Feisty Fusagasugueños

When it comes to nearby escapes from the madness of Bogotá, we're not stuck for options. There's Choachí, Girardot, La Vega, Melgar, Pandi, Tobia and Villeta to name just some of the places we're familiar with. Each of those differs in terms of their tranquillity factor, but all are unquestionably more relaxing than the capital city.

We can't, however, say the same for the big town -- city by Irish standards -- of Fusagasugá. OK, on the weather front, it scores well; warmer than Bogotá, but not too stickily hot as some of the locations mentioned above can be. Yet, with a population of over 130,000, it's not quite a peaceful rural getaway.

Fusagasugá: It has a couple of things going for it, in fairness.

In fairness, it's not marketed as that. Well, it's not marketed at all really, and with reason considering there doesn't seem much of interest to draw tourists. The pull factors tend to have nothing to do with the urban centre. For most of those who do go to the area, it's all about the rural retreats dotted around.

Yet cities and towns that don't rate high on the popularity scale have an attraction for us and, usually, we aren't disappointed (if you go not expecting too much, then it's easy to be satisfied; for example see previous posts on Buenaventura, Maicao and Turbo, to name just three).

So a stay in the centre of Fusagasugá with a couple of like-minded Irishmen seemed like a win-win plan. And in many ways, it was.

For starters, it's reasonably cheap in terms of food, drink and accommodation, especially compared to Bogotá. What's more, unlike some towns close to the capital and other locations in the regions, there is an abundance of well-kept attractive ladies about (that is to say, not carrying far too many pounds than they should be; each to their own and all that). Then you have the aforementioned agreeable climate.

That's about as good as it gets, though.

On arrival, not having a Colombian cédula (national ID) for the hotels there was a bit of a problem. It was hard work trying to convince them to let us stay. 

You would have thought that the Colombian-issued cédula extranjería, the compulsory ID all visa-holding foreigners must have, would have worked fine. But no. After a long chat with one receptionist we managed to convince her that all would be OK. If the police had any issue -- the reason behind this reluctance to check us in -- we'd speak with them directly. 

Pity those arriving with just a foreign passport, they'd have no chance it seems. This, though, rarely happens, it would seem.

Then there's the "people on edge" feel to things. Many appear to be lacking that relaxed, happy-go-lucky style that you'll find with Colombians in most other places (peak commuting hours in Bogotá excepted). No, in Fusagasugá it was more a "what are you doing here" attitude from a number of its inhabitants, and not in a friendly way, that.

One good representation of this was an off-duty policeman giving one of us an earful for, so it appeared anyway, no more than just because we were foreigners.

All this negativity might be down to the fact that the place tends to get types of a less-than-desirable nature spilling over from Bogotá -- the word for them in these parts being 'ñero'. Just a thought.

Now, not everybody was in fighting form it has to be said. The onset of dusk, however, is the signal for the feisty Fusagasugueños to come out in force.

So if you're planning to let the hair down in Fusagasugá some weekend, it's probably best to do it by day; leave the locals to their own devices at night.
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The path not taken

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

'Sail away' as Enya once advised.

An inspiring quote for many that, from the American author Mark Twain. Of course, it does make a lot of sense in a number of ways, encouraging you to take on challenges and test yourself. 

However, the fact that you may be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do in your life over the ones you did is pretty much unavoidable really. Most people, if not all of us, will have doubts, questions and in some cases even regrets over things we could have done but didn’t. There will always be a path we didn’t take. 

Life is all about decisions – choosing one thing over another, or not as the case may be. Throw in the fact that we only live once – well, as far as most of us believe and are aware that is the case – and it becomes extremely difficult to do everything that we desire.

The most important part in Twain’s words, from our point of view, is “Sail away from the safe harbour.” In other words, get out of your comfort zone when and where possible. If you feel your life has become stale and staid, that’s usually a good sign to make a fresh break, spice things up so to speak. Obviously for some this should be relatively easier to do than others. 

For example, those who are married or have long-term partners must balance their own desires with those of their significant other if they are serious about their relationship. 

The freedom you might have to “Explore. Dream. Discover” becomes even more compromised if you have children. Much of your responsibility becomes tied up in their development and desires – at least it should.

"Which way, 'Wrong Way'?"

Even without such ‘constraints’ on your ability to sail away or opt for a new direction, it can be difficult to leave behind your current life, even if it’s not exactly making you happy or giving you a sense of fulfilment. Very often a human being’s adventurous spirit is hindered by his/her fear of the unknown. 

