1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,600 Welcome to the Once Upon a Trip podcast, where we dive deep into sharing everything 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:12,560 crazy travel stories, dating adventures, culture fusions, and plenty of takeaways to entertain 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,680 and feed your inner curiosity and travel bug. 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:23,640 I'm your host, Mary Grace Crawford, travel enthusiast, content creator, ex-digital nomad, 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:33,480 avid storyteller, and lover of all things Europe, based now in Atlanta, Georgia. 6 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,960 When I say that I didn't script this episode, I really didn't. 7 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:42,600 I didn't even script the intro that you're listening to right now. 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,800 So I hope that this turns out okay. 9 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,800 I want to start off by saying hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,120 time of the day it is for you. 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:53,240 Welcome back. 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,600 I'm really thrilled that you're here with us today. 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:03,240 Marco and I just got back from a trip with three of our friends to Cartagena, Colombia, 14 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:09,720 and also to another part of Colombia called Parque Tairona, which is kind of another rainforest 15 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:10,720 region. 16 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,000 I apologize in advance if I sound a little bit stuffy. 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,240 I hope I'm not getting sick. 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:24,440 I think the temperature change between Colombia and Georgia has had some effect on some congestion, 19 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,520 but I hope that you can't hear it too much. 20 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,520 I just celebrated my 29th birthday in Colombia. 21 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,680 It was a great day, and I know that many of you sent some wonderful birthday wishes on 22 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,360 a completely separate note. 23 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,800 Thank you so much for those wonderful wishes because they really, really did mean a huge 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,360 deal to me. 25 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:47,920 It was a really great day. 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:53,920 It rained on the evening of my birthday, which wasn't part of the plan, but I think it's 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,560 fine because I'm fortunate in general for many other things. 28 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,960 I will say though that I am really thrilled to be home now. 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:07,160 I have missed the fall weather here in the Southeast. 30 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:13,440 I'm happy to finally be able to wear a sweater again because in Colombia it was hot and it 31 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:14,960 was humid. 32 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:20,740 This was my very, not my very first time, but this was my first time in a very long 33 00:02:20,740 --> 00:02:25,940 time traveling in a group of more than about three people. 34 00:02:25,940 --> 00:02:32,680 There were five of us total, so it was quite an adjustment from my solo traveling slash 35 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,120 traveling with just one or two other people. 36 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,760 I think it's good to travel both with people and on your own. 37 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:39,980 More on that later. 38 00:02:39,980 --> 00:02:45,260 It was overall a very valuable learning experience before I start rambling on a little bit too 39 00:02:45,260 --> 00:02:46,260 much here. 40 00:02:46,260 --> 00:02:49,800 I am going to go ahead and start opening up this episode. 41 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:56,820 This is just going to be a combination of thoughts and lessons learned in Colombia by 42 00:02:56,820 --> 00:02:59,880 both me and by Marco. 43 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:04,360 So without further ado, here we go with the episode ahead. 44 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:10,560 I hope you enjoy and take something away just like I say every single week. 45 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:15,400 Okay, so we are rolling and we are literally winging this. 46 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:20,880 We're just going to talk and have a conversation about some thoughts and some lessons that 47 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,000 we learned in Colombia where we recently were. 48 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,760 Let's start with you, Marco. 49 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:33,480 What are some things you learned and enjoyed or didn't enjoy about our time in both Cartagena, 50 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,520 Colombia and the rainforest in Tairona, Colombia? 51 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:43,720 The biggest takeaway was that the disparity as far as development between city and rural 52 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,840 country is quite significant. 53 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,240 Way more significant than you would find that in a nation like the US. 54 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:57,360 Despite very apparent poverty and lack of resources, people seemed still very happy. 55 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,560 There was loud music, people were dancing. 56 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,360 I feel like there's not a single lonely person in Colombia. 57 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,280 They're just all sitting together and eating and drinking and blasting loud music. 58 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:08,560 Very, very loud music. 59 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,560 Yeah, I feel like Colombians must be hard of hearing. 60 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,200 I think they really are. 61 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,640 Yeah, that is definitely something that I also noticed. 62 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:19,260 Colombians love to party. 63 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:25,840 They love to be social and loud and blast music like your ears have never heard before. 64 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:27,580 Like a whole other level. 65 00:04:27,580 --> 00:04:31,180 Even for me, their energy was just a lot. 66 00:04:31,180 --> 00:04:36,240 Let's talk more about Cartagena specifically and then we'll go on to talk about our other 67 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:37,240 experiences. 68 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,840 What are your thoughts on Cartagena? 69 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:43,840 I found it beautiful, especially the old historic town. 70 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:48,640 There's a lot of history with the European or the Spanish settlement of South America 71 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,280 that began there. 72 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:52,980 And the architecture is just beautiful. 73 00:04:52,980 --> 00:04:59,000 What was funny too was that our trip, unbeknownst to us, coincided with their annual independence 74 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,440 festival, or whatever you want to call it. 75 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:07,920 Cartagena's independence, their 213th year of gaining independence from Spain. 76 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,960 So this was the week that we were there. 77 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,240 And apparently they really party. 78 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,320 Not just like in the US, 4th of July, a couple of fireworks. 79 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,120 No, they are dancing in the streets. 