Yesterday Fernando took me to a Coffee Park near town called Montenegro. I wanted to visit it very much because I never saw a coffee plant before. A lot of it grows in the central part of the country, around Armenia, Pereira and Cartago (the area is called a "coffee triangle"). Colombia doesn't produce as much coffee as people think (Brazil produces much more). Colombian coffee is famous not for quantity but for the quality and variety. We had a cup of coffee in the Park, the taste was amazing. Then we took a cable car to another part of the Park. From the cable car you can see large areas of the coffee plantations. We also had a ride on a roller coaster, visited farmer's house and we saw equipment used for processing coffee beans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee
There was an area where you could see coffee plants from other countries, for example Brazil or Costa Rica, all of them looking a little bit different. It was a great experience for me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_National_Coffee_Park

In the evening we went to a birthday party of Viviana's mother (she is 52 now). It was quite an experience too, a lot of conversations in Spanish for me, and the serenata!! :)) - three older men singing very old and well-known Colombian songs. It would be great to do something like this in London for somebody's birthday, just that in London it must be expensive.
Viviana's family grows a coke tree in the garden. Well, I had a lesson about it too. Coke leaves are chewed by some indigenous communities and used as medicine, and they were also an ingredient of coca cola. Cocaine however is not only the leaves as I thought but also some chemicals which together make the white powder.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a very small town called Anserma as I wanted to "see something". However, I visited the town in 20 minutes and came back home as there was nothing really to see: just few streets, a church and a square. Later on, Fernando's sister Caridad took me on a tour in Cartago which I enjoyed much more. We went to some historic places, churches, traditional houses, a park and to see La Vieja river. In the picture with her daughter Sara and her niece Sofia. Then we went to a coffee bar in a park where you can taste many kinds of coffee. People drink a lot of coffee here but it is weak, with a lot of sugar. In contrary, my family in Poland drinks extremely strong coffee, so strong that when I have it, I am hyperactive for few hours. Here the coffee doesn't affect me at all, I can drink it late and sleep well.

I have to say that I much more prefer Colombian children than European ones. This is because they are talkative, curious, don't need much attention and they don't cry. European children are too busy with computer games and many beautiful toys they have that they lose the ability to interact well with people, and many of them need parents presence most of the time. The girls in Fernando's house feel confident with me and ask a lot of interesting questions, just like adults :)

There is always a new surprise coming up in my trip. This time I noticed that I can stay legally in Colombia for 60 days, as other foreigners I met. Initially I thought it would be three months as in all South American countries. To stay longer than 60 days, I have to apply for permission in a government office called DAS and pay. Well, it is not a problem but I got irritated that it is not three months and that I have to pay. At least I hope that the process is quick because bureaucracy is the last thing I need in my trip.

Yesterday evening we went to a shopping centre (the only one in Cartago) to meet Fernando's girlfriend Viviana and her family. In the picture from the left: Viviana's sister and her children, Viviana, her parents and next to me Fernando. They are very nice people. Fernando is in love so much that I am sometimes scared that he can't think clearly. It is good to see that it is still possible at the age of 39. In the shopping centre we met Fernando's cousin with her husband and two children. I am amazed - everything here is about family, even more than I have seen in Sicily or other European countries. You are born to have a family. You eat to feed your children in the future. You get a job with a thought of supporting a family. When you have a family, nothing else is important, especially yourself (this was the case with my own mum, fortunately and unfortunately at the same time). I also understood that not all the men are machos here - there are nice men as well. I feel soffocated by this family culture, it is because I like my freedom and independence. Of course I would like to have a family in the future but I still want to be important for myself, I don't want to sacrifice everything for the family. However, I don't have idea how it all works... maybe one day I will find out.

Cartago is known as a town where a lot of mafiosos live. It is situated between Medellin and Cali, two favourite cities of mafia. Mafiosos were travelling a lot between them and eventually they started building houses halfway - in Cartago. I was told that this is the reason why the town is very safe. If there is a trouble, the mafia deals with it immediately... (it must be kind of Robin Hood mafia...).
Cartago is small but nice, with Plaza de Bolivar of course and some beautiful churches. The weather here is just perfect: it is not too hot and not too cold.
Yesterday I met more members of Fernando's family. We went to his sister's house; Caridad is a doctor and she lives in a beautiful house in a condominium with swimming pool. Fernando's brother Carlos is a computer programmer. Looks like they have very comfortable lives, with Fernando having his business and his siblings doing very well too. Their mother, although she uses a wheelchair, is very active and does everything she can at home: cooking, serving food, washing up, cleaning. She is 71 and still very very bright.
Fernando's sister in law Nelsy is very nice and beautiful but she doesn't smile much. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable because I don't know how to deal with people who don't smile. She has three lovely daughters: Valentina, Carolina and Sofia.
At night we went to a posh and beautiful hotel (one of two in Cartago). There was a party organised to collect money for a local school. I had a lot of fun; Fernando, his brother and cousin made sure that I was dancing all the time. Generally the music was very good with few annoying breaks for Colombian live music called papayera: old, traditional and extremely boring music.
My observation is that the young generation can't dance salsa, merengue, cumbia or bachata any more, due to many modern discos which have been opened in Colombia. It is so sad to see this but I understand this is unavoidable... everything changes with time, everything disappeares with time, like lambada in Brazil. However, there was salsa boom in Europe 8 years ago and it is spreading out very quickly, as quickly as it is disappearing in Colombia......

