Cali

Inner court yard of  El museo Arqueologico 

After a quick cab ride to the
Very safe San Antonio part of town
I settled in nicely at "Casa Café"
Got a private room for $25,000 pesos. No mirrors.
But had several lounge areas, a hammock, kitchen and two shared bathrooms and WiFi.
Also back to no TV.
But a great book exchange.

I managed almost no TV since I left the States. Except for those ten days in Tenguel were I had nothing to do except watch endless amount of
Películas en TNT español.

View from La Casa Cafe

I for the most part have been
out. Or just had no access.
Like did you guys know that the Olympics
had started.
Missed Wimbledon and Katie
Holmes is now divorcing Tom Cruise! No reality
TV, just my reality life. Also heard about the two mass shootings
All my info now comes through Facebook.

After a not exactly HOT shower
I was refreshed and hungry.
So off I went completely clueless
but guide book in hand.
Cali is considered the Salsa capitol of the world.
It is also well know for having over 1,700+ assassins
for hire.

After wondering around a bit I found the market area of the city
I managed a buñuelo which I normally
love but half way through, it was just to
greasy and on the verge of going stale
washed it down with a Colombia for under $3,000 pesos
and I finally ended my months long search for a yellow
highlighter $1,000 pesos (I honestly have not really been
searching just occasionally glancing around for one ).
Everywhere I looked I could not help
feeling disgusted at the amount of deep fried food
available everywhere. Everything is fried and monochromatic
tan.

I miss Wendy's, heck at this point even McDonald's
would be most welcome. I would give anything for a
brick oven pizza. Loads of Dunkin Donuts around
but I am not that desperate yet.

After wondering around some more aimlessly
I found Iglesia de la Merced and the adjacent
Arqueológico museum. It is a mid 16th century church.
The best part was the court yard and the impressive tree outside
Visited another half dozen churches
All old and boring

I did enjoy walking in the park along side
El Rio Cali, that is the best part of Cali.
As night fell the weather finally got cooler
Popped in for a mani pedi $17,000 pesos
Could of gotten it for $10,000 but they lacked AC.

Walking back was scary scary
Night had fully fallen and no one was out
The few people that were out were Men.
No women. It was only 7PM! Never been more glad to
be back in the safety of my room. I am learning to trust my
sense of direction more.

Got invited to a salsa club

I got lucky the next day was a national holiday
so everyone was going out to party.
Went to the Tin Tin Decco club $10,000 pesos to get in
But it's consumable which equals to about 4 beers.
Had my first salsa lesson. Figured out the two basic step
still haven't master el pasito calieno. But I must
of been doing good, got asked out to dance twice!

I wore my teal green flapper dress. It was meant
to be shaken. I will have to invest in a small pair of heels.
Several shots of rum later we were off
It was 2:30am the clubs close at 3am.
We were going to another club were the rules are not
as regulated.

We went to Las Brisas de Jamundi
That place was something else. Everyone oozed money.
My perfect gravity defying tits and ass never stood a chance
and I am a 36DD

I clearly have too many pesky ribs!
I clearly could not compete.
Cali is also known for its renowned cheap plastic surgery.

Several shots later a beautiful specimen of a man
With dark chocolate colored skin came up to me.
Started telling me he was from Texas
Anything I wanted no problem
Showing off his $2300 sneakers, Versace jeans
Louis Vuitton belt and last seasons Hugo boss sweater.
I was not impressed.

But then he told me about his wife from Ontario
I lost total interest at that point. But my favorite part was
When he started rattling off a long list of drugs
he could get me. The only one I recognize was marijuana.
Turns out he was previously talking to someone else in my group
He told her "tengo armas" among other things
Clearly this tactic must work wonders on foreign girls. 
I decided to pass up my opportunity to shack up with a
wanna be narco in the ritzy part of town.

On the way out actual narcos on horses.
You know God I was just kidding when
I said I wanted a wealthy narco boyfriend....I think.....

