Saturday morning.
up early to catch at the international border traffic Ormeno bus in Quito.
for today should go to finally get out from Ecuador to Colombia!
The safety information in mind, we decided against the common inter-city buses, which we had on the Ecuadorean side to the border and then on the other side can come to Cali. The other hand, international bus brought us in direct connection with a short stop at the border right up to Bogotá.
The border crossing was surprisingly easy, maybe I had it presented to me complicated. Fill out a form, Censo and showing your passport once critical patterned and then the whole procedure again on the other side.
Before the border we were by the Ecuadorian police have komtrolliert, we have been as white tourists with European passports given it little attention, but the Colombians had some issues with Argentine passport to go through.
behind the border, we exchanged a few quick dollar in Colombian pesos, buying water and bread for the journey, then the bus drove even more so. If we make security of police presence would be, must overcome the following hours, any ambiguity regarding the travel security in Colombia, because we were controlled incredible seven times. Sometimes in adult roadblocks, where police troops controlled all the vehicles and their passengers to come through, sometimes only by small patrols that quickly documents and backpacks searched.
Neither the one nor the other variety of controls was however all too carefully, which may have also leaned on our tourist elevator. Our backpacks were only ten percent of cases ever open at the sight of the flip-flops just grinned and walked over to the next. Our bus guards on the other hand had to be at the first control by civilian police for a whole bunch of money to answer, which he carried around with him.
No one knows how many of the bills the owner had to change in order to allow it to proceed, but particularly happy turned the small, thick Peruvians not return to the bus.
from control to control also changed the land surrounding us.
had been just across the border yet Andean scenery and fast-flowing streams, the seminal landscape in which small, stocky man lived and the houses unfinished, unpainted appeared as on the steep slopes stuck, we found ourselves after a few hours on a flat road again , leaving the cooled bus hit us right against the oppressive heat. The houses were designed to live with more love, no rusty carrier stood out from the Roofs, would be hoping the next generation may build. Palm trees and subtropical landscape frames the straight, neatly paved road while going about the already almost European-wide people's daily business. The whole atmosphere, built up mango stalls, sunshine and friendly people made me really in the holiday mood while Cumbia sonicated the bus and I could hardly wait for our arrival.
at night when we arrived at 2 clock in Cali, actually planned as the first destination of our trip, but frustrated by a successful attempt to bribe the bus driver, were the short, through the window, snatched impressions west and clean. Soon asleep, we finally arrived the next day Bogotá, the first stop on our trip. At this time we had already brought 750 km and 30 hours by bus to the trip behind us.
awaited us at the terminal, the next surprise. Initially, the terminal could not enter the public domain, and leave it only through controlled access. This all annoying peddlers were banished to the outside, inside there was only licensed items, with standard prices. The terminal is leaving to drive a taxi to the hostel, we were stopped at the exit and received a note with your destination and exact price for the taxi pushed into his hand. Fraud impossible.
went on to say: the surprise when we drove through the apparent plot Bogotá, not on every corner in the half-finished buildings sprouted from the floor, uniformity of color and cleanliness were close to a city planner and everything smelled a little to Cuenca. Soon we had reached our
first Colombian accommodation, backpacker hostel "Platypus" in the historic district of Bogotá, which was flooded with Europeans and Americans. Internet at home and free coffee are convinced, despite a fairly high price to stay.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with dinner and a short stroll through the streets of the capital, but other than the ordinary City not particularly noticed. In search of the historical city center, we were disappointed or perhaps searched in the wrong place. Beautifully restored colonial buildings, we searched in vain, and returned soon, at least back to the hostel. During the tour we had done the same yet the nagging problem of money and cleared the nearby vending machine. Rasch was purchased and put in the kitchen fittings. Cook in the name of saving money.
evening we went out, but we plan to celebrate the arrival in Colombia neatly put an end to the Sunday evening. In the party center of the city, eight million people! were out of some mid-thirties who drank a beer to calm nothing to be found. Finally we arrived in the "Colombia Beer Company" below, in which there was to try interesting-tasting beer. After further foraging, we gave the evening, finally lost, and returned empty-handed back to the hostel. After 30 hours bus ride we were all then just go to bed, happy at last to be able to sleep properly ...