This afternoon we went to Caridad's house for a nice dinner. It's Father's Day today, well, it was last week but because of the presidential elections it has been postponed until today. We came with a lot of presents for all the men in the house :) Fernando is the only non-father but he gets presents too. I went to the swimming pool with Fernando's cousin, Patricia. She lives in Cali and she knows a good salsa teacher in the city. I am going to contact her when I arrive in Cali.
We were watching football matches today (in the picture... errr.... during a break...), and we will watch some tomorrow as well. I am getting more involved in the World Cup now - right on time :)

My host in Medellin, Silvia, mentioned my trip in her professional blog. She writes about foreigners who come to Medellin, their experience in the city and what pictures they like taking.
http://www.surfistasdesofa.blogspot.com/

In Cartago

It is hot again in Cartago!! Huuuurrah!!!
I arrived in Cartago today as yesterday I missed my bus. Oscar invited me for a lunch again and I left his house too late. I phoned Mauricio, the guy who picked me up from the bus station on the day I arrived in Bogota', and I asked him if he could host me for one night as he lives ten minutes from the bus station. He said it was no problem at all. Not only had I a nice room in his beautiful flat but he also took me and Paul (his American friend with family roots in Korea) out to a district called Primero de Mayo. If not Mauricio, we would have never seen this place as tourists don't go there - it is in the south part of the city and it is considered dangerous. In the north part of Bogota' there are mainly offices and houses of rich people (where I went to the parties on Friday and Saturday).
We had a great night out. The district is kind of a red district in Paris, Amsterdam or Hamburg - just that here people try to physically drag you inside the bars or clubs. It was amazing and annoying at the same time. Eventually we chose one bar to have a drink (in the picture). The music was great and Mauricio showed off his dancing skills :) I was also teaching Paul how to move his bottom to dance well. We had a lot of fun and laugh and I didn't regret at all that I missed my bus.
What do I think about Bogota'? - I like it. It is big and crowded but a lot of nice things happened to me in the city. It is beautiful, I met a lot of great people and if not the horrible weather, I would stay longer.

I am in Cartago now. Distance Bogota' - Pereira 250 km, 9 hours on the bus, cost: 14 pounds (I had to change once in Armenia). The view from the bus was great - mountains, waterfalls, villages and towns. At one point our bus had an accident. A car behind us didn't break in time and it hit the back of the bus, making a small damage to the bus and a huge damage to the car. I was afraid that we would have to wait for few hours because of the accident but luckily we moved on after 20 minutes.
Fernando picked me up in Pereira, it is so good to see him again. He is doing very well, he has own business and a new girlfriend. He buys leather, makes bags, belts and wallets in his small factory. Then he sells them in his shops in Cartago and Pereira, and he loves his job. He was single for three years and two months ago he met a girl. He looks very happy, I am so glad to see this!!
When we arrived home I met Fernando's family. His mum lost one leg in an accident 15 years ago. Fernando's car broke down so he stopped on a side of the road and another car hit it from behind, crushing mum's leg.
Fernando's nieces Sofia and Carolina talk to me all the time. I wish I was so brave when I was 5 and 8 years old... Well, I can learn some more Spanish as the family doesn't speak a word of English :)
My pictures from Bogota':
Bogota'

I woke up at 6 am today and I couldn't sleep any more, I think it is because I slept too much recently. I decided to dress up and go to the city centre to visit some museums. The first one was the Police Museum. I arrived there at 9 am and I got a very serious Colombian guide. I couldn't understand his English so I started asking questions and we got into a deep conversation. Most of the museum was about fighting mafia and drug trade, and I am fascinated by this kind of stories. However, they were not funny... In the picture the biggest mafiosos of Colombia, alive or dead. In the middle the biggest of the biggest one - Pablo Escobar, who I mentioned in the Medellin section.
I was lucky to have met the oldest police officer in the country; he is 75 now and he works as a director of the museum. I also visited the Traffic Police room, TP is a new department in Colombia.
The museum closed at 11.30 am as it is its 51st birthday today, I was lucky that I woke up early!! I asked my guide if they were going to get drunk when they close the museum, to which he answered seriously that he was a police officer and he couldn't answer this question ha ha ha ha....
Then I went to the famous Museum of Gold but I got disappointed, there was nothing big and shiny as I expected, just some craft works which bored me to tears.
Later I am going to Granpared to climb the wall again, and then I will go for a drink with Oscar.
Yesterday Oscar invited me to his house for a lunch, his mum cooked some great food. Then we went for a walk in the centre of Bogota'. We climbed a hill and we admired the great night view over the city.

I had a look at the map of South America this morning. I have done so many miles!!... I have 7 months left of my trip and six countries to visit. However, I am tired. Travelling is hard (but rewarding) work... I am going to stay longer in Cali, the capital of Colombian salsa.
Yesterday I had a lazy day. I slept a lot (my favourite activity in this trip), then I did shopping, went to see Oscar in Granpared and in the evening I went to a Couch Surfing meeting. It was quite boring but I had some conversations with local people. All the conversations with local people have a great value because I always learn something new. I walked back home, it took me half an hour (at night in Bogota' - I felt very safe but apparently you shouldn't do it).
On Thursday I am leaving Bogota' for Cartago where Fernando lives (the only friend I had in South America before I came here). I met him in London a year ago and when he was leaving I said "see you in Colombia". He said that I could come and stay in his family house. I suppose none of us believed that this would happen but here we are... I am going to Cartago. I can't wait to see you again, Fernando!!

