On the way to Bogota

Bucaramanga

The following morning I arrive in Bucaramanga, the capital of this state with 600,000 people. For me this city is only a one night stop to visit the nearby colonial town Giron. I drop my luggage off at the hotel and directly take a bus to Giron. Lars, a colleague from IBM, has given me a perfect route though Colombia which I try to follow as good as possible and Giron is his favourite colonial town in Colombia. But when I get there I quickly see that we have not the same taste. I find the white colour in which all the houses are painted quite boring and the surrounding mountains not inspiring like the volcanoes around Antigua. Nevertheless, I enjoy my half day in this pretty and touristic town. Get two students as tourist guides who show me around and eat a typical meat platter which is extremely delicious and way to big so that I take half of the plate back to the hotel for dinner. On the way back I get out of the bus a bit earlier since I need cash and also want to see a bit of Bucaramanga. I am the only foreigner in this city just like I was in Giron. But what I really enjoy about being in Colombia is that nobody cares. For 3 hours I am walking through this city realizing that its a nice and safe place to live but certainly not for me. It is way too ordinary and offers nothing, absolutely nothing inspiring. When I am walking back towards the hotel I suddenly realize that I have passed my street and have to go back. This is where my odyssey begins. For 1 hour I am running around trying to find the hotel, which name I don’t know, and its address neither. When it is getting darker I decide to go to an internet cafe where I get the information that I need and 15 minutes later I am finally there.

Parque Nacional de Chicamocha

I leave the next morning for the “Parque Nacional de Chicamocha” – one of the tips from my old colleague Lars. Its one of those spectacular places in this world and definitely one that you should visit when you are in Colombia!! I get there just before 12am – right in time to take the cable lift to the other side where the actual park is located. I get my own lift and spend the following 30 minutes watching, taking pictures and inhaling the magic of this place. The park on the other side is rather sterile for my taste and doesn’t really belong there. Modern buildings filled with cafe´s, restaurants and souvenir shops. I have a cappuccino and look around before I leave. The security guard tells me that I should wait at the road outside the park for a shuttle which apparently comes every 15 minutes. Not so today. I wait over an hour in the burning sun 3000m above sea level until a shuttle finally stops and brings me to my next destination – San Gil.

San Gil and surroundings

I check into the hostel Sam´s VIP right at the central park and who do I meet, my dorm mate Michael from Taganga. Even though we didn’t talk much with each other he seemed like a nice guy and I am glad to see a familiar face. The hostel itself is top notch, the best I have ever been in my life I would say. Helpful and friendly staff, modern dorms even with a bathtub in the bathroom and HOT water!!! The first time since I left Europe I would get a hot shower...I am telling you, its the little things that you get to appreciate when you are travelling for a long time far away from home J The guy at the reception gives me a map of San Gil and explains to me all the things I should do or see. Even though I am not into the activities like rafting or paragliding there is plenty to see for me around San Gil. The following day, my 33rd birthday, I visit a park in San Gil and get more information from a woman in a coffee shop. She tells me about a waterfall in San Juan as well as the best chorizo from San Jose, which is a village on the way to the waterfall. I am very busy that day since I have to make some calls with my friends and family but still I manage to leave San Gil in the afternoon and do the trip to the waterfall which is 45 minutes outside of town. When I get there I have to hike for another 30 minutes up the hill which is not that easy with flip flops. The waterfall is nice but nothing really spectacular and I don’t take a bath in the freezing water as recommended at the entrance. I leave that up to the locals and walk back after taking a few pictures. At the entrance I talk to the restaurant owner about how I can get to San Jose. He tells me its 7kms away from here and that I should wait for the next bus. I say thank you and start walking....a little 7km hike along the road is nothing for me I think. I move on pretty well always in mind that I need to get to San Jose early enough that I can eat and still get the last bus back to San Gil. Luckily for the last few kms a bus picks me up and gives me a lift so that I reach the famous place of Doña Eustaquia (while writing just joined the group on FB “Yo tambien comì chorizos donde Doña Eustaquia!). The chorizo comes with yucca - a root vegetable similar to potato – and an absolutely delicious slightly sweet sauce. Very simple but mouth-watering!!! Remarkable end to a perfect day!