Apparently there is a narco farm nearby.
Everyone else had cool cars.
Those poor mustangs looked anorexic.
You figured with all that drug money they could afford some hay

Got in near 5 am 7 of us squeezed into the worlds tiniest taxi
Passed out in bed naked, must remember to eat before
consuming two bottles of rum next time

I do not believe I will be returning to Cali anytime soon
The people were very nice to me, but it just felt
odd. Like something was not right. Just not a good vibe.

Longing

The sunsets early in this part of the world.
I long for those long summer days
Where the sun seems to never set

But alas I am in perpetual winter
Where it is night by 6PM.

I miss my midnight picnics in the park
By the lake getting drunk on wine
And cheese as the moon ripples over the water

I miss my stars and moon
I feel lost among this alien sea of constellations
And moon less sky.

I miss being kissed
I missed being held
And holding hands.

I miss food
Getting gelato at 2am
Gorging myself on duck and oysters
Bubble tea and Vietnamese sandwiches
Procuitto covered grapes
And rare meat.

I hate rice.

I miss going places alone
And not feeling alienated for being on my own
Because I am a woman.

I miss dating

I miss you.

I long for you
Am I meant to be alone...

I am actually proud of myself.
Wondering around on my own
Through foreign lands
Pushing myself to try new things.

Trying to figure out who I am
Trying to figure out my life path
Do I need a life path?
What do I want out of this life?
As a child I never knew what to say
when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grow up
I did not know
I still do not know

I guess I just have to keep on moving

But I enjoy standing still

Border Crossing

After spending a week back
in Guayaquil I decided to head north to
Colombia. I left on the 11PM bus
heading to Tulcán.
About a 13 hour bus ride.

No one sat next to me so I
managed to sprawl out and sleep
the majority of the way to Quitó

Quitó was cold
but luckily I had my new
cream colored alpaca shawl to
keep me cozy and warm.

I realised we hit 3700m above sea level
when I instinctively started mouth
are breathing and my chest felt funny.
This is the part where my ears started
popping and my mild cold started
waging a war campaign

Made it to Tulcán on a beautifully warm sunny
day. Got in at 12:30PM. Took a $3.50 cab ride
to the boarder. They had a huge 3+hour wait
line that wrapped around the building. Luckily I found out
I only had a 10min wait to exit the country. Got both
passports stamped and I was on my way.

Crossed the street, over the bridge and poof
I was in Colombia, and I managed to cross over
during the day like I wanted.
No wait to get my entry stamp.
Saved the $38 by using my Ecuadorian passport
and the immigrant officials gave me his number...

It was too easy. I thought it would
be harder or more complicated
El Farc or Guerrilla was not waiting for me.
No one raped or murdered me. For my first overland
boarder crossing it was pretty cool (crossing
into Canada does not count).

$1,700 peso cab ride later I was in Ipiales
got on the first bus leaving in 10min to Cali.
That cost me another $40,000 pesos. Either I just
dropped a small fortune or I am getting amazing deal.

That bus ride was torturous!
It only got colder and colder. We hit higher elevations
My ears were kaput. I was feverish, deaf and dying.

A poor girl had her bag stolen from her seat at
a terminal bus stop in Paso. We were resting for 20min
almost everyone had gotten off. I was too sleep to move
Noticed to guys in black jackets sitting in
front of me. Then one guy moved across from me
Then he moved again behind me.
We smiled.
I got up to close the two windows across from me.
That couple had also left their bag on their seat.
Everyone did. Then both guys got up and left.
Apparently they had boarded when everyone else
got off. No one check to see if they
had a ticket. Poor girl said her university
tuition was in her bag.