On Saturday I met Michal, a Polish guy who is travelling in Colombia and who contacted me through the Couch Surfing website. We met by the cathedral and then we walked to the cable car which took us to Monserrate, a mountain dominating the city. It raises to 3,152 meters above the sea level and there are a church and a shrine on the top. The view was really great (in the picture with Michal) but the view in Medellin was much better. We were talking for a couple of hours and then a funny situation happened to us. We were sitting on a wall by the church when a woman with a microphone and a man with a camera approached us. They were from RCN TV and they were shooting a programme about Colombia. They asked us to say something to the camera. Without thinking much I said that I liked Medellin more than Bogota' (uuuuups!!...). The women suddenly shouted "my throat, my throat, there is something wrong with my throat, stop the shooting!!...). I asked "was it something wrong with my answer?". The woman said that it was and she asked me to say to the camera that I was enjoying myself on Monserrate. So we repeated the scene ha ha ha... and I said that the view was amazing :)
I felt that the woman tried not to talk to me much any more as I could say something inappropriate ha ha ha... She was really serious, Michal and I were joking a lot but she didn't understand our jokes.
http://www.colombianews.tv/news/61910-liz-visits-monserrate
Afterwards I came back home and Michal went to the Polish embassy to vote for a new president as there were elections in Poland on Sunday. I didn't register to vote and anyway, I don't know much about the Polish politics any more. Result of the Colombian elections which also took place yesterday: Santos won with the majority of votes (about 70 %). Santos is on Uribe's side therefore the country is going to carry on the security programmes (and killing guerilla). Mockus wanted to develop education projects but obviously people in Colombia feel that security is still more important than education.

In the evening I had a choice of two parties so I chose the closer one. I met Adriana, Barbara and some other Couch Surfing people at the party. I didn't like the place because it was small and dark so after an hour I decided to go to the second party where Oscar and Keith were waiting for me. It was far away, in the north part of the city so I took a taxi. Taxi drivers have a bad reputation in Bogota' - they are considered dangerous and cheating foreign customers. I take taxi very often here as it is cheap and nothing bad has happened to me - all the taxi drivers have been nice, talkative and honest.
I met Oscar in front of the building - he was already drunk but happy, as all other people at the party. Keith's flat is beautiful and as soon as I arrived, I started dancing with Oscar and others.
I danced a lot, drank a lot (aguardiente) and smoked a lot of cigarettes (I am a non-smoker) and generally it was one huge madness. We were taking some inappropriate pictures :), talking about many important and serious subjects, shouting and laughing loudly. At one point the doorman phoned and said that if we didn't stop shouting, the neighbours were going to call the police. I was surprised - in Colombia???... Keith said that this district was different, there were many rich, posh and snob people living in these flats. So we calmed down (although it was difficult) and an hour later we went to bed... or rather to the carpet ha ha ha, people were sleeping wherever it was possible :)
In the morning Oscar, his friend, Keith and I went to a local market where we tried a lot of traditional and cheap food - I loved it. Then the guys went to vote for a president and I came back home to get some sleep. The weather was really bad - it was raining heavily all the day.
I had a wonderful weekend and it took me by surprise - I didn't think I would do any dancing and instead I did a lot. Sometimes I don't want my South American adventure to finish....

Yesterday I watched the football match England - Algeria and then I went to the city centre. I met Carolina (Luis' ex-girlfriend) and we visited the cathedral and two museums. I am not an art person because unfortunately I don't understand art but the cathedral and one museum made a big impression on me. The cathedral is big, very simple, beautiful and you can feel a lot of space inside. I have seen many churches and cathedrals in my trip but the cathedral in Bogota' is the best one. We also went to the Botero museum (in the picture). I mentioned Botero before - he was born and lives in Medellin and he paints and makes sculptures of fat people. His art is very colorful and funny. Children have faces of 40-year old people. I love Botero. Then we went to another museum, very boring, with some machines for making gold and coins, and some dull paintings.
Then it started raining. It rained a lot... We had an umbrella but we got very wet and we decided to come back home. The weather in Bogota' is exactly as it is in London - unpredictable.
At home I met Luis. I didn't see him much before because he was leaving for work very early when I was sleeping and I was coming back home very late, when he was sleeping. Yesterday we decided to spend some time together. We went to a very American birthday party (Oscar invited me), it was nice but quiet. Adriana phoned me earlier and invited to a party in a northern district. Luis and I took a nice American guy with us (Sam who I met in Medellin two weeks ago and we met yesterday again :)) and we went to the party. It was such a surprise for me!! - the district was beautiful, the flat was beautiful and they played salsa all the night. There were many people at the party and we were dancing a lot. I met a guy from Cali (the capital of Colombian salsa) and he was teaching me some Cali salsa techinques.