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,440 Every community, it doesn't matter if it's students from school or if it's... 81 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,720 Literally everyone is just singing and dancing through the streets. 82 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:29,720 So that was kind of cool. 83 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:30,720 Everything's very colorful. 84 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:31,720 That was really nice. 85 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:32,720 I enjoyed it. 86 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:33,720 How about you? 87 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:42,520 I enjoyed it, but I will say I think that Marco enjoyed it more than I did because, 88 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:48,040 and apparently this is very common in a lot of Latin American countries, the salespeople 89 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,360 pestering the fuck out of us was horrible. 90 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:58,520 Like we went to the most beautiful, not beautiful, but we went to the most popular beach in Cartagena 91 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:00,960 and that is called Boca Grande. 92 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:06,720 Boca Grande beach was just an experience when it came to the salespeople. 93 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,960 It was so unnecessarily much. 94 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:11,560 I couldn't stand it. 95 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,440 Like we literally would walk on the beach and constantly there was somebody trying to 96 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,560 get in our faces, sell us something. 97 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:25,140 One of our friends who was with us actually had a random woman touch her feet and want 98 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:27,120 to be charged money for it. 99 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,720 So I mean it was like unnecessary pestering and I really was not a fan of that. 100 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:39,680 But yes, they were pestering, but I personally, I never felt like threatened by them. 101 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,180 It was never sketchy. 102 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:47,800 Even when we were, well granted, not on many occasions, but when we went outside the historic 103 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:53,960 old town or even when we were in rural Columbia, I was never afraid to be like pickpocketed 104 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,920 or mugged or whatever. 105 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,120 In that respect, I don't quite understand the State Department's assessment of Columbia, 106 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,720 especially that region because they're like, oh, you know, warning level, I don't know, 107 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,200 warning level, reconsider your travel. 108 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:07,480 You might not want to go. 109 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:12,320 And I feel like this was way safer than most US cities. 110 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,520 So I don't know what they were talking about. 111 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,240 It's kind of ironic. 112 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,980 You would think that looking on the streets of some of the Colombian villages, you would 113 00:07:20,980 --> 00:07:25,160 think that it's very poor, very impoverished, but you feel safe. 114 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,440 Yeah, with the State Department, I guess obviously politics are involved in making those decisions 115 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:31,560 and assessments. 116 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:38,360 I also didn't feel unsafe, but I do want to talk about the police stop that we had. 117 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,780 Marco was a bit freaked out when we had that. 118 00:07:40,780 --> 00:07:45,720 So do you want to talk about getting stopped by the police on our first night? 119 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,080 I was not driving, but we were, so we were the five of us. 120 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,240 We were in a rental car and we were driving from Catahena to Tijuana, which was a good 121 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:58,000 four hour drive, four hours east of Catahena. 122 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:04,960 And it was like six, six in the evening, which this time of year is just night. 123 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:05,960 It's pitch black. 124 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,920 We were just driving out of, I think, Barranquilla. 125 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,840 There are cops that are just waving us down and pulling us over. 126 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,480 I believe they did that because for one thing, there was not a lot of traffic and our car 127 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,440 kind of stood out because for the average car that you see on the streets, we had a 128 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:28,000 pretty nice car, pretty nice rental car, pretty new, clean, not beat to crap. 129 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,920 It was, it was a good car, a Mazda. 130 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:30,920 Yeah. 131 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,720 I think based on that, they pulled us over since I didn't know how Colombian police act, 132 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,100 you know, they could be, you know, they could be a bunch of crooks. 133 00:08:37,100 --> 00:08:38,480 They could give you a hard time. 134 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:42,680 They could arrest you or they could seek a bribe or something, but it was none of that. 135 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:44,620 So that was actually a pretty positive experience. 136 00:08:44,620 --> 00:08:50,360 They were very friendly, very, very chill despite the funny language barrier, but we 137 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:51,360 managed. 138 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:56,640 The other thing about being in Colombia, going off of that is the language barrier. 139 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:03,320 The language, if you don't know Spanish and you go to Colombia, I don't want to say you 140 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:08,280 will have trouble, but you will have a definitely harder time. 141 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,440 If you don't learn at least basic Spanish, you really, really, really need it in a place 142 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:14,480 like Colombia. 143 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,520 I think though that this is not exclusive to Colombia. 144 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:18,520 I think this is not. 145 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,280 I mean, as far as Spanish speak, I think all Spanish speakers. 146 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:26,600 Spanish speaking countries, including Spain and all Latin American countries are that 147 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:27,600 way. 148 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,840 I mean, I've only, I've only been to, to Spain and to Mexico and now Colombia and in all 149 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:36,800 three countries, it was very, especially somewhere outside, not in like a touristy kind of hotel 150 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:37,800 or something. 151 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:38,800 Yeah. 152 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,800 A couple of words of Spanish or definitely important because otherwise you're, you create 153 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:44,800 misunderstandings. 154 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,920 A lot of misunderstandings. 