Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Off Topic => Topic started by: BobG on November 30, 2024, 04:34:20 am
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Today I achieved something that I've hankered after for 20 odd years. I have SEEN Venezuela! Other than my Colombian Spanish teacher I know not one other person who has ever seen Venezuela, never mind set foot in it.
Clearly, given HMG's trenchant advice and that of my Colombian acquaintances too, I couldn't actually cross the border. Sadly, I couldn't even do that via some unguarded back road. Those roads are the ones that the numberless refugees use. Obviously, there is therefore a thriving guerilla trade in the near border Colombian lands where murder, extortion and kidnapping of the prettier girls is commonplace. Equally, it is in those same borderlands that the Colombian police and army practice their counter guerilla tactics by preying on the ones who operate there. Not a good idea to go anywhere near...
Bizarrely, in this border city of Cucuta, quite the most unpleasant city I've come across, I also found today a shopping centre that was totally, bloody fantastic. Nothing like the functional commercial exploitative approach we have. Yes. Of course there were plenty of shops. But the place has stunning design, layout, features, attractions, shops. It has a lovely atmosphere and it's a 100% wonderful environment. I had my hair cut there by a 30 something Venezuelan. Brilliant experience. Far nicer, more thorough, more complete, than anything I've ever experienced in England. This is the best shopping centre I've ever seen - by far.
BobG
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Couple of pics
Part of the shopping centre after dark. Notice the HUGE ceiling fans. Made a perfect environment to enjoy my 'tinto' - Americano to thee and me.
BobG
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The border. That's Venezuela beyond the big sign.
Far more folk entering Colombia than leaving. And in maybe half an hour I saw 3 families, complete with children, walking from despair into what they hope will be a better future. It won't be. Cucuta is an unpleasant city. Violent and, to feed their children, full of thieves. Many walk on - thousands of miles. I've seen families still walking right down near Ecuador, dependent on either charity or theft to survive. The Colombians do put their hands in their pockets, and the Government not too long back gave every Venezuelan refugee a 7 year visa that allows him/her to work, access the heath system and send their children to school. That is a magnificent thing to have done. But the problem is inflation is rising higher and the influx of labour has depressed wages. You can imagine the consequences...
BobG
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Thanks for the updates Bob your travels sound fabulous.
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I've always enjoyed travelling. As I'm getting a lot, lot older, I've decided if I don't do things in the next couple of years, I never will. Ergo....
The daft thought struck me earlier that having seen Venezuela, I really ought to peek into North Korea... I don't think that's on the cards though. I may be crap at Spanish but it's a shed load better than my Korean. I'd have to kidnap my lads' girlfriend. She's a decent linguist and she's been squaring up to Korean for a couple of years now.
I think India is more likely for the next adventure. Never been there. Either that or a jaunt through the Sahara Desert. Always had a thing for deserts. There's two handy objectives too - both in Algeria so it might be possible to do them both. The Ahaggar Mountains where you might, if you're lucky, see a mountain ibex or two, and a spot just outside Tamanrasset where stands the most isolated tree on the planet. Some French buffoon drove into it with his Land Rover in the 1960's but last time I checked it was still there. That'd be something to see wouldn't it?!
BobG
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Sorry. Couldn't resist. This photo, all of it beyond the immediate foreground, is Venezuela. So are the snippets I've listed below too.
Venezuela. Sitting on 18% of the worlds oil reserves. 303 billion barrels. More than any other nation, including Saudi Arabia.
Venezuela. From my Colombian friend who spent some time there, a stunningly beautiful country with everything anyone could ever need. Coastlines. Agriculture. An educated population when she was there.
Venezuela. Destitute. Almost no health care. Almost no education now. Almost no petrol. Almost no oil production. Almost no electricity.
Venezuela. A corrupt, fabulously wealthy president.
Venezuela. A country where 23% of the population - 7.7 million people - have fled since 2014
Venezuela. A country and a people the world, to its everlasting shame, ignores.
I can't stop looking at this pic. Or thinking about the evil the world continues to allow to go on behind those beautiful trees and mountains.
BobG
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Bob, have you bumped into Sofia Vergara?