Yesterday I spent half the day in Granpared. I met Oscar's American friend Keith, who has been working in Bogota' as an aircraft engineer for the last eight months. His has a good salary, nice flat and a bulletproof car ha ha ha... as his company in US thinks that Colombia is still extremely dangerous.
I climbed the wall twice (do I have to add that I didn't reach the top?) and I wanted to climb it the third time but my hands were trembling so much that I couldn't grasp the wall. Keith was struggling as well although he climbed more difficult wall. Oscar was able to climb every wall in little time, just like the spider man :)
In the evening we went to the Couch Surfing meeting in a nice pub. Many people came to me and said "Hallo Aga!!" and I had no idea who they were but I tried not to look too surprised. They probably found my message and picture on the CS Bogota' website. I met a guy, Tomas, who is a friend of Claudia and Carmen from Santa Marta. I spoke to him on Skype a month ago and yesterday I met him in person.
Then we went dancing. It was a long and frustrating night for me. I managed (with a big effort) to gather a group of people who wanted to dance salsa and we took cabs to the city center. We arrived  in a place called Jose' Pagano 1 which is apparently a good salsa club. There was nobody in the club and I didn't like it straight away - it was kind of a "drinking hole": very dark, with no pictures and decorations on the walls. I got frustrated. Some of the people gave up and went home. I started complaining "I came to Colombia to dance and nobody dances here...". One Colombian guy got really worried and he decided to show me some other clubs. We decided to walk to the next club (never walk in Bogota' at night!) - we found a police patrol going in our direction so we walked ten meters behind them to be safe. First we went to a place called La Bodeguita de Centro - it was empty. So we walked further to a place called Jose' Pagano 2 (JP 1 and 2 were the same company before but the owners had an argument and now there are two separate venues). It was a nice place but with two huge screens on the walls showing some videos so I felt like in a cinema. Well, the music was good so we danced for an hour and we drank some rum. So far, no club wins with El Suave in Medellin....
In general I had a great day and night although I felt frustrated. On Sunday there is a second tour of the presidential elections (Mockus contra Santos) so all the clubs, pubs and bars will be closed all the weekend. It is a law saying that people can't drink before the elections, to make a right choice without hangover. So... no dancing this weekend.

Well, I am having a really good time in Bogota'.... I still hate the cold but... there are more important things: meeting great people!! I also found a host in Cali, where I am going to be in about two weeks time. He is a professional salsa dancer, he can host me and take to the best salsa clubs!!
Yesterday afternoon I met Oscar in Granpared, the biggest climbing wall in South America. Oscar is the second best climber in Colombia (the competition took place in Bogota') and tenth best in South America (the competition took place in Equador). Well... today I will be climbing the wall :)
I spend a lot of time with Oscar and we speak Spanish all the time. Sometimes I get frustrated because I want to explain something and I don't know the right words... but I try and I never give up.
After Granpared we met a very nice girl Adriana from Couch Surfing who phoned me yesterday. We were joined by Barbara, a Polish girl who is travelling in Colombia, a guy from India and Oscar's friend. I had so much laugh yesterday... We went to a very stylish bar and we tried chicha, an alcoholic drink which is illegaly sold in Colombia (and it is so different from the chicha I tried in Venezuela!!). It is made of maize, the drink is sweet and sour. When I took my first sip I thought it was disgusting but with time I started to like it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha
In the picture from left: Oscar, his friend, I and Barbara.

This morning I woke up at 10 am (I have to put alarm on again, otherwise I wake up too late) and suddenly I heard somebody opening the flat entrance door. I thought that maybe Luis came back from work but it was a tiny girl. She said she was Luis' ex-girlfriend and she came to pick up her stuff. We started to talk about Bogota' (in Spanish again) and after half an hour I couldn't refrain myself from asking why they split up. Carolina said that last week she found out on Facebook that he was going out with another girl. Last year she found condoms in his flat, she confronted him but he said they were not his so she tried to forget about it. Last week she found a proof that he was going out with another girl and she moved out immediately, after three years of living together. She was crying while telling me the story and I felt sorry for her... I feel sorry for all the Colombian women. I made her a cup of coffee and I told her that she was my hero and that she made a right decision. Then I remembered Catalina from Medellin who accepts the fact that Rodrigo has two other girlfriends and I felt more sorry for her than for Carolina.

Bogota' is situated on 2,640 meters above the sea level and I can confirm... it is cold here. On avarage 14 degrees Celsius which in London means nice weather but after four and a half months spent in the temperature of 35 - 45 degrees which I really like, I feel cold here. In London I have nice dresses, shoes and bags so when it is cold I put something nice on and I feel warm and good. Here I have just one pair of jeans (I hate wearing trousers) so... I will be leaving Bogota' soon :) I also decided to avoid some other cold places in South America e.g. Patagonia, and stay only in valleys of Equador, Peru' and Bolivia.
Yesterday I met Oscar from Couch Surfing, we spent six hours in the city centre. My feelings towards Bogota' are mixed. When I was on the bus to meet Oscar I thought the city was ugly (horrible grey buildings) and smelly with some dodgy people in the streets. But then we went to some really nice places, for example Plaza de Bolivar (in the picture, and behind me the cathedral). Oscar also walked me home all the way, in Calle 7. I was really impressed by how the city is developed; it has a lot of tall and beautiful buildings, banks and nice parks. It is very clean too. However, there is no salsa music everywhere like in other cities and this is a big big big disadvantage.
We had some traditional food in a cafe' where I noticed dry ants for sale. I wanted to buy and eat them but they were too expensive, I am hoping to find a place where I can get them cheaper.
Oscar also showed me the biggest in South America indoor climbing wall. He works there as an instructor so I might do some climbing later in the week.
Here are my pictures from astonishing Medellin:
Medellin

