Ahh... Colombia

Beautiful Colombia. What is it about Colombia? As soon as you cross the border - something is different. Is it the lush green mountains? The coffee farms? The salsa? No - I think it is the people. So friendly, chatty, and welcoming. So happy and full of the joie de vivre. They really want to get to know you. I think this is the reason so many people fall in love with this country. I sure did. It does seem a contrast for a country that has been through so much! Such resilience. Or maybe it is living through the trauma of the narcotics war that has made people have more of a life zest?

And there are still signs of the narcotics war everywhere. I have never seen so many men with guns in my life. They are EVERYWHERE. The highway, the grocery store, tourist attractions. Police. Military. Military Police. I guess it's supposed to make us feel safer? And, by the way, I think the average age is about 19. We decided that the military must have a good dental plan because 3/4 of them have braces! Teenagers with braces and big guns. It's quite the picture.
Despite this, I have to say that at first the sight of them was a bit disconcerting. We arrived in southern Colombia from Ecuador and in our second stop, Popayan, there happened to be a protest going on. Down the street from our hostel there was a line of police ready with their big 'riot shields'. Yikes. It was actually a protest on the government / president Uribe by the indiginous people and farmers for more rights. Seemed to be under control, but was still going on in Cali - where we had planned to head the next day. All info we gathered made it seem like we shouldn't have any problems. Headed out to the bus station with a guy we met in the hostel. Boarded the bus in Popayan and, about an hour on our way, we were stopped by the highway police. This had happened to us before and wasn't concerning at first. They usually just searched bags and seemed to pay more attention to the locals than the tourists. But this time was different. They only targeted the four of us. Asked us to get off the bus and took our passports. Double yikes. They searched our bags thoroughly. Oh, and our bus continued on without us. Barely even gave us time to get our stuff off the bus! We were in the middle of nowhere. They asked us a million annoying questions. What I did for a living, how much money I made, etc. Really started pissing me off and I don't hide that well (got to work on that, police don't like you to show them attitude.) They even wanted to see our cameras. What do you know, I had just taken a few photos of police from afar on my taxi ride to the Popayan bus station. I quickly deleted them as I was walking over to hand him my camera. Whew. After what seemed like an eternity (actually about 2 1/2 hours) they let us go. Drove us back to the bus station. When we got there different police again interrogated us. Thankfully, they didn't keep us for long. Of course we had to buy new bus tickets! The word was that they were looking for a couple of tourists who were trafficking. Hmmm. Anyway - after this incident we really didn't have any other problems. I hate to say it but I actually got so used to seeing the military and the police everywhere that I stopped even noticing their presence. Crazy.

And to go with these very random blog thoughts, I've included this random picture of dyed chicks. Yeah. I'm not sure either. They were in the baggage compartment on our bus across the border. Despite asking the owner of the chicks, and several other people, I never really got a good answer. They came in blue and green as well. Something like - it's a kitch quirky thing to sell?? was about the best answer I got.