Tumbaco, Ecuador

Long, full days of transit are almost always challenging, especially when crossing a boarder is involved. From Colombia to Ecuador was no exception. Up and out at 6 a.m., for it’s necessary to cross the south of Colombia in the day time, as there are (apparently) bandits who hijack buses on this route. After about 15 hours of transport and 10 different types of vehicles later, I arrived for the evening in Ibarra, a pretty worthless town in Northern Ecuador. I wouldn’t call a place worthless lightly either – although maybe my jaded attitude at that point in the night had something to do with it. “Noches de Arabia” (Arabian Nights) and their shwarma and large beers saved the day. By the time I reached Tumbaco, Ecuador, all the bothersome...

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a Colombia overview

People tend to pass judgment on Colombia and stereotype the entire country for 4 things: mountains, coffee, drugs and violence. After my (relatively short) time in Colombia, I can say that two of these things are true and the other two not. The terrain is indeed striking. The mountains are vast and they are everywhere, it felt a bit like Colorado, minus the attitude. Kidding (sort of). The hills are lush due to the climate of the country and the capital, Bogota, is the highest city of its size in the world. The Andes dominate Colombia, and I didn’t even enter the Amazon region of the country, so I can only imagine how prevalent the peaks are there. Unfortunately for the sake of coffee lovers here, most of it is produced for export, so you are more apt to find instant coffee in general restaurants....

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Popayán and Silvia, Colombia

From completely crazy to completely calm, from bars to brassieres, from Cali to Popayan. Another beautiful bus ride through the Colombian country side, filled with awe inspiring mountains and scenes of humanity all around. Popayan is known as “the white city” in Colombia, with Spanish-colonial architecture and mostly white buildings, trimmed with some color and filled with beauty. I stayed at the Hosteltrail Guesthouse ($8/dorm, very nice, very noisy – bring earplugs) and immediately started wandering around this charming and quaint city, which is small in comparison to anywhere I’d been in Colombia thus far. The main square in town, Parque Caldas, is lovely and very European feeling, with cafes and restaurants all around. In fact, Popayan...

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Cali, Colombia

Left Medellin on a Friday morning for a stunning drive to Cali, all the while trying to block out the highly disturbing film that was playing on the bus. Gotta love ipods. Enjoyed the immense mountains, dramatic drop offs and small towns all along the way. That evening arrived in Cali and was met by Jose, who I arranged to stay with for the weekend via Couch Surfing. Before I knew it we were zipping crazily along the streets of his city on the way to his home, where we met his sister and shortly after went to meet his mother and father who were having a beer nearby. My Spanish isn’t exactly comprehensible at this point, so we communicated through Jose who’s quite proficient in Spanish and English alike. After a quick Cerveza Poker, we headed...

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Medellín, Colombia

I haven’t been here long enough to make any real analysis of Colombia as a whole – but I can say for certain that it’s hard to believe Medellin was once the most dangerous city in the world. It feels exotic and a bit edgy, but not too much of either. I was welcomed off the plane by Pablo Carvajal, someone who I met through a great resource called Couch Surfing. I saw his smiling face and a sign with my name, and was immediately at ease after a red eye flight from LA to this new continent. We rode in his car to a great restaurant where I had my first Colombian meal – arepa (thin bread made from corn), rice, beans, fish, salad and platano (plantain) for dessert. Yes! Back to the tipico meal!I went with Pablo to his home and met his lovely mother…...

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a peak into Cambodia

After all these months of being stationary, I realized I forgot to even mention word of Cambodia, one of the countries I’ve visited which had the most impact on me. After a tearful goodbye to Chiang Mai & my lovely family of friends there, I took the overnight bus to Bangkok and then local buses to the Cambodian border. I first made my way to Siem Reap, which was at that point the place I wanted to visit more than anywhere in the entire world. Just 3.5 miles away lies Angkor Wat, a complex of huge, beautiful, enchanting temples which are the essence of Khmer architecture. Built in the 1100’s, Angkor Wat was at one point the center of power for all of Southeast Asia. Hard to believe that center could reside in Cambodia, which today is a...

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