detour !!

Went to museo de oro - "gold museum" which is supposed to be the best and biggest one in the world in Bogota. It was quite interesting. A few interesting things is that the shamans are very important people in the tribe, so they took drugs, and that´s how they communicated with the outside world, and saw the future. Also the people who were viewed as smart and who were teaching others the lessons of life and giving advices were closed-in in some cave in complete darkness and isolation for a few years! Seems to me these people were turning crazy, what can they teach? They were alone, and didn´t experience what others did, so why would they have more information about life? Also, people believed that when they wear something of an animal like feathers or skin or bones, that they would get the attributes of that animal, so they would get their sharp eyesight, or their agility, speed, strength, and vise verca, so they would for ex. teach a perrot to speak (and thus it would get human caracteristics), and they would sacrifise the parrot instead of people. I guess there were no animal rights groups back then :) I don´t really like museums, but this one was definitly on the top of my list.

Getting ready to leave for the hike, got to have a manicure first :) The girl was working on me for good 45 minutes, and it cost only $2.50 !

Eva, Geoff (from Cali) and myself are going for a hike to the most beautiful river in the world !!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQiQ6GXMTG0

Of course there is no information about it at all ! There were a lot of places in Colombia that were dangerous 5 years ago, now they´re all safe, but people around still think it´s dangerous. Everybody we talked to basically told us not to go, or that they did´t even hear about the place, have no idea where it is or how to get there, or basically said that we are crazy! Even the office of department of Colombian national parks said that this park is closed ! Anyway, not listening to anybody, off we go !
Got to the mid point town 3 hours from Bogota. Yeah !!! It´s a warm weather ! Me and Eva started jumping up and down from joy ! :) A week of rain, wind and cold in Bogota didn´t do us well at all ! In town we were asking around how to get to the river, and some people told us that we need to take a bus to another town, and from there take a boat on the river ... alright then. It´s evening.... we´re walking on the street and suddanly i feel worse and worse and worse, and in 5 minutes my head hurts, my stomach hurts, I can´t walk, can´t think, can´t keep my eyes open. So I went into the hotel to sleep. The whole night I was freezing in 30 degree weather, with a winter wool shirt, and a blanket, couldn´t sleep at all. We went on the bus early morning which was suppose to take us 6 hours to the city. I tried to sleep on the bus, but every bump on the road felt like somebody is pounding on my head with a hammer ... 3 hours later, I open my eyes and feel completely fine ! That was way too weird !!! Finally getting some sleep, but the bus stops and everybody is getting out... are we there yet?? I thought we have a few more hours to go. Wait a minute why does Geoff stand with his hands on the head facing a bus and getting searched??? Ohhhhh ... it's just another police checkpoint, but the women are not getting searched, so all is good ... going back to sleep :)
Finally at our destination !
We got off the bus, went to a police station for some information, all the police got out, and was looking at us like what the hell are we doing in there?? Do we know where we are?? They never saw turists in the city ! But that´s ok! Everybody is trying to make us happy. They say that there is no boat, and even if there was, they wouldn´t allow us to get in it, but no problem, this is a great and beautiful city, why do we even need the river, anything we want is right there, why won´t we stay there for a few days enjoy and relax ... and meanwhile our thoughts are ... how the hell do we get out of here, and when is the next bus back :) but anyway, we decided to stay for the night and relax for a bit. meanwhile the next minute, the police talks between themselves, and assigns us a guide! So this guide takes our bags, tries to find us a place to stay, knocks off half the price from the hotel. Shows us the views and the streets. Tells us the history of the place. In the evening all the soldiers tried to take the next day off for us to show around, so they all started to call their luitenants (or whoever) to ask for a permission to take a day off :) We were laughing so hard. It looked like the luitenant says, "you, guard the river, you go to the tower, you check the surrounding, and you ... you make sure the tourists have a good time in here" :) meanwhile all the citizens are stearing at us, not even hiding it. They never ever saw tourists before ... talk about travelling off the beaten path !! Note to yourself : ALWAYS take make up to the jungle !!! :))
There was this "rock city" which was quite far away, and on taxi is $20, which for here is ALOT ! But, what do you know, in the morning, we get a knock on the door and 2 soldiers did get a permission to take a day off and are ready on their motorcycles to take us on the tour ! Alrighly then ! Although we were hoping to go on a police car, but oh well :( ;)