It’s in this scenario where Twain’s quote comes into play. This is when you must ask yourself if the path you’re currently on is really the right one. 

Whatever about choosing one thing over another where the correct option doesn’t seem that obvious or indeed there isn’t a clear right or wrong choice, sticking with something that isn’t delivering you happiness, never mind not challenging you, is unwise to say the least. 

At times all it may require is a short break from a certain way of life or location – it doesn’t always have to be a complete transformation – to get you back on track, re-energise you so to speak. Even in the most restrictive of situations, dire even, there is an out, a new way.

Some may argue that financial constraints can make changing the course of your life difficult. Yes, money or the lack of it can play a part. 

For somebody who might be struggling to know where their next meal is coming from, seeing a way out of such a life can be difficult to envisage. Plus, from a Western, ‘developed world’ perspective (or minority-world view as some countries outside of this group quite accurately term it) quite literally ‘sailing away’ can be much easier than for those in the ‘developing world’.

'Wrong way, turn back.'

But we can, all of us, strive for change or look to alter the direction of our life, if that is our want. If you know deep inside that the path you’re currently on is not the right one for you and you have the ability to change it, then the plan should be to seek to do just that. 

To “throw off the bowlines” as Twain puts it. Eliminating regrets from your life may be difficult to achieve, but at the very least you can try to reduce them.


* For related articles see: "'Wrong Way' begins" http://bit.ly/VtvYn1 & 'Taking stock' http://bit.ly/YE0wQo

Buenaventura's dirty delights

It shouldn’t come as a major surprise to regular readers that we’re not averse to squalid settings every now and again. It’s just as well, of course, for as beautiful as Colombia is in a natural sense, many — but not all it must be said — of its urban dwellings make European rubbish tips seem idyllic. 

Last year we had the pleasure of checking out two such ‘dirty towns’, Turbo (see 'Turbo Living' http://bit.ly/SVtkWW) and Maicao (see 'Dirty Old Town' http://bit.ly/VG94Ho). You could also throw a large portion of Bogotá – our home, on and off, for the last 15 months – onto this list.*

Adding a bit of colour to the natural environment.

It’s not that we enjoy the dirt or take some sort of perverted satisfaction from seeing it strewn about the place, far from it. But scrape back a bit of the material waste and in most of these places — less so, perhaps, in the sprawling metropolis of Bogotá — you’ll find extremely friendly, laid-back people (laid-back to the point that collecting rubbish is seen as a waste of time — ‘Sure won’t Mother Nature break it down after a while?’) with what appears to be a generally healthy attitude to life.

So sticking to type, this is pretty much what we found in Colombia’s Pacific coast city of Buenaventura. 

Now, it was for reasons of transport that we had to pass through the place, our final destination being Bahía Solano, a tranquil little coastal town further north, reachable only — unless, that is, you fancy a wild trek through inhospitable jungle (next time) — by boat or plane (we took the former option, hence the stop in Buenaventura).

In fairness, and as is the case with Turbo and Maicao, the fact that most of the respected travel books on Colombia suggest giving the city a wide berth or if you have to stay for some reason then just make it brief, we were always tempted to check it out on its own merits. Not just using it as a transport hub that is.

Indeed, it does still see a fair number of visitors. And mirroring Colombia as a whole this number is increasing all the time, although many of these are just passing through, visiting some of the beaches that are short speedboat rides away (our destination of Bahía Solano, on the other hand, is a much longer trip – more on that in the coming weeks). 

The fact that it is also the most important port city on the country’s Pacific coast means that it gets plenty of sailors coming and going, too. So foreign faces are not uncommon.

Well, at least there's a positive outlook as regards the rubbish.

It is, though, home to a large number of Afro-Colombians, so the whiter your skin, the more you stand out. This can be both a good and bad thing. Good in so far as people like to talk with you, from a single-male perspective that can be very positive. Bad in the sense that, as happens in many places across the globe, some people here equate white skin with lots of money. If only they knew. 

 

Thankfully, such negative attention wasn’t very prevalent during our short stay there. In fact, our previous view that Afro-Colombians are the least friendly of the ethnic groups that live in the country was pleasantly altered. They can still be, however, a little disobliging when it comes to bus journeys. We all have our flaws.