155 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,520 I think the biggest thing that I personally learned in Colombia was just the socioeconomic 156 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:54,520 difference. 157 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,980 Sort of like Marco was talking about in the beginning, people pester the fuck out of you 158 00:09:59,980 --> 00:10:05,720 for money, but at the same time, they are so desperate and just seeing that everywhere 159 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,240 you go is kind of sad. 160 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:13,200 Honestly, like, yeah, people pester you, but it's because they have no other choice. 161 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,560 I don't know if they're, if they're, if all of them are necessarily desperate. 162 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,760 I think it's just easy money. 163 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:24,560 Like any kind of Western tourists, even if one out of 10 gives you money, that is just 164 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:25,840 easy money. 165 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:27,920 So I don't, I don't know if really all of them are desperate. 166 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:29,560 I think it's just easy money for them. 167 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:30,760 There were hardly any beggars. 168 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:38,440 It was, they were all selling like something hats and sunglasses and cigars and especially 169 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,760 Cuban cigars and when you, when you, you know, when they tried, many of them, when you, when 170 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:48,280 you went past them, then they whispered that they also sell cocaine, which was funny. 171 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:53,640 So yeah, every, like every, it felt like every other sales guy was, was also selling cocaine. 172 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:54,640 Yeah. 173 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:59,120 We actually got stopped, I think on at least two occasions by the local police and caught 174 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:00,120 one. 175 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:01,880 It was, I thought it was twice. 176 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,240 Well, the first time was a, was the car stop. 177 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:05,240 Well, that's right. 178 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:11,080 But we were, we were stopped literally walking on the street by police once and they were 179 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:12,480 checking for cocaine. 180 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,960 Yeah, they wanted, they wanted, yeah, they checked our bags, wanted our passports and 181 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:22,680 Columbia, in that, in that regard, I'm, well, I hate to say it's really living up to its 182 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:23,680 stereotype. 183 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:24,680 Yeah. 184 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:25,680 Cocaine is very present. 185 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:26,680 Widespread. 186 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:27,680 Yeah. 187 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:28,680 Very present. 188 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:34,920 Another thing that I learned and did not like about Columbia, at least compared to the first 189 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:40,880 time that I went to Medellin almost two years ago is the humidity. 190 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:42,080 Oh my gosh. 191 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,800 It was horrible. 192 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:49,760 It felt like walking into this dry sauna every single day, all times of the day, like it 193 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:51,360 didn't get better in the evenings. 194 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:52,840 It is horrible. 195 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,880 If you are not used to this, and even if you are, I think it's not a pleasant experience, 196 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,680 but I don't know how Marco feels about the humidity. 197 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,600 It wasn't, wasn't pleasant, but it was still very interesting. 198 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,880 I have never been this close to the equator. 199 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,960 So we were like 10 degrees north latitude. 200 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,320 That's reinforced. 201 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,760 That's in the middle of the rainforest, especially when we went to Parque de Tarrona. 202 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:20,320 We were in the rainforest, which is beautiful too, because it's just lush. 203 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:21,320 Everything is just green. 204 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:22,320 It really is. 205 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,320 Densely grown. 206 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:24,920 It is, that's very impressive. 207 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,260 And you just see banana trees and just, yeah, like for breakfast, basically you could just 208 00:12:29,260 --> 00:12:32,020 go out and pick a banana or whatever fruit. 209 00:12:32,020 --> 00:12:34,040 So that I found impressive. 210 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:35,040 Yeah. 211 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:40,280 The humidity, honestly, it's not that much worse than summer in Atlanta. 212 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:45,000 But I guess because it was November, it just, I know it's rainy season. 213 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,560 I mean, no matter what time of the year it is, it's not pleasant. 214 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:54,000 I still think that it does, it felt kind of not worse than Georgia, but it felt pretty 215 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,000 similar. 216 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,000 It was okay. 217 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,200 Also, we were very active. 218 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:05,240 We were walking a lot and we had the luxury of having air conditioning in our accommodations. 219 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,160 The average Colombian does not have that. 220 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,240 So yeah, we shouldn't whine so much. 221 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,240 That's okay. 222 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:15,200 No, we shouldn't whine so much, but I'm just saying for me, at least personally, I just 223 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:16,200 was very uncomfortable. 224 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,080 Well, you sweat more than me. 225 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,240 So I do. 226 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:25,640 And I also have eczema, which I don't know if anybody listening here has eczema, but 227 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:26,840 everyone wants to hear that. 228 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:27,840 Yeah. 229 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,240 No, but I'm saying like it's, it's important. 230 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:36,160 No, I'm just, I'm justifying my reasons. 231 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,680 Colombia also is extremely cash heavy. 232 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,480 So if you go to Colombia, you better bring cash. 233 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,520 Yeah, but this is, you're exaggerating. 234 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:45,520 It's not. 235 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:46,520 I'm not exaggerating. 