Ps, please keep posting updates of your travels. I find it fascinating that you've even dared go to a place like Colombia.
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Colombia is OK Nudga. Like anywhere, there are places to go and places to avoid. Medellin, for example, the city of Pablo Escobar, from being the most dangerous city in the world 40 years ago is now the safest, and nicest city in Colombia. If my life had turned out differently, I could very well have decided to live there.
Like every country, some things about Colombia aren't very good: social care, lower income lifestyle and environment, driving - but others are pretty good: climates (plural! Caribbean to high Andes), engineering, colour, natural world.
Some parts gringos would be better off avoiding. But there's still plenty left to enjoy. It's bigger than France and Spain combined and it has damn good inter city bus services and, for us, cheap internal flights.
Google pics of 'Cano Cristales' Nudga. It's unique.
BobG
PS. It's probably un pc to say this, but some of the girls are just stunning too.
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Looks fantastic Bob. I might suggest this to Mrs N.
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Today is November 30th. Apparently it's a special day. I don't know if it's official or not but not only are the amazing Chrimbo lights turned on for the first time (try googling Medellin lights) but there's quite a festive atmosphere. Amongst the symptoms of this are a lot of loud music, and, sporadic VERY loud explosions right through the day. They're that loud they scared me. When I asked, it's the custom apparently to set off gunpowder! Christ it's loud when it goes off...
BobG
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Fascinating Bob! Keep 'em coming. Loved Medellin when we briefly visited a couple of years ago but shocked at the sheer size of the place.
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Wow!
Bobbymax. You are the first person I have ever 'met' who has ever set foot in Colombia. And to visit one of my favourite cities too! Did you get to the Plaza de Luces?? Incredible story that place. Or go up the ski lift type things to what, are effectively the favelas? Another fantastic story there. Botero's sculptures in that open square in the city centre? Or, of course, follow the Pablo Escobar 'trail'.... There is a very moving display and monument about those times too.
BobG
PS The football stadium, shared by the 2 main Medellin clubs, Atletico and Nacional is worth a visit too. It's in a nice area.
I
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My Dad, fellow Rovers STH, has been to Venezuala.
He went with work about 20 years ago to visit an iron ore mine (he worked at Scunthorpe Steelworks).
The airport at Caracas was full of scary-looking military carrying machine guns.
The way in wasn't too bad, as he was with a colleague and they were met quickly after getting off the plane by people from the mine.
On the way out my Dad was alone, without a word of Spanish (Si Senor apart!), navigating through the airport, past surly passport control staff with these menacing militia men scowling at him at every turn.
Says it was the most scared he's been in his life.
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I bet he was too Branton.
I've not seen anything seriously unpleasant myself but there are a lot of stories, the UK Govt gives dire warnings, that intrepid younger travel chap on TV sneaked in for a programme a little while back and he wasn't comfortable at all. He and his crew were bloody brave though. If anyone at all had stopped them the least they would have got is an enormous 'fine'. Because no govt employee gets paid any more they have to live by extortion. And it could have been a helluva lot worse. You can see why a quarter of the population have legged it out of the country in the last 10 years...
Yet Venezuela should be stinking rich! Oil, tourism, agriculture. It's got shed loads of all three if it wasn't the personal fiefdom of a certain chap in Caracas.
It is a very scary place.
Later: Simon Reeve. Cracking bloke and very brave.
Later again. I am under STRICT instructions not to open my mouth, not to say a word, when I'm out and about on the streets of Cucuta. My accent would simply confirm that I'm a gringo. And gringos, by definition, are rich and well worth robbing by the hordes of destitute refugee Venezuelans here.
BobG
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Wow!
Bobbymax. You are the first person I have ever 'met' who has ever set foot in Colombia. And to visit one of my favourite cities too! Did you get to the Plaza de Luces?? Incredible story that place. Or go up the ski lift type things to what, are effectively the favelas? Another fantastic story there. Botero's sculptures in that open square in the city centre? Or, of course, follow the Pablo Escobar 'trail'.... There is a very moving display and monument about those times too.
BobG
PS The football stadium, shared by the 2 main Medellin clubs, Atletico and Nacional is worth a visit too. It's in a nice area.
Wow!
