El Centro del Mundo

The long journey finally had an end and we arrived in Quito somewhen in the afternoon. A 6$ cab ride to the old part of the city opened a wide range of opportunities to rest our head during the nights to come and a simple look into the Lonely Planet guidebook saved us a long search for a decent accommodation.

The hostel of choice was „El Centro del Mundo“ situated near one of the old towns big veine, Calle Reina Victoria and right in the middle of the Zona Rosa. It was chosen by our travel accompanies because it was said to have the best value for money. After a whole week of staying there I can say we definitely had some sick times there, unhealthy but PHUN!!!

The 5 of us got a 6er dorm room to ourselves and as it was already evening we just dropped our stuff and started to mingle with the other Hostel guests.

One of them was Russ, an american from a state I don´t remember, that was currently on holiday in Quito.

(But seriously, it´s not like any of the states mean anything to us Europeans anyway… We might have heard about a few states and know a thing or two or have even been there ourselves. But come on guys, if I told anyone I was born in Schleswig-Holstein, lived in Nordrhein-Westfalen, studied in Baden-Württemberg and now live in Berlin-State/ Berlin-City, no one would remember anything but Berlin…)

Anyways, Russ graduated in a town near Quito within a year of exchange to Ecuador and now studies international affairs in Cali/ Colombia. He´s the first american I have ever come across in my live that has a sophisticated knowledge and moreover an interest in other countries and doesn´t idealize his country of origin. Maybe it has a lot to do with his field of study, but still you need the right attitude to go into tht direction in the first place.

He started of by telling us a story how he got robbed twice, the day he arrived only 5hrs earlier in Quito.

Another hostel guest was David, from Quebec, Canada, who was (unusually) able to speak veeeeeery nice english, not like the Froggy-Canadians that have the same fucked up attitude towards learning english like our lovely neighbours. I know I´m stereotyping here, but sadly that´s the unpleasant truth.

So we got together and started of with looking for some beers, and because Sunday apparently is a holy day, on that according to a new law, no one may consume or sell alcohol, we needed to be sneaky to get some hops on.

The aged senorita round the corner in a minimarket was unholy enough to sell us some beers, but the suspicious police officers, which whom the city is absolutely plastered with, would most likely not let us carry our brewskies into the hostel, if they saw us walking the street.

Russ was the man of the hour, and had the brillant idea to call a cab, stop in front of the hostel and run in. Luckily, the plan worked, none of us got punished with jail for breaking the Sunday-alco-law and we could celebrate arrival in Quito.

The next few days were mainly spend by getting up just in time for breakfast, hand around in the TV-room a bit, play pool in the backyard of the hostel and maaaaaaaaybe even cook a dish ort wo to keep the stomache filled. The nights were mainly spend by hanging around the common area, playing card or dice games and enjoy the benefits of the hostel: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays a bucket of 12L free Rum & Coke was given to the guests. And on any other days we would get ourselves a bottle of Rum for only 3$ and a bottle of Coke for 2$. Even staff got hammered… J (just kidding)

Of course we also went out to discover the big city and checked out the new town to see streets, cathedrals and markets, but clearly we could have done more.

One of the reasons why we stayed in much, was the fact that it rains every day in Quito, similar to Bogotá, Quito is a city that is rammed into the mountain ridge and hence clouds are about all the time. We only had two days without rain, and these were mild and really nice, but during the other days, rain kept pouring down and washed away everything on the street.

Thursday there was the final match of the Copa del Sur Tournament, in which LIGA Quito played against Unversitaria de Chile. As you can imagine it was a BIG game and moreover took place in Quito. Russ, David and we wanted to go to the stadium with one of Russ’ friends, but cancelled that plan, as we found out the tickets were too expensive. Instead we got on the piss 3hrs before the match in a bar just round the corner from our hostel. A few other friends of Russ came by and we literally owned the 3 tables that wes at on, including the television. Despite the fact that LIGA lost, weh ad a great evening and were ready to paint the town. A quick visit into the PACHA Club for 2 hours of all you can drink once more sealed the deal and we moved on to another place where they kicked us out around 2:30am.