236 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:47,520 Yes. 237 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:48,520 Okay. 238 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,260 Compared to the United States where these days, basically you can get by with just credit 239 00:13:50,260 --> 00:13:52,660 cards and Apple pay and whatever it is. 240 00:13:52,660 --> 00:13:57,760 So there are a couple of places where you absolutely needed cash, but compared to my 241 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,640 trip to Yucatan in Mexico last year, it was nowhere near as bad. 242 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,160 Like Yucatan, Mexico was very, very, very cash heavy. 243 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:12,200 Whereas in Colombia, pretty much any store we went to, you accepted credit cards. 244 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:16,520 The only significant time where I think everyone had to pay in cash, even though I don't think 245 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:21,880 we ever asked if we could have paid by card, were the, the countless road tolls. 246 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:22,880 Yes. 247 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,040 And that is the next thing that we discovered and really learned from Colombia. 248 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:28,040 Oh my gosh. 249 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:32,640 The number of road tolls in Colombia is insane. 250 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:39,920 Like in a four hour period of driving, we went through seven tolls and paid a total 251 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:48,120 or the equivalent of 21 US dollars, which on a Colombian salary, that's, that's a lot 252 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,240 in tolls and that's one direction. 253 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,760 I don't, I don't remember exactly how many miles we drove, maybe like 130 miles one way. 254 00:14:55,760 --> 00:15:00,080 So yeah, so we were basically 20 something dollars, 430 miles. 255 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,280 Well I will say that the roads were in good condition. 256 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:03,360 There were hardly any potholes. 257 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,320 It was actually very smooth. 258 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,400 So I would say the money at least seems to be going to road maintenance. 259 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,720 But I just wonder why there are that many tolls for that distance. 260 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:21,760 Like I felt like we would drive maybe two miles and then hit another toll and then pay 261 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:23,120 again and then hit another toll. 262 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,640 Well, the Colombians, I mean, from, from what we've seen, the Colombians don't seem to be 263 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:32,280 happy with that either because we saw quite a, quite a number of cars that had a kind 264 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:37,360 of an anti toll movement sticker on the, you know, on their cars. 265 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,400 And if you, when you think about it, I mean, just that having a toll is one thing, but 266 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:48,800 also that it's for this distance, that it's a $20 one way on a Colombian salary, that 267 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,040 must be quite some financial stress. 268 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:57,240 I mean, I actually Googled the average Colombian salary and I don't know if it's accurate because 269 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:02,560 Colombia is a fairly big country and it obviously varies from big city to big city. 270 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:10,080 But my general consensus is they make between or the average Colombian probably makes between 271 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,480 500 to 800 US dollars a month. 272 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:20,640 And when you're paying $20 and tolls for one direction, yeah, that is a really huge 273 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,040 burden honestly. 274 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,640 I think I would say that for the average Colombian probably motoring. 275 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:35,360 So having a car is by far the biggest challenge to finance because groceries, except maybe 276 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,120 dairy because you know, there's not a lot of livestock at least where we were. 277 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:44,720 Everything is just very fruit based, but yeah, groceries seems quite affordable, but I guess 278 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,040 having a car, putting up with the tolls. 279 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:52,280 I don't know what they pay in insurance and tax or whatever, but also gasoline costs very 280 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:53,960 similar to what it costs here in the US. 281 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:59,640 So it was like $3.30 per gallon, which I found funny by the way, that Colombia, which is 282 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:05,800 a totally metrified country, using the metric system, sells gasoline in gallons. 283 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,360 That's the most random thing. 284 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:11,960 Everything else is metric, but then, you know, when they buy gas, it's in gallons. 285 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:13,720 That's really weird and really funny. 286 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,840 I don't know why they take after gallons like the US, but they do. 287 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:19,280 So fun fact. 288 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,680 Another funny thing that we experienced in Colombia was when we were driving to Cartagena 289 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:30,600 from Tairona, so from kind of the, well, all of it is the north of Colombia. 290 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:37,120 We were driving through these small villages on a, I guess it was a Monday or Tuesday. 291 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:39,480 And of course it was the work week or work day. 292 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,280 Yeah, it was a Monday morning, like 10 AM. 293 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,000 So yes, it was a Monday morning, 10 AM. 294 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,960 And it was just so interesting to see how people go about their work day compared to 295 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,640 Europe and the US. 296 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,440 Like, it really didn't seem like they were productive at all. 297 00:17:54,440 --> 00:18:00,760 Like they don't have a consistent nine to five, like many of us Americans and Europeans 298 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:01,760 seem to know. 299 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,460 They were just kind of all over the place. 300 00:18:03,460 --> 00:18:04,940 They were just chilling. 301 00:18:04,940 --> 00:18:09,540 Some of them were on the streets, riding their bikes and riding motorcycles. 302 00:18:09,540 --> 00:18:11,440 It was just so amusing to me. 303 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:17,040 So just seeing how different their work dynamic was, was quite interesting. 304 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:18,840 Yeah, no same here. 305 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,960 I mean, it's probably very different between again, between city and kind of rural, but 306 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,840 yeah, we were all kind of flabbergasted thinking, hey, how do they make a living? 307 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:29,840 Like what? 308 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:30,840 Yeah, it's like, do they work? 309 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:35,280 Monday, 10 AM, you should be busy doing something. 310 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,280 And they did not look busy. 311 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,280 Like at all. 312 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:38,280 They really didn't. 313 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:39,280 Yeah. 314 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,120 And also I found funny, that was like a car wash. 315 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:46,600 It said was a big sign car wash, but it was literally an empty parking space with a dude 316 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,080 that had a hose and like a couple of sponges. 