Bobbymax. You are the first person I have ever 'met' who has ever set foot in Colombia. And to visit one of my favourite cities too! Did you get to the Plaza de Luces?? Incredible story that place. Or go up the ski lift type things to what, are effectively the favelas? Another fantastic story there. Botero's sculptures in that open square in the city centre? Or, of course, follow the Pablo Escobar 'trail'.... There is a very moving display and monument about those times too.
BobG
PS The football stadium, shared by the 2 main Medellin clubs, Atletico and Nacional is worth a visit too. It's in a nice area.
We were on an 'adventure' holiday but kept very much on a leash .remember the entire tourist industry seems set around Pablo Escobar.
Visited Cartagena on a cruise as well, very busy, reminded me too much of Miami.
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I spent a couple of weeks in Cartagena 2 years ago. Chuffing HOT. The old town was good. The castle is staggering. And very different. Successfully so. And the rest of Cartagena left me cold. Well, figuratively. Lol. I had to spend one whole night hanging around outside a hospital there waiting for the person I was travelling with. The locals were great. The street stalls were cheap. And the entire mosquito armada must have gone home stuffed to the gills. I can only assume I tasted nice.
There's a helluva lot more to Medellin than just Pablo Escobar. Honestly, it is an amazing place and there are a million (well, not quite..) bloody interesting things to see, observe and wonder at.
And only an hour away by bus is the Penol de Guatape. Now that is something else indeed. Frightened me to death so I just stood back and looked. But my female companion thought I was nesh and did the whole thing. One of Pablo's houses is close by too, right on the edge of a lake in a very upper class area. His house sticks out like a sore thumb. Burned out. Never repaired.
LOL. I've got a lot of photos of all of the stuff I've mentioned on here - and more. If anyone's interested, send me a PM. I probably won't be able to forward anything until mid December, but after then, no problem
BobG
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Lol. You can never say never can you?
Tonight we went out. Into the middle of dangerous Cucuta.... As we drove past the city centre Holiday Inn the taxi driver regaled me with the story of a foreigner, 6 months ago, taken by his taxi to that hotel, forced onto the roof of the 20 story building, robbed. And then pushed off the top. I checked later. It's true.
Good start. But the rest of the night was great. Once again the Colombian delight in colour was on display. The Christmas lights and events were smashing and the people were joyous. My friend though insisted we leave at about 23 30. A lot of family types had left. It was getting dangerous... But it was a bloody good night anyway, Couple of photos to follow.
BobG
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Tonight - out in Cucuta
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The international Casino Hotel - in blue
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Beautiful
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And now, at 0030, in a cool 26 degrees, it's time for a cold shower. It reached 34 degrees today....
BobG
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Oh. Another brilliant bit of 'wall art'
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I'd love to see more of South and Central America but life has rather got in the way since we retired. Maybe one day.
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I used to think that too Bobbymax. But the day came when I realised there weren't too many days left when travel could be accomplished without too much fuss. So I decided to just get on with it. I'm hoping there will be more.
BobG
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In the centre of Cucuta today. Very busy indeed. In one one of the 'Centro Commerciales' I saw something I've not seen since the late 1980's in Communist Czechoslovakia - paying an old crone to go to the loo and being given your niggardly few pieces of loo paper to take in with you.
Oh. Saw 2 army types in one of the crowded streets. One was carrying a light machine gun....
BobG
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Out for a wander in the backstreets of the backstreets of Cucuta tonight. Photo attached...
And imagine seeing this bus heading towards you...WTF?
Bob
Later - problems uploading. I'll try again later
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Trying again..
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And the bus - complete with police style red/blue flashing light at the front
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I've always enjoyed travelling. As I'm getting a lot, lot older, I've decided if I don't do things in the next couple of years, I never will. Ergo....
The daft thought struck me earlier that having seen Venezuela, I really ought to peek into North Korea... I don't think that's on the cards though. I may be crap at Spanish but it's a shed load better than my Korean. I'd have to kidnap my lads' girlfriend. She's a decent linguist and she's been squaring up to Korean for a couple of years now.
