Cartegena here we come!

Medellin is a crazy town. To picture it in your mind you need to think of the sprawling slums of those picturesque Mexican cities. With rolling hills of people living on top of one another. House made of aluminum, clay, brick, and tarp as far as the eye can see. Then finding incredible backdrops of modern skyscrapers and apartment buildings. The people say that the "gente" or the general public, are divided into zones of poor (the majority), middle class, and ultra wealthy.  But surrounding the whole city are green mountains frosted with fluffy white clouds. The shear size of this city is mind boggling. We found ourselves waking up to the chirps of exotic birds and our dorm mates idly milling around. 8 am, still can't get enough of this sleeping in business! Today we set out to do the famous Medellin MetroCable.
After asking some directions and receiving the stereotypical, "por alla, alla, alla y alla" followed by some manic gesturing, we again blindly ventured into the bustling city.  After wondering for about an hour we came across the Metro, for how decrepit the city appear in some parts their metro was extravagant.  With its cleanliness, open spaces, clear intercoms, and efficiency this was one of the best metros I have been on. Emily laughed when I gave up my seat to an elderly gentleman who politely said, "gracias gringo." When we arrived at the head of the tram/cable cars again I was stunned. The cable car system here is like a ski lift setup with cabs for 6 people, though it is part of their mass transportation and elevated us nearly 1500ft in the air for a total length of ~1 mile OVER the city towards the surrounding mountain peak where we would explore Parqué Natcional de Arví (pronounced like arby, and no the trees did not sport slices on roast beef as I'd hoped...).  

The views were simply stunning, clashes of wealth and extreme poverty. People living quite literally on top of one another, smashed together like sardines. Then the tram gracefully weaved through tall whimsical apartment buildings. Then as we rose higher the shacks thinned out as the cliffs intensified. Though these were still poor shacks, what a spectacular view and command of the valley below. As we ride up I was able to practice my Spanish and provide entertainment for the other passengers, first by comparing women to cows in an attempt to learn the word "female", then by confusing my hots and colds. We all left that tram car with smiles on our faces. The park was pretty. Granted less than those of Washington and Alaska but a breath of fresh air nonetheless. 

We hiked around for a while then made our way back to the hostel and headed out the the airport amidst a torrential down pour. In the airport the rain pounded so loudly we couldn't hear each other and had to shout.  
The flight was quick and we landed in the "lava pit", as it was so aptly described to us Cartegena. Yes, it was hot but we arrived after the sun set so it became that quintessential muggy-romantic-Hispanic-exploration-temperature. Our hostel at El Viajero is sweet.
Emily wanted a nice dinner and offered to treat. We walked around this enchanted city around sunset, it was muggy but not terrible. We are staying in Antigua so all of the buildings are ancient but revived and colorful, blues, yellow, and reds dominate the street. Horse drawn carriages populate the narrow streets and cute balconies overlook the whole scene. Emily and I found this picturesque street restaurant called Cevicheria, where we were again met with gustatory decadence. I must describe the setting; candle lit curbside table with a Spanish guitarist strumming for whoever will listen over the gentle hum of both young and old laughing and sharing together. Vibrant colors all around with carriages occasionally trotting by under short balconies littered with onlookers.

We had ordered a bottle of chilled white wine and had a chilled ice bucket next to our table sweating in the heat of the night. We started with stuffed crab claws in dill/lemon/olive oil base...scrumptious. Then moved on to our main course after much laughing and smiling with our 1st bottle of wine down. Next we had shrimp, crab, and Peruvian white fish ceviche which, with every bite was met with a flood of freshness and a memory of small Oceanside towns accented by lemon, fresh onions, and cilantro. But the dish of the night was peanut sauce octopus tower. Lower side: coconut rice and upper side avocado salad with roasted red peppers. The simplistic way to describe this would be a gustatory orgasm because a dish with such tantalizing flavors, seductive smells, sensual textures, and exotic appealing to the eye should be illegal. THIS was the best dish we've had of 2016! In to our second bottle and laughing with the staff (or they may have been laughing at our Spanish by then) they brought out a special dessert for us with warm guava with melted mozzarella cheese, mint, mandarin juice, and a touch of rum. 

