Dann Hotel Cali

10th August 2009<br>Guest House Iguana, Colombia<br>Very warm indeed<br><br><br>We have finally made a decision about moving on. For the first time since we've been travelling we realise we have to make some (gulp) plans with regards to timings. We don't want to just keep merrily cycling along and then in January find ourselves running out of time and have to rush the last part. We were going to take a bus from Cali to Ipiales (Ecuador border) but it is a 10 hour ...

... der Polizei, die gegründet wurde, um eben solche Proteste zu verhindern bzw. aufzulösen. Im Kampf zwischen Studenten und den ESMAd sind im Laufe der letzten Jahre einige Studenten in Kolumbien ums Leben gekommen. In Kolumbien gibt es seit Jahren studentische Proteste gegen das Bildungssystem und die geplanten Bildungsreformen, die unter anderem das Ziel haben alle staatlichen Unis zu privatisieren.

Plastic surgery in order to keep up appearances is, we are led to believe, as routine in Cali as going to the doctor when you are ill. As a result, the city has a reputation for beautiful women. To be honest, I am not sure that either one of us witnessed women of unestimable beauty on the streets, but we certainly did see plenty of prostitutes on the streets of the affluent area in which we were staying. It seems that Cali is as addicted to ...

We were told Cali was great, but actually there is not that much to do here. We got here yesterday night, we walked so long from the bus terminal to our hostel with the backpacks... And Cali is expensive so with these two things in mind we decided to leave tomorrow. We spent our day at the zoo. I was not too keen on going because i am against zoos and believe animals should be kept in their natural environment, but i must admit ...

... the common colloquialism, "Cali es Cali, lo demas es loma." Cali is Cali and the rest is just hills or something along those lines. Obviously there is some pride involved in living here. On the darker side, the hostels are dirty, people (the men at least) snort coke in every bathroom of every bar downtown and there isn't much in town that is appreciated beyond face value. What I did enjoy however, aside from getting amusement out of watching guys do coke bar bathrooms (I ...

... to Cali and we both continued knocking on Nelly's door for the next hour. Eventually Nelly woke up and shouted at us for not carrying the key (bloody hell...the key ring was the size of a car battery...how the hell can I pop that into my pocket). Entered the room and the lure of a bed with blankets was just too much (6.30am bus be damned). Woke up at 9am ready for the 9.30 bus. Checked out and understandably I was only charged a third of the room price for last nights nonsense ($3 ...

... Hmmm they sell their milk, water, and mayonaise in a bag. Interesting huh?? P.S. if you want soda, ask for Gaseosa, or else! You'll get seltzer water! yucks!! They do say Sprite over there :) and depending on where you buy the soda from, you'll have to take the empty bottle back. Fun! Same thing goes for the beer. If you buy a case of bottles you'll have to take the whole case back once you're done Dress code: Just to get ...

... We descended the last three hours back to Mamey, had some beers and sandwiches and hopped in the trucks that dropped us here to head back to Santa Marta. Most of us headed out to the nearby fishing village of Taganga to relax and have our disgusting clothes washed, anxious to get some good food and sleep on a matress. I spent three days loafing in Taganga before heading back to Cartagena this morning and catching a flight to Cali. Tomorrow back to NY...

... sleep and got up around 9 ish and headed to periera (city that's 3 hours bus ride away from cali) with 3 of the guys from the hostel. at periera station, a colombian woman was trying to hook her daughter up with one of the guys, which was a bit odd (i swear that she's only about 16!!!)! the plan was to check out the coffee valley but as we arrived pretty late in the afternoon we just ...

After mile-high Medellin, Cali is definitely a 'garden city,' so I&#8217;m enjoying it, chatting up the local filles and letting my imagination wander. Unfortunately this new openness has drawbacks, so I was equivocal when approached by two English-speaking blacks, presumably from the coast.<br><br> "Are you looking for ...