The following days were mainly used to coordinate ourselves and get the jobs going that Chris and I were checking on the side. He had an job interview and of course nailed it. The job would include marketing work for a cruise liner company, selling exclusive boat tours to the Galapagos Islands at an expensive 5 grand per ass.

My jobs in Montanita / Ayampe were less exclusive, but more practically orientated. And after calling both companies from the payphone I had a new destination, the south-western coast of Ecuador, to meet up for job interviews. In the end the urge to finally arrive somewhere for a longer period of time and to settle for at least a few months overtook and I packed my things for a last 8hrs ride to Guayaquil, and another 3hrs ride to Montanita.

I had heaps of trouble getting out of the city as all my friends wanted me to stay longer and have a party with them (cuz it was a Saturday night), and when I finally managed to get away and got to the bus station, the last bus at 00:30h was already fully booked and another bus would not leave before 5:30 in the morning. So I got back to the hostel, dropped my things, went back to the disco everyone was at and stayed till 2:30am. The last 3hrs were spent with Russ and David in the common area and when the taxi later dropped me off at the bus station, I got on the bus and slept all the way to Guayaquil, where at 1:30 in the afternoon the bus driver woke me up and wanted to me to finally get the fuck off the bus, as everyone else had already left. The ride to Montanita from there was another 3hrs or sleep and at 6 in the evening I at last celebrated touchdown at the beautiful costline.

To be Continued…

Roadtrip...

It began early in the morning after our stay in the desert. We (the 3 of us + 4 new travel buddies) all got to Neiva to catch the next bus to Popayan, and luckily we only had to wait for about an hour tops to get one. This bus didn´t supply enough seats for everyone possessing a ticket and as I was the one to get on board last, I sat on the floor. It took about half an hour untill the bus pulled over and stopped at a gas station due to massive black exhaust clouds that made it impossible to see the road, for anyone following us. About another half an hour later weh ad a new bus that even had enough seats for everyone and our journey could finally continue.

Another catch was that the bus didn´t go to Popayan directly but had a stop in another small ass town somewhere along the way and we would have to change busses. We knew about it, and when we arrived there around 3pm, we expected to be fetched by 100 bus company workers who wanted us to buy the last available seats on a bus that was about to depart. BUT the last bus to Popayan had already left about half past 3 and we would have to wait another day to get to Popayan too.

Two of the swiss girls, that had come along with us, somehow managed to get a bus that only the 8 of us would take to Popayan. It was a bit more expensive than a regular bus, but since we didn´t have to pay another night at a hostel, we ended up even, but a day quicker. And THIS was just a crazy ride: It took from 4pm to about 11pm to climb about a million mountains and drive over 300km of uneven road, that made it impossible to sleep on the bus. We were bored so much and the bad feeling that you have, when you don´t know whats happening or where you´re going increased constantly after pouring rain and thickest fog further limited the drivers visibility of the road.

Upon arriving in Popayan we were more than happy to leave the bus and stumbled into the next hostel, in expectation of a hot shower and some food. Sadly food was out and we had to roam the streets to fill our stomaches. A little food stand in front of a club, in which 12-17 year old teens celebrated the graduation of the oldest among them, possibly had the best nightly revenue in a long time. Because 7 starving tourists basically stripped that old woman of everything eatable that she had on her little grill. Further more, we were some kind of spectacle to the graduation kids, because they happyly practised their limited english on us and utilized their cameras to the fullest in order to get a picture of us in every possible pose.