Speechless. We tipped heavily and sauntered happily away.
Emily allowed me my annual vice which was a pure Cuban cigar purchased from a very friendly Cuban. The rest of the night was spent laughing and talking by the moonlit Caribbean ocean. 

Now off to Colombia's skiing capital. Medellín.

I could truly get used to this sleeping in stuff. Today we made it all the way to 9am!  When did we get so old. I remember a time when I could rage all night and imbibe like it was going out of style and get up the next morning at 7am to take a test. This morning felt like, drinking a, "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.”(shout out to all of my hitchhikers out there).  Needless to say, we were passengers on the struggle bus express this am. But we managed to get up and hike towards Montserrate, which is a mountain that dominates the city center of Bogota, the capital city of Colombia.  It rises 10,341 ft above the sea level, where there is a church with a shrine, devoted to "El Señor Caído" (Fallen Lord) at the top. 

There is a cable car to take you to the top too!  Emily and I wondered aimlessly through the streets in search of the cable station. We may have sprinted across a highway or two but it was early in the am so only a few dozen cars to frogger past. Just our luck but the cable car was closed till noon and we were to fly to Medellin in the early afternoon. Emily graciously tolerates my need-to-be-at-the-airport-3-hours-early lifestyle. So after getting to the airport in world record time, being the only ones through security, and no one else at our gate we sat at the airport for 2hrs 36mins..... But flying in to this majestic mountainous area was worth the wait. 

Unfortunately I planned to travel midday which killed our day a bit so the rest of the day we spent looking for a hostel, drinking, and generally being merry. Big plans for tomorrow. And more pictures to come!!!

Bogota or as Emily says it boe-gah-tah

It felt so good to sleep in, and all the way till 8am too! Heaven.  We were happily met with fresh Colombian coffee, eggs, and sweet rolls. The adventure on tap for today was a 5-6 hour bike tour through the city and as you will read, it did NOT disappoint. We started at a very sketchy tour shop with bikes that looked as if a strong breeze could blow them apart. Our tour guide was an enthusiastic Colombian with decent English who, throughout the tour, would repeat phrases like, "this is very controversial" or "much misery" while giving us the history of his country.  

But nonetheless off we went, 20 foreigners on bikes, careening through winding streets, competing with cars, motorcycles, pedestrians in a distopia of traffic and crumbling infrastructure. At one point I saw Emily disappear between two trucks with less than a foot of space between them. She was fearless. The first portion of the tour was only sprinkled with perils, image biking in congested city traffic without any rules or concern for one another's welfare. But like I said it got more thrilling as our courageous guide informed us that we would be biking through, "the ghetto, so please all women up front and all men back to protect the women. Very dangerous area." And he was not kidding, skyscrapers gave way to slums, bustling shoppers turned into junkies and the homeless, and dirty streets evolved into people deficating before our very eyes. He did stop in the tour fashion and point all of this out while locals were catcalling the ladies in our group. Next we pushed our way through the ghetto to the open market where our guide had us try a variety of new fruits.

It was exhilarating, apparently all Colombian fruit has afrodesiac properties. We played in the market for a bit then rejoined the group.
Next we stopped at a Colombian coffee factory to sample Colombia's 2nd most profitable export. Delicious.

Then it was time to go through the red light district. Many of you may not know this but prostitution is legal in this country and business is booming! It reminded me of the nights in Tijuana. Finally we reached my highlife of the trip. Bombs and beers! They took us to this unique bar where you line an iron ring with gun powder and throw iron balls at it in an attempt to get it to explode and when that deafening BOOM! echoes through the bomb/bar hall everyone cheers (well all not the foreigners, who duck under tables and shutter in WTF fear).