It has been said that the city is the capital of arguably one of Colombia’s strongest underground exports — prostitutes.** From what we witnessed, it’s hard to disagree (wait a second, is that why the women were so friendly?). There were many of them ‘playing the game’ in any case. Throw in the fact that one of the semi-respectable hotels we stayed in seemed to double up as a brothel and you begin to see the importance of the industry to the place. 

Mentioning hotels, we must give a plug to ‘Hospedaje Bahia Mar’. At the equivalent of about US$8 a night, it’s one of the best value-for-money spots we’ve stayed at in Colombia. And sticking with the sex-tourism theme, it’s the only hotel/hostel we’ve been in that has a porn channel free to watch on your bedroom TV. How thoughtful.

What’s more, the first guy we befriended, a very helpful lad at that, seemed to be some sort of a pimp. Each to their own and all that. 

On a broader scale, this is the place where many of these ladies of the night learn their trade before hitting for the traditionally economically stronger Latin American countries. Chances are if you meet a Colombian prostitute in the likes of Brazil or Chile, she more than likely hails from Buenaventura or its surrounds.

The seaside park is relatively nice.

Outside of all that, in terms of what to do in the city itself, well there’s not an awful lot. Granted, our stay was limited to the centre, the part nearest the sea/port (the city is divided into two parts, joined by a bridge).

But from what we saw in passing of the outer part of the city, much of it resembles a shanty town and didn’t look that appealing. At least in the centre there’s a seaside park and accompanying views of the ocean. 

If you can find a half-clean park bench to sit on it’s a relatively nice place to read a book and watch boats sail in and out in the muggy afternoon heat. 

There’s also Zona Franca, the city’s duty-free zone in a sense, where you can do some bargain hunting for all sorts of goods if that’s your thing. For us, the cheap eats and drinks that can be found in the place were very satisfying, along, of course, with the aforementioned friendly locals.

As for the dirt, sure no place is perfect.

* For more on Bogotá's rubbish, see 'Petrograd - Colombia's new capital?' http://bit.ly/U4ViiJ & 'Small steps to a cleaner, greener Bogotá?' http://bit.ly/WFOPsW

** For related articles on prostitutes in Colombia, see "Bienvenidos a Medellin - 'Bangkok Light'" http://bit.ly/N83NbB & 'What a mother hooker!' http://bit.ly/XEAefP

"Dangerous" Colombia Part III

We witnessed a rare occurrence here in Bogotá the other day. It was certainly something far from uncommon for us but for this city, indeed Colombia in general, it was an event you don’t see everyday. 

Drunken Colombian fun without the fights — well, until the Irish lad arrived that is.

No, don’t be silly now, it wasn’t one of the locals admitting he/she was at fault or being totally honest about something. We don’t expect to see such happenings anytime soon. 

What did catch our eye, though, was a good old-fashioned bar brawl amongst a number of natives. Somebody said something they shouldn’t have – or at least that’s what some of the people that heard it thought – and next we had about half a dozen lads exchanging blows. 

Fair enough, what transpired wasn’t of the highest calibre, but it was sufficient enough to make memories of home come flooding back. 

We have to admit, we got a strange warm feeling from being a live spectator. Growing up or, more pertinently, socialising in Ireland has seen us become accustomed to regular, drunken punch-ups. 

Instead of some salted peanuts or a similar style snack accompanying your beverage, as is the case in many countries, back in the homeland you get free, front-row seats to bare knuckle boxing. Indeed, if you’re lucky enough, you might even get to take part.

Alas, here in "Dangerous" Colombia, you’ll be hard pressed to find such riveting entertainment on a night out. 

Why fight when you can, er, 'dance' instead?

You see unlike the Irish, as well as the Brits and the Aussies (we can throw in a few more nations here, too, such as Poland and some other eastern European countries) the addition of alcohol into most Colombians' systems – and Latinos in general – doesn’t usually result in an overly aggressive streak developing. 

It’s not that they don’t get drunk, they certainly do, but alcohol tends to transform them less into Incredible Hulks and more into Snow Whites. It’s probably because they’re too caught up in dancing than to think about engaging in a scuffle with the other half-wit at the next table.

The bottom line here is that you are more likely to find yourself in an A&E department with a brawl-related injury after a night out in Britain or Ireland than you are in these parts. But which place is seen as less safe? 

Of course, people will point to muggings and other such "petty" crime as being far more prevalent in Colombia compared to most Western countries. Yes, they happen. 

In fact, we were unlucky enough to be the victims of a knife attack in Bogotá recently – our first such experience in South America it must be added. 