We too, then made it to bed at some point that night, still having in mind that our little group would split up the next day, as Mr. Monatana and Gin wanted to stay a bit longer in Popayan. So after a heartbreaking farewell, Chris, I and 3 others got the first bus in the morning to the boarder of Ecuador to then drive either to Quito or to Otavalo. This was supposed to prevent ourselves from being snatched at the boarder by guerilla groups, who are specialized on kidnapping and robbing gringos. It was another long-ass-boring-8hrs drive to Ipiales but after weeks of training, Chris and I managed to kill time very efficiantly by sleeping most of the time.

At the boarder we got our stamps for leaving Colombia and the immigration stamps for Ecuador. Another bus (reeeeeaaaaaally really cheap, compared to colombian prices) sealed the deal and dropped us of in Otavalo around 10:30pm. A new hostel was found on the spot and a solid nights’ rest gave new energy to all of us. We even got up early to roam the local (crap) market and have some decent fruity breakfast. Chris and I got ourselves new sunnies and he even bought a new pair of chillax-pants. This is a very colorful version of sweatpants that are sold everywhere along the street. Most of them look like ass, but Chris got a nice pair, and since they are really comfy, he kept wearing them for quite a while.

Our next aim was the big city, Quito, in the middle of the Ecuadorian Andes, at an altitude of a few thousand and something meters a place to stay. And it was only 3-4hrs away by bus, which made it even more attractive, since we´ve knocked back about 27hrs of bus transportation within the last 3 days…

So bring it on Quito!!!!

The Sky´s the Limit!

During our stay in Bogotá we were close to breaking up the group due to different personal interests. Gin wanted to go further south and discover a massive desert by herself, Chris wanted to head to Chile as soon as possible because of an job offer, and after I discovered that San Gil was not as expensive as expected, it because more and more interesting.

So we all headed to the Bus station in order to fly off into our own directions, but unfortunately I mixed up the distances to San Gil with another city and suddenly lost my will to go there, as it would have been another 7-8hrs north of Bogotá whereas I thought it was only 2…

So in the end we again sat all in the same bus on the way south. Although Chris wanted to speed foreward in the first place he, and I too, decided to follow Gin´s to the Desertio de Tatacoa. A stop-over in Neiva was compulsory as it was the closest bigger city and upon arriving there at 9pm, all further connections had departed already.

The hotel we stayed in remided a bit of the Hoe-tel California on Aruba and was actually worse, since the shitter and the shower were in the same room as the beds…
So, no reason to stay in the room before bedtime. Hence we went for a stroll through the small city, feasted on some delicious pastries and croissants and finally went to bed around half 12 (00:30h).

The next day we headed off towards the desert. It took about an hour and a bit, which we spend wondering if this desert was a wet desert or not, since huge puddles and wet streets on the way indicated exactly this. BUT it was relatively dry and reasonably hot.oeHoe A (in the end) cheeky dude named Choppo and his shitty little Motorbike Taxi drove us into the desert and brought us to a simple hostel with open air hammocks.

The sun was out, which we hadn´t seen in quite a time, as Bogotás clouds prevent it from shining through, and we were immidiately encouraged to go for a walk. Red sand, cactuses and dry bushes were the average picture along the stroll, beautiful but not really exciting, so a few outstanding places were abused for a variety of creative pictures.

As the sun started to set over the desert, we went back to our place to grab some food and later head to „El Astronom“, along with an entourage of about 5 other people we´ve just met.

El Astronom has been working in his field of study for about 40-something years and taught us everything there is to know about the stars in the sky and the moon.

He showed and explained the heavenly constellations (star signs) and we were able to take closer looks at some red, blue and diamont-like shining stars as well.

All in all, I would guess these were the best 5$ that I have spent on the entire trip. And although El Astronom solely spoke in spanish I was suprised how much I understood from what he was saying. So all in all, we had an absolute blast that day, topped of by a nice bonfire on the grass outside of our hostel.