In my inebriated state with a beer in one hand and an iron ball in the other I eyed the ring of explosives and summon all of my undergrad skills and hurled the metal lump towards them. An earth shattering explosion results. The first gringo to accomplish this bizarre ritual (thank you Kappa Sigma). From there we weaved our way home. Dropped off the bikes then made our way to the #1 chicken soup joint in the city, over 200 years old!

All I can report is... Wow. We finished up with an afternoon siesta.
After a longer than anticipated siesta we dressed for a night out in Bogata. First we grabbed a taxi to La Zona Rosa (uppity night life spot) there we had the the most spectacular dinner of 2016. Perfect carne asada with coconut rice. The staff were amazing and pleasant. Next we somehow found ourselves in a bottle service only Casa en el Aire a pure Colombian club with a crazy mariachi band on a roof top. Next after being rumba'd out we headed back to our district were we closed the bar in a sweaty dance-fest. I haven't danced like that for a long time. It was so much fun. Emily got the DJ to kick everyone's butt into gear with some Macklemore and the rest was history.

On the road again....

After countless hours of pulling teeth, making bad trades, and begging I was able to swing a WHOLE week off of work!  Never quite expected the working world to be like this but what can you do? I am packed, I am SUPER excited, and I get to travel for the first time with the love of my life (I hope we survive each other..;p). I am looking impatiently forward to having a traveling partner in crime.  I can't believe it has been nearly 2 whole years since my last worldly excursion. But now I find myself sitting in Miami airport awaiting to my flight to Bogota, Columbia. 

Arrived in Bogota and met up with Emily at the airport. Our first trip struggle! as we attempted to get money from the ATM at the airport we thought we were being scammed as the Colombian peso says 50 giving us 20% of what we expected. However, after much investigation we moved our American thumbs out of the way to the world "mil" by the 50, meaning 50,000. All was right in the universe again. 

India Day 20: "Another Adventure Comes to a close"

India Day 20: "Another Adventure Comes to a close"

It's hott. Ben and I wake up to a sweaty, dirty, and angry Calcutta. It's our last day and I only have 2 items on my agenda relax and shop. Unfortunately, this is the hottest day of our trip. Within minutes of being outside Ben and I are saturated in sweat and struggling to breath in the hot and humid air. I prodded Ben out because I have a few items I want to buy that I passed on while traveling thinking, "I've seen these in every city. They're bound to have them at our final destination." And oh, how I was wrong. It turns out that Calcutta isn't exactly a tourist spot as much as true Indian city peppered in deprevity and decadence. All of the bazaars, shops, and venders we visited only sold useful items for everyday Indian living. Damn! And to top it off, I believe as the mercury rises so does the propensity to swindle foreigners as all of our taxi drivers charged 3 times the regular rate. Luckily I had Ben who pointed out that this bad experience seems to occur on the last day of any long journey. With that we retired to an A/C restaurant and enjoyed some good food as we watched the cities salutary chaos occur outside. We then fled back to our hotel for some beers and TV. Ahh, relaxation. After an uneventful cab ride to the airport we had a hiccup. Ben could come in the same door as me because we're taking to different flights. So I gave him a quick hug and sent him down the way towards his door with the promise that we'd find each other after we get our tickets. I checked in and was all set to go to my gate (I leave 4 hour ahead of Ben). So I wondered down to his counter and didn't see him. I then caught sight if h still outside! He was having issues because you cannot get into the actual airport without a ticket. I had mine on an email on my iPod. Ben was trying to show the guards his but it wasn't working. He looked frustrated. I asked if there was anything I could do and he waved me off and told me that he would meet me at my gate if he could. He then stormed off in search of a printer and I went to my gate. I'm about to get on my 24 hour flight and I haven't seen him. I'm not too worried because he has 6 hours to fix any issues before his flight. I'm now in Germany and I will write one last post about India in a few days. Thanks for reading!