The following day I go with Michael to Barichara, a small but famous and very touristic colonial village close to San Gil. We get there very early and spend an hour or so walking around taking pictures. Barichara is very similar to Giron only smaller but in perfect shape and ready for mass tourism with its hotels, restaurants and bars. On that day the village gets ready for the festival on the weekend and we can see many builders repairing the streets or painting the front of the houses. On our to-do-list this day is also a 1 ½ hike Guane which leads us crossways through the beautiful countryside. We reach Guane just in time to get the 12am bus back to San Gil. Michael tells me how glad he is that I motivated to do this trip since he was not doing anything for quite a long time. On my first day in San Gil we got to know each other better over a bottle of red wine. He is a lawyer who quit his job, sold his chamber and went on to travel the world in 16 months without using the plane once. He has a very good sense of humour and its entertaining listening to his stories. Right now he is trying to write a book about his adventure but is struggling to find the time or the mood to write every day.

Villa de Lyeva

As a last stop before Bogota I visit another famous colonial village called Villa de Leyva. To get there I take an early bus to Chiquinquira on the 21.10.10. This turns out to be the worst bus drive so far in Latin America. Normally, the road to Tunja would be the preferred choice but due to a rock slide the road is closed and during the 7 hours on the bus I find out why the other road is better. The medium sized bus I am on is pretty old, the seats are uncomfortable and the worst, the suspension is sooo hard that you can feel every single hole or hump – and the road is full of them!!! On top, the driver has a very aggressive driving style so that once I almost hit with my head on the ceiling. Somehow I still survive this ride unscratched and change the bus for Villa de Leyva. The village is located in the mountains 2144m above sea level and is said to be one of the most attractive colonial places in Colombia. After checking in I go for a walk. Quickly I realize that the climate here is much cooler than in San Gil and that I am totally underdressed with my shorts and T-shirt. Almost everyone here is wearing jackets or warm sweater. The village reminds me of Barichara, very touristic with lots of restaurants, bars, hotels and souvenir shops. The most beautiful part for me is the scenery – the little village surrounded by the mountains. The next morning I take a 2 hour walk which takes me past a clay house – Casa de Barro – and a famous vineyard before I leave at 1pm to Bogota.

Colombia´s Caribbean

Cartagena

My flight arrives at 3.30 pm on the 28.9.10 in Cartagena, the most popular and most touristic city in the north of Colombia. I take a cab to my hostel “The Chill House Backpackers” which is located in the beautiful old part of Cartagena. After the check-in I take my cam and walk around the city. It is still bright outside and very very hot but that doesn't bother me at all!! I ask the girl at the hostel where I can find a book shop and get the direction. Already at the airport in Bogota, where I had to stop-over, I found 2 stores which unfortunately didn't have me LP but that gives me hope that I will be more successful here. I find the shop very easily but what I get to hear from the shop assistant shocks me. The LP only for Colombia costs more than $50 and the one for South America is not in stock. I can´t believe what I hear and leave the shop but I realize now how bad it was from me not to trade the book in Panama City straight away. I continue walking through the old part of the town for another two hours. Its colonial style is absolutely marvellous and compared to Antigua and Granada for me this is the best colonial town I have been to. It has the perfect mixture of beautiful architecture, vibrant lifestyle with many many restaurants and bars, excellent climate and the Caribbean Sea just across the street – you couldn't ask for more could you!?!

When I get back to my hostel I am in serious need for sleep. Since I have been to InanItah in Nicaragua I didn't get to sleep properly and my body is crying for rest. But instead I find the hostel rocking with loud music and partying guest. Bienvenido a Colombia – welcome to Colombia. From all the hostels I could have picked I chose one that never sleeps. And so instead of a break I spend my first night in Colombia rocking and rolling. The next morning I check out very early and go to another hostel where I check into a private room. The TV in my room helps me through the day and the next morning I am gone. I ask the hostel guy for a bus to Santa Marta and he asks me where I would like to go there. I have no idea and no guide and realize that from now on travelling will be some kind of a gamble and that in South America...The guy tells me Taganga seeing my clueless face and I say yes. Check a hostel on the internet and take off. I have got to admit that Cartagena with all its beauty is a very very dangerous place with an extremely negative vibe. One in that you can easily drawn, it chews you and then spits you out on the streets. I am relieved when the bus arrives and I can leave Cartagena but at the same time I am worried since I have no idea where I am going next...

Taganga

The bus ride along the Caribbean coast is fantastic. The landscapes are amazing with the Sea and tropical vegetation on one side and the mountains of the Sierra Nevada on the other. Here in this part of Colombia the tourism prospers and you can see villas being build all along the coast. Well, I got to admit that if I had enough money I would do exactly the same. After 4 hours drive I finally get to Taganga and when I leave the bus I forget my cell phone and my mattress. Here we go again...I wonder what will be left of my clothes at the end of my journey when I get on the flight from Rio to Frankfurt. Luckily it’s all just materialistic things that and as long as I will be on that flight everything will be just perfect :D Anyway, I check into the hostel “La Tortuga” which is run by Mona, a young Colombian woman. When I tell her about my travel plans she starts telling me about all the places that I should visit and at the end prepares a 5 day tour along the coast. I am delighted about her help and feel really good about the trip. During that conversation I ask Mona how it comes that the hostel owners in Colombia are so young (in all three hostels I stayed so far they were all my age or younger). She tells me that the tourism in Colombia has only now started to grow and become profitable and that her generation, which is familiar with back-pack tourism, is using the chance to start their own businesses.