At about 1am we hit the hammocks and were interrupted during the night by the meanest rainstorm that I have ever wittnessed in my life. Rain was pounding on the metal roof and water was everywhere around us, but despite the open air dorm nothing got wet; execpt from Mr. Montana, an American who slept in his tent out on the lawn…

The next day we left the place and headed towards Popayan, which is supposed to be the biggest connection-place to busses down to Ecuador. Ideal for Chris and me, since he still got his job offer in Quito and another on in Chile, and I was writing with a Surf & Dive Club in Montanita, who got an open internship and seemed interested in me. So: Roadtrip!!!!

Bogotá Baby!!!

What do you do in the capital city of a country?

Right, you take in all the sights, enjoy the attractions in the nearer surrounding and eventually will spot something spezial that makes this ciy unique.

Well, after a 17 hours ride we were simply happy to have a hostel that actually has enough beds fort he four of us. The FOUR of us? Right you are, wem et another traveller on the way who actually wanted to get of in St. Gil but overslept his stop and thus ended up in the Capital. His name was Michael and he was from Israel. A nice guy, who had spend his previous years in the Israeli armee protecting Israeli property along the boarder from palestinian people. A bit odd but generally speaking a nice fella, he joined us three and accompanied us on the exploration of the big city.

First thing to do, a stroll through the neighbourhood and a visit to the Museo de Oro. The city istself seemed really grey and unwelcoming and the additional rain tha pounded down every day didn´t make it better. On the contrary, the Museo de Oro was really nice and besides the actual golden echibition from a former colombian time, the Maya exhibition in the basement kicke dass!!!!

The next day (Saturday) we wanted to be part of the beer-party-wagon and drive to an area about 40 mins outside of Bogotá to get absolutely smashed in one of the biggest parties ever. And the offer from out hostel to pay 50.000 Pesos (about 20€) for transport back and forth, as well as free drinks during transport, did not take place due to too few participants. To do the trip by ourselves would have costed about 150.000 Pesos which is why we decided to go to the Zona Rosa instead (Party Area). Chris’ and I hit it untill 5 in the morning and we barely able to stand anymore when we got our cab back to the hostel and smashed but happy fell into bed.

The days after we always something going on, for example a walk thorugh the histoirc part of the city and watching the parliament and some old chruches, climbing the cities Mirador and enjoying the view over the cloudy city, or going to the Church mines just an hour outside Bogotá.

To be honest, the historic part of the city just had old buildings that looked like they had become a victim of an intra-city painball tournament and looked less attractive to us, as they could have.

The way up to the Mirador itsself was actually quite a challenge and took us about an hour and a bit to climb the 800 meters of altitude difference, but finally rewarded us with a beautiful view on the city and hence made up for all the physical expenses on the way up.

The part with the underground church was optically the most beautiful one, but also the most touristy and hence tiring. Don’t get me wrong, the under-earth-christian-artwork-chruch just looked stunning itsself, and must have been a pain in the ass to construct, but i fit hasn´t been for an electricians fit work and lightning job, it would have looked all the same.
Also, our tourguide wasn´t really capable of using other vocabulary than „amazing artwork“, „now this is impressive“  and „for the love to Jesus“ and basically he every cross in all 14 chapels differently also they all looked the same.

On the way back to Bogotá i lost my compliances due to the fact that people who are waiting for other buses, simply don´t let other people pass them… even if they want to enter another bus, a bus that these people actually are not waiting for. Basically, I got in a bus, everyone else got blocked and so I had to figure out how to get back. In the end it all worked out well, but the weird feeling you have, when driving to a very dodgy part of the city and to be the only gringo among natives, isn´t my favourite. .

After a splendid 6 days of capital action we again decided to leave for something new, something different, and maybe more attractive. Shall we?? J

Nature, right in your Face!!

Santa Marta was our next choice and we used the beautiful Hostel „La briza loca“ as our base. It had a little pool in the middle of the yard and a stunning roof terrace from which we watched enormous weather lightning in awe.

The following day we went over to Taganga, a city widely known for amazing diving and its laid back atmosphere, to find a nice Dive Shop with which I could do my Advanced Open Water Diver and Chris and Gin do their diving license. In the end the shop we ran into first „Calipso“ sealed the deal by their super friendly staff and simply the best value for money.