317 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:51,360 That was like car wash. 318 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:56,120 I was like, oh, the Colombian style car wash. 319 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:57,120 Not very sophisticated. 320 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:00,360 No, I mean, a lot of their stuff was not sophisticated. 321 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:04,220 And again, I don't know if we stated this already, but one thing that I really loved 322 00:19:04,220 --> 00:19:09,360 about the villages when driving through them, at least on our first night was seeing how 323 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,200 happy people really seem to be. 324 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,000 Like they didn't have TVs. 325 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,200 I don't even know if some of them had electricity. 326 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:22,720 It seemed like, and everybody was just out on their porches talking to each other, blasting 327 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,240 music, having a good time. 328 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:31,880 And they seemed happier than I think many, many Americans and Europeans do, even though 329 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:33,800 they have so much less. 330 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:40,400 So that was just astounding and kind of enlightening, but also kind of sad in a way to see like, 331 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,080 wow, the Western world has a lot, but we don't seem happier. 332 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:45,200 It puts things in perspective. 333 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:51,440 I'm sure there are here in the U S there are probably countless miserable millionaires. 334 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:52,440 Oh yeah. 335 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:57,200 Whereas in Colombia, there are people that have literally nothing and they're just dancing 336 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,800 and laughing through the day. 337 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:05,800 Yeah, no, I mean, I think I remember even when we were hiking at the Taitona national 338 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:11,640 park, I think we even saw children playing in kind of dirty river water and they were 339 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,560 laughing and having fun and they looked happy. 340 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:19,080 And we were just like, wow, it really does put, it does put it into perspective. 341 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:20,080 Yeah. 342 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,400 The weather, I guess the weather makes a difference too, I guess. 343 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:23,400 And they don't know any better. 344 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:24,400 I mean, that's just how they grow up. 345 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:25,400 They're very social. 346 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,280 There's no loneliness. 347 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,000 I guess it's a total, totally different way of life. 348 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,440 Now, of course that changes from small villages to big cities. 349 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,360 Because when we were in Cartagena, I think it was a little bit different. 350 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:41,040 People in the big cities still didn't exactly seem the same. 351 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:48,600 They seemed more stressed, more desperate for money again, not nearly as carefree as 352 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,760 those in the very poor villages. 353 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:51,760 True. 354 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,080 It's two different groups of people. 355 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:55,080 Definitely. 356 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,680 There's something that we saw or that we kind of assumed already, I guess. 357 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:04,640 But what was pretty much confirmed during the trip is that Shakira really is a big deal 358 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:05,640 there. 359 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:06,640 Oh yeah, she is. 360 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:07,640 Yes. 361 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,800 We actually traveled to Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla. 362 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:16,600 And I guess it's like an hour, maybe a little bit more outside of Cartagena. 363 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,160 And yeah, there is this massive statue, massive Shakira statue. 364 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,320 She has a statue right off the coast to the, you know, right off the Caribbean coast. 365 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:25,320 Yeah. 366 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:26,320 And it's packed with people. 367 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:31,040 Like, I mean, granted, I don't think there were many American or European tourists, but 368 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:37,080 we went during a work day and it was just flooded with all sorts of people. 369 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,960 There are buses carting tourists there. 370 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,440 Everyone wants to see that statue. 371 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,200 I mean, we did drive into Barranquilla afterwards and grabbed some lunch. 372 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:52,160 But as far as sites, also when we did some research, there didn't seem to be a lot of 373 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,400 kind of tourist attractions in Barranquilla. 374 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,720 No, it's a very industrial city, like of a million people. 375 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,000 It's more residential. 376 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,600 It's not really for tourists. 377 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:07,920 It's just simply where Shakira was born and she just spent a good part of her life there. 378 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:08,920 Born and raised, I think. 379 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,760 And then when she made it, she left. 380 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:11,760 Yeah. 381 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:12,760 Yeah. 382 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,480 So I think some Colombians call her like a fake Colombian because I mean, she's not 383 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:17,480 there anymore. 384 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:18,480 Well, I get it. 385 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,400 I mean, probably some people think she's a sellout or something. 386 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:23,400 Yeah. 387 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,960 But yeah, she's still like also on billboards and like some on advertising, they like to 388 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:30,840 use her face. 389 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:32,880 So it's not completely gone. 390 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:39,160 Another thing we liked about Barranquilla was the local cuisine experience that we got 391 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,480 to have when we were there. 392 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:47,480 The cost of traveling in Colombia in general is really a good bang for your buck if you 393 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,960 are American or European traveling there. 