I think India is more likely for the next adventure. Never been there. Either that or a jaunt through the Sahara Desert. Always had a thing for deserts. There's two handy objectives too - both in Algeria so it might be possible to do them both. The Ahaggar Mountains where you might, if you're lucky, see a mountain ibex or two, and a spot just outside Tamanrasset where stands the most isolated tree on the planet. Some French buffoon drove into it with his Land Rover in the 1960's but last time I checked it was still there. That'd be something to see wouldn't it?!
BobG
Some great photos Bob, was in India in 73 or 74 one of the best things I remember was lying on our backs on the flat roof of the a uni accommodation block in Delhi and seeing the dark sky chock full of stars c/w shooting stars every couple of minutes. We sort of replicated that in NZ with a dark sky event above L. Tepako just as memorable.
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Cheers Sydney! Best sky experience I've ever had was an upper class campsite out in the wilds of Tanzania. Mind you, a couple of nights later the termites swarmed. Couldn't see a bloody thing - not even the way to the food tent. The buggers got EVERYWHERE. And I mean that literally.
BobG
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The local area in Cucuta....
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And again
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Just watched a bit of 'long lost family' which about an adopted girl, now woman from Bogota, which gave glimpses of life there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf_FGYp8DC4
2018
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The local area in Cucuta....
I thought you would stay in a better hotel than that Bob.
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Thank you Sydney. I've just watched what looks to be a trailer. I'll try to find the full thing in a mo.
I'm not staying in hotels Hound. It's been fairly cheap, and sometimes very cheap, apartments which are the homes of relatives of people I know. I tried a big posh hotel in Cartagena 2.5 years ago. I loathed it. Doing it this way is far, far closer to Colombia.
BobG
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Cooking, btw, absolutely HAS to include a small mountain of salt. I suggest 'let's try cooking without it' and everybody looks at me like I'm from Mars. Sugar is as bad too....
Whether this is down to the fact that I am moving in ill educated and ill resourced circles I don't know. But it's frightening to someone with my background and experience.
BobG
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I'm not staying in hotels Hound. It's been fairly cheap, and sometimes very cheap, apartments which are the homes of relatives of people I know. I tried a big posh hotel in Cartagena 2.5 years ago. I loathed it. Doing it this way is far, far closer to Colombia.
BobG
I was making a joke Bob about the picture of the building with the corrugated metal doors.
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Aye. I realised Hound, but I also realised I hadn't described the sort of visit this is. It's very definitely at the bottom end of the market :):)
BobG
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Thank you Sydney. I've just watched what looks to be a trailer. I'll try to find the full thing in a mo.
I'm not staying in hotels Hound. It's been fairly cheap, and sometimes very cheap, apartments which are the homes of relatives of people I know. I tried a big posh hotel in Cartagena 2.5 years ago. I loathed it. Doing it this way is far, far closer to Colombia.
BobG
The ABC posts episodes onto a watch anytime channel when this episode appears I'll see if there is more info for a better search.
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Thanks!
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Correction the prog is Long Lost Family-What Happened Next series 4 episode 1
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I learned something rather astonishing this morning. I happened to swear - 'bugger' escaped my lips. I was then given the third degree about what it meant. I was slow on the uptake so I just said it's a 'grosera' - a swear word. That failed to satisfy my inquisitors. Ultimately I told them what it means. They collectively then asked me why it's a swear word? That particular activity 'es normal aqui'. Oh. Right. Fair enough!
BobG
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Not that I’m wishing anything on you Bob, but how would you go on for health care?
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There are public hospitals where you can just turn up - but the waiting times are long. Or, with either your own money or insurers, you can go private. Colombia is reckoned to have the best health services in S. America. As a lot of Yanks are retiring here I suspect that's probably correct. Across all my visits I've twice consulted dentists and once a hospital. Service was rapid and very good on all three occasions. Cheap too. I've never bothered claiming on the insurance in fact.
BobG
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My place of repose this afternoon. It is 32 degrees....
BobG
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Arsenal get bloody everywhere... This is the middle of a hugely bustling 'Centro Commerciale' in Cucuta, Colombia, right on the border with Venezuela
BobG
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Typical lower end Cucuta residential street...
And it's chuffing hot!