It was an amazing 4 days and we took some reeeaaly sick underwater pictures. Little sample right here:

Right after our diving days we explored the mountain area around Santa Marta and visited a beautiful waterfall after an hour of walking through s massive rainforrest.

The next day we headed towards For the time the sun was out we had a blast in the water and enjoyed living, untill later the lack of sun let us freeze quite a bit on the way down.

Right the next day we started off for a 2 day trip into Tayrona National Park. Unfortunately we didn´t really think that through because there are a lot of hills and only uneven soil which can become a bitch when you got your 20kg backpack with you. After a 90 min. walk on the first day, we had already experienced some trouble when walking through knee-deep water and alot of mud. The night we spend in hammocks close to the beach and enjoyed the nature all around us. The next day we moved to another place which allowed visitors to swim and optically was a strong improvement towards the first place. Here Chris and I worked about 2hours to strip and open coconuts that were lying around everywhere. Really tiring but also a good feeling to be able to get the job done yourself. :D

On the 3rd day we wanted to see „El Publito“ on our way out and again had a rough time with our backpacks especially because El Publito was high on a mountaintop und even with good walking shoes the ascent took us about 2 hours, and the descent another 3 hours.

Back on the street we rested first and then waved down a bus to take us back to Santa Marta. Next stop: Bogotá!!!

Me llamo Pablo Escobar… Encontado

Our first touchdown in the land of drugs, violence and poverty, was in Medellin, the former residence of druglord Pablo Escobar. This city has gone through some serious times during the reign of Mr. Cocaine himself. Although he was feared by anyone and everyone, due to his cruel methods, he still was a caretaker of his people. Despite the fact that business was far beyond legal boundaries, people apparently had a good life.

Medellins airport is about half an hour by bus outside of the city on a stunning altitude of over 2500 something meters. Thus, the busride into town allows the visitor an even more breath taking view on the city, which is rammed in slim valley between two mountain ridges. Unfortunately the bus raced down the 2 lane street like it was hunted by the devil himself, so all the pictures I tried to take are absolute crap… -.-

Compared to our previous accomodation in Ho(e)tel California, this little Hotel was insanely cheep and way more comfortable, although it too, was in the tramp district. The next day we started to check out the city and it is a grey and un-welcoming city. Everywhere are people trying to sell you stuff that is a) overpriced, b) fake, fake, fake and c) will possibly break the next day. Summing up: everything has the same integrity as Mr. Gutenberg, who apparently is a role model to those people here, as depicted…

After a short stay and some standard sight seeing we figured that this city is not really a keeper as it is huge, grey and is rains every day because the clouds get jammed in the mountain tops and in order to continue their journey they shoot their load on everyone beneath… :D

Next stop was Cartagena, a big city in the north west of Colombia. Our friend and helper the „Lonely Planet – South America on a shoestring“ (LP) almost did not stop talking the beauty of the old town, in which almost every street looks like postcard pictures. And indeed the center was stunningly beautiful and looked alot like Cubas capital whereas the rest of the city was probably as charming as New Yorks sewer system.

The day we arrived in Cartagena, the whole city was in the old town and they had a parade and a massive street party for the finalists of the Miss Colombia Election. Everyone had a blast, people cheered for their favourite Miss Colombia candidate and we were in the middle of it.

Sadly, a huge amount of people attracts thieves and pickpocketing becomes a national sport. And we were in the middle of it, too. Chris’ camera almost got stolen 4 times and i guess my boarshorts weren´t the safest place for my money, either. By concentrating on not donating my camera to someone else, I paid to few attention to my money and thus someone else is now spending my 50.000 Pesos ( = 20,00 €).

I just call it a good deed…

A few days later we again decided to move to another city since the festivities had have a strong impact on us and health became an issue for all of us. Next up the Carebbean Coast, once again.