Colombia
Currently in a city called Medellin. Absolutely loving Colombia....it's a spectacular country. And it's so much safer than what the CNN leads you to believe. Scenery is amazing, and the people are super friendly.
Managed to pull off another Rum and Coke party in Quito, where I met a group of 4 people who were heading in my direction. So the group of us headed for Columbia the next morning. If you look on the map, Quito is actually pretty close to the border, however the bus rides here take forever. I vastly underestimated how long it takes to get around this continent. The scenery is stellar though. Wish that I could have taken more pictures of it, but it is difficult to get decent pics from sitting inside a bus.
Spent the first night in a border town called Ipiales. Pretty big town but not much to see, except a huge church that was built in the rock in a giant valley. Next day we did another 11 to 13 hour bus ride to a town called Popayan. It is a beutiful colonial city that has about 30 different private universities. Was a super cool town. Stayed there for a day, and then headed for our ultimate destination, Medellin. Medellin is an amazing city (about 2.5M people). It almost looks like downtown Vancouver where I am staying. Super wealthly, and super nice. The city is amazingly clean. Staying at a hostel called Black Sheep Hostal, which is owned by a Kiwi dude. Feels awesome to be in a nice hostel again, after sleeping in some dumpy motels. Have been travelling with a Russian guy named Robert, and a Cdn girl named Mel. Here's the link to the hostel. One of the nicer ones that I have been in since getting to South America.
http://www.blacksheepmedellin.com/
The absolute most amazing part about Columbia is the people. They are unbelievably friendly, and they absolutely love travellers. Everywhere we go, people are approaching us and trying to spark up conversations. I think I kind of know what it feels like to be a celebrity now. We got on the subway yesterday and were chatting with a student that we met. Then I looked up, and realized that EVERYBODY on our subway car were looking over at us! Finally somebody spoke up and asked us something in broken english. My buddy said a joke and half the subway car broke out laughing. It is hilarious......I have never seen anything like it. And it happens everywhere we go. If we stop to look for something, somebody will come over to help us. And as soon as we start talking to them, 2 or 3 other people will come over to talk to us. Everybody wants to know where we're from and why we're in Colombia, and then they try to help us out. The people here love to call me 'Gringo', and so we hear it all the time when we are walking downtown through the shops. We stopped into a tiny little bar for a quick drink and a bite to eat, and the bartenders came over and gave us free drinks. I could really get used to this lifestyle! Ha.
Anyway, this hostel is great for meeting people. Having a great time just hanging out and seeing the city. Going to stick around here for a bit, and then will probably head north to the beaches. Want to go up to Santa Marta, but will probably have to pass through Cartagena. Looking to get to a beach called Playa Blanca, which is supposed to be awesome. Will hopefully be able to find a nice hut right on the beach. I met some people here from Malta (a country just south of Italy) who have a friend who is a dive instructor here, so hopefully I'll be able to get back in the water as well.
I forgot my card reader for my camera in Toronto, so I'm having difficulty getting pics posted. Will try to get it figured out.
Talk to you soon!
UPDATE
Heading to Santa Marta, and then on to Taganga. Going with a group of 7 of us, that have been hanging out here in Medellin. Looking forward to getting to the beach. May try to stay at a hostel called La Casa de Felipe, owned by a French couple.
Managed to pull off another Rum and Coke party in Quito, where I met a group of 4 people who were heading in my direction. So the group of us headed for Columbia the next morning. If you look on the map, Quito is actually pretty close to the border, however the bus rides here take forever. I vastly underestimated how long it takes to get around this continent. The scenery is stellar though. Wish that I could have taken more pictures of it, but it is difficult to get decent pics from sitting inside a bus.
