Colombia here I come!!

So I left off in Quito (not a huge fan). Well I was staying at this hostel which is a pretty fun party place. And I met these two Dutch girls, Marcia and Lizzy who were also leaving for Colombia on the same day as me so I decided to go along with them. But the bad part was not only was the night before I was planing to leave rum and coke night at the hostel (which means they put a big bucket of rum and coke out in the common area and you can drink for free) but I also had to get up at 5am the next morning to catch the bus the girls were taking. So after partying until quite late I woke up at 4am and convinced myself that perhaps there had been a time change from Peru to Ecuador and that maybe I was late for getting up, that maybe it was really 5am. So I dragged myself downstairs to ask the front desk what time it was ( the man at the front desk who was sleeping at the time was somewhat confused as to exactly what I wanted) and then I couldn't fall back asleep worried that I would miss my alarm ( I think I was still a bit drunk) But I got up at the right time and the three of us set up in the misty premorning light. It was almost as if a huge cloud had settled over Quito making it look sketcher and more mysterious than ever. We got to the bus station by taxi and had to wait for a bit for the bus. I was a bit worried again that I wouldn't be able to get a ticket (the girls already had theirs) and that I would be stuck alone in a bus stop in Quito at 5.30 am but the bus was basically empty so we settled in for the 6 hr bus ride to the border with Colombia. It was beautiful. Quito is in a mountain range and we spent the next couple of hours driving from cloud filled valley to mountain top and back down again. We finally reached the Ecuadorian border town named Tulcan and had to catch a cab to the border. We ended up getting a ride in the back of this guy's old wooden tarp covered truck. It was hilarious. There we were in this old wooden truck bed speeding towards the Colombian border in the middle of nowhere, I felt like we were being smuggled or something. We reached the border and after some confusion we exited Ecuador and then stood in line for about 2 hrs to enter Colombia. It was the most ridiculous border crossing I have done so far. There were so many people waiting in this huge line and one man slowly servicing all of them despite the fact there were booths for about 4 other people to be working. And in South America there is quite the culture of cutting the line so there were more than a few occasions were we watched people duck into the front. After we had finally reached the front of the line this woman comes up and asks Marcia if she can just ask the border official one quick question so Marcia says sure, well her question turned out to be "can you stamp my passport". You just had to laugh damn it! I amused myself at one point by looking at all the wanted signs they had posted all over the border (FARC rebels) "I am in Colombia now!" I thought. From the border we took another cab to the Colombian border town and from there we caught a bus to Cali. The bus ride took until 2am (long day) and was on perhaps the windiest road in the world. We spent the entire trip being thrown from one side of the bus to the other and sped around each progressive corner. It was spectacular though. Colombia is beyond beautiful and is about a million shades of green. We started out on this winding cliff road which would have been terrifying if I hadn't already been to Bolivia. The scenery is so lush and there were about a hundred waterfalls along the way. We started up and over a whole other series of mountain ranges. I was dead tired when we arrived in Cali. We caught a cab and after much confusion found a hostel and I hit the sack.

The next we hung out in Cali. Colombia is so modern and developed compared to the rest of South America (or at least Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) Cali is a beautiful city, really modern yet with a kinda old European feel as well. I guess I have ended up in Colombia during rainy season or something because every afternoon so far it has just poured down rain. We spent the afternoon very happily watching a cheesy movie and then hung out and went out with some other people from the hostel. Good fun.

Yesterday we woke up late and caught a bus to Medellin, the former capital of Drug dealing in Colombia and was home to Pablo Escobar. It took about 9 hours and we got in about 10pm. We are staying at a super party hostel. I think I can only handle it for one more night then I will need some peace and quiet. We went out to a club last night and I cannot describe the girls here. I have never seen so much tits and ass and skimpy cloths in my life, although I do have to admit I don't go to clubs all that often at home so maybe what do I know. Anyway today is a bit of a down day and tomorrow I am hoping to head up to the coast. Sand and sun here I come.