BobG
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It's past 4 pm on a stinking hot Saturday afternoon here. I've just watched some municipal chap with a big container strapped to his back spray every garden in sight with stuff to kill mossies. I reckon that's pretty good.
I'm particularly happy to see the bloke cos the mossies are taking chunks outta me.
BobG
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Today is the 'Dia de la Velitas'. A lot of VERY loud fireworks, a meal of Venezuelan 'hallaca' and then the children each lighting a candle. I think it has religious significance, but tbh, I'm not sure. My friend Claudia will put me right.
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Another view
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And one more.
The food on that big green leaf thing is my hallaca. Edible, but they do love leaving all the bones on their meat so you gotta go carefully. It's polite to strip the meat off the bone by chewing the bloody thing until it's clean, and then chuck the bone to one of the ever watchful dogs...
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Candles are different colours. Each colour represents a different hope: health, wealth, gratitude, etc. It's a brilliant sight down these poverty stricken streets. I lit 2 for health. I also bought beer all round!
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This is a good night!
Later: actually, I'm getting quite pissed...
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Down the street... Candles lit all the way down the street. But I can't attach a video.
BobG
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I really am getting quite pissed... And these chuffing 'fireworks' are scary loud.
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Hey Bob,
Fantastic following this thread please keep it running!
Your current situation and location reminds me very much of where I live when I am not working here in Saudi. I have called Mindanao, South Philippines home for the past 10 years now. If anyone is familiar with the name Mindanao they will know its also on the government red no go list, as with many other countries, and to top it I live in Maguindanao the area Filipinos even fear.
I cannot say everything is without reason for this and past history shows it and why, but I have learned not everything is as you are told and media stir up lots of this fear/misunderstanding. I have been to many paces around the world with work and travel, but Mindanao and especially Maguindanao has my heart. Despite all the troubles and subsequent hardships (a lot has been at the hands of the Philippines Government in Manila) these people have to be some of the most resilient, welcoming and generally happiest people I have ever encountered. I have encountered many different people there in many different circumstances in life, from the so called rich to the the families living under tarpaulins. And it's these poor families that stick in my mind of how great humanity can be if we push back and take stock of what's really going on around us. One such incidence that really is etched in my mind was some six years back walking through Datu Piang one evening. A small family were eating dinner outside their plywood and tarpaulin house, when as we passed the man jumped up and shouted to me "brother please come eat with us" that was probably the most English he had ever strung together. I politely declined the kind saying I had already eaten, but stayed to chat awhile. What sticks to me is times like this when those who have nothing but are willing to share what ever little they have, I will never forget this and in some way it has shaped how I act now in myself and how I am to others.
Looking forward to more of your updates Bob, keep writing them please.
Regards,
David.
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Thank you David. I very much appreciate what you've written
You are spot on about those with very little little being the most willing to share. I had a shower here late tonight. I hadn't brought anything with me though as I hadn't anticipated it being such a late night. The shower itself was the most primitive I've ever encountered. The towel they gave me might just do as a floor rag in England. There was no shampoo at all. But it didn't matter. They gave what they had. And I appreciated it very much.
Having stayed so late I'm now going to sleep on an old mattress on the floor of a half built extension that the family are building themselves. No electricity. No lights. No flooring except concrete. But tonight was, and is, an absolutely cracking night. Oh. And the extraordinarily loud gunpowder explosions are still going off from time to time. Lol...
I came across a blog recently by an Englishman living in Bogota. He is clearly livid about the way the world has and is ignoring the plight of so many millions of Venezuelan refugees. He made the point that it's the poor in Colombia who most often share what they have with these poor sods. It does seem to me that increasing wealth tends towards decreasing generosity.
I'm at one with this guy about Venezuelans. If I allow myself to think about the despicable leadership of that country and the plight of its people I get so wound up that I become very emotional. I've messaged the bloke. See if I can join his crusade.
Oh. And Mindanao. Yes. Famed for a very, very big trench.
BobG
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I've just had breakfast...
2 plain arepas and a sort of consomme type soup containing 2 poached eggs... Different.
BobG
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And the garden where I ate it....
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Where did you say you were?
Stainforth?
:ohmy:
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No. I assume you never learned to read?
