Cañon de Combeima

I already wanted to write something about my life and aspects I had not covered by my last post but today I was at a place that was so awesome I need to tell you first.

Near from Ibagué is the volcano Nevado de Tolima, which is 5200 m high and fortunately there's a river flowing down from that volcano that passes through Ibagué. Because of this river, the Combeima, there is this beautiful Cañon all the way up the Mountains to the National Park of the Nevados. I went there with Karla, the mexican, and Jonny, the brazilian - we only caught a glimpse of it but it was really stunning!

We started from Juntas, which is the small town on the left on this picture. This was the final stop of the public bus and from there we had to walk. Like I already wrote, going by bus is always an adventure and this time was no different. First we didn't find the right bus and when we found it it was competely full and we had to stand the 30 minutes bus ride, Jonny even on the step of the door (while the door was open, of course). And the bus is really not high enough for standing. I bumped my head way too often on that bumpy road. We felt like we already accomplished a lot when we arrived just in Juntas.

As we learned soon, those with car could go way further and everybody was like "what, you walked all the way up?" But by walking, we could enjoy all the marvellous views on the cañon. Truth is, we had no idea what to expect. I saw one picture in a brochure about Ibagué and told everybody I want to go there because it looks beautiful and at some point they were convinced they wanted to go there too.

I still have no idea where the picture of the brochure was taken, there was the Nevado the Tolima in the background which unfortunately we couldn't see because of the clouds so we can't be sure. But all the rest of the panorama was still stunning. While hiking higher and higher, we passed many mountains and I thought "that's it. Behind this one there must be the Nevado de Tolima" but there were only higher mountains behind every time.

And then we found a funicular in the mountains, connecting one side of the cañon with the other. On the other side, there was a restaurant running the funicular and offering even some leisure activity. This was the moment we decided we had to come back. We haven't been to the river which is said to be completely clean. Also, just 5 km further up the mountains there's the entrance to the national park that even has thermal springs.

I made a friend on the mountain - the majestic almighty lama! They had a kind of small pet zoo with rabbits, guinea pigs, different birds, horses and many more but I liked the lama best. Behind it, you should be able to see the Nevado de Tolima, but like I already wrote, it was way too cloudy up there to see anything.

When we decided to go back (with a heavy heart), we realized we did not bring enough money to pay for the furnicular and the bus. And furthermore, there are of course no cash dispensers anywhere - only in Ibagué. So while walking down to Juntas we thought about all the different possibilities how to get money up there and what we could sell. We got really creative, like we could close the road and collect money from everyone that wanted to pass. Fortunately, a guy and a girl were nice enough to take us down with them in his car and he was really happy to tell us about all the great places we needed to visit and even bought us a typical ice cream - with real berries and mangos frozen inside! It was delicious. This unexpected turn of events made the day kind of an adventure. But fortunately we did not have to walk all the way back from Juntas and got to Ibagué savely by even learning something new.  And I am already looking forward to coming back and exploring even more of the cañon!

Cultural differences

One of the international students, Karla from Mexico, had to make a video about cultural practices at university and asked me to help. Of course I was glad to help - and here's the video:
(It is most fun for those who can speak spanish and german)

Settling in

Some time passed since I wrote the last post but while a lot of stuff was going on, nothing really extraordinary happened. Most of the time I feel like I am thrown into a different world that is somehow quite similar but then again pretty different from what I am used to. I guess that is because I arrived late and the semester already started, so I kind of jumped into the ongoing semester, into the group of international students that have already been there for three weeks and as well, of course, into a host family that also has known each other for a long time. Fortunately, I am quite adaptable and everybody is very supportive.