394 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,560 So your money goes further. 395 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:57,200 And I think our cheapest meal for a group of five was in Barranquilla and it was very 396 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,120 good quality. 397 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:05,840 It was 28 US dollars for five people, like in a sit down restaurant where you eat with 398 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:12,360 a porcelain plate, porcelain silverware and pretty good food and pretty good service. 399 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:14,200 Like people seem to really care. 400 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,680 Well, but we have to say though, it was okay. 401 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,280 Well, it was not touristic. 402 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:23,320 So that's, that's, it was really amongst the, it was very local, the actual people. 403 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,240 So we kind of, we definitely kind of stood out there, but it was kind of a cafeteria 404 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,960 style, like it was over the counter, but still like the seating accommodations were nice. 405 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,360 You still, as you said, you, which is mind boggling for Americans, you actually got a 406 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:41,920 porcelain plate and metal silverware, not like plastic, not the plastic stuff that you 407 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:48,160 get here, even in pretty decent hotels where you eat off of paper plates and with plastic 408 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:49,160 silverware. 409 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:56,040 So, so as far as like the eating culture, eating like food quality, the portion sizes, 410 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:57,040 that was really good. 411 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:02,240 Like I, I don't know about you, but I didn't have a single bad meal throughout the trip. 412 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,240 No, I also didn't have a single bad meal, but there was one time when we had a local 413 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:15,240 snack food called Pataconis, which is like this plantain smashed circle kind of thing. 414 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,640 I don't know how to describe it. 415 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,240 Anyway, that's a very, it's a very common food in Columbia. 416 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:25,760 And I had that for one of our meals and one of them was kind of stale. 417 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,480 I was not happy with that, but other than that, it was, yes, it was excellent food. 418 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:36,040 Very, very heavy on rice, very rich in terms of fruits. 419 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:42,440 No, very, very good stuff and amazing tacos, or at least the place we went to in Cartagena. 420 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,800 Definitely, definitely a recommendation. 421 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,200 You know, you can get really good lemonades or also alcoholic beverages. 422 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,960 Like, you know, they make good cocktails. 423 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:51,960 Yeah. 424 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:57,460 You can definitely tell that the social aspect of life and good food and good drinks are 425 00:24:57,460 --> 00:25:00,440 a very big priority for Colombians. 426 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:05,820 I really especially love their juices because the thing is their juices were like smoothies. 427 00:25:05,820 --> 00:25:10,920 Like they were very thick whenever, like in the very beginning when we first arrived. 428 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,240 And I think Marco and some other people ordered a mango juice. 429 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,160 I was just expecting, okay, it's probably just like a liquid mango. 430 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,160 It was like a smoothie. 431 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:26,840 From an actual mango, like especially when we had in our first accommodation in Pocahontas 432 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:32,800 or close to Pocahontas, which was basically a house in the middle of the rainforest, in 433 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:33,800 the middle of the jungle. 434 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:34,800 It was incredible. 435 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:41,320 And when we had breakfast there, I basically had the feeling that she went back and picked 436 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,800 it from a mango tree, fresh, and squeezed it. 437 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,480 That's how it looked and tasted. 438 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,720 It was very incredible. 439 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,800 Very rich, very authentic. 440 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:51,800 Yes. 441 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:56,080 And the place in Barranquilla where we went to, one of our friends found this place on 442 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:01,160 TikTok and it was very, I think it's something very worth recommending. 443 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,680 It's called Narco Bollo. 444 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,960 So if you're ever in Barranquilla or you're ever in Colombia and you happen to stop by 445 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:13,520 Barranquilla, definitely stop at Narco Bollo because you will not be disappointed. 446 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:18,880 But only during the day because I wasn't sure how that area was at night because there was 447 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,000 like a security dude in front of the building. 448 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,080 That was the funniest thing. 449 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,840 There was a security guard in front of the restaurant door during the day. 450 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,120 I was like, what is this? 451 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:35,560 Maybe our safety kind of feeling is a little bit deceiving here. 452 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:36,660 But yeah, it was. 453 00:26:36,660 --> 00:26:40,200 So just as a disclaimer, don't go there at night. 454 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:46,120 Let's talk a little bit about the traffic and riding through the roads, especially in 455 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:47,120 Cartagena. 456 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,200 Well, the rural roads weren't any better. 457 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:56,280 In Cartagena, I think as one of our friends described it, it's an experience that's defined 458 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:58,240 by organized chaos. 459 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,040 So you have a lot of motorcycles, a lot of motorbikes, and then you have a lot of cars, 460 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:07,800 and then you have some flooding in the roads and you drive through it and you have to... 461 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,760 People are constantly going everywhere and it's like not... 462 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:15,120 You feel like you're going to crash and cause an accident, but I don't think we saw a single 463 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,640 accident when we were there. 464 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:23,680 Also, the vehicles seem to be in pretty good shape apart from the rust because they're 465 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,520 right next to the ocean. 466 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,680 But they're not dented or... 467 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:34,880 Especially in Southern Europe, for example, where they show a similar behavior, the cars 468 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,440 are beat to shit. 469 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:41,860 And there, everything looked okay, which is remarkable given how they drive. 