Monthly Archives: June 2012

Hot hot hot

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Picturesque window


Cartagena truly is hot – in both senses of the word. Stepping out of the bus, the suffocating humid heat of the Caribbean swiftly clothes you in a sheen of sweat. Even the slightest cool breeze rolling through the narrow streets of the old city is a cause for rejoicing – and the ice cream absolutely a divine moment. At the same time, the city is stunning, a real visual highlight of the trip.

I was surprised to see that we’re further north here than we were in Kerala in the South of India – which I guess explains the similarity in climate. Having said that, the architecture is radically different – Cartagena’s old town is a colourful, crumbling colonial city defended by imposing forts, although the main invasion appears now to be from tourism rather than pirates. Kerala felt like the jungle was trying and succeeding in taking over the city; here the masonry has definitely won – although the creeping bougainvillea that droops poetically from the many balconies adds a nice organic touch to the manmade image.

As you wander through the old town, it’s hard not to be enthralled by the beauty of the place: lanes bordered by houses saturated in mustard yellow, orange, and sky blue; romantic wooden balconies up above; airy squares with fountains and shade under tropical trees; and horses and carriages trotting through the streets (provided you ignore the wealthy tourists perched in the back). In parts it is so picture-perfect that it’s a bit like a model town – except that unlike the piped music Disneyland we found in Vietnam’s Hoi An, this is actually alive – with the expected street vendors and fashion stores, but also local cheap food joints and corner shops – a refreshing difference, in spite of that heat.

Balconies overflowing with bougainvillea

It’s been a slightly turbulent few days for us, which hopefully is no premonition about the flight we’re about to take! We arrived back from the National Park both feeling a bit ill, to discover the flights we have to take us to Bogota were in fact not the following day, but actually in a month’s time, after we’ve got back to the UK. After some painfully expensive rebooking, we thought we’d take the extra day we now have here to do some laundry, and so dropped off all of our clothes except those we’re wearing for a good scrub in the local laundrette, ahead of our flight this morning. What this master plan didn’t bank on was the laundrette closing early yesterday – we turned up at 7pm to find the doors closed and our clothes securely padlocked inside. So as I write this, the adrenaline is beginning to get going for the challenge ahead. Our flight is at 9:30, check-in theoretically closes an hour before. We just hope the laundrette opens at 8 sharp and the drive to the airport is quick, or it’s going to be an even more expensive journey to Bogota!

As we were going to bed last night, the running score of 2-0 in Cartagena vs Kazoos United didn’t seem too bad – and then I realised those plane tickets we went to the trouble of printing out earlier weren’t actually boarding passes: we still had to check in online. Of course there’s no printer at the hostel, so sorting that out is one more thing we now need to do before the airport. Hopefully this is just fatigue, and we’re not losing our magic travelling touch so close to coming home!

Wish us luck…
Simon

Cathedral and moon


Camping on the Caribbean Coast

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The two of us on the beach


We’re on our way back from four glorious (albeit sweaty) nights camping on the Caribbean Coast in the Tayrona National Park.

The National Park sits in Colombia’s north-east and is essentially a stretch of jungle with pristine beaches looking out onto the Caribbean Sea. You hike through the jungle to a choice of campsites overlooking the ocean, choose a tent or a hammock, and relax. What better way to take a break from a hectic travelling schedule?!

Walking through the jungle, there’s no mistaking you’re somewhere exotic: brightly coloured lizards scurry out of the way, bulging black centipedes inch (or is that centimetre) their way along, and occasionally a small lemon-yellow snake squirms its way off the path. The beaches are absolutely crawling with crabs, whose antics kept us entertained to no end – Laura thought she saw a couple of (no doubt teenage male) crabs waving their big claws at each other in a threatening fist-shake. Along with visitors of the human kind, the campsites appear to be hosting lots of frogs, of varying sizes, from cute and halluciounagenically coloured little nippers through to 2kg monsters that would no doubt feed a French family for Sunday lunch. However, it was only once a thunderstorm was raining down that we met the true special guest of our area.

Can you see the snake in this picture?