In Bogota'

Distance Medellin - Bogota': 400 km, 9 hours on the bus, cost: 14 pounds.
Still in the bus station in Medellin, the bus drivers and ticket sellers were fighting for customers. Eventually I chose one company whose driver told me that if I felt cold during the trip, I could sleep in his cabin.
However, it was my first negative experience on the bus, after doing 10 thousand kilometers by buses. Luckily it wasn't very cold but the bus was overbooked and some people had to sit in the aisle. To be honest if this happened to me, I would get mad and requested my money back. These poor people had to sit on the floor for many hours and get up every twenty minutes to let somebody pass by.
I was hoping to see some nice views from the bus as it crossed a range of Andes, but during the day the surface was flat and during the night the bus switched on stroboscopic lights (but why??). After looking out the window for some time I got a bad headache as I felt like I was in a horror film.
Anyway, when I arrived in the bus station in Bogota', I was picked up by Mauricio (my potential second host in Bogota'). It was so kind of him!! - he lives close to the station so he emailed me two days ago saying that he could pick me up and drive me to my host's flat.
I live with Luis now, very close to the centre of Bogota'.

Yesterday Silvia took me on a wonderful car trip to her parents' house outside of the city. They have a flat in Medellin where I went on the first day I met Silvia, as she wanted to introduce me to the parents. They also own a lot of land, amazing trees and plants, and four beautiful small houses on the land (and also a huge white rabit which is a family pet. He is like a dog, I adore him). Before visiting her parents we went to a town called San Antonio de Pereira (in the picture, with Silvia). It is a nice little town where I tried a lot of local food: chorizo with arepa, corn cakes, caramel cake and a typical sweet bar made of milk (I ate too much...). I also tried some sweets made of sugar and cow's leg, called gelatina de pata. Very tasty!!
http://www.colombianews.tv/news/91909-gelatina-de-pata
Colombian news: four solders who were kidnapped 12 years ago by guerrilla, were found today. They were kept in the jungle, closely chained to each other (so it was really difficult to run away) and now they came back home after all these years in the capture. The media don't say how they were rescued but it is clear that a lot of killings were involved in the rescue plan. I was talking to Silvia about it - unfortunately to stop the killings, a lot of killings must be done in this country...
http://www.bullfax.com/?q=node-colombia-rescues-farc-hostages-held-12-years
On the way back to Medellin we were talking about the most famous Colombian mafioso, called Pablo Escobar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar

I am travelling to Bogota' today. My original plan was to stay two months in the city, rent a room near a good salsa club and attend a school to learn Spanish. However, everyone tells me that it is very cold in Bogota' so I am not staying there for a long time. I am going to do all the things I planned in Cali instead, or if I don't like Cali, I will be back in Medellin. I love Medellin - it is very beautiful and there is a really good salsa club. I was also very lucky with my hosts here, and with other people I met.

I was dancing so much last night!!!... Alex picked me up in the evening and we went to Parque Lleras in El Poblado where we met my friend Tatiana from Couch Surfing and her friends. Parque Lleras is a place with many bars and restaurants. It is a very beautiful place but with many discos for young people and if there is salsa music somewhere, people just drink and don't dance. Tatiana and her friends decided to go to a disco and Alex wanted to join them so I took a taxi and I went to a salsa club called Rumbantana. It is a very nice place, with good vibe and beautiful pictures on the walls (in the picture). However, it is small and because of a lot of reagge people who go there, it doesn't match my personality (I am not a reagge type and I don't like Cuban salsa). I stayed there for an hour, had a good look at the place, had a chat with the bar tender and then I took a taxi to El Suave, my (and gangs) favourite place for dancing in Medellin.
When I arrived in the place, men understood that I was on my own so I was constantly asked for a dance, to the point that I got very tired after few hours of dancing (especially my hips and legs, the most important body parts in Colombian salsa) so I decided to observe people instead. Oh my god, Colombian salsa is soooo sexy.... and the music is soooo beautiful... I will miss this in London so much. There are good Colombian clubs in London but the music is lighter, here in El Suave it is "heavy" traditional Colombian salsa.
Apparently there is another good salsa club in Medellin called Tibiri, not far from Rumbantana, but I just don't care any more - El Suave is the best!!