It took me three days to go grocery shopping for the first time because, well, I was in the supermarket but everything was so overwhelming that I bought like three things and got out again. While on the first glance everything is the same, everything you get is completely different from Europe. There are way more fruits and vegetables and they look quite different - like the huge banana I found. A friend from university was so nice to explain me all the fruits and how to eat them - which isn't always so obvious. And they have no real bread. Just sweet stuff with dough like our brioche. I am glad I am not that much into eating bread but it's still weird. Also, there are like 50 different ketchups, even "spaghetti con ketchup" but only one kind of tomato passata.

While you can get clothes, cosmetics and even TVs in the supermarkets, there are no books, no DVDs, not even extension cords for my power plug in the room that is behind the bed which I would have really liked to use. It took me a trip of more than 8km (which is actually considered "close" here) to find this huge store called "Panamerican" that sells all those stuff missing at the supermarket. Books, movies, extension cords, tools, even painting stuff for all kinds of artists. And I found the movie I was longing to watch in spanish for a long time. There are not many movies and series I have watched in german and english and also in spanish and this one totally needed to be added on that list. You probably see how glad I was I could find and buy it (if you are female and haven't watched it yet - do it!).

Another aspect is the money here. It's worth very little - 1 € is about 3600 Colombian Pesos, but still, the biggest banknote is 50000 Pesos, not even 15 €. And they told me only to pay with that note in secure places which was quite strange because it is really not that much money. But true enough, most of the things are cheaper. Like a quite long taxi ride for 6000 Pesos. A huge glass of fruit juice (I love!! those juices) for 2000 Pesos. In the right spots you can even find a full meal for 5000 Pesos and it's really good. So apparently I just don't need that much money. Also, through hard work (I had to walk to the cash dispenser twice because once it would only allow me 600000 Pesos) I can proudly call myself millionaire now! And still 23. I guess that makes me quite a young millionaire.

My spanish is advancing step by step due to most of the other international students that only speak spanish and as well my classes that are only in spanish. I am only glad that all the appointments are made by writing in whatsapp chats because else I am absolutely sure that I would be at the wrong place at the wrong time or I wouldn't get that I have to be anywhere. But it totally improved since last week so I am positive the improving keeps going! By now I even understand the argentinian spanish which was really hard to understand for me at first. Also, sometimes I even start thinking in spanish (but I quickly reach my limits when I don't know a word). All this mixture of languages is quite funny for me - sometimes my classmates try talking to me in english because they also want to improve their english and then they ask me to say something in german and I get totally confused of all the languages and who understands what and what language am I currently talking in and so on. But I guess I will also improve that. Here you see a picture of us international students when we were going out. On the table is aguardientes - never drink that! Just don't do it, believe me. You might see me being a little contrast in the picture.

And of course, there is my flat. Like I wrote, I am living with a couple, he is 26 and she is 18. I found out they are married about one and a half years ago and, like you might have guessed from her age, they are quite religious. It is really funny how I seem to be always surrounded by highly religious people. Must be something about me. Living here is quite different. First, there are securities at the door letting you in only when you live there. Also, they watch out for the swimming pool. I really need to go swim there soon, but it got a little colder, something inbetween 25 and 30 degrees (which is great, now the temperature is just perfect for me) so the need to go swimming is not that urgent anymore. But it will be great because in comparison to the people living here, I am able to swim. So another difference is the noise. I hear almost everything going on in the flats around me and then there are many different sounds coming from the surrounding area like car alarms or dogs or other things I can't classify. I am just glad I am a deep sleeper. But I can have breakfast on the balcony everyday which is quite nice.

For some reason, right now the hot water does not work so until now I had to take only cold showers and, because this somehow affects the washing machine, I had to wash the washing powder out of my laundry and wring it out by hand - piece by piece. I really did not expect that. And the kitchen is really badly equipped, it doesn't even have a colander and the oven seems to be only for decoration. The stove is powered by gas that needs to be lightened up by a lighter to work. But by now I managed to cook without burning everything so I guess I am almost settled which means I can start looking forward to new adventures!

