Pablos Medellin

To read my thrilling peice of photojournalism on Pablo Escobar, click here

Super Cali Fragalistic Espi-alidocious

P3232507, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Rainbows over Cali. I am doing Spanish lessons every other day with a geezer called Leandro. Have been training Shaolin Kung Fu in a Martial Arts school, very cool, they train hard too, which I like. Also do alot of Tai Chi there, and they do more of that with the kung fu which is anice touch. The Master of the school is nails without particuarly looking it, always a good sign in Kung Fu. Also training at the hostel with a couple of American guys. One of them, John from NY met a Colombian girl last month and they are now engaged! He moves fast that boy.

Not much else, just enjoying the vibe of the city. There isnt that much to Cali, but it is a nice place to be, nice climate, great people. Went to a tiny little salsa club last night and danced a bit. The Calenos are mad for salsa, the club was full so the crowd spilled over onto the pavement, it was cats and dogs ouside but it didnt stop them from dancing in the rain, salsa crazy these folk.

Viva Californication

P3182469, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Cali, Colombia, not Cali, California. Dont think I have written anything about Medellin though. I stayed in a super cool hostel called Casa del Sol, a very chilled place, a bit like a chill out party house really, right up my street. Some cool dudes hang out there, had a nice couple of smokes, an Argentinan BBQ or asado as they like to call it, which was delicious and I watched the latest Bond movie on a pirated DVD. I think I must have been slightly under the influence as it was until about half way through that I realised that the language was alternating between English and German, very odd!

Another random thing that happened was this old lady who claimed to be 83 who strode into the hostel, and bear hugged everyone,she claimed that she could squeeze energy out of young people and this was what kept heer so strong, her hand shake would have made Arnie Schwarzanegger wince.

The main reason I was in Medellin was to do the awesome Pablo Escobar tour of Medellin. A 3 and a half hour information packed tour of Pablos Medellin, run by a very cool guy called Nicolas, who basically just comes and picks you up in his little van and drives you round some of the famous Pablo sites of Medellin, like his house, offices, the place where they eventtually tracked him down and killed him and his tomb, all the time talking about what life was actually like in Medellin and Colombia duringg the 90s when Pablo was at war with the Colombian governement. I was really fascinated by it, he was according to Forbes magazine at the time, the 7th richest man on the planet, all of his money totally illegal and a very intelligent businessman, albeit slightly unorthodox in the way he went about doing business. He had a very simple rule, "plata o plomo" , "silver or lead", meaning if you worked for him you got paid, if you didn't you would get a bullet through your skull. Nicolas had first hand experience of Pablos ways, his friend and friends Mum were killed by one of Pablos bombs, planted outside a police station in Medellin.

It is worth noting here, for those of you who havent been to Colombia or Medellin that it is now a beautiful city, very modern with some wonderful architecture and the people went through some very hard times in the 90s which they have put behind them. It seems those times inspired them to rebuild their city and culture, it is a very cool and progressive place, not to mention full of beautiful women.

I have since been in Cali for the last 5 days. Chilling out really, again, found a nice hostel called Iguanas with some good people there, it will be my home until next Saturday when I'm heading to Popayan for the Easter festivities and then San Agustin, an archealogical site of great importance in South America, home to some statues that are pre Colombine. It is in some beautiful countryside and I am going to be camping.

Buena vida indeed but I have just under 4 weeeks to go before I will be home.....so I am starting to think about the future. Will it be London, Ibiza, Barcelona or China?

I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts

CIMG5326, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Token "Carry On" style photo opportunity, I attempted the Sid James laugh as well.

Bogota

P3142399, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

OK I can't remember when I last updated this, but I am now in Cali, Colombia, not California. This pic was in Bogota, looking over the city and the mountains up in Montserrat. Dont know why I was looking so smug, must have been the hangover from the night before wearing off.
Anyway, just a quick update, have been in Medellin as well, where I did the AWESOME Pablo Escobar tour. Will be here in Cali for a week and then off to San Agustin.
Having some issues trying to work out what to do with my life, I will be back in England on 21st April, any suggestions please email.

Back In Bogota

Thats right. I´m in Bogota. Got here after a horrible 18 hour journey from Salvador, Brazil, via Rio de Janeiro (where I slept in the airport) and Lima, Peru. Stayed in a nioce hostel in the Candelaria area on the 1st night and then with a CS friend, Diana who I will stay with until Saturday ight, when I´m off to Medellin.