Before I went out in the evening, I met Jesus from Couch Surfing for lunch and at the same time we were watching the match: England - USA. I had a great time with him, he loves salsa too. I realised that it will be really hard for me to watch the World Cup football matches and focus on them as I will be talking to people at the same time. I love World Cup and I love talking to people too... It is not the same that watching matches with friends I have known for years...
Jesus and I spoke a lot about security in Colombia (my favourite subject here) and about Brazil. He is an architect and he works with people from favelas so he had some very interesting stories to tell. He has a lot of contact with sicarios (assasins) from the poor communities.
Sicarios

Yesterday I had a great day. I took a cable car in two places in Medellin: in Estacion San Javier and in Estacion Acevedo. The cable cars are free means of public transport. It is the same in Caracas - so many similarities! The first one in Medellin takes you to a favela (favelas are called "comunas" here) which you can see in the picture. The second one takes you first to a favela and then to a national park (very beautiful but it was cold...). Both cable car systems are great, clean and comfortable, and the view from them is fantastic. Everyone who comes to Medellin should take a cable car in those two places, it is an unforgettable experience.
My observation is that these favelas in Medellin are much more sophisticated than those in Brazil. They are much cleaner and they have playgrounds and schools. Some houses are really nice although they are located right by houses which are falling apart.
At night we went to El Suave again (my favourite salsa place): Silvia, Farid and Alex from Couch Surfing, Silvia's friend and I. I was dancing a lot to the pure Colombian salsa music, I loved it. So much hip movement (hmmm...the men impressed me again) and legs workout, the rest of the body stays firm.
Apparently El Suave is a place where many gang members come. This was the reason why other Silvia's friends didn't want to join us. I think... well, gang members want to dance too... as long as there is no trouble in the place, I don't really mind. It is very possible that I danced with some gangsters and... they were great dancers :)
At 2 am I had an argument with Alex. Silvia and others went home early. Alex wanted to go home too but I wanted to stay untill the end. Alex got really worried about me and he said that I had to go with him as he promised Silvia that he would give me a lift home. I said "no way". He said "Aga, you are not in Europe, you are in Colombia". For a second I thought "Wow.... I am really in Colombia!!!" and then I said again "I am not going with you". He was very persistent and worried, sooo worried that eventually I agreed to leave with him but only if we stayed in the club for a little bit longer. He accepted the deal and we left at 3 am (the club closes at 4). In the morning I talked to Silvia about it. She said that I could have stayed on my own although it was good that he gave me a lift. She suspects that Alex, who has been living in Spain for 7 years, still thinks that the very dangerous Colombia from before is the same Colombia now. He doesn't realise how much it has changed in in the last decade and that it is safer now.

Yesterday I went to a Couch Surfing meeting in a pub called Canciello (in the picture Henry, organiser of the meeting). Silvia didn't want to come with me as she said that people were too young in the group. She was right. Also, the music was very loud which I don't like when I talk to people. I stayed there for about three hours, had a chat with almost everyone and I came back home. Some of the people were going to another place, a disco. They wanted me to go with them but it wasn't a salsa place. I had nice time but I wish it was a different venue and a wider variety of people.
This morning Silvia showed me some documentaries she made about the sea life. She is a diver so she made films about deterioration of the sea natural ecosystems, diseases of the corals and unneccessary killing of the fish while fishing for shrimps. All this caused by pollution, global warming, tourists and.... greed for money. Very interesting documentaries which were shown on TV in Colombia.
We also talked about reducing amount of cars in Medellin. The scheme has been introduced in Sao Paolo and it will possibly be introduced in Recife in Brazil too, as there is a big problem with traffic. According to the scheme in Medellin, Silvia can't drive eight hours a week, spreaded in four hours two days a week. For her it is Wednesday and Friday afternoon, for other people other days. Cab drivers can't drive one whole day a fortnight. I think this scheme is a fantastic idea and should be introduced in London too.
We were also talking about the elections for a new president. She will vote for Mockus as she said that Santos does many indecent things to get the votes. Apparently he tells people (not directly of course!) that they will loose their jobs if they don't vote for him.
And the last, lighter subject: a great Colombian singer Huanes was born and lives in Medellin. I already knew his songs in London and I like them very much. The people in Medellin love him however they don't like Shakira. When her concert is organised in the city, not many people buy the tickets.

On Tuesday I went to the city centre with Carolina from Argentina and Sirin from France. Our main target was Plaza Botero, a square where you can see sculptures of fat people made by a very famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero. The sculptures have small hands, noses, eyes, and hmmm... other parts (men) but really big bottoms and legs (in the picture. Errr.... behind me!).
http://www.editionsculptures.co.uk/en/page/maker-botero/fernando_botero.html
Then we went to a salsa place called El Eslabon Perdido. The music was great but the place was very small and all the men I danced with did smell externally and internally (when they talked), which I immensely disliked. Men, look after yourself a little bit, expecially when go to a social event!!!
Yesterday I moved in with my second host in Medellin, Silvia. Leider left Medellin this morning to get to a communion of his daughter in Cali.
Silvia lives very close to the city centre, in a beautiful flat on the 15th floor. The view from the flat is just amazing. Well, Medellin is amazing. I said before that Cartagena was the most beautiful place I had seen in my trip but it is not truth. Cartagena is unique but it doesn't have parks or mountains around, and it doesn't have any special vibe either (apart from the mass tourism vibe...). My favourite cities so far are Caracas in Venezuela and Medellin. They are very similar actually, both surrounded by mountains, just that Caracas is bigger and it is close to the sea. Medellin is an inland city, few hours away from the coast. The temperature here is absolutely perfect: it is not hot like in Caracas and not cold, just perfect all year round (20 - 30 degrees). I could live in Medellin (and in Caracas) if not the job situation in the whole country (well, continent). People don't have jobs or they earn little money.
Silvia works for few television channels. She also teaches at University how to make TV programmes. She produces films, shows, arranges interviews and everything else, including the schedule of TV programmes.

