Quirky Colombia
Our first country in South America and my it was a good one.
There were some top moments and sights I had never seen anywhere else. Not your normal highlights, (tubing, Medellin etc) everyone knows those, I'm talking about the odd moments that made me laugh and make Colombia quirky.
so...
The Mario Kart street cleaners:
The cleaners look like they are in mario kart. Honestly, the street cleaners everywhere in Colombia are dressed exactly like they are in Mario cart. The first time I saw them I thought it was fancy dress. Full on bright coloured outfits and hats. love it!
Oh and the toll road workers look like mario kart too - couldn't believe it, the guys got the same memo as the cleaners and are chilling in Mario gear.
The sitting on plastic chairs hype..
Not much to say here except I found it extremely funny that everywhere you go the locals sit outside their house, on the road, chilling on plastic chairs for hours. Full family dinners. Seems like sofas inside is not the vibe!
Variety in Restaurants:
I don't understand why no one has cottoned on to opening a restaurant that offers anything other than rice, meat and arepa! They would rake it in, or hake it in ;) Normally there are 5 or more restaurants next to each other all selling exactly the same thing.
Street Coffee:
I developed an addiction to buying really s**t coffee from the cute old people selling it in wheelbarrow style carts. I just love that they stack up 10+ heat flasks full of coffee on a kinda wheelbarrow and walk through the streets shouting. Brilliant idea.
The hat game:
its phenomenal - you can select between hats with full neck coverage, get matching family visors, extra long visors, Australia style camo hats, short at the front and long at the back hats and straw hats ...
Local shop hang outs..
not like in England where the chavvy teenagers hang out. The owners get their mates and neighbours round and they sit in a tiny doorway watching tv and only get up if someone like me needs to buy a water (like the plastic chair hype but business style)
Internet cafes:
the perfect hangout out to watch the world go by. They are full of locals, not tourists like in Thailand. Kids doing homework, boys watching football, middle aged lady writing down healthy recipes for her Nutribullet, which is really hard to believe (see veggie post) and an indigenous guy (wearing his full tribe outfit) watching back to back Taylor Swift videos... brilliant. --->
Colombian directions:
'you just go left and straight up.' This was for what took us 3 hours hiking through the jungle, weaving through trees, over rocks and through rivers.
Buses (pimp my ride styley)
The main method/only affordable transport option in Colombia so they take it to the next level. So, getting buses is an experience. First of all, the buses are covered in flashing neon lights and huge stickers that cover every inch of the exterior except a tiny part of the windshield for the driver to see out of. Inside is the same, but with a Christian twist. Religious paintings and pictures everywhere.
If you've been to South America you'll understand that the bus terminals are coaos. At the ticket office the officials put their face though the tiny money exchange hole and shout at you like crazy!! Once you've picked a company, of course they say there is wifi, aircon, a toilet and it's direct with no stops.
Well..... Obviously that is not the case. The wifi never works and don't bother asking them why. For the first 2 hours of your journey you have lights on, aircon blasting and about one hundred million stops to pick up people traveling for a mile or so! Then suddenly lights off, silence and then boiling heat. At 4am is when they decide it's the perfect time to put on an aggressively violent movie at an insane volume, just as everyone has fallen asleep. Mental!. Oh and then a couple of people hop on for a mile or two trying to sell you smuggled perfume, a cheese ball or a full paella. It's still 4am! Hilarious.
Oh Colombia I love you. A random post I know,but I needed to document some of these moments.