Our tent was pitched on a bed of sand, beneath a secondary thatched roof made of woven palm leaves. We thought this gave us some additional protection from the elements, and meant we didn’t need to worry so much if the tent leaked. It seems the local inhabitants had the same thought. As the skies emptied, we were pretty happy to be tucked up inside, and even though some of the drips were getting through, we quickly used a trusty umbrella to spare the worst from our beds. Lying sweating in the humid equatorial heat, a nearby bulb cast a light over the darkened tent, and I was just drifting off to sleep when Laura screamed. There was something moving slowly up the outside of the mesh inner tent. It had eight furry legs, a couple of fangs at the front, and I could swear there were red eyes too, but that may have been my imagination. Oh, and the worst thing about our night guest? It was huge – definitely the biggest spider I have ever seen in person, bigger than my outstretched hand, and looming larger by the second. Needless to say, we were very glad we’d decided to close the inner tent in spite of the heat – and that we hadn’t taken the option of sleeping in hammocks out in the open. With the help of a book our guest was successfully evicted, but I’m not sure either of us slept easily that night!

Simon

Turquoise blue sea


A big splash of terracotta

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Brick buildings up the hillside


Well, this is a bit different! Throw away your negative stereotypes of drug lords and guerilla-controlled jungles; Colombia is modern, warm and very very friendly.

We flew into Medellin via Quito, crossing the equator on the way and dropping us into a bustling city of skyscrapers and red brick houses spread into the distance along the sides of a valley. The place is as diverse as it is large; at one end of the valley are hundreds of tower blocks of condo appartments, while at the other the hills glitter with the metallic reflections of shanty town tin roofs. Above all, the colour is terracotta, reminiscent of La Paz as the brickwork takes over every hillside.

A highlight was being able to take a cable car (part of the city’s metro) up one of the valley sides to the mountain at the top. The way up affords fantastic views over the distant city, as well as a fascinating and voyeuristic look at the lives of those living in the poorer areas of the city over which it passes. At the top of the mountain is the Parque Avi, a collection of walking and cycling trails in the forest. Think National Trust in a tropical forest, complete with picnic benches. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting to do on our first day in Colombia!

A voluminous Botero bird


The city is also the home of Fernando Botero, famous for his ‘voluminous’ sculptures and paintings, which are exhibited the world over. He says he’s not actually trying to depict fat people, just to challenge notions of size and proportion in his work. Looking at them, it’s pretty impressive how he manages to convey a sense of volume in everything – humans, obviously, but also flowers, and even houses.

After a restful afternoon in the Botanical Gardens, we’re now off on an overnight bus to the Carribean coast and the much-hyped city of Cartagena. We’re hoping for tropical sunshine, idyllic beaches and a bit of downtime; we’ll let you know what we find!

Simon

Food for thought part eight – Bolivia and Peru

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Food at a Peruvian market


Bolivia isn’t exactly a culinary paradise, that’s not to say the food is bad, just a little bland. Peru on the other hand definitely wins the prize for flavour in South America, thank you Peru for finally bringing spice back to the table! Here are some of the regional specialities from this part of this trip…

Menu del día (Bolivia and Peru)
The menu del día is the cheap way to eat in Bolivia or Peru, it is typically a two or three course meal comprised of a soup starter (often a little watery), a main of some kind of flavourless meat served with boiled potatoes and rice or pasta (if you’re lucky this might be accompanied by a sauce, if not you can liven it up with the ever present salsa picante) and a desert of tinned fruit salad or jelly. All of this is usually washed down with an unidentifiable ‘juice’, essentially sugary water. It’s a pretty no frills affair but cheap and filling.

Chicken, I think, red sauce, and pasta

Salchipapa (Bolivia and Peru)
Salchipapa is the kind of dish you might concoct with what’s left in your cupboard, chips mixed with chopped frankfurters, sliced onions and peppers smothered in a tomato sauce.

Quinoa soup (Bolivia)
Quinoa is a small round grain sometimes used as an accompaniment similar to rice. It’s a nice way to bulk up the often thin vegetable soups served in Bolivia.

Quinola soup

Trucha (Bolivia and Peru)
I believe that trucha (trout) fresh from lake Titicaca is one of the nicest Bolivian dishes we encountered. It can be found cooked in all manner of ways, but my favourite was probably trucha grilled in a lemon sauce.

Chifa (Bolivia and Peru)
Chifas are Chinese restaurants of varying quality found throughout Bolivia and Peru (although probably more prominently in Peru). A refreshing alternative to the ubiquitous meat and rice (although you can of course find dishes containing both of these constituents, just with more flavour than usual!).