The ride was awsome. So many rocks and sand, such an uneven road, I have no idea how we didn´t fall. I think the guy was the best driver I ever saw ! And ofcouse, the guy from such a macho and serious police man, turned into a kid who jumps up and down from a sight of a candy without uniform :) After that experience with them, we´re not scared from police and army people anymore, they´re such softies, who are always willing to flirt :) but to help and show around as well. We even thought that whenever we´ll get to the new city, we should just go the police station instead of a turist information center :)) We left 1 cell phone in the hotel room, and some police guy called 7 times in 1 hour!
The rock city was amazing !!! So many caves and tunnels, we saw bats, climbed a few huge rocks, went through tunnels that could fit only 1 person half the size, so pretty !!! Untouched by any polution, or tourist´s garbage, pure nature, there were no hiking paths, just going and trying to find our way through the jungle. The police guys showed us around, help us climb, they´re so strong, we felt like we were flying a few times when they helped us up :)
The next morning we took the first bus back to the mid point. After we left we still got like 5 calls back from the police guys asking if we were alright, if we needed anything. They asked about the river and how to get there, and found some special deals with hotels. And called again to make sure that we took these deals. :))
Back in the city, we renewed our visa in Colombia so we could stay one more month! Man what a headache ! It took us 3 hours, 4 passport pictures, 2 sets of finger prints, blood type test, photocopies of all documents a long form and a $35 fee ! But that´s ok, it´s worth it :) It´s just you get 2 months when you get into the country, and to renew for just 1 more month is such a hassle !
Early morning (and that was the 3rd day when we woke up at 5 am) we went to the airport to catch a flight to the river. The flight is super expensive! $185! It costs less to fly to miami ! Found one flight for $155 !! Yes !! But, we didn´t have money, and ofcourse the airport didn´t have any ATM. So back to the city center ... grrr !!! When we got back to the airport, it turned out that somebody died in that city where we were going to, and a bunch of people showed up at the airport and booked all the cheap flights :( 6 hours of negotiations later, we finally decided to get the tickets on the last plane with the most expensive price and just go ! The plane ride was very interesting ! 1 hour 15 minutes just the 3 of us and the pilot, flying above oceans of grass and jungle and nothing else around. The pilot turned out to be very cute !!! Note to yourself again : TAKE MAKE UP TO THE JUNGLE !!! :))
Got to that little town of Macarena. Population 4000. I think this is the most amazing and relaxing place we´ve ever been to. This is a place where people, mud, donkeys, horses, pigs and internet coexist together :) Everybody is just soooo friendly. 2 hours later we already recognize a lot of the faces :) We got to the hotel which is extremely cute, clean and cheap, booked a guide for the next day for our hike. 10 pm, all lights in the city shut down !!! There is not a single light bulb and it´s pitch dark, this is soooo cooooooollll !!!! :)))) So we and the pilot :) went into the park with 1 candle to play cards :) The sky was the most beautiful sky I ever saw, It was such a clear night, and you could see all the starts shining so brightly, and there were millions of them. I have never ever saw such a beautiful night sky before ! So we´re in the park, all the wildlife is around us, so many different bugs, and animal sounds. Plus all the soldiers gathered around us to see how we play :) So interesting how these people change from serious like to guffy like in a matter of seconds. Of course it´s still a bit scary when you´re surrounded by 10s of soldiers with their full gear on !!! :) Geoff lost the game, so he gave us a show of the Macarena dance in front of everybody :) We walked the pilot guy to the hotel and tried to get back to ours. 3 people walking in pitch dark with 1 candle ... and it just rained in the afternoon. The whole street is full of mud knee deep, and all you could hear is "shit !!! damn it !!!" while we are trying to guess where there is less mud :) finally we got stuck in the middle of the street with mud all around us, and we can´t help but laugh our heads off, while it looks like the candle is gonna burn out any second now. I can´t move because there is mud, and because my stomach hurts from laughter, and what do you know, some soldiers heard us and came to us with flashlights to the rescue :) This turning off the light thing was such an experience. 10 minutes before you feel that people are kinda in a hurry to get home, 5 minutes before, everybody is just nervously looking around trying to do last minute stuff. Feels like having a wax, you kinda know that it's gonna hurt, but not sure exactly when. Brushing the teeth, trying to predict the second it will turn out, nothing yet, nothing yet .... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!! ok, it happened, now how the hell do I find my toothbrush and the way back to the room :) 4 nights later, and the same reaction every time ... this is sooo cooolll !! :)))

