I left Dallas on the 30th and had some lovely people send me off.
I then had to drive from Dallas, through New Mexico and Arizona, to Henderson without air conditioning in my car. I did this on purpose to train myself for life near the equator. Mental toughness is key. (It was actually just broken, no radio either).
Then it was off to East Lansing for the Oregon-MSU game. I saw some people I know there.
On the 16th I arrived in Cartagena, Colombia. It’s a lovely old city on the Caribbean coast with a historic colonial-style district and some cool old walls.
I’ve been eating a lot of Arepas since it’s such a popular street food. Fried bread filled with cheese, meat or whatever else they want to put in it. Versatile.
I then left Cartagena for Santa Marta. My hostel, as you can see below, used to belong to someone in the drug trade.
I then embarked on a four day trek through the jungle/mountains to some ruins *circa 700 AD* at Ciudad Perdida. It’s by far the best thing I’ve done so far.
I then went to Tayrona National Park and spent the night in a tent where I was simultaneously sweating profusely and being rained on. Cool place nonetheless.
I’m now in Medellin (took a flight, decided to skip the 18 hour bus ride).
Notes:
– Narcos on Netflix is more proof that if you make a show about zombies or drug lords people will look past any glaring flaws.
– One of the cool things about traveling like this is that all the other travelers you meet are also super progressive. This practice is wholly incompatible with Western conservative beliefs. I’m not sure what the conservative equivalent would be. Maybe a cruise or a long weekend at a four star hotel near a golf course.
– When Europeans ask me why the U.S has such lax gun laws I just can’t come up with a good reason. Same goes for questions about our healthcare system.
– It’s clear that I’m incredibly biased against half of America. Actually this is a very strong form of prejudice at the moment. Great read:
http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/
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