Such things, though, come with the territory in most big cities across the globe, wherever they’re located. What’s more, a lot of the time here in Colombia, these unsavoury incidents are utter opportunism by the perpetrators, pure and simple. 

From our experiences, there lacks an in-built thuggish nature that you find in many of the lowlifes from the countries we were brought up in and know best. 

As a good Italian friend mused about his experience living in Manchester, many of the locals there just seemed to have a desire to fight all the time. No matter how much you keep yourself to yourself , you’ll invariably find trouble in such places – or trouble will find you, to be more accurate. 

For many of the boys from these more "developed" locations, a night out just wouldn’t be complete without a bit of a fisticuff. A lot of the time it’s a mentality that exists in sobriety, so throw in a cocktail of drink and drugs and you could be, quite literally, on a hiding to nothing. 

Oh Venezuela, how we miss you & your quirky ways.

Thankfully, we haven’t really encountered this kind of a threatening environment in these parts. Now maybe that’s just down to the fact that we’re usually slightly inebriated on our way home after a night out – you can’t beat a bit of Dutch courage, eh?

In any case as our "Dangerous" Colombia series has hopefully shown, how dodgy a place is depends very much on how you look at it. 

As with everything, it’s relative. Colombia’s negative reputation certainly precedes it, but there are worse places you could be. For one, it’s no Venezuela.
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For the related articles see: http://bit.ly/Je5pxC & http://bit.ly/K57gG5

Venezuela: South America's North Korea

The main problem with first impressions, as they say, is that you only get to make one. Alas, for Venezuela – not that the many seemingly myopic locals will care – what we witnessed on our admittedly brief and limited sojourn into the country will not have us rushing back. 

 

In theory, there shouldn’t be a major difference between the Colombian and Venezuelan cultures. 

Heck, the two countries were once together – along with other territories - in a greater Gran Colombia. On the ground, though, they seem worlds apart. 

The warmth and friendliness that you’ll instantly get on arrival in Colombia is replaced by a coldness bordering on hostility from a significant proportion of the population in Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian Republic. Of course, El Presidente is perhaps one of the main reasons for this - we won't go there just now, though.

Making the overland crossing into the country, it doesn’t take long to notice the more negative vibe to the place. 

From the border crossing a short drive outside the Colombian town of Maicao to Venezuela’s second city of Maracaibo – no more than a two-hour drive – you’re likely to be asked for your passport and visa stamp at least ten times. Fantastic use of resources that. 

What difference in your circumstances are they expecting to find 10 kilometres down the road from the last check? 

Possibly it is a siege mentality thing derived from the top – ‘the foreigners are coming to infiltrate us, make them feel ill at ease’ sort of thinking. If as a nation it’s that paranoid, why not just follow the North Korean lead and don’t let them in? It might just make life easier for everybody concerned.

Bolivar Fuerte - what's it worth?

Then you have the currency – the "old" Bolivares or "new" Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte (VEF). The two are still used in pricing, but it’s the ‘Fuerte’ you’ll be physically using – it’s basically the old money put into more basic units from what we can gather. 

Go to an ATM machine and you’ll get at best five VEF for your one euro. Go to one of the numerous cambios – currency exchange operators – on the street and one euro will get you, at least, a very nice 9.5 VEF. Almost double the value than what you’ll get via official means at an ATM/bank. 

So depending on how you’re getting your money in Venezuela, the country can either be pretty economical or quite damn expensive compared to its neighbours. 

Knowing what we know now, the best thing is to bring in with you large volumes of a foreign currency to exchange on the street during your time there. Of course, such a strategy comes with its own security problems, but it’s probably worth the risk.

Mentioning money, Venezuelan business people we encountered seemed overly obsessed with it – and that’s saying something considering the continent we’re in. Everything must be paid up front – even at an internet cafe. 

The advice here is to only give the bare minimum required for whatever you’re getting or using. That’s because – for the most part – once you hand over your cash, you won’t be getting it back if the circumstances of what you originally paid for change. That’s a quick lesson to learn, especially if Venezuela happens to be your first Latin American experience or indeed if you’re visiting the country from Colombia, where they tend to have a far more relaxed, reasonable approach in this regard.

Adiós Venezuela. 'Come back soon' - we'll think about it.

Then you have the dirt. Now, as the last few weeks have highlighted, this is something that doesn’t tend to overly bother us.