 The same night we all go to another hostel where we are supposed to have a 10 course dinner. A challenging proposition which ends in a disaster!!! We are more than 20 people and the chef in the restaurant is new and has never done this set menu before in this place. We get there at 8.30 pm and get the first plate at 9 pm. It is a small portion of so called Sushi – in reality simply rice with fish. It tastes good but we all get the picture that it will take a while before we get filled up. Unfortunately for us it gets worse because the next plate arrives half an hour later - boiled tomato in strawberry dressing. Imaginative yes, but I am starving to death and want to eat a full plate instead of getting a taste of something every now and then. The next plates arrive in the same speed and with the same quantity of food only different things so that by 11 pm we are just half way through and a few of the group have left already. The only thing that keeps me happy is the conversation with Mona who sits next to me. She tells me about her travels and experiences and how she became the owner of a hostel. I love listen to her because she belongs to the very few people in this world who lives her life without regret, with passion, is guided by visions and realizes her dreams. At 11.30 pm we are told that there will be no 10 courses but 6. The chef probably resigned and freaked out I assume and we are served rice and one shrimp. This was supposed to be the highlight of the menu but in reality it´s a shamble, a bad joke!!!! The rice is pretty average at best and the shrimp has the size of 1 Euro coin. Its a real disaster but to make things worse the staff of the hostel tries to charge us the full price. Ridiculous and totally unacceptable! Mona talks to them and at the end we pay a bit more than the half which is still more that we should have paid for that crap. When we leave the hostel we hear load screams from a woman just around the corner. Since they don´t quieten we run in their direction and see the two girls from our hostel, Mary and Ali, as well as guys chasing someone through the dark. The girls have left the hostel just minutes before us and have been mugged in the dark. The way they have taken had almost no lights, just like most streets in Taganga. Luckily for them nothing has happened and the thief disappeared in the dark without a trophy. Mona is totally annoyed and calls the police but it takes half an hour until they get there. Two locals have seen the thief but the police have no interest to do anything about it. This night I get to see the dark sides of Colombia with its danger and the lack of support. The police here is not trying to reduce crime and only cares about their additional income. They do that by catching foreigners with drugs – which is a very lucrative and extremely easy income. But real crime is not something they want to be dealing with. Mona is pissed off when after the conversation with the two sleazy policemen. She wants to do something about it but in reality she knows that there is nothing that can be done. We get home after midnight, me starving, and Mona prepares a simple but absolutely filling pasta with tuna which ends my day on the good side ;)

The next day we have no light until the evening and I spend it playing cards and Yenga with Mona. We play who will pay the dinner tonight and lucky me ends up getting the better share of the deal. How do they say – luck in the game bad luck in love. According to that saying I should become a professional card player :) To make up for the horror dinner last night Mona brings me to her favourite place in Taganga where we both have a mouth-watering peace of lamb served with an extremely delicious blue cheese cream. The food is accomplished with a Bordeaux  that makes it a perfect dining experience!!! The night ends with golden Tequilas and a night club in Santa Marta but since my body is exhausted I call it a day very early. From the next morning, Saturday the 2nd of October, until Wednesday the 6th I fall in a hole of laziness. Mona's hostel has a huge TV, Internet and DVD and since I feel absolutely comfortable here, just like in my own 4 walls, I decide to take a break from travelling and just hang out doing nothing. My energy level is pretty low and I carry a cold with me since Cartagena which is very annoying and disturbing. During these days I delay my departure day by day and seem not to be able to do more than one thing a day. I can´t really explain what it is that keeps me grounded in La Tortuga and Taganga. On one side I feel I had enough of travelling especially on my own. Only here in Colombia I actually realize how huge my journey is and how many kms I have in front of me. I speak to my dorm mate Micheal who has been on the road now for almost 2 years and he tells me that all travellers reach a point where they just don't wanna go further and wish to come back. After almost a week in Mona's hostel, watching one movie after another, I finally get back to normal and decide to leave for Parque Tyrona on Thursday.
 