BobG
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No. I assume you never learned to read?
BobG
Chill out, Bob, he's having a joke.
Mind you, I don't think Filo will be too pleased.
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No. I assume you never learned to read?
BobG
Only crystal balls.
I spent the rest of my time developing a sense of humour.
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OK. My apologies.
But in what has been a thread whose intent was to inform personally I think schoolboy jokes are both unnecessary and pointless. It wasn't even funny.
Cheers
BobG
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11am. It's 34 degrees.... Christmas has arrived.
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To be honest, looking at the photos and the people in them, food isn't in short supply lol
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I'm starting to like Cucuta. Yes, as a gringo you have to be very, very careful. I got a right earful last night for wandering off alone. But outside what you might call the favela areas, the roads are broad, there's lots of open spaces, the public sports facilities make ours look utterly paltry, the shopping centres are many, the municipal efforts to include people and to jointly celebrate notable dates are all pretty damn good. The town centre is though massively overcrowded with both stalls and people. The driving is Colombian. The Venezuelans are many and the consequential risks are high.
To be honest I am more and more fearful for the future of Colombia. Rising inflation and the never, ever ending influx of Venezuelan refugees means most folk are poorer and getting even poorer. The consequences of that are obvious. Two years ago I wandered the streets of Ibague in safety entirely on my own. Ibague is in Central Colombia, hundreds and hundreds of miles from any border. But today? I've been warned very clearly. My local contact says I must not go out alone there now. Too many violent robberies, too many murders, too many guns. I suspect Colombia is losing control of its population. A different root cause this time, but if this continues to deteriorate it could end up being very, very bad.
BobG
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A big influx of refugees is almost always a problem for the countries they go into and a rise in crime is usually a consequence of that.
The host countries then have to find homes for them and fund their presence.
Interesting in the UK that in 2023 the most popular name for new born boys was Muhammad.
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I didn't know that. Thank you.
It's tempting to suggest that a further few murders would halt Colombia's problems. With reasonable leadership in Caracas, plenty, though not all of course, of the refugees would go home. Of those I've talked with, well over half say they'd go home.
BobG
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I've just been looking at the maths homework for a 7 year old. 4 questions. I can't write equations on here so it's a photo. Poor quality but I couldn't get better. Sorry. Try to take a peek though. And then imagine our 7 year olds faced with these....
BobG
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To be honest, looking at the photos and the people in them, food isn't in short supply lol
Depends on your social and economic standing Nudga. Nobody is starving. Most are OK. Some, the bottom end, scrape by doing some pretty shit jobs for themselves - collecting waste and selling it for example. Insecure, filthy and low paid work. There's a lot of cam work done by teenage and 20 something girls. Some are well off. Some are nigh on destitute. The point is, there are millions of unemployed and under employed Venezuelans. Not only are they undercutting the locals so they can get the jobs but the result of that is wages generally are either falling or not going up. In a time of significant inflation that is bloody serious. It is underpinning the scary rise in crime and violence. But, having said that, most folk are OK today. But they are scared of the future...
BobG
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The main man in all of northern South America: Simon Bolivar. Pictured last night at the pleasant and prominent monument in Cucuta. Helluva man.
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If I could upload a 5 second video I could show you a bloke opening a bottle of beer with a cigarette lighter. Brilliant. We're all sitting here, under the moon getting pissed. And at 6.15 pm it's still chuffing hot.
Cajeros, cash machines, here are bloody expensive. Around 5% added to the bill.
BobG
Later: he's opening a lot of bottles... My son has just told me we look like the gathering of a Mexican cartel.....
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Great photos Bob, we had a really good time in the south island of NZ, but as we had little choice but to hire a car and stay in motel type accommodation we hardly got to speak to anyone that lived there except of in the course of buying stuff.
Your trips really show how to do it and get to the essence of a place.
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It's bloody brilliant Sydney. I discovered a while back I really don't like poncy hotels, isolated, exploring nothing, trying less. Yes. I'm sweating like a pig, the showers are crap and the risks are obvious. But truly, this is a fabulous holiday. The only snag is I have to go back to Bogota on Wednesday As it's 8,000 feet up, the temperature will be maybe 16 or 17 degrees. Lol. Got nowhere to stay yet!
