Latin America

San Gil San Gil has been dubbed the adventure capital of Colombia, thanks to a variety of outdoor activities including: whitewater rafting, kayaking, caving, hiking, paragliding, mountain biking, and horseback riding. In addition, it acts as a base for exploring Parque Nacional de Chicamocha, as well as Barichara, one of the prettiest pueblos in Colombia. If that’s not enough, it’s also a relaxing place to learn the Colombian game of tejo, and sample the regional cuisine of Santander, including hormigas culonas (ants). Following three nights in Bucaramanga, I took a minivan service to San Gil. The minivans depart the main bus terminal every 30-40 minutes, at a cost of $8.50. One of my favorite spots, Restaurant La Libertad (on the 2nd floor balcony), has a great view of the main plaza. The ride to San Gil takes about three hours, because the bus makes several stops on the way out of Bucaramanga to pick up more passengers. My return ride was shorter at just under two and a half hours. Along the way, you’ll hit some nauseating mountain roads, and pass through the Chicamocha Valley (one of the world’s deepest valleys). For some, these brief views from a van may be sufficient, but I found a separate visit to the park to be a worthwhile endeavor. View of the main plaza from Restaurant La Libertad The minivan let me off at the corner of San Gil’s main plaza. I quickly found Sam’s VIP Hostel, recommended to me by my friend Troy. I checked into a private room with balcony overlooking the plaza for $19 a night, and allowed my stomach a few hours to recover from the winding roads. Gringo Mike’s restaurant Once I was feeling better, I went for a walk around the plaza, and ended up at Gringo Mike’s, an endearing little restaurant started by an expat named Mike back in 2010. Normally I’d run the other way from a restaurant with “gringo” in the name, but the menu held promise, so I took a table for dinner. The Bangkok Belly Buster I ordered the new Bangkok Belly Buster, a red thai curry spiced burger with cucumber, green onions, lettuce, and house ranch served with a side of Thai sweet chili sauce for $6.75. Not only was it one of the best, most flavorful burgers I’ve eaten in Latin America, it was one of the best in my life. It was so good, I felt inspired to write my first restaurant review on TripAdvisor. The central market During the following days, between my side trips to other points of interest, I explored a little more of San Gil Housed in a large yellow building, the main market in San Gil is a few blocks from the plaza, and offers an opportunity to try local fruit drinks and foods. Entrance to Parque Natural El Gallineral Along the malecon (boardwalk) which runs along the river, you can find the Parque Gallineral. Entrance is $3.30, but the park looked like it’d seen better days. One bright spot was the open-air restaurant, which offered a peaceful lunch setting. Overall, I’d recommend skipping the park, unless you’re into birds or the local flora. View of San Gil. The church in the center marks the main plaza. The following is a sample of activities you can book from any number of tour agencies in San Gil: Whitewater rafting: $68 3-day kayaking clinic: $190 Riverboarding: $22 Paragliding at Chicamocha: $92 Abseil the Juan Curry watefalls (60 meters): $24 Caving at Cueva de la Vaca: $14 Horseback riding: $19 Talk to other travelers to get recommendations on which company to use. I passed on them all, more interested in staying dry, and keeping my feet on the ground. In that respect, my trip to San Gil was similar to Ryan’s visit last year. In the next few posts, I’ll be sharing my experiences at Chicamocha, Barichara, and the local tejo parlor. What’s your favorite thing to do in San Gil? _____________ The 138-page, all-original Medellín Travel Guide by David Lee is now available for purchase on Kindle and PDF.

_____________ The 138-page, all-original Medellín Travel Guide by David Lee is now available for purchase on Kindle and PDF.

Forget the shops and restaurants. At El Tesoro, I’d rather sit on the terrace, drink a coffee and enjoy the view of the valley. Something impossible to miss in Medellín is the shopping malls. There are some nice ones. I’m not much of a shopper nor have I ever been but this post isn’t for me, it’s for all of you reading this blog, to give you a guide. Frankly, the best thing about malls, I think, is this parody in the show “How I Met Your Mother.” So, in the words of Robin Sparkles, “Let’s go to the mall!” 1. El Tesoro It’s in one of the city’s wealthiest areas and it fits right in. El Tesoro has everything you could want: great restaurants such as Mis Carnes; great stores such as Adidas; and a great view from its northern terrace. You can see a movie if you’d like too. Just remember to bring enough money if you plan to shop. It’s not cheap. The center of Centro Comercial Oviedo. 2. Oviedo Centro Comercial Oviedo is like El Tesoro, a

Desde lejos se siente el golpe dum, dum… dum. El brazo se eleva sosteniendo un palo grueso y liso, para después caer con fuerza sobre la sábana retorcida. La espuma jabonosa explota con cada golpe y de la tela sale un agua blanca que se mezcla con la del río. Es muy temprano, apenas si ha salido el sol y ya las tendederas esperan por la ropa húmeda que deberá secarse durante la mañana. La mujer está exhausta. Desde que era una adolescente lava así su indumentaria y la de su familia. ¿Qué otra opción tendría? En aquel pueblito perdido en una montaña del oriente, todas sus vecinas lo hacen igual. A veces cuando duerme, su cuerpo se mueve inquieto en la cama y repite el amago de un movimiento: sube… baja… dum… dum… dum. Por estos días al hablar de la emancipación femenina en Cuba se nos trata de persuadir de su alcance, mostrando las cifras de mujeres en el parlamento. Se habla también –en los medios más oficiales- de cuántas han logrado escalar puesto administrativos, estar al frente de una institución, un cent