470 00:27:41,860 --> 00:27:43,180 There is no road discipline. 471 00:27:43,180 --> 00:27:46,880 It is all over the place, literally all over the place. 472 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,720 And the most essential feature of every car is the horn. 473 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,920 They're just honking all day long. 474 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:58,640 You always have to check for bikes because they come... 475 00:27:58,640 --> 00:27:59,640 Out of nowhere. 476 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:00,640 You have to sit in the car. 477 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,260 I wasn't driving, our friend was driving, but you basically have to be like a lighthouse. 478 00:28:04,260 --> 00:28:07,400 You have to look all around all the time. 479 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,080 But in a way, people are not reckless. 480 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:11,720 They're still looking after each other. 481 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:13,880 They're anticipating what other people do. 482 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,120 They are probably the better drivers compared to the average American. 483 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:19,120 Yes. 484 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:23,320 Kind of a weird thought, but that's true. 485 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:24,840 They still manage their... 486 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,640 Nothing ever happened despite them driving totally... 487 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:30,820 All over the place. 488 00:28:30,820 --> 00:28:31,820 Just all over the place. 489 00:28:31,820 --> 00:28:32,820 Yeah. 490 00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:36,720 Their horn or their constant honking wasn't so much like, get out of my way. 491 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,400 It was more of a sign of, hey, I'm here. 492 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:40,760 Don't run over me. 493 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:41,820 It's not hostile. 494 00:28:41,820 --> 00:28:44,320 It's just like, hey, I'm just letting you know. 495 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:45,680 I'm next to you. 496 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,680 It's really an experience. 497 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,240 But when you see it for the first time, even if you're not driving, you're just like, oh 498 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,400 my God, how are we going to make it? 499 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:58,360 I guess another thing that I learned about Columbia or at least about Cartagena specifically 500 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:03,080 was I didn't realize how diverse it was in terms of demographics. 501 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,920 Cartagena is very heavy on Afro-Columbians. 502 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:12,240 There's a very huge African influence and you can feel that on the streets. 503 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:18,880 You can feel that in their spirit and in their street parades and in their bars and their 504 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,480 just city landscape. 505 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:22,640 It's really fascinating. 506 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:27,040 And I think before I at least went to Cartagena, I didn't know that. 507 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:33,560 45% of Cartagena, I think of the locals at least have some sort of African roots. 508 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,360 So compared to Medellin and some other places where it's more European and more... 509 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:39,360 Indigenous too, right? 510 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:40,360 Yes, and indigenous. 511 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,240 I mean, I don't have that comparison because I haven't been to other... 512 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,680 I haven't been to Medellin like you. 513 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:52,080 Do you have any other things you'd like to share about Columbia or things that you saw, 514 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:56,440 things that you learned, things that you witnessed, things that you'd recommend, things you wish 515 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,600 you would have known before going any of those things? 516 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,760 We did a pretty good tour, I think. 517 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:04,760 We didn't cheap out. 518 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,000 The things that we were interested in, we just did. 519 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,500 The only thing that was a little bit tricky was in Cartagena finding postcards and also 520 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:13,680 posting them. 521 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,360 That was a bit of a challenge, much more so than I thought it would have been. 522 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:23,640 I had to Google and Google and Google to find the one store that had a mailbox or that even 523 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,120 sold stamps. 524 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,640 That was a little bit peculiar, but no, everything else worked out really well. 525 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:35,520 I guess for me again, I've probably been acting like a broken record, at least not in terms 526 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,100 of recording this episode. 527 00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:42,840 I mean, in terms of being outside of it, I really was just so bothered by the constant 528 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:43,840 pestering. 529 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:45,120 I think Marco knows that. 530 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:46,960 Yeah, I've been complaining a lot about it. 531 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:51,400 I think out of every single place that I have been to up to this point in my life, I just 532 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:59,200 have never experienced this constant pestering, constant salespeople getting in your face, 533 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:00,640 constant bothering you. 534 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,080 Even we took a boat tour. 535 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,840 I think even on the boat tour, we were pestered on that too. 536 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,600 It was ridiculous on jet skis. 537 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:16,480 Somewhere really way into the water, not even close to the shoreline. 538 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:23,400 There are just people on little kayaks and little boats just coming towards your boat 539 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,760 and trying to sell you stuff, food and whatever, on the water. 540 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:28,760 That was a lot. 541 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,560 I mean, it was another level. 542 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,000 Basically like an ice cream truck, but just- 543 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:34,000 On jet skis. 544 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,760 Yeah, just as a boat or a jet ski. 545 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:42,560 And not only one, but two of them, I think, approached our boat and was, I mean, just 546 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:43,560 like they were constantly doing stuff. 547 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:49,360 It was a shark tank of salespeople, but it didn't bother me as much as it bothered you. 548 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:55,480 No, I mean, it just really took away from the authentic beauty and experience of the 549 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,360 culture and the place. 