29th Oct - Cali Day 1

Shattered today and I needed a bank. No joy in the first couple and fear was it wouldn't work in Colombia. That would be an utter disaster as I've only one card left! Eventually I found one to work which was brilliant.

Walked around town for about an hour, eventually found a small place that did fruit juice. Started chatting to a few girls who were in there on their lunch break. I needed a new pair of shoes and wondered if they could point out a shoe shop. With typical Colombian hospitality, they insisted on walking with me for over an hour, going to different shoe shops, advising on what was nice and eventually I got a lovely pair of shoes and a lovely photo. Brilliant girls!

Lovely girls and lovely shoes!

Everyone in Cali is so sound. No one points out directions. Everyone walks with you. I asked a security guard at a school where the tourist office was. Walked with me for a couple of blocks and he kept looking back with a guilty look on his face as if to say "yeah, I should be guarding the kids really!"

So a good day spent wandering around the town. One bizarre thing I've begun to notice is that mobile calls are v expensive. So people on the street set up stalls and sell mobile minutes. This is bizarre to me but it's quite common to see 2 or 3 people at a stall making calls to mobiles! Like this woman here, she's talking on a phone owned by the lad in the flourescent jacket. The phone is attached to his jacket by a wire. These lads are absolutely everywhere ie every 50 metres or so in places!



Quick phone call!



Had a bite to eat later and in the hostel, I ran into two French lads who I played poker with back in La Paz, my 3rd night in South America! Gas lads, we ended up going on the lash. The lads had heard about this great place but we'd to get a taxi there, drove for about half an hour, lost, eventually found it! It was pretty much empty! Nightmare! Drove for another half an hour somewhere else, empty. A dreadful old man was giving a "concert" in this disaster of a place we ended up in! Empty except for old girls in their 60s. So so bad that it was weirdly enjoyable!

Different club then which was almost as bad. I hit the wall then and taxied home. A hilarious disaster of a night!