Arriving in Ibagué

Yesterday I arrived in Ibagué after a long trip from monday 04:20 to tuesday 14:00 and I am really glad I had a night Bogotá inbetween. This time everything went well, my suitcase arrived with me, had 22,9 kg (23 allowed) and they did not find my deodorant that I forgot in my hand luggage. I was able to sleep at least a little in the plane and the passport control in Bogotá was very quick. In the bus from Bogotá to Ibagué I saw the most stunning landscapes and now I am longing to just walk around in those mountains and get a closer look.

When I arrived I was brought to my host family which is actually not really a host family because my host is a woman below 30 who is in Europe right now, travelling and visiting her husband who is in Czech Republic right now, working. With her lives her brother, who was there when I arrived and does not look older than 30 as well, but is in Bogotá now for three days. And then there is his fiancée Karina also living there who is the only one there right now. Looks like I will enjoy living there. Also, the whole complex also has a swimming pool to use as well as a fitness room and its only 5 minutes to university. Here are some photos of where I live now:

So I want to share the impressions I got in this short time with you. First: It is sooo hot! It's 36 degrees outside and I can't even remember the feeling when it was snowing last friday in Austria. I am sweating all the time and I was totally not prepared for this. Even my weather forecast I found told me it will be 27 degrees maximum. It's even too hot for the people living here so how should I stand the heat?

Ibagué itself is a nice and quite big city, surrounded by mountains that make me feel like I want to go up on everyone of them. Today I was in the center of Ibagué, by bus, which is quite hard because there are stops, but you have to wave when you want to enter, and you better wave the right bus. But there is no plan so I still have no idea which bus goes where. And I think you can also enter when there is no stop but I am not absolutely sure about that. But when you are in the bus, there comes the hardest part: knowing when to leave again. If I haven't been there, how should I know how it looks like? When I asked, I was told I will get used to it after a few times of going by bus.

In the center of the city, there is one church and a pedestrian street down the mountain with lots of shops. I really have to say, the shops I have seen here in Colombia are way cooler than those in Austria. I will totally renew my wardrobe here. But the food, especially in the bigger shopping centers is like at home but cheaper. They also have chains like McDonalds, KFC, Subway and lots of Dunkin Donuts. But the juices are definitely better - I had lemon juice and it was like the most perfect lemon I have ever tasted. Not really sour but still not sweet - just perfect! Also today I had Lulo ice cream (Lulo is a regional fruit) and it was also quite good, I even liked the watermelon I tasted. I guess the fruits are just way better here.

There are 8 other international students here at the university (it's a small university) and 6 of them are from Mexico and 2 from Argentinia. Which means that I am the only student of the whole university not speaking spanish fluent and also the only one from Europe. I somehow managed to be really exotic. One girl even started talking german to me because she spent a semester abroad in Germany and she was really euphoric that now she could practice her german. So until now I haven't talked spanish much. I guess it will become more because my classes are in spanish but we will see.

What else has impressed me by now? Well, I saw the hugest spider I have ever seen - and actually not only one of them. They live on my way to the supermarket, so now everytime I pass that place I try hard not to look. Another thing, maybe anybody of you has seen the episode of How I met your mother with the annoying car alarm system sound. It's the same here in Colombia, today I got woken by it. I had no trouble at all adapting to the different time zone - but to tell the truth I kind of already lived in that time so I didn't really have to change. So I actually arrived pretty well and I am kind of wondering why I haven't come way earlier, I already love it!

Gozo

Today I was visiting Gozo, the second biggest island and one of the three main islands of Malta. It is about a quarter of the size of Malta, but while Malta has 400.000 inhabitants, only 30.000 people are actually living in Gozo, which makes it quite silent and relaxing - except for days when cruise ships arrive in Malta. Then there are way too many people on Gozo.

First, we visited the Ggantija Temples, which were built out of huge stones many many years ago in the stone age. They thought that giants must have built them because the stones were so huge nobody could imagine how they were carried. This remembered me - and probably some of you too - of the Stonehenge.

