Welcome

This blog starts from the time I spent in Baghdad 2006 to 2007, when I wanted to record some thoughts and give friends the inside mail on a crazy environment. Since then, after some time out from a broken ankle and between times working in London, I've been on the road again around eastern Europe, NZ and South America. So far. This continues with the hope of telling anyone who's interested about the new places I'm seeing and the people who make them interesting.

On the right you can find links to previous posts. I need to figure out how to get the order of current posts right. Maybe having used this for a few years it's the kind of thing I should have sussed...

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!

Saturday 20 February 2010

Medellin, Colombia

Medellin, Colombia

After an early and uneventful flight from London to Madrid, the onward flight to Bogota wasn´t without drama. When the plane had reached altitude, there was a sudden loss of pressure and the plane nosedived, rapido, for several seconds. Some drinks hit the ceiling and anyone standing or not buckled in had to cling for dear life to the closest fixed object . My ipod and dictionary floated up past me and I had to pluck them from the air. With all the screaming I was thinking ¨so this is what it´s like to go down in a jumbo jet crash above the Atlantic" and for a moment there thought this would be my shortest ever trip, and my last. When I lived in Baghdad the flights in would always land in a steep corkscrew fashion to minimise the risk of being hit by rockets from below on a normal approach. But this altitude loss was a more frightening experience for me. I´d take Baghdad corkscrew landings over this any day.



It was a relief to arrive in Medellin at last. My hostel - the Black Sheep - is run by an expat kiwi, Kelvin, and very friendly and fun. It´s in the beautiful El Poblado neighbourhood and only a short walk from the Zona Rosa, full of bars, restaurants, and locals enjoying their weekend out in and around the square. There´s a police presence but they´re unimposing and sit in the background, and there´s no crime or street violence here. This is why Colombia´s cities are safer than many in South America and the world, and I can´t understand why it´s taking so long for Colombia to shake its bad rep from years past. When I was in Argentina, I met plenty of people who´d come through Colombia and raved about it, like I´ll be doing for the next 6 weeks and beyond. It won´t be long before this is regarded, rightly, as a compulsory stop on the Gringo Trail.



I studied some Spanish on the plane on the way over but it became counterproductive. The theory behind the language is confusing for me. I couldn´t tell you what a subjunctive verb is in English although I can speak it just fine. It´s a bit like learning a musical instrument - if you can play by ear then you don´t necessarily need to know how to read music or know the theory. I just need to practico mucho and I´ll be fine.



At around 1500m above sea level, the climate here is perfect. They call it the City of Eternal Spring, and it´s the perfect place to acclimatise after coming from the depths of a London winter. The temperature at night is perfect mid 20s and I´m so happy to be wearing flip flops again. I need to make the most of it - when I head north to the Caribbean coast it will be nudging 40 degrees.

It´s much bigger than I anticipated, but then with a population of 2.2 million - half of New Zealand´s - it should be no surprise. Still, it´s a very relaxed city and has a great feel to it. It reminds me a lot of Santiago in Chile, and not only because that was my first stop on my last South America trip. It´s a shame my brother Ed isn´t here to share this too, but he´ll be making me an uncle again in a few months so had a very valid sick note.

A weekend in Medellin is a totally worthwhile experience. On Saturday we went to a club called Mangoes which was packed and had shows with hot dancers and midgets. There were maybe 500 people in there of which no more than a dozen were gringos. Because the secret doesn´t seem to be fully out about Colombia yet, you get stared at sometimes but people are so friendly here.



Long overshadowed by the figure of its most famous former resident - Pablo Escobar - Medellin now seems a city with a strong social and cultural conscience. They´ve built a gondola system as an additional metro line to allow easier access to the centre for residents of the Santo Domingo slum in hills lining the city to the northwest. The botanical gardens were free to the public and full of locals enjoying a Sunday in the sunshine. We saw lots of people practising acrobatic moves, throwing girls into the air to do elaborate somersaults and twists before being caught. When Ed and I were in Santiago we saw people doing this as a form of busking at traffic lights. Maybe this is where they come to work on their game.



There´s a Colombian artist called Botero whose paintings and sculptures are always an obese expression, and there´s a great museum housing his truly prolific output.



The last couple of days in Medellin the weather turned a little so it was a good opportunity to try and study some more before I go north.

Sunday 14 February 2010

Ready to go again....

At long last, it's time to find my passport, brush up on my Spanish and get ready to go back West. I've got Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, the northwest of Argentina and my beloved Buenos Aires in my sights. 100 days in which anything can happen.

London was great for 8 months while it was warm and there was lots going on. Ibiza was a nice touch too. But then it got cold. Man it's been cold. I haven't had a proper winter in 4 years so this was a big shock. There I was in BA a year ago, grimacing at news of the snow and subzero temperatures and feeling so smug to have missed it. Well, I've paid for my smugness and then some. In fairness if it wasn't so cold, and logical to hibernate, it would've been hard to save for this trip. As it was, it's been easy.

When I got to BA 14 months ago today, I'd been on the road for 5 months starting in eastern Europe so I was ready to drop anchor for a while. Now I've been in London 11 months I'm itching to get on the road, and there's a lot I already want to see. I can't help feeling this will be the real South America. The Pre- and Incan South America. With freshwater dolphins, jungle life, the Galapagos Islands and the world's highest cities.

Vamos!