trying to get out of town today but was denied at the US embassy because of their wacky hours, so i thought it important enough to stick around to register my passport... at the insistence of my abduction coordinator. took the opportunity to hit the streets of la candelaria district to do some touristy things for once. nice to have a day off the bike.
some neat nooks and crannies with amazing little euro style cafes, and the refreshing things is that it is not meant for tourists but the locals. tourism hasn´t had much impact on this place, yet, and its always a good thing. why is it that we destroy the things we love: tourism really can have such negative impacts upon a place, not to mention how cynical the people can become towards foreigners once they get used to you. colombia is naive in that sense, and the people hardly notice you since you are so unexpected. i expect that with increased tourism here what we enjoy about this place, what we come here to find, we ourselves have destroyed.
did i mention the recent elections in colombia and its effects? oh, the effects were tremendous! no alcohol was served or sold for 3-days leading up to the election. this was hard on many travelers but they seemed to find ways. i had expected to mellow things out for a few days around the hostel, but herman, the owner of the platypus, had supplies to last 2-days, so it became an oasis in a desert of beerlessness, and so it got pretty wild around here. the elections went smoothly although 7 or 8 politicians were reportly killed in a southern district of the country. turns out i'm headed that way, but it won´t be a problem. the excitement is over, but unfortunately the national elections come about one week after i leave and so the tension will probably continue to rebuild until that time which means more road blocks and more security by the national police.
can´t get pics to post!
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