As night fell we started stopping more.
I was oblivious in my mucous infested haze.
I did notice at one rest stop armed military guards.
Normally armed guards in Ecuador do not
faze me. The mall has a small army of heavily
armed guards. They can launch a small war
perhaps with the neighbouring mall...
But these guards were military. That I have not
seen in Ecuador. Even in el Oriente were you stop
for control check points (due to Colombian drug trafficking)
they use regular police for that. I found it especially odd
at a gas station.

At this point I had not eaten since 7PM
the previous day when my cousin S took
me out for grilled pork chops. I got off
the bus grabbed a bag of chips, a Colombian and
the worlds biggest aspirin for under $3,000 pesos.
This is the point where I discovered I was
also mute. Apparently you need to hear in
order to talk.

Back on the hell mobile we had a few more
mini stops and then a really long one.
About an hour away from Popayán we stopped
again. For over an hour. This is when I got
off the bus to stretch my legs. My L5 was killing me
I had previously herniated it back in '09 and it had
had enough. Besides it had suddenly turned
Very hot and balmy. I needed air.

It turns out we had been during "caravans" .
Us and another 5 buses. Turns out over the last
two months there has been an increase
in guerilla activity from Ipiales to Popayán.
They have been robbing night buses (So much
for crossing over during the day). Apparently when
they rob a bus they make all the men get off and
are most ungentile towards the ladies left behind.

So we are left to wait on the side of a road
at designated spots. The drivers make sure
the right amount of buses turn up and then
we wait for the police to come by giving the all
clear. I had not noticed before because
we had only been stopping for a few minutes
and besides I was much more concern with sleep.
This time the wait was over an hour.
It was a beautiful moonless night, along
a country road.

About 3 more hours on the hell
mobile I made it to Cali. Got in at 2am.
Should have been midnight...
Once we passed Popayán we just sailed right through.
I should not have anymore road issues for the rest of my trip.

I was done.
Checked into a motel
near the bus terminal. No WiFi but for
$35,000 pesos I had cable, itchy sheets and a
mirror over my bed. It was clean.
Turned on Spanish TNT and I passed out with my
cloths and the lights on. I recall my seductive self
looking down at me as my lucid dreams began.

Woke up refreshed around 11am just in time for the movie
I had seen before but cannot recall now began.
I was a hot sexy mess. Sprawled out languidly
on the bed. Turns out there were a lot more mirrors.

My fever had broken. But I was like a 20 year chain smoking
addict with a gross hacking cough. Spent the next two hours
memorized by the amount of mucous coming out of my
tiny little head. I believe it was my brain
clearly melting out of my noise.

Halfway through the "La Grujula Dorada"
I was ready to move on. It was 2PM and hot
91 degrees hot. I noticed I had spent my first night in
Colombia at the "Hard Rock" as in cafe motel.

Mindo

Mindo Garden 

Took the two and a half hour bus ride to the cloud forest of Mindo.
It tops off at 4700m above sea level.

Its beautiful
All lush and green.
Very very rural, peaceful

View from Hostal El Rocio 

Stayed en el hostal "El Rocío" por
$10 a night. It has a lovely garden
with a lagoon and big barbeque area
ideal for late night bon fires.
The owner is super nice.
Bit of a character, but in a good way.
Owns 8 dogs mostly rescues.
For the amount of pets the place was very clean and fur free. If dogs are not your  thing, they leave you alone if you ignore them.
But they love to bark at you like
some common thief sneaking in every
time you come in. Not much good as guards
because once you close the gate behind you they drop
down for naps.

Man on horseback

I visited the "Mariposas de Mindo"
It is a 4km walk in the blazing sun
They raise different species of butterflies
and then release most of them out to the wild.
Bit over priced for $5, but I did get to see
a few butterflies being born
They come out all big, wet and swollen.
Takes them about 4 to 5 hours to dry out
Then they take off.

Had loads of them land all over me.
On the way out there is a sign.....
"No repellent" .....oops!

One of Las Cascadas de Nambillo

2km further up is "Mindo Garden".
That is a beautiful spot, ideal for watching
Several different kinds of humming birds and butterflies
while enjoying slightly over priced beers.

