason to stay?

National Flag
A hero of the independence Simón Bolívar had a vision to unite present day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia as one. Calling it Gran Colombia. But it didn’t last. Although the legacy is that the flags of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador are very similar.

The flag is: Yellow for the gold, Red for the blood and Blue as Colombia faces two oceans: Atlantic and Pacific.

Food
The food is a mix of rice, beans/lentils, fried plantain, sweet bread, arepas, bollos (maize ground together and boiled wrapped in a banana leaf) and a fried/bbq meat, chicken or chorizo.
Fish is popular in coastal regions. Or trout more inland.

Aguapanela is basically sugar cane water. Often drunk hot. Same colour as mildly brewed tea, but very sweet

Lulo- is a fruit, which in appearance resembles an orange. Although it’s texture is more like a bitter kiwi fruit. Always add sugar when eating one of these.

Interestingly we went to a fast food chicken outlet. Instead of giving us a plastic folk to eat our food they gave us a plastic glove….

Triposo
A useful application for downloading information about countries. It does take a little time to download the documents but then the information is available off line.

Not related

I enjoyed a story off a British guy I met. He told me about a friend he had who went off to Australia. On arriving the guy was asked if he had a criminal record. He said he wasn’t aware he needed one to get into Australia any more. The immigration office obviously lacked a sense of humour and the guy was interviewed for the next 3 hours.

Jewel in the Colonial Spanish Crown- Cartagena, Colombia

Set on the northern coast of Colombia facing out towards the Caribbean sea sits Cartagena.  The old town is a mix of vibrate colonial houses ringed by a powerful defensive wall. Outside this, modern buildings tower over the city. Changing the image of how you would imagine Havana to modern US cities in the turn of a head.  While temperatures rise into the mid 30s, a gentle sea breeze cools the population.

Initially however the city was comparatively defenceless. Which left it open to attack from pirates. One of the most famous being the British Fancies Drake who sacked the city on three occasions. So fortifications where begun.

Slaves were brought in from Africa. It surprised me that the Conquistadors did not enslave the local Indians. Mirrors.

The newly arrived Spanish brought with them many objects. But none seemed to fascinate the locals as much as mirrors. So much so that they agreed to swap their gold for the mirrors. And you wonder why Columbia was voted one of the most vein countries….

A prominent site within the city is the castle. It brutally erupts above the shores of one the great rivers which flow through Cartagena. The canons guarding the castle are not original although there are a few rusting ones lying around. It goes that when a battle was won the general in charge of the castle would rescue some from sunken ships. He would then lay them out for his men to see as motivation tools. ‘Remember the battles we’ve won.’

In front of the castle is a monument with the inscription (in English)- ‘Spanish pride pulled down by Admiral Vernon’. Which makes no sense.

Firstly its historically inaccurate. In an attempt to crush the lucrative Spanish trade from the Caribbean the British made plans to invade Cartagena. Unfortunately on route from Europe the commanding officer died. Then as the British prepared the attack from Jamaica rough storms preventing the ships leaving harbour and many men suffered and died from disease. Finally the forces left for Cartagena. But the admiral in charge of the navy did not get on with the general commanding the land forces. Not ideal for such a complex operation. A great battle at sea ensued before the marines could be put on land. Firstly the engineer was killed and then they discovered that the ladders were too short to scale up the building. As such the British forces were routed. And the government of the UK fell shortly afterwards.

Secondly the statue above the plaque is of the Spanish general who defeated the British admiral at the battle.

But speaking to the locals they say that the Price of Wales (UK) visited the city a few years ago so they erected it for him. Re-writing history?

The old town is rumoured to have the most expensive houses in Columbia. Shakira and Julio Iglesias are said to own properties here. It is permitted to alter the internals of the house but strict regulation govern the front façade.

The beaches around the coast of Cartagena are not inviting. But many boats in the harbour will whisk you away to beautiful island paradises. Or simply wait until you head east. Beaches aplenty. As for me- inland.

One Spanish tourist staying in the same hostel said that he had travelled all over South America and felt this was the most beautiful town. Having seen a number of towns/cities on the continent I am inclined to agree.

Small Nation, Big Heart- Paraguay

Guaranie- This is the name of the indigenous inhabitants of the land (before those pesky Spanish turned up and conquered the place). Carlos proudly informs me that this is one of the only two nations in the Americas (Canada being the other) with two recognised national languages. Here it is Spanish and Guaranie. As such it lends its name to a football team and the currency. Guaranie is spoken and understood by most people but the words used differ across the country, to the extent that often people from the capital have difficulties understanding those from the countryside. Mind you I have problems understanding those with a broad accent from Gloucestershire, UK (just watch the movie ‘Hot Fuzz’ to understand what I mean).

Money, Money, Money- Like many South American countries the currency has been devalued a number of times. As such you talk in ‘000s or 10s of ‘000s. I took out 500,000 from an ATM, but Rene informs me that this is about €100 (£85). But, unlike Argentina, you can withdraw dollars (US) here quite simply.

Three Bullies- In the mid 1800s Paraguay had a President who was educated in Europe and subsequently brought many ideas back to the country. This made it one of the most propose regions in South America. The neighbouring countries got jealous of this. As such Brazil,  Argentina and Uruguay (known as the Triple Alliance) got together and went to war with Paraguay (known locally as the Great War). 2000 Paraguayan men died in the most bloody conflict of the era in South America and, apart from loosing some territory in the south of the country, Paraguay (a vastly smaller nation) won. As such if you are British and an Argentine bothers you about the Falklands simply respond with ‘If we give you the Falklands you will obviously return Corrientes to Paraguay?’ (Worth noting at this point that the Falklands was under the control of the British crown before Argentina was ever formed as a nation. In contrast Corrientes (where they still speak Guaranie, the other language of Paraguay) was part of Paraguay for a hundred years before it was taken over by Argentina. So, in my mind, Paraguay have more claim to Corrientes than Argentina to the Falklands… Debate?)

Signing off with love from South America