 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
December 17, 2003 Drove from Medellin to Cali today... about an 8 hour drive. First
half was mountainous, 2nd half a long valley floor. What an amazing
country. I think I have fallen hard for this girl. She is
dangerous, wild and untamed and yet gentle... and beautiful as any country
i have seen.
If this drive was unthinkable before... its got to be one of the safest in the world now. There are checkpoints galore on this road ... one every 10 miles in some places, slightly more in others. and up in the mountains, along otherwise deserted sections of road, often there will be a lone soldier posted every mile or so. just standing out there by himself. in the last 3 days of driving from Cartagena, i have probably been through 30-40 checkpoints at least, and an equal number of toll booths which effectively serve the same function. $50-75 easy for the last days. that might not seem like much to us... but its a bloody fortune to someone around here. But that steep price in police presence and fees has created true security. To give you a sense... when i took the above picture of Anselma... a small town along the way... i stood on a high bluff about 1/2 mile outside town. Apparently a local commandant saw me up there with my camera, thought i might be an unsavory character, and sent a motorcycle with two uzi-toting men in fatigues out to intercept me, which they did several minutes later as i was driving through town. They were quite nice however, and after they saw i was harmless, were quickly asking all sorts of questions about the trip and all the gear. (the GPS and sat phone in the center console are what catches everyone's eye first.) Welcome to Uribe's Colombia. Uribe is the president here, and he has done what no man has managed (or cared) to do for 50 maybe 100 years now.... which is bring true peace of mind to colombians. It is likely that in the next 2-3 years that Colombia will witness a true and complete peace like it has nearly never known as an independent nation. He is a tough taskmaster, a disciplinarian, and he has balls of titanium -- having taken his whole governing unit underground several times over the last couple years under threat -- but he has done the unthinkable, the unbelievable. And he is loved. No president in memory has enjoyed the nearly ubiquitous support and loyalty of this entire country. What a stud. I met a man today... a colombian of mixed german and colombian descent, traveling with his italian wife and their two children. he was going from cartagena to cali as well--to see the grandparents for christmas. he told me that 3 years ago this trip would have been unthinkable for him. That this is the first time in his entire life that he has driven this road... the panamerican highway no less. Now that blew my mind. Colombia is going through a true renaissance right now. This guys name was Andres, a big strong and sure man. In a heartbeat he offered his cell number.... anything you need in Cali, he stressed.... "i'm there for you." People stick together around here. *** Saddam has been captured... thank god for that. a good christmas present for us all. i am interested to see how he is tried. if we have any brains at all, we shall leave it to the iraqis to mete out the punishment. they will be harder on him than we would ever be. as hard on him as he was on them. *** Cali is like Medellin and like every other central american city i have seen so far in many ways... a third world city with a few skyscrapers... like a teenager trying hard to grow up... and maybe too fast. the people throng the streets at 5pm and the traffic cops struggle to keep cars and people from creating tragedy together. Tomorrow i will spend a little time here. I think cali is a little more my speed than medellin... dunno why... something in the air.
|