Parque Tayrona and the Shaman

The driver drops us off at the entrance of the park where our hike through the jungle begins. Two girls from the hostel in Taganga told me about the muddy hour walk to the beach and so I am prepared for it. The English couple who I walk with are not and the girl is getting pretty upset after a while. They just came back from the 5 day hike to Ciudad Perdida and just wanted to chill out on the beach. Bad luck! After an hour we finally reach the beach but cannot jump into the water and cool down because some 100 people have managed to die here due to strong current a message on a board says. I look around and absorb the beautiful landscape - to my left the Caribbean Sea and to my right the green mountains of the Sierra Nevada. On my travel I have never seen anything like that and take my time to enjoy the moment while we are walking to the next beach. 10 minutes later we are all in the water. Despite the long walk I feel like swimming and without looking back I swim 200 or 300 meters out in the sea. Even though there are no waves I enjoy it and realize that the time at the Pacific has made me love swimming again. In my mind I am already competing at a triathlon next year J When I am done I take my little rucksack and continue my walk. I get to see 5 more beaches along the coast one more beautiful than the other. My favourites are the last 2 since they are almost deserted. For me the perfect place to spend time with your girlfriend and thats exactly what some of the Colombian tourists are doing.

 To finish the hike I need to get up to the Pueblito up on the hill. A warning on a board says that you should not go up after 1pm since the hike takes 1.5 hours one way. Its 3.30pm when I start going up. For me this recommendation is a challenge that gives me a reason to walk fast. I am in my runners which makes the hike pretty enjoyable. It takes me 45 minutes to the top. I knew before that there was not much to see and the hike itself through the jungle would be the appreciating thing. But I am still a little bit disappointed since I had expected to have a view on the sea from here above. No chance and so I don’t waste too much time up there and make my way down. While the hike up was tricky so is the way down risky because I decide to run. Almost the entire way is made of rocks of different sizes. Sometimes they are lying flat and sometimes inclined. I am jumping from one rock to another, accelerating, taking a few stones at once, bouncing sidewise from rocks to take the speed with me. My mind is totally focused. I know that a wrong move or step could mean that I slip in one of the wholes between the rocks. I could get hurt or break something in worst case and would end up lying around waiting for help which would probably arrive only the next day. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the thrill and carry on this way until I arrive at the bottom of the hill. I walk all the way down to the first beach where I get a hammock for a night.

 The next morning I enjoy the sun for a few hours before I leave for the exit. Today I am a man on a mission which is a 30km hike to meet a Shaman. The first time Mona told me about her experience and offered me to meet him as well I knew why I was pushing forward to come to Colombia. Part of my journey through Latin America was the soul searching process in order to find the key to the door that has been closed for too many years now. I leave the park at 10.30am for the next 6.5 hours walk the same way back along the highway that I came by bus the day before. I need to get to a white km stone with a 10 on it. The first 20km or so I am fine and enjoy my walk. The sky is cloudy which is to my benefit. But 10km before the finish the sky opens up and a huge rain shower comes down and wash the dirt away. I try to find shelter under a tree but without success and decide to carry on walking. I put on my plastic rain cover only to protect my dry cloth in the rucksack. After 45 minutes the rain stops but by then there is not one part of my body that is dry. Finally, at 5pm I reach the km stone 10 and enter the property next to it. A long way leads me down for a few hundred meters until I reach a small river where I stop. Just before that I another way leads to a dead end with a platform right next to the small waterfall. No house no roof over the top. I wonder what will happen if it rains tonight but take it as it is. I change my close wait for 3 hours since the meeting is scheduled for 8pm. After 6pm the sun goes down and I am lying in the dark wondering where I am and what I am doing here. I have no idea if I am in the right place and since I have no connection I cannot call Mona to find it out. Also, even when it was dark I had no more energy to go up again and at least wait at the entrance just in case. I am aware that if the session is not in this place I will miss it and have to sleep for the first time in my life under the sky on the wet earth. No sleeping back, no tent, under me my raincoat and a blanket as a cover. Despite all this circumstances I feel totally at peace and relaxed. I don’t know if its just the exhaustion or if the place where I am gives me this calmness. At 8pm, when I am already prepared to sleep in this place, a car arrives and stops not far away from me. I know now that I am at the right place, but only moments later I see the car moving further down...only where??And how?? When I arrived there was a river and I didn’t see a way going further down. Obviously there is one but I am in trouble since I have no flash light. I grab all my stuff and in flip flops start to follow the car using my cell phone as a flash light. I cross the river and wonder how I could miss the way going down. The curvy way leads another 500 meters down to the bottom of the property but at the end I reach the house and can eventually relax.