My favorite was "El Santuario"
And "Cascadas de Nambillo"
It's $5 for the "Tarabita de Mindo"
Which is a 530meter cable car over a huge
ravine. Moves a lot faster than "El TeliferiqO"
in Quito but for some reason a lot less scarier
Even though it looks rusted.
Once you get to the other side
you begin the hike to the waterfalls.

There are at least 9 that are easy hikes
But I believe there are over 15 cascades.
The first and over crowded one is Nambillo
Then you follow t h e trail back up to the other 7 waterfalls that
make up "El Santuario".
Heard beautiful birds. All the birds in the area
Are endemic. Saw toucans and humming birds
It's a great work out.
Very tranquil and had almost the entire
trail to myself. Stopping at each fall to cool off in
the pristine white, turquoise blue water.
HUGE mosquitos!

My little friend accompanied me on my hike

Had a beautiful butterfly land on me
on the way down. It landed
on my right forearm and stayed for the
entire trek back down.
Even when I slipped and my heart
was pounding out of my chest, it held on.
Had another on try to french me. I shook it off on
instinct.

The 9th waterfall is "La Reina" .
It is at least an hour hike there.
I missed it because I wanted to head out
and did not want to miss the bus.
Only thing I regret is not doing
the canopy ride for $12 with the Costa Rican
"Mindo Canopy Adventure".  13 zip lines and
2500meters.

There is another canopy company
but they are not safe. Someone died there a few weeks ago
and loads of unreported injuries. Unfortunately the unsafe
people are expanding into the Amazon and Galapagos.
There lines are not nearly as thick as they should be
And the line that snapped was rusted all the way through.

Left after three days. If I had not
I would still be there on a hammock

Trekking in Ecuador by Kunstaetter, Robert/ Kunstaetter, Daisy/ Box, B (Google Affiliate Ad)

Me....

I have been out of the country for two months now.
Done a lot.
But not enough.

Still trying to figure out what it is that
I want out of life.
What do I need?
And what do I need to do to get there....

For the first time in my entire life
I am happy
I feel young
carefree
not lonely.

It's just me.

       
I am getting ready to head up the coast again
This time I am going to Colombia
I miss being in the valley of volcanoes
But the call of the ocean is too much for me to resist.
Besides I want to try and capture
some of the images I lost along the way.

I have freckles scattered across my nose now.
Always wanted freckles.....
They make me happy.

I keep wondering if I will ever be with someone.
Everyone seems to be paired up
except me.

Will that ever happen for me?

Do I even want that?

Miss holding hands
Kissing
Just laying in bed all day doing nothing
but making love and the crossword.

Am I meant to have a happily ever after? 

I rather be a me than a we if it means settling

I want the fairy tail
Or do I?....

I just need to keep moving.

Lots of guys hit on me
But basically if they are my age
they are already married, with kids and a girlfriend.
I am not looking for that,
be awful to allow myself to be lied too.

I just want honesty.
I have to learn to be honest with myself
first.

One of my dearest friend's said "You are
brave it is a quality that makes you attractive".

In reality I am terrified of everything,
everyone, including myself.

Fear is the devil.

I will conquer my fears.
I rather face them myself
than to die a thousand deaths.

I am slow and overly cautious.

But I rather make it to the mountain top
at my snail pace than not make it at all.
I am learning that not everything is a race.
I don't have to be the first one to the top
I just have to make it eventually
and stopping for the view every once in awhile
while finally being in the moment
feeling the air going in and out of my lungs
and into my bloodstream,
while the sun kisses my skin and
the wind carries my hair
is pure bliss
It sets my soul ablaze
It brings me in communion with God.
It brings me peace. 

I just have to trust that I am in control
of my destiny and if I keep working on bettering
myself, physically, mentally, emotionally and
intellectually, then it will happen for me.

One day