However, a rubbish tip of a place – as is much of what we saw of the country – coupled with a sour ambiance does not make for a good mix. Throw in the most aggressive drivers we’ve come across on the continent – another big statement for Latin America, but here they will knock you down if you get in their way, no question – and you begin to wonder why you bothered coming.
 

Like everything, though, you will find exceptions to the prevailing disposition of the populace, but they seem very hard to find. 

Also, it must be said again that our stay in Venezuela was short-lived – there is much more to the place than what we witnessed. It just became too costly to keep going to the ATM. 

So maybe with more time it might be possible to discover a lighter side to the country. Some would argue this does, in fact, exist – it’s called Colombia.

Dirty old town

Frontier towns tend not to get much positive press among travellers, especially so in South America. The fact that many of them really only exist as functioning entities precisely because of their location and tend to be either the beginning or end of laborious exit and entry procedures to another state probably plays a part in this negative image. 

On the face of it, Maicao — nestled on Colombia’s north-eastern limits next to Venezuela — fits neatly into this bracket. Ask any native, town residents apart, what they think of the place and one of the first words you're likely to hear back is ‘feo’ – that’s ugly to you and me. And to be honest, there is no arguing with that description.

One of Maicao's main streets.

Now, far from being a deserted tumbleweed spot such as your stereotypical border outpost in North America — well there may be tumbleweeds about the place but if so they’ve got stiff competition from the streams of rubbish blowing down the streets — this is a bustling market town. 

Indeed, the whole centre is just one big mass of interconnected, dishevelled markets, selling just about anything you’re looking for. A shopper’s paradise in a sense – well, quite a dirty one.

If you’re coming from other, let’s say more normal Colombian locations en route to Venezuela and you decide — unlike the majority of tourists — to stay here for a night or two, it’s an ideal spot to give you a small taste of what’s to come across the border. Just a very small taste, though. 

That’s because no place in Colombia could really get you ready for the illogical madness that is Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian Republic. Countdown’s dictionary corner couldn’t solve that conundrum.

One thing that does stand out here, readying you for Venezuela — apart from the rubbish that is — is the prevalence of those antique monster Buick-styled Chevrolet cars. It’s like you've stepped back in time — a town full of gas guzzlers from the 1970s, perhaps earlier. 

Speaking of the gas, most, if not all, of what these dinosaurs are burning is smuggled fuel from just across the border — a commodity that is far cheaper in Venezuela. Indeed, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a legitimate gas station here, there’s no market for one. 

As regards the cars, it has to be said that most are Venezuelan-owned. If you are hitting for the frontier don’t miss out on the chance of being chauffeured in one of these beauties.

No not Mecca, it's Maicao.

A very appealing aspect of Maicao is the fact that it doesn’t get many outsiders and thus, just like Turbo last week, the people appear to be more genuine and friendly. 

Rather than hunt down the "wealthier" foreigners for their money as is the case in many other spots, the locals here will actually buy you drinks as we found out to our pleasant surprise. 

We won’t let the fact that the beer – the most popular being the deceptively strong Venezuelan brewed Polar – is a giveaway $1,000 Colombian pesos (about €0.40 cents). Like most things here, as cheap as you’ll get anywhere in the country. Every little helps, as Tesco would say. 

Another thing that will catch your eye — oddly so for a place of this size in a predominantly Christian country — is the strong Muslim population in existence. 

In fact, one of the first mosques in Colombia was built here in 1997 by Arab settlers. They started coming to the area in the 1970s when Venezuela’s oil industry was booming, setting up as merchants and have now become just another part of the community fabric. 

In unison with many other towns and cities in these parts, there are plenty of street dogs about the place, each doing their bit to mop up the rubbish. 

However, they’ve got competition in this regard from a rather strange source for an urban setting: cattle. Yes, that’s right, our bovine, milk-producing friends. 

When the sun goes down apparently it’s not uncommon for a few cows to come wandering into the town centre pilfering the day’s leftovers. Plus, from what we witnessed, it leaves a question mark over the species' reputed herbivore status in the animal world.

'I'd murder a beef burger right now.'

All this in a place that doesn’t get the tourists coming in droves and we haven’t even mentioned the juicy part yet. On our first day here a man was shot dead, apparently for not paying his bills — that’ll teach him. Residents assure us that it was a once-off, local dispute and nothing to be concerned about. We’ll take them at their word on that one.

So for another one of Colombia’s semi-hidden "gems", Maicao does nicely. At the very least it gives you a small hint of what to expect a few miles away in Venezuela. Without, that is, having to go the significant cost and bother of going there.