Planes, Trains and Automobiles....

The Cathedral de Immaculata Concepcion in Barichara.

I am finally back in the U.S., thanks in part to the 'benedicion' of Sra. Helena in Barichara, Santander, I feel certain. A trip that usually takes about 32 hours to complete, took me considerably longer and with significantly more expense than was expected. The reason? The national strike in Colombia... created by the unhappy campesinos (farmers) who are being undermined by their government's agreement to Fair Trade with the U.S.

A view from the Mirador area of Barichara, during a last
walk with my pal, Isabel. The clouds seemed to be as heavy
as my heart about leaving.

A coffee farmer or grower of onions, potatoes, etc. in Colombia cannot count on their government to ensure they will make a profit or a living wage when free trade allows for cheaper products to be imported from the U.S., undermining their efforts to sell well in the marketplace. This is the essence of the conflict. The farmers want subsidies or some kind of assurance they can sell their goods for what it cost them to produce them and have something left over for their families. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Looming thunderstorms and late afternoon setting sun
created this wonderful contrast as seen from my apartment
in Barichara, a few days before leaving.

But the strike closed the main road to Bogota, making it impossible for me to get there, unless I was willing to ride as far as Tunja (about halfway) and then get off the bus and drag my suitcases (there were plenty of them!) about 7 kilometers in the hopes of finding another bus on the other side. Oh, and the 'war zone' of strikers had to be traversed as well - unhappy and resentful men who probably would assume it was a 'rich gringa' passing by them with all her luggage. Does this sound like a safe way to get to my destination?

Milk being delivered in Barichara.

So, I opted to catch the 5 a.m. bus to Bucaramanga from Barichara, almost three hours in the opposite direction, where it was possible to arrange a flight to Bogota, although many hours were spent waiting. leaving my bags in a secured storage unit at the bus station) into town and met up with a buddy from Barichara who took me to the virtual library near the Justice Center. There were even books from the U.S. and we spent some time looking at photos of places he was going to see when he visited in September.

Flowers still covered with the rain from the night before.

And I had to sacrifice my ticket for the bus to Bogota because the company had closed its service desk, knowing no one could travel. Once in Bucaramanga, I caught a taxi to meet up with my friend, Andres, who was also going to be flying to Bogota.

We had a nice walk about the area where he was staying, including a delightful lunch in the huge mall - Thank you, Andres!

Another time I would like to spend a few days in this city because there is much to see and it also has a long history in the growth of Colombia.

The virtual library in Bucaramanga and buddy, Andres,
crossing the street ahead of me.

 

In Bucaramanga travel was not restricted by the strike,
but there were a lot of sympathetic events and messages.

My ceramics professor, Jaime, and my buddy, Andres in
Bucaramanga. We were just walking back from the library
and saw Jaime who also lives in Barichara... small small world!

Usually I would catch the bus in San Gil (the nearest city to Barichara) timed to arrive at the bus terminal a few hours before my flight was scheduled. Then I would catch a taxi, arrive at the terminal and proceed to the JetBlue service desk, get my boarding pass, clear Immigration and be on my way. No need for a hotel room (sleeping on the bus wasn't ideal, but affordable).

Sunset view from the Nuevo Dorado hotel in Bogota.

This time, once I arrived in Bogota on Tuesday afternoon, I was still many hours too early for my flight on Wednesday morning. Camping at the airport might have been fine when I was 25 or 30, but not at my senior age, already tired from a day of traveling that started around 4 a.m. So I entrusted myself to the porter (and God's protection) to find someone with a hotel that would offer security and proximity to the airport. (Helena's benedicion was hard at work now...) A man was presented who offered a room in a clean and close small hotel called the Nuevo Dorado with a promise to provide taxi service back to the airport in the morning.

Hotel room showing twin beds, and there was another
room with a double. WiFi was free and everything was
very clean and proper. 10 minutes from the airport!

It actually was all that was promised, including a nice little restaurant with a very large dinner meal for less than $10 USD. The room ($160,000 COPs = $84 USD more or less) I was given could have slept four people easily and thus would have been wonderfully affordable for each person, but the greatest delight was that the shower had warm (not hot) water, much appreciated after the day's travel. It had a nice view of the streets below and I watched the sunset at 6 p.m. Sleep was elusive as the hotel is newly decorated with a lot of tile which caused the noise to reverberate down the halls to my door. Again, thanks to God and the alert night desk man, I had a call in for wake-up because my alarm failed me!! I scrambled out and down two flights of stairs (Did I mention there was no elevator?) and the desk clerk helped me get the luggage down the last flight of stairs to the taxi which was indeed on time.