And yes. We are pissed
BobG
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More pissed....
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Shit. Two blokes shot 10 minutes ago just down the road from here. Like pretty close.
What a world we have created....
BobG
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Been out to a rather nice riverine glade in what's described as jungle but really is a more civilised version of that. It's about an hour outside Cucuta.
Couple of weirs have been built so jumping in for a soak is both possible - and essential. 34 degrees today. Equally good are the free to use BBQ facilities. We did while watching the local wild monkeys flitted about in the tree tops and pissing wherever they felt like. It was a nice day. A bit over 3kg of middling quality steak, loads of spuds, some chicken and lots of veg for a soup for 11 people and all for 30 quid. And now sitting under the stars drinking more beer - with 4 women and a small girl.
Few observations:
Although Colombian driving sometimes scares the daylights outta me, the one thing they NEVER do is lose their rag. The cutting up, the downright scary pushing in, the wrong lane turns all get me worried. But the locals all just slow down, let the miscreant through and then carry on. Absolutely no road rage at all.
Having got my calculator out I can tell you that a UK gallon of petrol costs £3.05 though they sell it here in US gallons. Diesel is about 25% more expensive
Bamboo thickets are completely and utterly impenetrable.
Colombian coal mines do not look like ours.
BobG
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The river and lake in the 'jungle' outside Cucuta
And mossies are still utter swines
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Packing up. Flying back to Bogotá tonight. I'll be glad of the coolness, but I'll miss the vibrancy of this place. Cucuta: I underestimated you.
BobG
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Sunday morning in Bogotá. Much cooler. A nice 15 degrees. Pleasant stroll around the nice area known as Chapinero. In the small parks that are such a noticeable feature of all Colombian towns and cities all sorts of activities going on. This one was good. An unofficial, mixed sex, volleyball tournament. They weren't bad players either! Really nice atmosphere. People stopping by, chatting, watching. A good standard and the games all played in a good spirit. I watched for an hour or more - letting my morning tinto and breakfast go down. Lol
Airport later. Madrid and then home.
BobG
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Have a good flight Bob, thanks for the diary entries.
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In the centre of Cucuta today. Very busy indeed. In one one of the 'Centro Commerciales' I saw something I've not seen since the late 1980's in Communist Czechoslovakia - paying an old crone to go to the loo and being given your niggardly few pieces of loo paper to take in with you.
Oh. Saw 2 army types in one of the crowded streets. One was carrying a light machine gun....
BobG
It’s like that in the stores in Germany now, an old Oma set up in front of the Loos charging you one Euro!
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Good Lord
Sydney: worst flight ever. Iberia flight from Bogotá to Madrid. Left 8 hours late. Not much info.... In Madrid now and staying the night cos there's no more Iberia flights to London. So, free night in Madrid. Snag is a super early start tomorrow.
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Bring on the time-tunnel, flying is right down the bottom of my list.
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Good Lord
Sydney: worst flight ever. Iberia flight from Bogotá to Madrid. Left 8 hours late. Not much info.... In Madrid now and staying the night cos there's no more Iberia flights to London. So, free night in Madrid. Snag is a super early start tomorrow.
I had five nights in Madrid a few years ago on a Polypipe golf trip.
Superb destination and good night time entertainment and eating places.
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One of my favourite cities Hound, along with Medellín, Prague and Rome
BobG
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It's 4.20am Spain time. Stupid o'clock back to the airport. Good hotel though. I got the biggest G&T of all time in the bar late on last night. I think I'm still asleep...
BobG
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You can’t beat Spanish measures lol!
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Well, having been home for about 3 weeks now, reading through the thread again has brought home how much I like Colombia. With this disgusting weather here, tbh, I wish I was back there. It's funny really. I was glad to return home after 2 months in Colombia but now I'm here...
I'm still wondering about Algeria now. There are 2 things there I fancy seeing. The first is simply desert - always had a thing for 'em. A journey to the Ahagger Mountains would be some trip. The other is the most isolated tree in the world - just outside Tamanrasset. I really fancy seeing that... It'd be more exciting than the Rovers atm. Lol.
