Cali
<table><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5HpfJD9I/AAAAAAABU7s/JqYxx-VegxY/s640/IMG_7362.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5QsBAZJI/AAAAAAABVAg/bZzVCOtu92I/s640/IMG_7368.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5Y7QphEI/AAAAAAABVBg/sV4qd8gtFQ0/s640/IMG_7373.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5btbnIOI/AAAAAAABVCI/F4HfC_fmUwA/s640/IMG_7375.JPG"/></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5vyigtPI/AAAAAAABU-w/MEdvHi7bB4I/s640/IMG_7386.JPG"></td></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl52jmOV8I/AAAAAAABU_Q/PbNm3cDUGXc/s640/IMG_7390.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsOLzGulUI/AAAAAAABVE4/SrJmlqSGpJQ/s640/IMG_7401.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl57utvxdI/AAAAAAABU_o/rz4zri8_7wc/s640/IMG_7393.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsNlgO-C_I/AAAAAAABVEI/NwLdCJN8wSk/s640/IMG_7395.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsN0ogVfJI/AAAAAAABVEg/9ZkVW_j82zo/s640/IMG_7398.JPG"/></tr></table>
Cali is a town with a serious pulse and the noise levels are beyond belief. Wherever you are now, if you were alone in the house and plugged out the electrical appliances in the house what would you be able to hear, not much probably?
Without a doubt the biggest adjustment you have to make when you come south is learning to live with the noise levels. As I sit here I can hear music blaring from at least three different sources almost as if they are trying to drown each other out.
Every now and then a siren goes off outside and when there’s no siren there’s the grinding noise of 40ft lorries air brakes. The air conditioner and the fan are on their last legs and are groaning in protest about being run on the ragged edge. The Ceiling fan looks likely to come out of its creaking bracket at any second no doubt decapitating me in the process. There’s a child roaring crying outside in the lobby because the twenty other kids who are playing chasing outside wont play with him.
The guy in the room next door is trying to drill a hole out the back of his girl friend and every now and then I hear the high pitched whirring noise of mosquito’s in my ear. All day this continues, peace and quiet is in short supply; plenty of time for that when I'm an oul fella!
I’d a Sunday to kill in Cali so I broke out the lonely planet to see what the town had to offer. All I’d heard was that it was one of the plastic surgery capitals of the world with lots of the local chica’s all having various parts of their anatomy altered.
It’s has a population of almost two million people and is one of Colombia’s most prosperous cities. Since Medellin’s role in drug trafficking was killed off in the early 1990’s Cali stepped in to fill the void.
The city is surrounded by a huge fertile plane and thousands of African slaves were brought here to harvest the sugar cane crops which grow in abundance in the area. The legacy of it is that Cali is the most Creole city in Colombia and is known as Colombia’s biggest party town, with Cuban style salsa music blaring from every second bar.
The first place on my list was the Plaza de Caicedo, which wasn’t particularly memorable. I crossed the river into the more touristy area which is full of restaurants and bars and it was good enough. Along the river the town is making a huge effort for Christmas, with decorations streamed across the river for huge sections. The heat in the place is brutal, 38degC so it’s not a city that you can do much walking around in.
As it was Sunday it was quieter than normal, as the shop traders were opening I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the whole town had a massive hang over. There were heaps of homeless people sleeping in any peace of shade that was available and the usual crop of street traders all selling the same junk that’s available in every town south of Tuscon.
Its a nice enough place, the outskirts are rough as **** but other than that a nice city, not a place to bring the kids though.
So tomorrow morning I'll collect the bike, that's if it made it!.....and redo the 300 mile journey back to Ipiales and cross into Ecuador on Tuesday morning.
Over and out...
