the journey home

(written while offline in madrid airport, 21-04-2009)

One over night bus from Medellín to bogota, a day round bogota , overnight flight from bogota to madrid. And im now in madrid airport awaiting my flight to ireland.

i am going home. to end this lifestyle for the forseeable future.
It surely will be strange to stay put in one living space for longer than a week. I guess as time goes bay, i will start to feel the post travel withdrawl symptoms.

im excited about seeing everyone! how my nephews have changed and i wonder will the dogs recognise me. it will be downright wierd to be surrounded by people who know me well. i have gotten so used to moving around alone that i have been able to make friends everywhere and anywhere. this is a gift i do not want to lose. contrary to what you might think, you actually feel less alone when you are alone.. because everyone in the world becomes a potential friend. the choice is endless...

i feel like a few months of living with the minimum of material possesions has done me good.
i remember at one stage during the trip one person asked me "do i miss my own bed?" . why would i miss a bed? my bed is just a piece of wood and springs, it doesnt miss me! it doesent do anything... i am living my life i will grow old and die eventually, theres no time to waste ... friends and family are the only thing that matter. knowledge is your only real possesion.


air comet from bogota, colombia to madrid, spain


madrid airport


passengers queue up for ryanair flight from spain to ireland


the ever-grey dublin airport


ireland

the lonesome boatman

the last weekend in medellin colombia.

this is my very last weekend in south america. so no touristy stuff... just non stop party.


dancers in "mangos"

some very average looking colombians at "bar red"

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on saturday night i actually thaought for a while that it may be a quiet one.
little did i know.....

you never know quite where your going to end up in a foreign city. on my last saturday night in south america i happened to find a big party indeed. as though it were epecially for me hehehe.

rave party, colombian style.




with a roof that opens up every now and again, greeted by a huge cheer from the crowd as the sun rises.


9AM

Alegria en Medellin

i asked a colombian guy "why are the girls so pretty here?"
"what happened??"
his response was "alegria!"

which means joy or happiness. i like his reponse, of course maybe there are other factors like plastic surgery which is obviously hugely popular here with every day people in medellin.
but im inclined to go with the "alegria" explanation because i think it does count for a lot. my impression is that the colombians do like to enjoy life. i should try and keep some of this alegria in my heart and bring it back home.


salsa dancers in club "mango" , medellin


"la Kasa" techno club, medellin


here is my dutch fried, bart (whom i met in santiago and bumped into again here in medellin 4 months later)
and on the right is the waitress in club "mango"


karaoke in "B-lounge", medellin.


some happy colombians in B-lounge


maria who works in the hostel "pit stop", where im staying at the moment.
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couple of famous people from medellin...

the crazy colombian goalie, Rene "el loco" higuita"
rene higuita & the scorpion kick


also the south american singer "Juanes" is from medellin,
Juanes - la camisa negra

a day in Medellin

morning in pit stop hostel in medellin, no time to have a dip in the pool now.





the grave of pablo escobar.


Pablo Escobar 1949-1995, underneith it says "if you see a good man, try to imitate him, if you see a bad man, examine yourself"


click here to see: "who is pablo escobar?"



then it rained, very heavily with thunder. this is an every afternoon thing here in medellin this time of year i believe.
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then i decided to take the cable car up to santo domingo, and overlook the city.

downtown medellin

medellin's, over ground metro.

one of the many different colored groovy buses

Last Photos of Taganga

taganga beach by night


reggae festival in taganga for semana santa. they are calling it the "first". so im guessing there will be many.

the easter rush has passed and the beach has just about returned to its normal calm self, the water is crystal clear now. this is truely one hard place to leave!


the man we nicknamed "arepa man", makes the best darn arepas money can buy...

mmmmmm... arepa con queso... y picante!



views of taganga from the nearby "mirador"

chao taganga!

i do hope see you again!


Oscar D' Leon - Lloraras

Tanganga Soy!

I had made up my mind that i was going to medellin and had even booked the ticket before heading out to taganga for another roasting in the sun. but when i saw the festive atmosphere in taganga i soon realised this was not the time to leave...

Lady & Marelbis
lady is apopular name in colombia, sometimes spelt leidy, and apparently mateo (as i am called here) is a popular name for a dog. have met a lot of people who told me they have dogs called mateo.

Daddy yankee: llamada de emergencia

Gustavo' s Iguana

the hotel i stayed in in sant marta was run by a guy called gustavo. as far as i can see, gustavo works 24 hours a day, seven days a week! he runs the shop from around 8am until 11pm and then sleeps on the couch in the hallway tending to the door with a pleasant greeting everytime a (certain) hotel guest stumbles home in the early hours.



This is Gustavos pet iguana. it stayes here on top of the shop counter all day. every so often it jumps down off the box and shakes its head around. however any time i try to record a video of it , it just stays completely still, to spite me.