BobG
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Hey Bob a good news story from Columbia ...........
''Juan Guillermo Garcés had a brush with death while burning jungle for cattle pasture – now he runs a nature reserve in Colombia where more than 100 new species have been discovered''
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/22/colombia-wildlife-paradise-rancher-turned-reforester-aoe
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Thank you Sydney. I liked that. But I suspect he's fighting a losing battle. Colombia's population has risen from 39 million in 2000 to over 50 million in 2024. Colombia is a bloody big country but with a population increasing at that rate land use is increasing frighteningly quickly too. Slash and burn is too easy, too profitable....
BobG
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The UK isn’t a particularly big country but our population has increased from 59m in 2000 to 69m in 2024.
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Did you see the skaters and bladers in Medellin Bob.? On YouTube their raw runs are frightening. I wonder how many end up dead or injured?
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UK <17%
Colombia >28%
.I don't see any relevance at all in comparing the UK with Colombia. How much jungle is there in the UK? How much of a social safety net is there in Colombia? It's a stupid comparison. The figures prove my point anyway.
I haven't seen those skaters Idler - except on TV when Guy Martin tried it. I don't know the figures but I'd expect a fair few maimings and worse happen. Stopping it happening would be very hard though. Medellin, like most Colombian cities, sits in a valley surrounded by mountains. Shut down one route and they'd all just go somewhere else. It's Andes country. As an aside, the route into the city from the airport is something else! Amazing engineering.
BobG
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Colombia has a population density of 125 people per square mile.
The UK has a population density of 745 people per square mile.
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So what?
You forgot about little things like mountains did you BB? They're called the Andes. Look 'em up. Forgot about something called jungle too did you? Forgot about rice paddy too? Very land intensive that.
Stop trying to compare a tropical and mountainous country with a temperate and substantially flat one. It makes you look foolish.
BobG
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The most populated area of Colombia is the capital city of Bogotá, which had an estimated population of 7.93 million in 2024.
London is the most populated area in the United Kingdom. In 2023, the population of London was estimated to be 9.65 million people.
Bogotá is slightly larger than London in terms of surface area, but London has a larger population.
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So what? Just what are you trying to prove? Are you ignorant of how slash and burn works? Do you not comprehend the difference in financial and educational status of the UK and Colombia? Can you not see how that impacts everything - including land use? And, of course you clearly have no idea at all what a difference in population growth of more than 11 percentage points means. Ignoramus.
BobG
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I'm trying to prove the fact that the UK is a much smaller country with a population increasing at a frightening rate also. 13.8% since 2000, and growing.
.... And that's just counting them we know about.
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Thanks for an entertaining thread Bob.
Word of advice tho,don't ever,ever tell a Venezuelan that arepas is a Columbian dish.
You'll be a dead man if you do.
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Hey Bob another for you, La Guajira desert Colombia. It was only a quick mention in a prog' for processed food so I don't know much about it. Worth a look maybe.
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Thank you Iberian. Yes. You are spot on. Lol. My confusion probably came from my friend over there holding a Colombian passport and living there - so I assume Colombian, but in reality hales from San Cristóbal, Venezuela, over the border from Cucuta. Daft actually. I probably know more Venezuelans than I do Colombians. Lol. A Colombian is painting my house right now. A staggeringly hard worker too. I think it's typical. He's good for practising my Spanish too. :)
And thank you Bristol. I've heard of la Guajira but tbh I don't know much about it. If I go back I shall do some research. Ta!
BobG
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It's been a while Bob, a good news story out of Colombia.
''The enchanted car park: how a ruined multistorey became a garden paradise loved by lizards and dog-walkers''
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/jul/02/parque-prado-multi-storey-car-park-garden-paradise-colombia
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Thank you Sydney. I didn't know of this.
Without any doubt whatsoever Medellin is one of the great cities of the world. What makes it so is imagination. Imagination and hard work. This is another example. I am not a person who likes cities. I prefer the peace and quiet of the countryside. But Medellin is one of the very few exceptions that proves the rule. I would be more than happy to live there full time. And unlike most other nice cities, I could afford to live there too. An Englishman with average income would enjoy a rather nice lifestyle.
BobG