India 18 & 19: "Our Calcutta from another motha"

India 18 & 19: "Our Calcutta from another motha"

Yesterday was a lazy day. Ben and I relaxed at our hotel for most of the morning. The only way out of these mountains is via a shared jeep (12 people)

and Ben and I had sat in the miserable backseat for too long, so this trip we claimed the front seat. The only problem was that Ben had to straddle the gear shift.

This meant that everytime we shifted into 2nd or 4th Ben got a little 'helping hand' (I think he REALLY enjoyed our 3 hour trip down the mountain). We then raced to the train station to find out that  our tickets weren't valid. Ugh! So we cross the city to the bus station and book an A/C sleeper bus instead. Whew! 

Well, a relative 'whew', it was a 15 hour ordeal that involved Ben and I sharing a 3' wide sleeper mattress

in the cramped upper segment of the bus. It was a restless night, imagine tryin to sleep inside a pinball at the national pinball competition during an earthquake. Side to side, sudden and hard stops, accelerating (most likely 2 wheeled) turns around unseen obstecles, all miserable but the worst were the bumps, sometimes sending us a full foot into the air before slamming down again on the not-so-soft mat. Every time it happened, though our sleepless hysteria, we couldn't help but laugh. They were tight quarters, Ben and I avoiding spooning at all costs and missing our partners back at home with every waking moment. Just when we thought our bladders would burst and after the 3rd late hour we arrived in Calcutta. Exhausted and hot we barely managed enough energy to get to the hotel to crash. Then we woke up I time for our nicest Indian dinner yet. Only 1 day left in this trip. If anyone needs anything from India let us know now!

India Day 17: "Himalayan trek"

India Day 17: "Himalayan trek"

It's 2:30am and my alarm sounds. I reach and hit snooze. Ben groans and asks what the time was and then "is your clock still set at Katmandu time (15mins later than India)?" We're elated to have an extra 15 mins to sleep. Today we set out on our 16 mile Himalayan trek. Next we met our taxi driver, who seems to excited to be up this early and we set out towards the trailhead picking up our guides along the way. Ben was upset that we had to hire a required guide to takes us up the mountains, we aptly named them 'Furpas' (as in the other products found in India such as foakles and Folex). As we ascended there were still worrisome clouds in the sky but a radiant sunrise lit the sky in a tie-dye of purples, reds, blues, and oranges. We kept ascending.  Ben "mountain goat" Rosenfeld climbed around nimbly up the first part of the trail which entailed nearly 1000ft in just under 2km. I, on the other hand, sweatily huffed and puffed like a pregnant woman in her 20th hour of labor (though, to my credit I out hiked both our guides!). We were able to hike above the first set of clouds to a heavenly site were we witnessed clouds pouring like water over mountains and through valleys. Again, The most beautiful place on earth. As we cleared the pine forest the scenery changed to low cut grasslands comparable to what I picture the Highlands of Scotland to be. Rolling green hills terminating violently over steep mountain faces that give way to profound valleys, were again splayed before us. After our initial leg the trail softened and the views started melting away in to the rolling cloud banks until we found ourselves hiking through the clouds themselves. We stopped at a few rural houses for tea and checked out some colorful Hindu/Buddhist shrines along the way. For lunch we stopped at a local's house and Ben and I sampled some homemade items such as fermented liquor,

 some sort of easy gum, and some other foods that are hard to describe. We out-hiked our guides, when they would ask to stop and rest Ben and I would

exchange proud smirks. We were able to catch a glimpse of the world's 4th highest peak through the clouds. On the way down it started raining. Our guides didn't want to hike but Ben and I pressed on. Serene views all around.  Oh! I forgot to mention the leeches! Apparently in this region there are 'grass leeches'. We were told to be weary and in fact we saw many! Mostly on cows but our guide found one on his pants. Anyways, we made it back down squished in the 12 other people into a land rover and bounced uncomfortably back to Darjeeling. After returning to our hotel famished and exhausted we crashed. Tomorrow we take off for Calcutta so you may miss the next blog.