I fell asleep remembering a nice walk to Steve's with tea,
laughter and a lovely sunset over the Andes.

Breathing heavily from the 8,000+ feet of altitude and a mouth as dry as burnt toast, we arrived at the other new El Dorado (airport) on schedule. Bags offloaded, porter found, I scurried like a cockroach under siege to the JetBlue desk, eager to leave the conflicts of Colombia behind me. The agent said, "We have no record of you on this flight." I showed her the confirmation code, and she kept saying, "I don't care if you have a confirmation code, you are not on this flight." She was about to tell me to move on, call the people in the U.S. and get it straightened out, and then come back when I said, "Do you still have a seat on this flight?"

This time the sunset was fused with delicate pinks.

She did and I purchased ANOTHER ticket. I know what it is like to try and talk to someone from another country and I knew the cost of my international phone bill could equal the cost of a seat. Screw it. Pay it and get out and solve it on the other side, I thought.

Taxiway in Bogota as we were departing. The new airport
is a pleasing improvement from the old one.

It wasn't until the plane was on the runway about to lift off that I finally was able to relax because I felt in my heart of hearts that the situation with the farmers was not going to be easily resolved and could escalate. (UPDATE 9/8/13: The situation is still volatile with the police sometimes creating more of a problem than a solution as in a recent report of tear gas and bombs being used on the protestors near Cauica, SW of Bogota.)

Last bit of sunlight reflected off a cloud somewhere over
the middle of the U.S. as I was flying westward.

Colombia is still a wonderful country filled with terrific people, but in all honesty I would have to say that the leadership lacks foresight and a true understanding of what negotiation is supposed to be. So, until the situation is stabilized, I will not be returning and cannot recommend traveling as a tourist to anyone at this time. It is unfortunate that the U.S. State Department makes no mention of this unrest in their Travel Advisories because it really does affect travel throughout the country.

Exhibitionist

Last night one of my friends commented that I was carrying a huge smile. I was. It was a night of realizing a goal I set for myself several years ago. OK, dear readers, if you think you are going to see pictures of me doing some kind of exotic dance, just click your clicker to the next blog.

Felix Berroa's "Manateal de Esperanza"

The event was the BarichArte 2012 Exposicion Nacional de Arts Plasticas running from December 27, 2012 to Enero 15, 2013 in the Aquileo Parra technical institute in Barichara, Santander, Colombia. And not only was I an 'invited artist' but my name was on the program as an exhibitor! To be sure I was not in the main salon with Felix Berroa from the Dominican Republic and Atlanta, USA or with Alfonso Andara from Ecuador, but I was in the same building.

Vincente's 'Angel'

There are 115 artists from all over Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Dominican Republic and the U.S. on display so it is clearly an international exhibition. Plus there are 14 young boys and girls who are art students of Luis Mejía Bohórquez, whom we fondly call "Lucho." There are statuary, paintings in watercolor, acrylic and oil, metal arts, ceramics and an incredible work in wood by Vincente Cadena of Barichara.

It's a statue about four feet in height, with what appears to be a unique utilisation of the wood's properties allowing for a kind of 'hair' emanating from it. And I know about this wood, that it is among the toughest in the world, making each bit of carving very intense.

Jose Ropero's mixed media

One of the artists, Jose Ropero, and I helped to mount the exhibition for a couple of hours, hanging paintings and sticking up the data sheets. I saw his work and here it is. It is a representation of the world being eroded by machines for gems and rocks and it seems like the hand below is the message that it is up to us.

One of the people who occasionally joins our Saturday art class is Alejandro Quintero, who makes his living as a stonemason, but who is also exploring oil painting. He entered both his stone sculpture and an oil he recently finished. I see a similarity in both types of work; what do you think?

Alejandro Quitero, Santandereano.

In case you are wondering, my two entries were "Ventana" and "Barichara from LaLoma" and sadly the data cards were missing at the time of the opening, so people looking for my name did not find it. I heard that has since been corrected, and there were more than a few of us who suffered the fate of ignomy at the opening... if you look at Sr. Quintero's painting, he is missing a label as well.

Quintero's stone art

Since I have only been back in art production/creation for a couple of years, I feel excited to be around others who are demonstrating a lot more experience. 

Martha Herrera Angel with her watercolor.

The event was well-attended, and my hat is off to Lucho for pulling together a huge collection of artists and sponsors for an event that now spans a couple of weeks instead of only one weekend. I take a tiny bit of credit for one aspect of this - the creation of a name which can be the beginning of an annual event. When the subject came up, we brainstormed in the art class, and it was my idea that everyone decided was most likely to achieve that objective. I am grateful I could bring my public relations/marketing experience into the creation of something that will most likely become more and more international with time. And the children... WOW... look at this (below)!