Two strange things happened on the way to Silvia's flat yesterday. First one when I was walking with Carolina and Sirin to the tube station. Carolina slipped on oil which was spilt on the road, she fell down and twisted her wrist (it wasn't funny at all...). Then, when I was very close to Silvia's flat, I didn't notice that they put a new asphalt on the road and it was still hot. I stepped into it... and my flip flops glued to the asphalt in the middle of the road. Luckily the road was still closed so there were no cars. I could not move and with my big rucksack and two bags it must have looked really hillarious - me trying to cross the road but my feet didn't want to move. Eventually a man noticed me struggling, he approached me in proper big shoes and dragged me to the other side of the road, ripping my flip flops into pieces... I arrived in Silvia's flat barefoot.

I forgot to say that in Colombia there is a law that prohibits smoking in clubs, bars, restaurants et cetera. Such a relief... They can smoke in Venezuela, I hope it is going to change soon.
Other facts about Colombia, versus Venezuela :)
Colombian coffee is very good but in Venezuela they make it in a much nicer way (and stronger)
Colombian arepas are much better than Venezuelan - they are softer and lighter
Colombian horses are unique, I have never seen horses moving like this before. The breed is called Paso Fino and you can see many of them in the streets trotting in this strange way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR_i3cZrdEQ

Yesterday Leider, his three friends and I went to a wonderful natural park: parqe ecologico El Salado. We climbed a hill and we had a great time by the river. First we jumped into the river's very cold water (in the picture) and then we smoked shisha.

Today is festivo - "bank holiday" in Colombia, and next week too. They have many Mondays off, lucky Colombians. However, they are not paid on these days. I am jealous anyway.
Yesterday when I woke up, Rodrigo (Leider's friend) phoned and invited me on a trip outside of the city. He picked me up half an hour later with his girlfriend Catalina and his 2-year old daughter. They don't speak a word of English but as they invited me on this trip I felt obliged to carry on conversation all the time, which was a lot of fun.
We went to Peñon de Guatape', a huge rock which you can climb (200 meters high, 635 steps). It was so beautiful, Colombia is sooo beautiful !! (in the picture: view from the rock). When I lived in Europe I had no idea that the country is so amazing. Venezuela too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Pe%C3%B1on_de_Guatape_(monolith)

When we arrived back in Medellin we went first to the little girl mother's flat. Rodrigo goes out with Catalina, the girl's mother and also another woman at the same time. Catalina knows about it (she said she "suspects" it) however she doesn't want to loose him. Such a lack of respect for yourself !!... She cries very often but she knows that Rodrigo is a nice guy (so what???... sorry I got a little bit angry here). I explaind to her my European point of view but I know that nothing is going to make her leave him, unless she fells in love with somebody else.

Yesterday I met Tatiana from Couch Surfing. She is a very nice girl who speaks fluent English as studied in Switzerland for three years. We met in Parque de Los Pies Descalzos (park of the bare feet - you have to take your shoes off in one part of the park). Later we met her friends: two from United States and two from Bogota'. We went to Pueblito Paisa in Cerro Nutibara park - a wonderful place from which you can see the whole city as it is on a hill (in the picture with Tatiana).
I drank Borojo' juice which is made of traditional fruit grown near Cali (more south of the country) and I had problems with stomach later in the evening (in Leider's little flat....). Apparently the fruit is an aphrodisiac.
Before I met Tatiana I had been to the downtown. I like the city very much, it is clean and full of positive energy. I took part in a demonstration organised by a political group called Mira. Their objectives are protection of the natural environment and fight against child sexual exploitation. It is great that organisations like this exist in South America!!!

Later in the night I met Juan Jose'. We had some beer in a nice park and then I met about ten of his friends. We went to a place called La Ruana de Juana, where we expected good salsa music. Once I was there I understood that it was a disco with all kinds of music and very young people. I didn't like the place so we went to another one which name I don't remember (and there is no need to remember it...). It was a disco too. I didn't want to be fussy again and spoil peoples' night by walking from one place to another so I spent the night dancing to five salsa songs and the rest of the time I was observing The Guys enjoying themselves. It was great to see them happy, I felt happy too because of them. Nicolas was wheelchair bound but he goes with his friends everywhere. The Guys were amazing, they didn't let him feel lonely or disabled even for a minute.
I came back home at 4 am, there was a salsa party at the neighbours' house. I joined the party, had few dances with some drunk guys and few cups of aguardiente (alcohol) and then an older woman approached me and she said that it was a family party. She came across rude so I turned on my heel and I went home (two seconds from the neighbours' house). The music was so loud that I couldn't believe it. Leider didn't sleep most of the night, I had earplugs in my ears which blocked the noise just a little bit. However, it was nice to fell asleep to the great salsa music....

Well, I finally found out where the good dancers are hiding.... in a great great place called El Suave. I went there yesterday with Leider, his friends and a Couch Surfer who phoned me a few hours earlier. I have to say this... Colombian men who can dance salsa are the sexiest men in the world. I already discovered this in London and I can confirm it here. I am staying far away from them as they are womanisers, but the fact is that nobody shakes their bottoms better than Colombian men!! :)
The music was fantastic, people very passionate about dancing (to the point that I had to refrain myself from laughing when I saw their focused drama faces while dancing...) and the place itself was exactly what I wanted to see - very positive atmosphere, passion for dance and a little bit of Colombian kitsch (in the picture).
I also found out what you do if you want to use toilet in Leider's little flat. I was desperate this mornig so I told Leider that I was going to the toilet. He put some loud music on, opened the flat door and sat in one corner of the flat from which you can't see the loo... ha ha ha ha ha ha......