5 am ... BAM BAM BAM !!!! We´re jumping up !!! what happened ?? Ooooooooooh! the church bells are ringing waking all the people up ! And if once is not enough, it will ring again at 5:15, 5:30, 5:45, until you have no choice but to get up. Barely can open our eyes, we get off the bed, and what do you know? The whole village is already up, restaurants serving breakfasts, construction is on full speed ! So we have our breakfast and go on the hike ! This place is in the middle of nowhere, so there is just either a plane or a small road on which it takes a whole day on a car, so everything is brought in. It also was our luck that the road got blocked, all the food stoped, stores are empty, no electricity, the prices are double, but we´re loving it, this is fun !!! :))) So the gasoline is $5 per litre! Everything that has to do with transportation is so overpriced in here ! We took a canoo to the other side of the river that runs on an engine, and 5 minutes 1 way, 5 another costs $20 !!! But oh well, it only took us a week to get here, might as well ! 2.5 hours by foot just to get to the river, finally we made it ! Oh my god the beauty ! We just stood there taking gazilions of pictures both digital and mental. This river is called either "the 5 color river" or "the crystal river". There is alge growing in it, and it´s red in color, the water is crystal clear, waterfalls are everywhere. There are some nature made holes and swimming pools. Just amazing beauty ! We were walking the whole day in it, above it, and around it. Going to different places and different branches of the river. 12 hours of non stop hike we´re exausted but happy ! Got a car to take us back to the canoo. The car was going and going and going ... I couldn´t even think how we covered all that distance by foot ! Our guide also became our bell boy of the city. Out of nowhere he shows up, updates us on staff and gives us advices. Later on it became, hey Raul, can you go find Geoff and tell him that we´ll meet him in that restaurant ... 20 minutes later ... hey Raul, can you tell him that we´ll be late :) Hey Raul, can you buy us some chicken and 20 bananas :))))
The locals told us that this place was under the supervision of gorillas some years ago, but everybody loved it. They didn´t hurt anybody and only grew cocaine in the village, and on the contrary were very fair, and the village had a lot of money because of it. A bunch of people were even upset when the army came in! Very interesting ! We feel so safe in here. We walk alone at night, with no light, and feel 100% safe, there is never anything happening in here. First of all because there are only 4000 people, and 2nd of all because there are 5 army bases around here guarding the place. Today, the road block finished, suddenly the stores are full of food, fruits, bread, all the prices dropped in half. We went to some other river to hang out. And now we´re going to relax, drink coffee, sit on the street enjoy the city and later on see how a cow gonna be slaughtered, and tomorrow we´ll eat it :))
Oh and btw, we got burned !!! Can´t move. Any move is followed by awwuu awwwuuuuu!!!! Such a difference in color between covered and not covered areas. It hurts to look up, or to put on/take off any cloths, even if their on and touch the skin it hurts, or when we move the arm and it involves a move in the shoulder ... aaawwwuuuuuuuuuu !!!! :))) But it´s better now, we found aloa vera growing, and got covered in it head to tow :) Btw, half a day later and everything is fine, nothing hurts anymore, the power of nature !! :)

On the way back on the plane, we asked the pilot if he could take us above the river, so he did, we got really low, like 50 meters off the ground, and suddanly he sharply turns the plane 90 degrees and flies like that above every turn of the river. I screamed from fear, but it was so exciting that I didn't mind :)

Such a trip, looked like every step on the way was such a challange, everything/everybody just was against us going, misinformation, hassle, 12 hour round trip, dirt, mud, not knowing what to do ... but it all turned out to be one of the most fascinating trips of my life. Memories forever and much stronger abs from all the laughter :))