I briefly introduce myself and get to know the people who have already arrived. It takes another 4 hours before the ceremony begins. By then the group has increased to more than 20 people all of different age and with different reason to be here. The Shaman begins the ceremony with blessing words while his servants are cleaning our bodies with smoke. At the end all of us drink the herbal drink that the Shaman has brought and the journey begins. At 5.30am I wake up to the noise of the people who are talking next to my hammock. The night has passed and I have experienced absolutely nothing. All the others around me are exchanging their different experiences while I lie motionless in the hammock. Despite all my effort I accept my faith without bad feelings. To me it is very obvious that I am still not ready. Will I ever be?? I seriously don’t know! During a game of chess the Shaman invites me to come back the coming night and try again. At first I accept but when I leave the place a few hours later I have no desire to come back. My plan was to carry on travelling along the coast towards the Venezuelan border but all my close are wet and I my energy level extremely low. I return back to La Tortuga and when I am there I realize quickly that my time was up there and I needed to leave. Mona is totally surprised at first about what I tell her what happened last night. And when I tell her a few hours later that I am leaving the same night she is perplexed. I fail to explain to her my decision-making process which is no surprise. My taxi arrives at 7pm and brings me to the bus terminal where my night bus leaves to Bucaramanga at 9pm. I am finally going towards Bogota where Luis I will meet Luis for the first time since my time in London.

Panama City

Panama City is also only a transit point for me to Colombia. My plan is to find a yacht that brings me to Cartagena but in the first 2 days I realize that it wont be as easy as I thought. September/October is the worst time of the rain season and the low number of travellers makes it difficult to find a boat that leaves straight away. My sights are set on Colombia and I cant see myself hanging around in Panama City and play the waiting game and so after 3 days I decide to book a flight and fly out the next day on the 28.09.10. On Monday, a day before my departure I take a walk through the city in order to find a bookstore where I could get a LP for South America. On the day I arrived in the hostel I had the chance to exchange my LP for Central America for South America but I stupidly left the book on the shelf thinking no one else could be interested and a few hours later it was gone to a Norwegian couple. Bad luck!!! But what can you do and so I take a taxi to the old part in Panama City (Cajero Viejo) and from there walk for 4 hours from one end to another. On the first sight Panama City reminds me of Barcelona with its climate and the sky line. The city is very clean and pretty. I have never been in a city where so many sky scrapers are build. It is astonishing on one side but shocking on the other. 1 million people live in Panama City, which is a third of the Panamas population but those apartment blocks are not made for them. They will be home to rich foreigners, mainly from the USA. As the only country in Central America Panama has the Dollar as its currency which only shows its drive towards the USA. For rich Americans with yachts this is a perfect place to be with the Panama canal connecting the Pacific side with the Caribbean and so they buy themselves apartments here to have a place to stay on their journeys. Very convenient for them but it makes Panama City for me a soulless place without any kind of identity. Only at the beginning of my walk when I am in a poorer district I can see some indigenous females wearing traditional clothes but when I enter the sky line districts Panama City becomes an undistinguished place. In this districts I am almost the only person on the streets even though its afternoon. No one here walks, everybody sits in their air conditioned cars, travelling from one spot to another. The scenery is almost eery and at the same time depressing. Even though I have no idea what its like to live here I cant imagine it to be very exciting. Even with a good job, which you certainly can find it due to the huge amount of banks, related industries and service agencies, one would end up living in one of those apartment houses. 14 floor, room number 1427, 2 bed room apartment with view on the sea. Sounds perfect but I imagine it to be extremely lonely! As I continue my walk I am struggling to find a bookstore. I try it in different sopping malls (all huge and modern) but not one of them has even one book store. The same on the streets – not one store that sells books. I find it very shocking since we are here not in Nicaragua where people neither can read nor can afford to buy books. Here in Panama City people, especially foreigners, are educated and literate but no one seems to be interested in buying and reading books. At the end I give up and return to my hostel without the LP. All I have seen during that 4 hours makes me clear that there is no reason to come back to this place again.