The next day we spent in Bogotá with city tour and a trip to the nearby vantage point, which was accessible only by a rail track. From there, the vast panorama city of Bogotá was to survey, which covered the red-brown below us.
But soon it drove us back on, always towards the Caribbean.
Santa Marta and the nearby village of Taganga diving tourists should be our next destination. With the nearby Tayrona National Park, in the wild depths of the "Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City, is buried and the reputation of having beautiful beaches in the area seemed ideal. After another night in the bus and multiple transfers in the sweltering, dusty heat near the Caribbean, we took a taxi down on the winding road to Taganga. Yet on the other side of the hill we called all of us once again remember the postcards, which propagate in the same reality before us should. White, palm-lined beach in front of a blue, crystal clear water, in which was to discover with a little luck sometimes a dolphin.
Then we reached the top of the hill - the whole bubble burst.
Below us lay a perfectly ordinary sea that you could just as well on the Pacific can find no trace of palm trees and the sand also made no move to do, to shine in the sun.
When we were little later on the beach, which in part also had to serve as the rubble pile, it was almost like crying, to look around and see the panorama of Greek scorched hills above the murky water.
Disappointed, we turned therefore first on the beach to look for accommodation.
Despite off-season was the Hostalsuche not easy but finally we had a room with air conditioning and cable connection for a reasonable price found where we could get in the next few days. The afternoon at the hostel and rotting on the beach, we went to eat dinner at the beach restaurant, which highlight the incredible type of waiter. Ask for another drink were schonmal abgeschmettert with a simple "no." And to receive the order, the good was also happy with the guests at the table.
After the dinner said to our group. While Jacob was left in a hostel in the company of some backpackers, we made the rest of us, once again driven by party-Kai, on to Santa Marta. Half the night spending with fun English words in a street bar, we also found that night again no place to party and found ourselves just after midnight back in the hostel. There we found the funny backpacker company that ended their busy carousing beer rounds and soon broke up after us.
The following day is hardly a mention, long conversations among the four of us, a short shopping trip to Santa Marta, where seemingly market day, and was, therefore, the whole town on its feet, the evening was for the confirmation of the dive trip the next day and then then the rest of the evening spent in front of German wave and the celebrated Dr. Wirtschaftsjedi sense that in a talk show all Proargumente Opel took apart for a rescue (not that I would be opposed in principle to a government rescue of Opel, but it's just totally uneconomic).
The next day we had to get up early, the diving course was in order. Excited, I went with Paul, who has a license and thus made another dive, the diving school where I was, however, first of all to look at a three-quarter-hour training video before it could finally start. With the boat we went to the first dive spot, that is, initially at a shallow beach where I was stopped with two other diving students and the teacher to make a few dry runs to get to know the equipment and slow are introduced to the underwater adventure.
It turned out a small defect on my equipment, not serious enough to make the dive impossible and then, after a mutual last equipment check, I found myself suddenly back on the floor of the sea. Hissing, my lungs filled with air, my every move in slow motion, I looked around, the registered limited view through my mask, watching the colorful bubbles that escaped and stumbled my mask Waterways surface. Then we repeated the previously conducted exercises on the beach once again under water. What if the mask is gone. The other air out of the bottle to give your own, Finally, still find the perfect lift to hover a meter above the sea floor in the water.
As time went on nothing, the air, for about 40 minutes has been scheduled and it just went back to the beach.
Picked up where we were soon on the boat that took us to lunch in the school's Cabanas, where we met again at the other divers. After a short conversation and refreshment, we made all of us together on the second dive.
This was free, because we now knew the basics and we all could focus on the discovery of this new world under water. This time it went much deeper, light printing problems witnessed on the ears of it. But it
It was incredible to see.
coral branches, between which colorful fish darted back and forth. Large flocks, which, like a hand-controlled moving in absolute harmony. Rays, which slid almost invisible by their pattern on the sand and it looked like organic UFOs. A small puffer fish, which inflates promptly to a prickly ball, as as we approached and the end of a giant eel, the show looked under some rocks.
amazement we swam this wonderful, strange world, and only reluctantly followed the call of our instructor to return to the surface.
The afternoon was after returning alternately Internet and quays Magellan book given that I wanted to finish this holiday still. In the evening there was for Paul and me, only the German wave before we incomprehensible to Jacob and Kai went to bed early.
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