Oisin
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<tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/Oisin.m.Hughes/SouthColombia02?feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">South Colombia</a></td></tr>
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<table><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5HpfJD9I/AAAAAAABU7s/JqYxx-VegxY/s640/IMG_7362.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5QsBAZJI/AAAAAAABVAg/bZzVCOtu92I/s640/IMG_7368.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5Y7QphEI/AAAAAAABVBg/sV4qd8gtFQ0/s640/IMG_7373.JPG"></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5btbnIOI/AAAAAAABVCI/F4HfC_fmUwA/s640/IMG_7375.JPG"/></tr></td><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl5vyigtPI/AAAAAAABU-w/MEdvHi7bB4I/s640/IMG_7386.JPG"></td></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl52jmOV8I/AAAAAAABU_Q/PbNm3cDUGXc/s640/IMG_7390.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsOLzGulUI/AAAAAAABVE4/SrJmlqSGpJQ/s640/IMG_7401.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swl57utvxdI/AAAAAAABU_o/rz4zri8_7wc/s640/IMG_7393.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsNlgO-C_I/AAAAAAABVEI/NwLdCJN8wSk/s640/IMG_7395.JPG"/></tr><tr><td><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/SwsN0ogVfJI/AAAAAAABVEg/9ZkVW_j82zo/s640/IMG_7398.JPG"/></tr></table>
Cali is a town with a serious pulse and the noise levels are beyond belief. Wherever you are now, if you were alone in the house and plugged out the electrical appliances in the house what would you be able to hear, not much probably?
Without a doubt the biggest adjustment you have to make when you come south is learning to live with the noise levels. As I sit here I can hear music blaring from at least three different sources almost as if they are trying to drown each other out.
Every now and then a siren goes off outside and when there’s no siren there’s the grinding noise of 40ft lorries air brakes. The air conditioner and the fan are on their last legs and are groaning in protest about being run on the ragged edge. The Ceiling fan looks likely to come out of its creaking bracket at any second no doubt decapitating me in the process. There’s a child roaring crying outside in the lobby because the twenty other kids who are playing chasing outside wont play with him.
The guy in the room next door is trying to drill a hole out the back of his girl friend and every now and then I hear the high pitched whirring noise of mosquito’s in my ear. All day this continues, peace and quiet is in short supply; plenty of time for that when I'm an oul fella!
I’d a Sunday to kill in Cali so I broke out the lonely planet to see what the town had to offer. All I’d heard was that it was one of the plastic surgery capitals of the world with lots of the local chica’s all having various parts of their anatomy altered.
It’s has a population of almost two million people and is one of Colombia’s most prosperous cities. Since Medellin’s role in drug trafficking was killed off in the early 1990’s Cali stepped in to fill the void.
The city is surrounded by a huge fertile plane and thousands of African slaves were brought here to harvest the sugar cane crops which grow in abundance in the area. The legacy of it is that Cali is the most Creole city in Colombia and is known as Colombia’s biggest party town, with Cuban style salsa music blaring from every second bar.
The first place on my list was the Plaza de Caicedo, which wasn’t particularly memorable. I crossed the river into the more touristy area which is full of restaurants and bars and it was good enough. Along the river the town is making a huge effort for Christmas, with decorations streamed across the river for huge sections. The heat in the place is brutal, 38degC so it’s not a city that you can do much walking around in.
As it was Sunday it was quieter than normal, as the shop traders were opening I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the whole town had a massive hang over. There were heaps of homeless people sleeping in any peace of shade that was available and the usual crop of street traders all selling the same junk that’s available in every town south of Tuscon.
Its a nice enough place, the outskirts are rough as **** but other than that a nice city, not a place to bring the kids though.
So tomorrow morning I'll collect the bike, that's if it made it!.....and redo the 300 mile journey back to Ipiales and cross into Ecuador on Tuesday morning.
Over and out...
Oisin
<table style="width:194px;">
<tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/Oisin.m.Hughes/SouthColombia02?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8x5h-fHHXiI/Swlae6YGM6E/AAAAAAABU6E/ghXIHP-byy8/s160-c/SouthColombia02.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/Oisin.m.Hughes/SouthColombia02?feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">South Colombia</a></td></tr>
</table>