Fresh fruit salad from the market in Sucre, Bolivia

Ceviche (Peru)
The best dish I have tasted in months! I have to admit I was skeptical, I’m not a fan of sushi and to be honest the idea of eating raw fish doesn’t really appeal to me. Ceviche has definitely changed that! Ceviche is raw fish marinated in a chilli and lime sauce topped with raw onions and served with a side of sweet potato and giant sweetcorn (seriously -the sweetcorn in Peru is huge!), a dish packed with tongue-tingling flavour, definitely one not to be missed.

A dish of the gods

Rocoto relleno (Peru)
Another fine example of tasty Peruvian food, the spicy red peppers are stuffed with minced beef, onions, diced boiled egg and plenty of seasoning.

Spicy and stuffed, perfect

Cuy (Peru)
If you’ve ever had a pet Guinea Pig you may want to stop reading now. Yes cuy is roasted or fried Guinea Pig. Whilst the crunchy skin is nicely flavoured with herbs and spices, as might be expected there’s not a lot of actual meat to be had on this Peruvian delicacy!

Guinea Pigs are tasty food here…


Restaurant-style cuy

Pisco sour (Peru)
Peru’s most famous cocktail made from Pisco (grape brandy), lime juice, bitters, sugar and egg whites is a real treat and impossible to avoid!

Enjoying a pisco sour… and yet more ceviche!

With only four weeks left until we re-enter the world of cheddar cheese, marmite and salt and vinegar crisps (seriously, these are the things I miss!) I wonder what Colombia and Cuba have in store…

Laura

Paragliders, fountains and, err, erottery

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Just like Brighton…


I can’t exactly say I loved Lima the last time I was here; I remember a city in perpetual drizzle and polluted smog that smelled of chicken feed. I’m pleased to say we had an altogether different experience this time round!

Miraflores is an upscale middle class district of town perched on cliffs looking down on the sea. Although polluted and not looking all that inviting, the water plays host to hundreds of surfers riding the waves in, and an antique pier slicing through the middle. It’s a bit reminiscent of Brighton – only here there is actually lots of sand!

The most visible sport is however paragliding – colourful sails leaping off the cliffs, gaining height and then disconcerting everybody by soaring along above the clifftop road just high enough not to get hit by the traffic. It’s a little alarming when you first look up at what’s blotted out the sun and see a human suspended from silk!

For the afternoon, we thought we’d try something cultural and entirely different. A pre-Colombian union that probably won’t make our set of gifts to bring home for a family mantelpiece, the Larco museum has among its many ceramic treasures a collection of erotic pottery – or as we came to call it, erottery. A core belief of the time was that sex was necessary for the fertility of the soil and good crops the next season – and hence it should be practised not just for procreation. Quite a difference from some religions doctrine today! The pots are hence religious symbols of fertility, and were used in holy festivals. It does make for a strange juxtaposition -graphic depictions of sex on water jugs and the like; I can’t quite imagine sitting round the dinner table for Sunday Lunch and someone pouring wine from the, ahem, spout, on some of these! It gets weirder still though, the three worlds of the pre-Colombians were inhabited respectively by animals, humans, and dead humans – and all were expected to have sex, sometimes with each other, in order to fertilise the soil. Needless to say this makes for some even less dining-table-friendly imagery, which I’m not going to publish below! For the inquisitive, I’m sure Google will assist!

This is all you’re gonna get!

To cleanse our souls, we visited Lima’s park of fountains. It is impossible to overstate this – it was utterly brilliant. Almost everywhere we have been in the world, the water has disappointed. At the Taj Mahal, all fountains were turned off. The same in Delhi, Luang Prabang, Rio, Buenos Aires, La Paz and Sucre. Yes, in a few places there was a bit of water spouting around, and at Iguacu it was genuinely impressive – but still, we’d simply hoped for more. Until now! We present, in pictures below, the world’s largest collection of fountains (with lights). Yes, we got stuck in the middle of the water maze and got wet. Yes, that jet is higher than a tree. And yes, those are lasers! Fantastico!

Light and laser show onto fountains

For our final night in Peru, we met up with my old friend Ronald Salas, who lives in Lima and helped organise – and attended Global Village, the big Woodcraft Folk youth festival I was involved with in 2006. Over a coffee and Lima-style sandwich we caught up – he’s now involved with starting a new IFM organisation here, Mundo Nuevo – and he introduced us to a fellow Woodcrafter who’s out here, Ruth Holtom. Hi guys!

After a final meal of cerviche (Laura is positively addicted), we’re off to the warmer and less spicy climbs of Colombia. Tune in next week for a touch of life on the Caribbean…

Simon

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