Home in a backpack: January 2016

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Cali. Colombia 21-24.01.16

How to get there: We got there by bus from Tulcan. At the border crossing we were offered a bus for COP55.000 each, and a taxi included in the price to get to the bus terminal. It took 12 hours to get there.
Arriving to Cali: There isn't much to Cali city centre, but what looks like a suburb with little organisation. On arrival we took a taxi to a cheap hotel in the centre. "Hotel Cali Real" is right in the centre and it does the work. The hotel hasn't got any air conditioning, so you rely on a fan to cool the room down. Mosquitoes love it.

The church at the square in Cali

The centre of Cali is, like I mentioned, messy. A hard place to get around as all the streets look just the same with street stalls and paper signs all over the place. We did enjoy the craziness for a while and went along with it strolling through the streets of the centre until we found a small area that finally had some attraction to our eyes. A church beautifully done overlooking a simple square where some sellers tried to make a living out of Guarapo (a drink made of sugar cane) and trinket.

After one night in this basic hotel, we researched and decided to move to an area closer to a football stadium, that looked neater and safer. The area of San Fernando is only two kilometres away from the city centre, but looks very different. While Cali looks old, disorganised and energetic, San Fernando looked new and neat but also quiet and sort of out of the life that Cali had.

We stayed at the hotel San Fernando Real. The hotel is a simple and straightforward 10/10. From the moment we walked through the doors, the staff offered help with our luggage, asked about our journey and gave us a room before the official check-in time. The room was as impressive as the welcoming: perfectly air conditioned, neat and spacious, it just didn't seem right for the price we paid. Complimented with a swimming pool, we couldn't think of a better option to spend our time until the football game.

San Fernando feels safe, even at night the streets are quiet and mainly empty. Even though it hasn't got much around it, but a square we decided to have regular walks around the area. Here we tried our first bit of Colombian desserts. The cake shop sold slices of cake separately, and they were delicious (a recommendation if you go to Cali).

Definitely we weren't left indifferent by Colombian food. From the minute we arrived we tried the famous breakfast dish "calentao de frijoles" which basically means beans and rice with eggs and fried banana, all thrown in a plate to make new unforgettable flavours.

Cali is the 9th most dangerous city in the world and even though we don't agree with it, we do agree that it is city of salsa, and everything around it is a reminder of it. The character of citizens is happy and carefree, and they are extremely friendly towards foreigners that come to visit, always wanting to know more. So even though, it might not have as much to see as other Colombian cities, it is where we received our first bit of local kindness and great food. So for a relaxing weekend, why not?

Park in Cali

Calentao de frijoles for breakfast

the centre of Cali

Square in Cali

Guarapo machine and Oliver having a glass of guarapo

beautiful church overlooking the square

same square in Cali

The centre of Cali from a different angle

The moon behind the church

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Quito. Ecuador 18-20.01.16

How to get there: We took a bus from Tumbes to Guayaquil for 35 soles each and in Guayaquil we took another bus for USD10 each. It takes about 12 hours to do the entire journey.
Arriving to Quito: We had booked a hostel in a good centric area with wonderful reviews in Booking.com. "La Rosario" is a beautiful hostel close to the historical centre and the staff are very pleasant.

The middle of the world

We arrived at 6 am to the bus station and took a taxi to the hostel which charged us USD10 to get there. We were probably overcharged but we were pretty tired and all we wanted to do was sleep, so when we arrived, we entered reception and asked to pay extra to enter the room straight away. We slept until... well, late and went out to eat and meet our friend Gustavo, who was going to show us around.

He took us, first of all, to the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa where we had to convince the security guard to let us in the stadium to take pictures. We managed to get in and take a few pictures of the vast field and carried on driving towards the cable car that overlooks the whole city. We paid USD8.50 for a return ticket on the cable car, and went right up to 4.100m where it was hard to breathe, both due to the thin air and the spectacular views.

There are several treks you can do up there, but many recommend a tour guide since when the fog moves it can be difficult to find the way and many get lost. However, the path goes on for a few hours before needing a guide, so if you just fancy having a short walk, you might not need it.

The next day, we were picked up at midday. We picked Gustavo's wife, Lorena, up from work and went for lunch to the Inaquito market, where we ate a beautiful bowl of "encebollado" (a national dish consisting of fish soup with onion topped with popcorn. Yes, popcorn in soup) and a drink of guanabana (local fruit). We then dropped Lorena off back at work and went to another stadium, Estadio L.D.U, and again we tried to convince the security guard to let us in the stadium, unfortunately this time we couldn't get in and all we could take were pictures of the outside.

We moved on to what probably is the biggest attraction of Quito: the middle of the world, where the latitude is 000. There are several buildings, museums and shops surrounding the line that separates the northern and southern hemisphere with information about it. To be able to get into all the museums and the tour train, you will have to pay for a full pass ticket which costs USD7.50 per person. We got the basic one that costs 3.50 and just had a stroll around the area to take some pictures at the line.

We spent a couple of hours having a look around until we decided it was enough. We were dropped off at the hostel and walked back to La Mariscal, an area of restaurants and bars, to get some veggie pizza for dinner. We planned to do the historical centre the following morning, but things didn't work out as planned.

When we woke up, I went to find out about buses to Cali and get some breakfast while Oliver packed. When I came back from the shop I saw about 15 police officers that were heading to the door of La Rosario. I went up as I overheard them asking for the papers of the place, thinking it was all routine, but after being sat in the room for 5 minutes having breakfast, they knocked on our door and told us that they had to check all our bags and passports, and as they unpacked everything Oli had done in the last 15 minutes, we watched very still wondering what they wanted. They never answered our questions or told us what they were after, so we went down to reception to ask. They were looking for illegal fire arms and alcohol and the raid is just a routine for every hotel.

We ended our time in Quito in a very curious way, and even though most people would be scared enough to not go there after this experience, I am sure we will be back to Ecuador for more, to discover more of this diverse country.