Crossing Nicaragua

Granada

I arrive in Granada on Saturday just after 5pm and find myself in the “Parque Central” where I start looking for my LP. A guy walks over and asks me what I am doing here and gives me the direction for my hostel “Oasis”. I find the location easily based on his description and check into the dorm. The room is pretty dark but has enough fans even so that its cool enough. Outside some people are already having a party going and sound like they have been drinking for quite a while. I am still groggy from 2 days of partying in Leon and the worst that could happen tonight is that I don’t get to sleep because of some wild partying outside the dorm. I leave my stuff behind and go into the centre. Granada is widely compared with Antigua, but the first impression I get is very negative especially compared to my great experience in Leon. Here I feel the eyes of the Nicas on me as if I am being checked out. Rajni has told me about a restaurant where she had a great filet mignon and since it is late enough I am up for a delicious dinner! I follow the stream of tourists, pass the cathedral, and find the street with all the restaurants and bars. Walking around on my own makes me realize how lonely I am once again. Last night I have been partying with my friends from the Lodge who I enjoyed the company with for the last two weeks and now I am in a new town on my own. I find the restaurant very easily but decide to go down the road just to see what it has to offer. On my way I see a Japanese guy who I met in Leon. He is travelling around Latin America selling hand-made jewellery. I decide to sit down and have a chat with him to fight my loneliness. His name is Toshi, a hairdresser who was fed up with the crazy work load in Japan and decided to go travelling. When, after a year, he began to run out of money he learnt how to make jewellery and live of the money he made with it while travelling America. I ask him when he is planning to go home and he responds “Maybe in 2 years”. But this maybe tells me that he has no intention of going back. And rightly so, in Japan he would be working 60 hours per week with 2 weeks of holidays a year to look forward to. Here he is free, can do what he want, travel where he want and socialize with people he himself can chose. Freedom is something only a few extremely rich people can buy and the rest of us have to decide what we want from life and live towards it. Life is all about choices!

I order my filet mignon and a glass of red wine. The weather is perfect to sit on the terrace and I try to remember when I had the last time a meal in a restaurant outside (last year in Portugal). The streets are full with tourists and artists who perform in front of a restaurant and then move on when they ask their viewers for a little contribution. The conversation with Toshi helped me a little to come out of mine down but I am still in need for more. Across my table a painter sits alone waiting for customers. I decide to finish my meal and join him for a drink. When I come over to his table he friendly invites me to sit down with him. His name is Hektor, 27, from Managua. He looks much older than his age and his face has two big scars. He looks like a guy who has a story to tell and after a bit of small talk he tells me that he has been a crack user for 9 years and only 2 years ago escaped the addiction. Painting has helped him to get out of the mud he has been sinking in since the age of 16 and now he wants to give it a chance hoping that one day he can have a normal life. I ask him why he became addicted and especially on such a strong drug. Hektor tells me that he was depressed with the life in Nicaragua and the lack of opportunities people have here. Later on he tells me that the scars on his face are from a guy who tried to kill him because he slept with his wife. But he thanks God that he is still alive. When I finish my glass I take off and call it a day.

The next morning, after a few coffees, I take my cam and walk out to get lost in Granada and find all the beautiful places by accident. Granada is certainly a beautiful colonial town but after spending so much time in Antigua I am biased and cannot see here anything original. After a few hours walk I meet the guy from the first day in the park and sit down next to him to have a chat. By now the loneliness has left me, just like I am used to, but I am up for a conversation with a local. Miguel tells me a little about his country and how he hopes that the recent government will lose the next election. Since Ortega has taken over, he tells me, the tourist industry has started to decrease and the proposals and laws introduced by the government have made Nicaragua only poorer. Later he offers me a guided tour through the town and I am happy to go with him since there is nothing false in this guy. He is doing a good job and at the end of our tour I am more than happy to give him C$100, slightly more than €3. Miguel explains that most architectural sights have been rebuilt with the support of the Spanish government. I guess that is the debt they pay off from the time when their colonialist regime destroyed this part of the world and stole all their resources while killing most of the indigenous population, so that none of the Latin American countries has recovered from it until now.

 

Climbing the Conception

On Monday I take the ferry to Isla de Ometepe which is on the Lake of Nicaragua, the biggest lake in Central America. Before the ferry leaves at 2 pm I still have to do some things in Granada. My universal charger that I bought in La Ceiba is already not working and I need to get a new one. Also, I need to find a post office to send a postcard to my school friend Mario. He is collecting postcards from all over the world and I promised to send him cards from every country I will be travelling to. This morning I am in brilliant mood and rush with a big smile through the streets of Granada. I get everything done and go back to the hostel. A huge rain shower starts just before I get there and I get soaked before I reach the hostel. James, an Australian who is going the same way, and I wait till the rain slows down and go on the street to catch a cab. It takes us a while and before a local stops a cab for us which brings us to the port. We check in and have lunch. James was one of the guys who were drinking Rum on Saturday from 11am but when we start our conversation I find out that there is much more to this guy than I first thought. He just finished his Master in Social Aid and his knowledge about what is going on in the different parts in the world is pretty amazing! He is the first person I meet who is pro Chauvez and he tells me how much he achieved over the decade he is in charge (eg. reducing poverty by 30%). The reason behind his support for Chauvez is that James is in his political view a communist. An Australian with communistic view – not something you meet everyday J He tells me more about his work and especially his adventures and since he has been in South America a few time he gives me some extremely good sounding recommendations. James is someone who would always try to travel of the beaten track. He is 1 of the 150 people who would cross the border from Panama to Colombia through the jungle which is controlled by the guerrilla. So I believe that a tip from him will lead me to a real adventure!