Edgar Alonso Bautista, 8, stands in front of several of his artistic works.
He is pointing to his favorite, and was terrifically excited to have me take
his picture. Look for his name in the art world in the years to come as he
already shows great skills for his age. He is native to Barichara.

And I learned a whole lot about the exhibition process so if I want to do it again I will have a better idea of what to expect. 

BY REQUEST: Here are my two paintings that are in this exhibition... "Barichara in the Clouds," and "Ventana" (Window).

Barichara in the Clouds

"Ventana"

Getting a tourist visa extension

This is an older section of Bucaramanga, next to one of the
many parks the city has, but sadly doesn't take very good
care of them and they are dangerous after dark.

When I was first in Colombia in 2009, I had been here about four weeks when I realized I was going to be over-staying the 60-day limit by about 6 days. There are serious fines (up to $1500 USD) for failing to follow the tourist guidelines, and so I had to go to Bucaramanga, the capital of the department (state) of Santander to the immigration office or DAS.

It was all quite a blur and helped by a friend, I got through it all. But recently someone asked me how to go about getting an extension of a tourist visa. I thought since there are a number of readers who may someday decide to come to Colombia, it might be useful to explain the process and what is required in advance.

First of all, let me say that whatever it here on this date may change by the time someone reads it, so I take no personal responsibility for the information or its accuracy beyond the date of publishing. Secondly, it is the responsibility of any traveler to review the rules and regulations for travel in any country before making trip plans. Although those regulations are subject to change, and do, having the base knowledge of what WAS required before any revision is essential. I admit I was not following this advice for my first visit, but I have been more diligent since then and I hope this posting is helpful for those who are coming (or thinking about coming) to visit this beautiful country.

DAS stands for Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, a division of the Colombian agency for central intelligence and as such they are the department of the Colombian government responsible for keeping track of who is coming and going in their country. Like any government officials, they are limited in what they can do by the established rules, but they seem more willing to be helpful than my experience with the U.S. officials has shown.

The primary DAS office is in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. That is where one goes for permanent visas. But on the local level, most of the departments (states) have a regional DAS office to deal with tourist visa extensions. Bucaramanga, the capital of Santander, has such an office and that is where I went the first time. It is located at Carrera 11 No. 41-13 in the area called Centro de Governamente.

The hours of operation are supposed to be from 7-12 and 2-4, but it is not unusual for them to turn people away at 11 a.m. and tell them to come back at 2 p.m. due to the numbers of people already inside. On most days there are only three agents to provide the services. So, get there early! Also, you will have to leave DAS to go and pay the extension fee at Banco Davivienda S.A five blocks away (DAS will give you a slip of paper with the address and details before leaving their offices.) and that bank may close at 11 a.m. Believe me when I say it is critical to be among the first people going through the DAS security point early.

The listed phone number for DAS in Bucaramanga is 6-339426 if you want to check the schedule before planning to visit.

Here is what you need to have:
1) Your passport (duh!) with at least three pages free for stamping.
2) Two B+W copies of the main page of your passport.
3) Two B+W copies of the page showing your entry date into Colombia.
4) Four recent color photos approx. 1 inch tall in size. (This can easily be done near the DAS offices and they know which color background to use - critical!)
5) Two copies of your return ticket or reservation.
6) A blank deposit slip for the bank, of which you will need to get 2 copies once it is stamped at the bank.
7) At least $80,000 CPs for the extension fee. At the last visit it was $73,400 (April 25, 2011).
8) You can expect the photos and copies to cost around $20,000 depending on which tienda you use. (We used "Oscar's" which is the first one to the left of the DAS building, if you are standing on the street corner looking at the DAS sign.) This is for Bucaramanga so I don't know if other states are about the same for fees or not.

There is a form to be filled out in the DAS office which is basically providing them with the information of where you are staying in Colombia, the name of a Colombian reference and their phone number, your passport number, a phone number if you have one, and the reason for your visit. They were quite helpful to the non-Spanish speaking American, but their English is limited.

If you have a cell phone, you may NOT use it inside the DAS offices. You cannot receive or make calls except outside the gates. They did let us keep it with us, but this could change. Be prepared for that. In Bogota no cell phones are allowed at DAS or at the American Embassy; you check them at the entry point.

A United States resident (and most other nationalities) can visit for 60 days without a visa extension. When you arrive in Colombia, the DAS/Customs entry official stamps the passport for the first 60 days. If you don't go to DAS for an extension BEFORE that expiration date, you had better have a very valid reason and proof as to why you did not or you could be facing a serious fine. They will usually give you another 30 days without any issue and sometimes 60 days, but that is rare. Tourists may only be in the country for a total of 6 months per year. That can be in segments of days or all at once, which is why some people travel out of the country to another one for a period of time and then return.