No photos as of yet, camera is broken, so all though I have for the first time here done something cultural (Botero Museum, Plaza Bolivar, Museo de la Policia for the Pablo Escobar exhibition) I have no pictures to show.

Off to a techno night tonight, could be interesting.......

Capoeira

P3072341, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

So. I´ve got into capoeira. It´s fun. And humiliating. I thought I´d be half OK at it. I was wrong. Those guys have incredible strength and flexibility. I did a couple of informal classes with my new friend Arri, a guy from Itacare and then today in Salvador with a 20 year old girl, who has been doing capoeira for 15 years. I really, really sweated, and failed miserably at walking backwards in the crab position, doing a sweep, that looked more like breakdancing, and was moderatley succesful at the cartwheel based moves and more familiar spinning kicks.
Still, it´s good to try new things and test ones self. Even if it leaves you dripping wet and feeling useless, as well as knackered. Todays class also involved a music lesson, for those of you that dont know capoeira is a Brasilian martial art, brought from Angola originally by slaves, it was disguised as a dance, hence the music and rhythm of the moves.
Another class to look forward to tomorrow, befoer flying back to Colombia, last stop on the tour.............

Today Was A Good Day

P3062284, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Went to the beach this afternoon, sun bathed a bit and then wandered up to the Capoeira circle that overlooks beach 2 in Itacare. Started chatting with Arri, a fella selling capoeira clothes and his friends and hung out with them until sunset, Arri teaching me some basic capoeira moves, the jonga ( it think its called), some basic blocks and kicks, plus he explained the music. All in Portugese. I understood some of it, actually most, when he spoke slow and clearly. It was really good fun and he invited me back tomorrow for more of the same.

Daybreak In Itacare

P3012205, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Here I Go Again On My Own

P3022236, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

In the words of Whitesnake, "I dont know where I´m going, but I sure know where I´ve been" . This is not strictly true but it does allow me the pleasure of a link to this soft rock classic, a video featuring some of the girliest haircuts from the 1980´s.

So basically, I am now travelling on my own, again. Mike and I said our goodbyes at Salvador bus station after 3 months of being on the road. I then hooked up again with Benja from Ibiza for 5 days, who has now flown back to the white island, leaving me, well, on my own. As such, I am in an internet cafe at 11pm on a Friday night. Mainly because I have been partying a little recently, so fancy a night off. I´m back in Itacare, I went to Morro de Sao Paolo for 2 days but came back. Morro has changed since i was last there in 2002, it has been developed alot and is a bit lumpy on the pocket so I took the boat and bus back to Itacare, its cheaper, more chilled, and I just like it more. I´ll stay here until the 9th or 10th, there are some amazing beaches that I have yet to visit nearby so it makes sense. Plus the best bar I have been to in Brasil is here, Favela Cafe. A very relaxed place with some great music, good crowd, good vibes in general, hip hop, reggae, Brasilian funk and some good Cairpirinhas. Life here is basically as follows

-get up
-have breakfast
-go to the beach, read, train, sunbathe, run along the waters edge, look at girls, have a coconut milk and some lunch
-go back to the pousada
-sleep
-have dinner
-walk the street (it´s a small town)
-drink a couple of cans of beer
-see whats happening at Favela cafe and maybe even talk to people. Have met some cool people recently actually.

Have been doing some great training recently, every day in fact. Either in my pousada or down at the beach. I´m really pleased that I haven´t let my kung fu slip, as could easily have happened. I guess thats a sign, it is something I love doing , but I think i knew that anyway. So, planning a trip to China after I´ve been home for a bit. The recession seems to be biting bad, and I think I can live cheap in China, especially if I am spending most of the time getting voluntarily tortured by Shaolin monks, or at least the sell out ones that will train you for Western money. Apparently the hard core ones wont even talk to you if you are Western, I heard one Swedish guy approached a temple and was made to stare at the sun every day for a week, before they would talk to him. Must remember to pack my shades.

Anyway, I am gibbering. I´m off to Colombia (again) next week in case you didnt know and then fly back to London from Rio on the 20th April. Get the bunting ready, bake a cake etc.

Ciao