 

Isla de Omepete has been created by 2 Volcanoes – Conception and Maderas. I want to climb the Conception (1610m) and hope that I will have a better view this time than on the San Pedro. We get to the island at around 6pm and already on board have locals offering us a place to stay at a hotel. But once of the board I am attacked by even more annoying idiots who try to get me a good deal. I cant stand this kind of behaviour and try to get away from them. We get on a pick up and drive to Altagracia, the second biggest village on the island. We chose Hotel Costillo and check in in a dorm which is pretty crappy but since we are alone its just fine. Downstairs a guide is trying to sell us a tour to the Conception for $25. I tell him I have spoken to a guide on the boat and he offed me the hike for $10. The little Nica tries to tell me that it is not true and the price would be $25 but after we tell we will look around and come back later he goes down with the price to $15. An English guy, Lorray, has joined us since he was going to do the hike as well and the three of us tell the Nica that he will have $30 if we all three go for $10 each. He gives up and accepts but asks us to pay the half in advance which we do. However, a few minutes later he comes back telling us that his guide who will go with us has told him we could not get to the top due to too much gases and we would only make it to 1200m. I tell him that this is fine but we will not pay the full price in that case. He is pissed off by that and tells me that in that case we cannot go. I say “Fine. Then give me the money!” Now he is even more pissed off but hands me over the money and shuts up. James, Lorray and I sit down next door to have dinner and wait for another guide to come along and tell us what will be the deal. In the meantime the guide who was going to bring us up tells Lorray that now it is possible to go up to the top. The different information annoy us and right now we just wanna eat and have a chat. But if he hadn’t told us already enough rubbish this little sleazy peace of shit comes back to our table and tries to tell us that it was all not his fault. I only tell him to piss off in a very polite manner ;) and he explodes and tells us that we have to leave his hotel the next morning. How nice of him! We take our time to finish our dinner and return to the hotel to pick up our staff and move to another place. Before we do that we find out who actually owns the hotel and I tell the owner what this guy was doing and telling to their guest. I tell him that I have never in my life experienced such a bad behaviour from a hotel towards their customers and that I will post this story on a few websites to make other travellers aware. The 2 brothers listen quietly to my words, apologize for the misbehaviour of the guy, tell us that he is not employed here and only works on provision (as if that makes a difference). But at the end of the day you can see in their faces that there are not gonna do anything about it. Just like the Canadian told me, the Nicas have no guts and would never confront anyone. We change the hotel and have a few beers and a laugh about this idiot before we go to bed.

 

At 5.30am we get up to do the hike. There is no way for me to get a coffee before we leave and I feel that my body is not up for the hike. My blood pressure is low and I have a slight head ache. 1610m doesn’t sound too hard but it always depends on from which level you start hiking. We begin our hike at sea level which means we have to go all the way. The first few hundred meters lead us through a jungle. Its early in the morning and we can hear the nature awake, a scenario comparable with one I have experienced in the jungle in Guatemala. James is moving much slower than us because of his knee problems and we have to wait quite often. When the get out of the wood we get to see an amazing view on the lake and the other volcano – one of those mesmerizing moments. Since the trees are gone we are exposed to the brutal sun and all start sweating like waterfalls. This makes my situation even worse and I wonder if I will make it to our point. The way becomes more difficult as well. We have to walk on sharp and uneven rocks. Slipping down here would mean pain at best and fractures at worst. At the end we get to our mirador and look for a place on the rocks I can lie on and pass out while the other guys enjoy the spectacular view. I don’t know how long I am lying but someone says we should head back and I get back to life. I still have a head ache but the rest was just what I needed. The way back is as bad as up and I slip down the rocks a few times but stay unscratched. When we are back in the village I buy a Red Bull and order a coffee and my body starts to feel normal again…serious caffeine addict! ;)

InanItah

At 2pm we take a bus to Santa Cruz and walk another 3 km to get to a place called InanItah. James met a girl called Kelly in Granada and she told him about this spiritual community that have built their home on the volcano Maderas and since I have no other plans I join him. We are heartily welcomed and after we leave our stuff in our sleeping place we are shown around. The owners Paul and Gaia have built a self sustaining place with solar energy supply and gardens full with fresh vegetables and fruits. Since the place is still very new (less than a year) they still rely on supply from the neighbourhood but that should soon end when all the projects are accomplished. The place they have chosen is gigantic (20 akres) and magic. From here we have a perfect view on the Conception and the Lake Nicaragua. Everyone here is for the long run. Most of the people are travellers who volunteer in order to stay for free. Unlike us they came here knowing what to expect and knowing that they belong here to this hippie community. For me this is the first time I stay in such a place and I am not sure what to make out of it. On one side it is very interesting to see how people manage to live with only the basics but I cant see myself living a life like this. After a delicious dinner with the group I go early to bed which for the next two days is a hammock. After my night on the ocean its the second time I sleep in a hammock and, unlike many people who love it, I dont get to sleep very well. The place where our hammocks are hanging is a wooden construct with only a roof to protect us from the rain and nothing else. At night I wake up a couple of times because I am freezing but since I left my sleeping bad behind in Guatemala there is not much what I can do about it.