As of this date, all travel to Venezuela by bus has been halted by the serious flooding, mudslides and road damage, so this was why the American had to get a DAS extension; no way to exit the country and return affordably. Airfares one way to San Cristobal were about $150 (USD) one way before the roads were closed and now, IF you can get a seat on a flight, it is more like $450 (USD) one way! The bus fares were about $50 (USD) roundtrip but no busses are even going to Cucuta (the last town before the border) at present. But given the rather disagreeable attitude of Venezueleans toward Colombians and Americans, perhaps this is not a bad outcome.

If you visit over the New Year, say from November to January, the time starts over again, I have heard on January 1. This is something you would want to check out before making travel decisions.

Upon leaving, there is a fee to be paid as well. It must be paid in cash, either CPs or USDs. If you are only in Colombia for 59 days, you can usually avoid the exit charge. Once you are here beyond that date, they will collect it. The last time I paid, it was $35 USD or about $70 CPs and it was a near crisis because the plane was about to board passengers and I was still trying to find a way to cash an American Express traveler's check in the Bogota airport to pay the fee in cash. TIP: forget about American Express traveler's checks altogether - they are a pain in the butt and useless in most of South America.

I hope this is helpful information and that it makes the tourist visa extension process easier for someone.

Back to Bucaramanga

I was anxious about leaving. I set the alarm, but woke up before it rang. I heard the church bells and the roosters starting up. It was time. We dragged the suitcases down to the park, sounding like elephants on a rampage as we bounced over the huge old street rocks in the dead-quiet of the morning. (This photo on top is the last sunset from the lovely casa where we stayed in Barichara.)

Barichara at 4:20 a.m. is generally quiet. In fact, it was so quiet while we waited for the bus to arrive that I could hear the leaves dropping off the trees in the central square. And I could hear the old man who was going to San Gil on the bus, slapping down the streets in his sabatos. And there was someone inside Central Pan, the corner panadaria, making the bread for the day. I was hating to leave all this.

Suddenly the bus arrived. And people materialized from all over the little town with packages, messages of things to be delivered in San Gil or Bucharamanga or picked up, and then we were off. It's a very comfortable ride with soft Colombian music playing. I nearly fell asleep but then the ripples in the road reminded me of the day before.

We had taken my Colombian car to San Gil to get it washed and detailed before leaving it stored for awhile. On the way back, Jey-hu hit a piece of wood. In the states it might not have been a big deal, but down here the wood is like steel and incredibly dense. It caused the rear tire to blow out immediately. He regretted his choice to try and drive over instead of stopping or going around.

What we learned is that things in the road may not be what they appear, first of all. We also learned that people in Colombia really do try and help you solve your problems. In all, there were seven people who stopped. One fellow was in a taxi going to Barichara and offered to pick up some tools and bring them back on his return to San Gil. Another friend responded to our call to bring a mechanic and a jack from San Gil by taxi so we could take the wheel back and replace the tire. Others stopped and did what they could. What an amazing experience! Anyone who has a flat tire in the U.S. knows what happens there - nada. Better have a road service arrangement with some group or good shoes for walking. In Colombia, the bus would even have stopped for one of us - with the tire if necessary - to take us down to San Gil. As we passed the spot where it happened, we looked at each other and expressed our gratitude once more for having met some wonderful Colombians.

And then we had a wild ride with the Coltran bus driver... we lost count after he passed 60 or so trucks and cars! I have a video which I am going to try and post to give you an idea of what it was like. We had to stop because there had been an accident - apparently a usual situation on the curvy, narrow road, we were told - so everyone got off the bus to go to the bano or get a 'teeto' (a small cup of coffee, sometimes laced with azucar - sugar - or milk) and surprise!

the woman orthodontista that solved Jey-hu's dental crisis a few days before was on the bus as well.

But soon we were moving again, and our driver was going to make up for lost time - no sense of anxiety about becoming a statistic like the fellow who had stopped our forward progress. Every chance he got he was veering out into the on-coming lane to see if he could pass. The truckers use their left blinkers to advise the busses if they can pass, provided they can see that far ahead. And we made it to the terminal close to 9 a.m. - safely.

The place I chose for us to stay was based on availability and it used to be a pretty nice place, but time and lots of guests have worn it down. The Hotel Chicamocha is, however, undergoing some facelifting and should be a choice place within the next year or so. The service was excellent and their staff was incredibly helpful, including directing us to a fellow who would pick us up at 4 a.m. to get us to the airport in time for our flight to Bogota.