Spent the first night in a border town called Ipiales. Pretty big town but not much to see, except a huge church that was built in the rock in a giant valley. Next day we did another 11 to 13 hour bus ride to a town called Popayan. It is a beutiful colonial city that has about 30 different private universities. Was a super cool town. Stayed there for a day, and then headed for our ultimate destination, Medellin. Medellin is an amazing city (about 2.5M people). It almost looks like downtown Vancouver where I am staying. Super wealthly, and super nice. The city is amazingly clean. Staying at a hostel called Black Sheep Hostal, which is owned by a Kiwi dude. Feels awesome to be in a nice hostel again, after sleeping in some dumpy motels. Have been travelling with a Russian guy named Robert, and a Cdn girl named Mel. Here's the link to the hostel. One of the nicer ones that I have been in since getting to South America.
http://www.blacksheepmedellin.com/
The absolute most amazing part about Columbia is the people. They are unbelievably friendly, and they absolutely love travellers. Everywhere we go, people are approaching us and trying to spark up conversations. I think I kind of know what it feels like to be a celebrity now. We got on the subway yesterday and were chatting with a student that we met. Then I looked up, and realized that EVERYBODY on our subway car were looking over at us! Finally somebody spoke up and asked us something in broken english. My buddy said a joke and half the subway car broke out laughing. It is hilarious......I have never seen anything like it. And it happens everywhere we go. If we stop to look for something, somebody will come over to help us. And as soon as we start talking to them, 2 or 3 other people will come over to talk to us. Everybody wants to know where we're from and why we're in Colombia, and then they try to help us out. The people here love to call me 'Gringo', and so we hear it all the time when we are walking downtown through the shops. We stopped into a tiny little bar for a quick drink and a bite to eat, and the bartenders came over and gave us free drinks. I could really get used to this lifestyle! Ha.
Anyway, this hostel is great for meeting people. Having a great time just hanging out and seeing the city. Going to stick around here for a bit, and then will probably head north to the beaches. Want to go up to Santa Marta, but will probably have to pass through Cartagena. Looking to get to a beach called Playa Blanca, which is supposed to be awesome. Will hopefully be able to find a nice hut right on the beach. I met some people here from Malta (a country just south of Italy) who have a friend who is a dive instructor here, so hopefully I'll be able to get back in the water as well.
I forgot my card reader for my camera in Toronto, so I'm having difficulty getting pics posted. Will try to get it figured out.
Talk to you soon!
UPDATE
Heading to Santa Marta, and then on to Taganga. Going with a group of 7 of us, that have been hanging out here in Medellin. Looking forward to getting to the beach. May try to stay at a hostel called La Casa de Felipe, owned by a French couple.
posted by Ryan D. MacIntyre | 5:52 PM
6 Comments:
Snoop,
Be carefull dude. It is Columbia, i am sure they are nice but be weary as to their intentions.
No pics...BOOOOOOOOOOO!
I just got back, moved out of my place and played in the Estabrooks Cup. We won (Ryder cup format) in Fredericton.
Saw CMAC in SJ on thursday night.
Aldy
Snoop,
Nope, intentions are true....that's what is so cool about the country. Never get asked for money. Most people in this town are wealthier than we are. Cool spot....pretty neat to see. The shopping here is amazing, but it costs about $200 for a pair of jeans. Very developed here.
Nice work on the golf tourney. How did things work out in Moncton from the previous wkd?? Did you get to hang out with Radford's hot g/f some more?
Apparently i never arrest 'the right guy'....or so they say....too bad for them i guess....i just pick them outta the crowd and hope for the best i guess! lol....hey has anyone seen my gun....whats that you say? next to the water cooler? right. gotta go.
S
Sly,
You would fit in well down here in Columbia.....the cops-military live by that rule.
Greg, is it going to be tough on the team morale when you lose Take-it-all-the-way-Aldy? Its going to be awkward when your breaking up the wing wide open and the puck actually comes to you, as opposed to having to stop at the blueline and watch Aldy lug it into the corner and play keep away for 3 minutes.
Chris, what are these girly magazines that you speak of? Is it the Sears catalog?
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