The Journey by Bus

Let me tell you a bit about traveling by bus in Colombia (photos forthcoming).

First of all, we are not talking rusty old open-air trucks with caged chickens on the roof and 30 people packed into 10 seats. Hardly! These inter-city buses are super deluxe coaches with cushy seats, full power air-con and movies galore. And thankfully so, since the lack of trains leave little alternative.

Walk into a bus terminal, and you are immediately hounded by uniformed reps from the many bus companies whose purpose is to sell you a seat. Santa Marta? Cartagena? Para adonde vas? they all yell out to you. It's a bit dizzying, but if you can stay focused you know to go straight to the ticket counters. Check around before making any commitment: there is a lot of competition with so many companies taking the same route, so prices can be somewhat negotiated. But we are already in the cheap anyway (example: $27 for a 13 hour journey).


Waiting, backpacker style (yes, that is my wheely-bag in the middle)

Waiting for the bus, there isn't much to do other than eat some of the many sweets made of arequipe (caramel), watch one of the dramatic telenovelas that consistently blares from the TV, or use the loo. You may be shocked to hear that the bathrooms at these terminals can be surprisingly clean, but entry is guarded by a very bored-looking attendant. What a job. To enter the facilities, you must hand over a handful of pesos, average 25 cents. In exchange, you might get a smile, and you will definitely get a small stack of toilet paper. The San Gil bus terminal charged all of 35 cents to use their bathroom, maybe because the stack of toilet paper was sealed and stapled inside a little plastic baggie. 10 additional cents for the sanitation measure. Worth it.


Cuantos pesos para entrar?

Something I need to investigate is whether men are charged as well... And do they get toilet paper? Or even a smile?

Once the coach pulls in (right on schedule), bags are tagged and loaded securely underneath as everyone scrambles to get a good seat. A vendor or two walk through the aisle, selling cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches, empanadas, you name it. A movie starts to play, but to my dismay it's Taken once again. I love this movie, and of course love Liam, but I just saw it on the last bus ride and it's a tough movie to watch when traveling solo. So instead I pop in the earplugs, pop some Ambien, and lay back to hopefully sleep through the very long ride ahead. Destination? The beach.

Pretty teeth in Colombia

Here's something you may not have known about Colombia: everyone has great teeth. Shiny, straight, white, beautiful teeth. For those of you who know me, and know how obsessed I am with straight, white teeth, you can imagine how much I am enjoying this discovery.

Apparently, dental work is very affordable here, and those who don't yet have perfect teeth have braces. In fact, I have seen more adults with braces in the past week than I have in my lifetime. Turns out it's only about $100 to have the metal put on, and about $25 per tightening once a month. This is outrageous! As you can imagine, I have already heard stories of budget travelers planning on getting their wisdom teeth pulled and fillings replaced while in Medellin. Maybe I should get some work done as well??

Rumor has it that Medellin is also the place to go for plastic surgery. Lots of fake everything. I will be in that city sometime next week; I promise to report back.

For now, I remain in beautiful San Gil, about ready to set off for the long journey to the northern coast. San Gil really is an adventurer's paradise, like Lake Tahoe or Colorado in the summertime: every mountain and river sport imaginable is on offer here. And everything is very affordable, so how could I refuse?

Paragliding yesterday was fun if not a little bit barfy. A group of us went up to a ledge overlooking the canyon of Curiti, and waited for the wind to be just right. Finallly it was my turn to fly.



Strapped tight to my trusty pilot, Jaime, we set off just as it began to rain, and a gorgeous rainbow appeared in the distance. Floating high above the valley far, far below was an amazing experience. Crazy Jaime was all too keen to freak me out though, with tricks and flips and turns and gliding down so close to the trees inside the canyon that my shoe actually brushed some leaves. I was terrified but loved it. As I said, it was a little barfy. But really fun.

And today - again, simply because I am here and it's THE thing to do in San Gil - I went river rafting with two couples from Bogota. Now, it is a universal rule that to be a rafting guide, you must be hot. Our guide Jason was no exception. So don't feel sorry for me, the lone female traveler sounding like a 5th oar. Quite the contrary: cruising the river with a gorgeous rafting guide and his perfect Colombian teeth.... Well, I was just fine.

When in Colombia

The movie was in German and Turkish with Spanish subtitles. El Otro Lado, The Other Side. It was a compelling indie drama about race and political persecution: a great way to spend a sleepy Sunday night in Villa de Leyva. The real attraction though was the "movie theater", if one can call it that. Set up in La Patriarca Salon de Eventos, the screening room was nothing more than a large-ish meeting room lined with rows of over-sized, swiveling office chairs, set up theater style to face a screen in the front of the room. An attendant offered in-seat service of drinks and snacks to the three people in the room, including me. It was oddly cozy, and I thought, who really needs surround-sound and jumbo screens and extra-large containers of popcorn? This works just fine.

Which goes back to my previous observations about the Colombian people seeming to have everything they need, no more and no less. It's not about bigger, better, newer, shinier, more more more. It's about figuring out what's missing, or what's needed - like a movie cinema in this tiny town - and filling that space to the point of "just right".

As Andres said, si no tenemos, hacemos. Now I am starting to get it.

So today I find myself in San Gil, "adventure capital of Colombia" and 4 hours closer to the Carribbean coast. A fresh glass of papaya juice at one of the many juice bars inside the produce market seems to be the perfect precursor to my first experience with parapente, or paragliding, which happens in about 1 hour from now. I can just picture my dad now rolling his eyes, thinking what a nutcase I am. But as they say, when in Colombia...