 

After that night I speak to James and we are ready to leave the place after one night but decide against it since this night is full moon and the community will held a special celebration called “The harvest moon”. I spend the day chilling and reading until the event takes place just before sunset. We are all cleaned with sage smoke before we take a Pithaya plant and walk to a place in front of the lounge. We step into the circle and each of us tells something he wants to leave behind and what he would like to begin with before he/she plants the Pithaya. At first I dont make much of the ceremony but once I am in the circle I do feel something special going on here. I speak my words, which come from my heart and then listen to the others while I lose myself in the amazing sunset. When all have spoken and planted the Pithaya we look each one of us in the eyes before the ceremony finishes with warm hugs. Quite special I have to say to experience something like this with strangers but at the end of the day when it comes down to the basics we are all just human beings with a soul and a heart. After dinner we have a party and in order to warm up play a game in which 4 people build a group. One person has to step into the middle and close the eyes. When the music starts the person in the middle has to start to float from one side to the other while the other three build a circle and push the person in the middle around. It is a very intense experience since you have to trust the others that they will catch you while you are floating from one side to the other. After this little game the party begins and for a few hours we dance to the sound of trance music.

Leaving Nicaragua

The next morning I pack my stuff and leave. James has decided to stay here since he had a 2 very special revelations during our time here and wants to continue with his emotional break-though. I wish him all the best and leave. I would have loved to be in his position but I know that I cannot stay here since my heart is already in Colombia. I miss the bus to Altagracia by 15 minutes and decide to walk the 10 km. After 2 hours I reach the hotel where my 2 backpacks are and rest for a few hours before I take a car to the port. While I am waiting for the car I am counting my money and realize that I will definitely be short. Unfortunately, the only ATM is a few hours away and I have no chance to get the money before the ferry leaves. I have no other chance than ask some fellow travellers for money which means that I have to beg. Luckily a German couple is in the same car to the port and when we are at the cashier I approach the woman and explain her my situation. Without any resistance she hands me 100 Cordoba’s and I can pay my luggage fee. After that I sit down with them and we start chatting. Heidi and Mirko, both in their 50s, travel for 5 month through Central and South America and its the first big journey for them just like it is for me. Heidi and I exchange our cultural experiences in Nicaragua. We continue our chat on deck until its time to sleep. I put my mattress on the floor and try to sleep which doesnt really happen. For the third night in the row I am having an uncomfortable night especially when the rain starts and soaks the deck. I find a free bench in the cabin but that doenst give me any more comfort. At around 6 am we reach San Carlos and I have to wait for another 2 hours before I finally can withdraw money and buy something to eat. Heidi and Mirko have left me without asking for the money I owe them and I spend the time under a roof of a shop ( it is raining) contemplating. At 10 am I get on the boat to Los Chiles, Costa Rica and after a 2 hour journey on the Rio Frio I am in the next country. Costa Rica for me is only a transit to go to Panama City and so I wait a few hours for my bus to San Jose where I change my bus to Panama City. At 11 pm the Tika bus leaves San Jose and hour long journey begins. I dont get to sleep another night since behind me a Korean guy snores like a feral pig or maybe even worse. Its sooo bad that I even consider to shut him up in all possible ways you would imagine!

At 5 am we reach the border and have to wait an hour until the migration office opens. Then it takes only minutes to leave Costa Rica but another 2 hours to get in to Panama. To me it totally makes sense that the border police checks the passengers from Panama to Costa Rica very carefully due to the cocaine from Colombia. But I see absolutely no reason why this should be the same for us since nobody will bring drugs from Costa Rica to Panama. However, as if this careful and annoying procedure is not enough I am told to buy a ticket that shows that I will leave Panama. I dont mind to pay customs tax when crossing borders but this is just a rip off and it is really annoying to say it in a polite way. Since there is no point in arguing I pay $35 for a return ticket to San Jose and pass the border control. It takes us another 8 hours to get to Panama City – a long way on a excellent motorway but with almost nothing to see except green landscapes.