550 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:04,920 I think that's something that bothered me the most, but I also really appreciated, again, 551 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:11,360 I appreciated the dynamic of many of the people, how many of them just seemed happier and warmer 552 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:17,880 and more focused on community and connecting and making others happy as opposed to many 553 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:22,520 places in the US and also in Europe, or I would say. 554 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,920 Oh yeah, I think that's fair. 555 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:30,680 Before we wrap up, what are some recommendations you would give to somebody coming to Colombia 556 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:36,600 or somebody coming specifically to Cartagena or the surrounding areas? 557 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:42,360 Definitely get an impression of both city and to nature, because especially if you have 558 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:47,080 the time, and we only did like a fraction of Colombia there, Colombia is one of the 559 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,640 most diverse countries on the planet as far as nature. 560 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,400 You have the Andes, you have the rainforest. 561 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:59,120 We didn't even see all that much, but just the fraction that we saw, I found that quite 562 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:00,120 fascinating. 563 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:06,600 The colonial history with the old town of Cartagena, but then also Tyrona, that park. 564 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,720 Don't go, but that goes for any country of that kind of sort. 565 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,320 Just don't go to like a hotel or a resort or something. 566 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:17,240 If you really want to see a country, get out. 567 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,400 Throw yourself in the local culture. 568 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:26,800 Really learn about the actual culture and the everyday life and what they do, what they 569 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:32,760 eat, absorb the vibe and I mean, don't be stupid, of course. 570 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:34,960 Don't make yourself a moving target. 571 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:35,960 Yeah. 572 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:37,760 And be sure again that you learn some Spanish. 573 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:39,200 Learn a little bit. 574 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:40,200 Yeah. 575 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:41,200 Really, that is so important. 576 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,640 You need to know some Spanish. 577 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:44,640 Definitely. 578 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,640 Because I never saw it, but there are places where they have an English menu and then on 579 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,440 the English menu, the prices are higher. 580 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:53,120 Did you see that in Colombia? 581 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:54,320 No, I didn't see that. 582 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,840 But many people have said that and I think that's very believable. 583 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:02,080 We usually got also the Spanish menus and we kind of managed. 584 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:03,600 Yeah, we would just translate. 585 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:09,720 Also these days with translation apps on the phone, it is doable. 586 00:34:09,720 --> 00:34:10,720 Bring cash. 587 00:34:10,720 --> 00:34:11,720 No, don't get it in advance. 588 00:34:11,720 --> 00:34:14,560 I wouldn't jump through those hoops to get it in advance. 589 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:19,320 I would just, I mean, you can just go ATM somewhere in a mall. 590 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,960 They had a really, really nice mall, which may as well have been like America. 591 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,720 There's a very modern mall. 592 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:26,720 In Cartagena. 593 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:30,160 In Cartagena, there are ATMs there or even at the airport, you can just get money. 594 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:31,480 So I don't know about taxes. 595 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:32,760 We never took a taxi. 596 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:37,480 I don't know if they accept card or if you have to pay them in cash. 597 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:38,640 I don't know. 598 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,480 I wouldn't stress out too much about the money. 599 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:42,480 Unlike Mexico. 600 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,640 Mexico again was quite different in that regard. 601 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:49,520 I think when you get gas in a car too, you can also pay with card. 602 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:50,520 Oh yeah, totally. 603 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:51,840 Yeah, that's what I thought. 604 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,020 Be careful. 605 00:34:53,020 --> 00:34:54,440 Don't buy cocaine. 606 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:55,800 Don't get into trouble. 607 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,360 What the state department says there, take it with a grain of salt. 608 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:00,600 I mean, it's not any... 609 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,000 That goes for a lot of places. 610 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:03,000 Yeah. 611 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,000 Well, you don't, you never know. 612 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,880 You never, but with Columbia, I will, I would really say that the state department went 613 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,160 a little bit overboard when they're in their, in their security assessment. 614 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,280 I felt safer than in downtown Atlanta throughout the trip. 615 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,880 Even with more poverty and even with more, with dirtier streets. 616 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:19,880 Yeah. 617 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:21,600 I also didn't feel unsafe. 618 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:22,600 Yeah. 619 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:29,080 But downtown Atlanta questionably is, arguably is more unsafe. 620 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,080 So yeah. 621 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,080 Safe travels everyone. 622 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,720 Safe travels everyone. 623 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,460 So this now wraps up today's episode. 624 00:35:37,460 --> 00:35:40,940 We hope that you enjoyed it, just like I always say every week. 625 00:35:40,940 --> 00:35:45,360 And if you learned something new and you like to share it with me or you'd like to share 626 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:50,120 with a friend or family member or whoever else, definitely do so. 627 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:56,760 And let me know your additional thoughts and feedback on Instagram at onceuponatrip.pc 628 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,480 or on my host account at Mary Grace Crawford. 629 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,760 If you're still listening and you're still here, I want to say thank you so much again 630 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,660 for sticking to the end. 631 00:36:07,660 --> 00:36:13,520 I can't wait to tune in with you again next Tuesday for another fun, adventurous trip 632 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:20,520 of an episode.