 

But the Temples are actually older and therefore way cooler - except the Stonehenge has a great song (watch Ylvis - Stonehenge). Yes, I am listening it right now. Maybe I should contact Ylvis whether they would like to do a song on the Ggantija Temples too.

Whoever built the temples must have had an idea about architecture because the ratio of the large stones versus the small stones is still a common ratio known by archtects. And they even found hints of a calendar and astronomic knowledge. I did not know they were so advanced back then.

After the temples, we went on hiking along the streets and coast of Gozo. There are lots of hiking trails all around the island and surprisingly the cliffs really do look different on different sides of the island.

Also, we found nice bays to swim, which were not too crowded and the water was warm enough to go swimming. Unfortunately there was no time for that but I guess someday I have to come back to Malta and then I will surely visit one of the bays of Gozo again.

And then there was the Azuro Window. It was simply stunning to stand on the cliff and watch a stone archway nature somehow created withstand the sea. There were even divers on the base, swimming and diving around. With such calm winds as today, I could have stayed there all day and swim around - you can even swim through the archway.

The last ferry was going quite early so we had to return, but at least we managed to watch a sunset on the ship.

Valetta and the Three Cities

I got the opportunity to visit Malta for the blog of a friend, Chronic Wanderlust, and I really love Malta.
When my plane approached the airport and I had a look out of the window, my first impression was that everything is pretty brown here. Even the buildings seem to be all built out of the same brownish-yellow stone - not only the old buildings but also the new ones.

That is why the skyline of Valetta, seen from the Three Cities, also looks pretty brown. Now you are probably wondering what the Three Cities are. Basically, they are just on the other side of the harbour of Valetta, consisting of Senglea, Vittoriosa and Cospicua, located on several seperate peninsulas with smaller harbours inbetween them.

When the Turks tried to take Malta in the great siege of Malta in 1565, Valetta did not exist yet, but the Three Cities were Forts to defend the Island. After the siege was won, Valetta was planned and built and became the capital city.

 
Therefore the Three Cities conserve a lot of culture, which can be seen when driving around there. There are Villages that used to be prisons, gates that used to keep people out just somewhere along the street, and really beautiful alleys in the old town. The harbours inbetween are quite cute and furthermore a perfect spot to watch the sunset, especially when the weather is fine.

Valetta, on the other side, would be pretty perfect for watching the sunrise. Unfortunately, sunrise just comes to soon every day so I will probably miss it. But still, there are other nice places to see in Valetta. Like the parliament, next to the open air theater that used to be a opera before it was destroyed in the second world war. Also, along the main pedestrian street, there are lots of museums, beautiful buildings, a palace and the cathedral.

The cathedral is quite stunning because it is so full of decoration you have a hard time actually looking at it. For some reason they thought it is really important to put gold almost everywhere.

But also there are some signs that show that Malta was a british colony, like the phone boxes. Also, they are driving on the left, using the same sockets as the british and grow up learning both english and maltese. I must confress, I did not know they even had their own language there until some months ago. The language sounds a lot like arabic, which is because the phoenicians were the first people in Malta long ago and the language mixed with arabic about 1000 years ago. Of course they also have french, italian and english influences, but still, the sound stayed mostly the same.

There are also different viewpoints all around the peninsula of Valetta. The best viewpoints I discovered were the Hastings Gardens on the northwest, the Fort St. Elmo on the top and the Barrakka Gardens.

I especially liked the Upper Barrakka Garden, because it gives you like the perfect view and the atmosphere is relaxing and you can sit there for hours and watch ships entering and leaving the harbour. Also, I especially like viewpoints and the further up they are the better. It is not only nice to watch on a sunny day but also at night, because of the warm nights and the beautiful lights.

7 Reasons to visit Istanbul

I wrote an article for the blog of a friend why you should visit Istanbul - maybe you want to have a look at it!

Chronic Wanderlust - 7 Reasons to visit Istanbul