In Medellin

Distance Cartagena - Medellin: 703 km, 12 hours on the bus, cost: 35 pounds.
The bus wasn't as comfortable as the ones I was travelling on in Brazil or Venezuela but at least it wasn't freezing cold on the bus. Therefore, I didn't have to argue with the drivers or pretend that I would have to go to a hospital because of the cold. They were speeding and driving like crazy but I managed to fell asleep. When I woke up I looked through the window and what I saw was spectacular. We were in the mountains (Andes), very high, I could see the clouds and lights of small towns down the mountain. There were lightnings every few minutes but without thunder or rain. They were lightening everything around (and no, I was not dreaming...). This phenomenon is very common in South America, I can see it almost every night. Anyway, when I looked through the window I understood that the road was very dangerous. It was narrow, with holes and if something went wrong we would have flown about 2000 meters down the mountain. Suddenly I remembered that many Colombians in London told me that it is much safer to travel by plane in this part of the country. Well, it was too late and anyway, I didn't regret it.
I couldn't sleep any more though, I was telepathically helping the driver to carry on safely. On the other hand, there are several buses a day from Cartagena to Medellin and no serious accident happened in recent years.

I live with my first host in Medellin, Leider, in a very small studio flat, with no kitchen and the toilet doesn't have a door. I just arrived at 7 am this morning and I am wondering how you do your business in the toilet, probably the other person has to leave the flat ha ha ha... But it doesn't matter, the guy is lovely.
Here are my pictures from Cartagena:
Cartagena

Last night we went to a very beautiful bar called Quiebra Canto (in the picture with Chloe' and a guy we met). I was promised by our hotel to hear salsa music all the night and I wasn't disappointed. The music was really good however there were no men who could dance salsa.
The place is fantastic, with a balcony overlooking the town centre. We met some nice people and I danced a little bit but I wasn't satisfied. Apparently there is another place for dancing salsa called Hawana but it was closed yesterday. It is difficult to believe it, when I go to a Colombian club in London (there are many) I find many great dancers. Where are they hiding in Colombia?????????....
Today we went to the town centre again and then we met a guy from Couch Surfing who phoned me this morning. The guy was really nice but in general I am disappointed with the CS community in Cartagena.

Today we visited the historic centre of Cartagena (Chloe' and I - we travelled to Cartagena together). It is very small so you can do a tour in couple of hours, if you don't want to do shopping or to visit museums. The town looks like Venice in Italy (without canals but with balconies in every house) - very beautiful and also full of history... Really fantastic place, no wonder that everyone comes to Cartagena. There is a Bolivar Square of course (many squares in South America are called after the liberator) and also San Pedro Claver Square. He was a Jesuit fighting against slavery and helping slaves to have a better life.
Our observation was that pigeons are all the same in all the parts of the world. They love town squares and they are the same nuisance everywhere.
Then we went to see a castle (Castillo San Felipe de Barajas), well, fortress really because it is too ugly to be called a castle (in the picture). However, there is a great view from it.
Before we went out this morning I had a strange Couch Surfing experience. I met a guy via the website, I thought we would go for a drink or that he would show us the town. Instead, he was insisting all the time that we move to a cheaper hotel which I went to see (I had to see it as it was cheaper!!... :)). It appeared that the hotel was a property of his family, it was dirty and the toilet didn't have a door. Once I said that we preferred our hotel, he wasn't interested in meeting us again any more. When I came back to our hotel where Chloe' was waiting for me, she got really furious because the Couch Surfing objective is to help people for free and not to make money from it.
This night I am going to check out a salsa club and tomorrow night I am leaving to Medellin.

In Cartagena

Distance Santa Marta - Cartagena: 209 km, 4 hours on the bus, cost: 7 pounds.
The Couch Surfing community is very small in Cartagena and most of the members are poor students (as one Couch Surfer explained to me) so.... at the beginning of the fifth month of my trip, for the first time I checked into a hotel. I found it in a very famous street called Media Luna, a street with many good priced hotels. Ours is called La Española - it has a good standard and is clean. Two people in a room with 6 (empty at that time) beds pay 6 pounds per night each, after negotiations. It is the best deal we found and with free internet service. However, I will not stay here for a long time. The town is the most beautiful I have seen so far in my trip but very tourist orientated, which I don't like very much. I want to meet as many local people as possible and learn about their lives - I will not achieve it by staying in hotels.
Regarding Colombia as a country, there are so many natural parks... (green spots in the picture). I had no clue about it when I lived in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_Colombia
Before I left Santa Marta, I met Jose' again and I asked him why he doesn't use the family car. He said that it was extremely expensive for Colombians to get a driving licence, it costs 160 pounds (450.000 pesos). However, once you have the money, the examiner lets you drive a car for few minutes. No matter how good driver you are, you will get the driving licence.
My pictures from Santa Marta (I am finally up to date with the pictures :)):
Santa Marta