"Harry" has become somewhat renowned in Bucaramanga as the "Bilingual Driver" for people needing assistance and he drove us around in the afternoon to show us other areas of Bucaramanga (See the hillside shot of houses which were built by the impoverished because no one else wanted to live there... no cars on their streets - no room!) which we might not have seen otherwise. Unfortunately the air quality was such that the haze made it difficult to get really good pictures. If you need his services, I can highly recommend him - for reliability, for his excellent language skills (such as teaching me some more Spanish phrases!) and for his entertaining personality.

The flight on COPA to Bogota (Bogota view from the air) was uneventful, but the next crew going from there to Panama needed to do a better job on their arrival checklist. We were on final approach to Tocumen Airport, very close to touching down (about at 500 feet) when we suddenly stopped the glide and accelerated back up again and gained altitude. Then I realized what had happened - I never heard the gears dropping the wheels down. The recovery was good - I liked that we just went around and did it the right way!

Fortunately we didn't have a connecting flight out of Panama to the U.S. because that little maneuver cost us half an hour of flying time - we were late on arrival by 35 minutes.

Tomorrow we will make the jaunt back to Seattle through Atlanta - an all day affair. We have a few hours to kill in Atlanta, so I may do another posting with some ruminations about this ten-week journey. Already I miss the smells and peaceful energy of the countryside. And I miss the folks we met there. Hopefully time and funds will allow a return soon.

4.6 in Malaga is two hours from the campo

An earthquake was registered on the USGS website as being in Malaga (Bucaramanga) Colombia, but it was east of San Gil, and thus is more than two hours from us, and we are more than two hours from Bucaramanga. Although it was 4.6 on the Richter Scale, we did not feel it. And, the director says this is rather jiggly country, so no one pays much attention unless there is considerable shaking going on.

We are much more concerned about the lack of water, since we were told by the city water folks in Barichara on Friday that we would have 24 hours of water on Saturday at noon, but when we went to turn it on, there was only an ominous "drip, drip, drip," from the few drops left in the line and nothing more. Of course no one is around on the weekends, so we were out of luck. Our little pond, where the Tilapia are trying to grow, is down two inches since last week - we may have to see if the neighbor will let us take some water from his well. In this part of the world, there is an unspoken law that water that comes from the earth is available to anyone who needs it and if it is on your land, you cannot deny someone who is asking to have some.

The goat, featured above, is Alicia, and I was using the excuse that I was "mowing the grass" around the pond as to why I couldn't wash the dishes tonight. We have it on fairly good authority that Alicia's date with the macho goat from the next town over was successful and she is likely to have a kid in April, or even two, as he has a history of throwing doubles. We shall see.

A few more hours

In a few more hours, we will be getting on the plane and heading east to Atlanta, GA, then south to Panama City, Panama and then east again to Bucaramanga, Colombia to begin our journey. (If you click on this link, you can see some fabulous pictures of Chicamonga Canyon, Colombia's "grand" canyon.) Hard to believe that only a couple of weeks ago we were at the tip of the Baja and now we're about to head even further south.

When we first started researching the country, I was surprised to learn that, first of all, it is in the Eastern Time Zone. And, joy of joys, they do NOT honor Daylight Savings Time. In fact, the country is so close to the Equator that the difference between summer light and winter light is about 20 minutes. Our "campo" director was telling us that when it gets dark, it gets very dark as there is little ambient light contamination from the surrounding area, and they simply pack it up and go to bed, because morning light starts about 5ish... when the birds in the region wake them up.

CURRENT MOON PHASE

past and future moon phases

I am looking forward to seeing the night sky down there... we hear you can see millions of stars, something I used to see a little of when I lived in Arizona and traveled up to the mountains and before that, when cruising in the Bahamas we could truly navigate by the stars. I will try and get some pictures to show here.

It's been exhausting to try and pack suitcases, get last-minute jobs completed, spend time with Jey-hu's family (His father's birthday and his fell within a few days of each other and it was decided to make it a joint event - sorry: no picture of Jey-hu blowing out the 'recycled' candles from his father's cake.) see a few friends - and to John and Tiffany: thanks for the dinner invitation which Jey-hu discovered a couple of days ago when he finally got around to listening to his messages. Please, please do not take it personally that we never responded!! Enjoy Elksnout and plan to come and see us in S.A.!!

Perceptions of Colombia tend to be based on the drug cartel activities of years ago. Things have been cleaned up considerably, and where we will be is not a hotbed of illicit activities in any event. Still, we are smart enough to be cautious and to follow guidelines to avoid risky situations.