Going forward, Ryan and I will be compiling monthly posts with local events in Medellin, including notable concerts, festivals, sports events, and holidays. We’re already halfway through May, but hope to be putting future schedules out on the first of each month. Concerts May 25: Ruben Blades  Ruben Blades, a salsa legend, will be performing an outdoor concert on Calle San Juan for free on May 25. To get a taste of Blades style and music, check out the video above, a full 2+ hour concert he performed in Cali seven years ago. Personally, my favorite song is Plastico. Source: Colombia Reports Festivals All month: May for Life May for Life is a “a month-long celebration to promote nonviolence in a city that continues to struggle with its violent perception.” Throughout the month, there will be free concerts, parades, and speaking events. One of the more interesting events, in addition to the Ruben Blades concert (above), is the “Routes of Memory” bus tour, which will take people to

Muro de Berlín  Un tren retumba a través de la ventana. En Berlin siempre hay un tren que suena en algún lugar. Me asomo y veo una realidad bien diferente a la que observó mi padre en aquel 1984 cuando llegó por primera vez a esta ciudad. Maquinista de trenes, había ganado -a golpe de horas voluntarias y mucho trabajo- un viaje al futuro. Si, porque en aquella época la RDA era el horizonte al que muchos cubanos aspiraban a acercarse algún día. Así que a aquel hombre de la locomotora y las mano llenas de grasa, le dieron también un bono para que comprara algo de ropa antes de su salida a Europa. Le tocó un juego de chaqueta y pantalón, además una maleta inmesa en la que mi hermana y yo jugábamos a escondernos. Llegó a Alemania del Este en pleno invierno y se quedó solo dos semanas en una visita guiada, cuyo objetivo principal era demostrarle a los afortunados viajeros las ventajas de aquel modelo. Y mi padre regresó convencido. En el aeropuerto, a la vuelta, venía con una sonrisa de oreja a oreja y con una bol

I LOVE kimchi tacos!!! One of the best foods ever created comes from a food truck. In Los Angeles, two enterprising chefs decided four years ago to blend the foods of two prominent cultures in their sprawling city: Koreans and Mexicans. Thus the kimchi taco was born. They opted to sell the culinary creation out of a food cart, which became a food truck, which became a trend that has caught on in other major metropolitan areas, especially in New York and Washington DC. These food trucks do their announcing and advertising through Twitter and usually nothing more, and they are the reason tweets became a part of my life: I wanted to know where to find TaKorean, the DC food truck that made and sold kimchi tacos. I thought I had seen the last of kimchi tacos when I moved from DC to Medellín. I was wrong. I found out when I went to Carmen one night, because the wait at Chef Burger Bar was 30 minutes and my stomach was growling so I couldn’t wait that long. I decided to go to Carmen, instead of one of the many other

View of Bucaramanga from a shopping center Visiting Bucaramanga was an afterthought. I’ve wanted to visit the pueblo of San Gil, “adventure capital of Colombia,” since 2009, but it wasn’t until recently that Bucaramanga edged its way into my subconscience as well. A few years ago, Medellin was receiving mentions as an up-and-coming retirement destination. As recently as this past February, Bucaramanga received similar accolades from US News & World Report. In my never-ending quest to learn more about Colombia, and figure out if there’s someplace I’d enjoy living more than Medellin, I took a 45-minute EasyFly flight to Bucaramanga. I arrived after dark. The taxi ride from Palonegro airport to Kasa Guane, the city’s only hostel, clicked in at 30 minutes. Ryan had recommended the hostel, and once I arrived, I could see why. They’ve got an incredibly friendly, social community there. I took a simple private room with shared bath for about $20 a night, and then went

Easyfly plane at Aeropuerto Olaya Herrera in Medellin I discovered EasyFly, a discount Colombian airline, in my search for low-cost flights from Medellin to Bucaramanga. A week before my departure, I booked a return flight online for 249,440 pesos ($159), which works out to about $80 each way. But the cost savings didn’t stop with the flights. EasyFly operates out of Medellin’s Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport, meaning I’d save time and money on taxi fare as well. Until now, all my flights to/from the Medellin have been out of the Jose Maria Cordoba International Airport in Rio Negro. The official 2013 taxi fare from the city to the international airport is 57,000 pesos ($31), whereas a taxi from OH Airport costs me about 6,000 pesos ($3), and takes 5-10 minutes (versus an hour). EasyFly began operations in 2007, and has been slowly building a schedule of routes. Daily flights currently serve a mix of 16 cities, from the capital, to ones not serviced by other major airlines. The three flight hu

This song is one of my favorites from dance class, and it just so happened to be the song I last danced to before my salsa teacher, Yamile, left Medellin for London a few weeks ago. _____________ The 138-page, all-original Medellín Travel Guide by David Lee is now available for purchase on Kindle and PDF.