Sun 0942 Experimentally writing this on HTC touchpal kbd but it's like pulling teeth. Outside MarSol terminal for 20 mins, all OK, paid at ML and picked up maybe 920ish. Minibus air-conditioned and got nice single seat. Told can use toilet here but don't need to go now, bit edgy re 4-4.5h drive but can't be helped. Had dump this morning anyway so only piss to worry about. Kitten outside door as went out of room for breakfast but it was spooked by door and skittered off so couldn't stroke it.
Don't plan to look at phone during drive, but while we're just sitting here don't see any harm.
1047 stopped at some small garage. naturally needed piss shortly after we left, not busting but glad to have had chance. seatbelt wouldn't open and got bit panicky (trapped, also worried would miss chance for piss) so left it latched and scrambled up and out of it. 😊 on returning to bus it actually works if fiddled with persistently and calmly.
lesson learned: don't swig water before a bus trip. I could prob have hand carried the half full litre bottle instead of leaving it behind or swigging it. half litre not much really but did have bit of water on waking (didn't sleep great) and coffee at breakfast.
2211 Right. Bit quietly hacked off. Been blowing hot and cold on Santa Marta since I arrived. Let's go back and do this chronologically.
Got dropped off in street and told hostel was "down that way" ; I had GPS and I was checking it and the street was fairly quiet and didn't feel unsafe and it was "down that way" but not quite door-to-door service. Got checked in fine, they even allowed me to pay by credit card with no extra charge (which is like saving maybe 1.5%; 0.5% cashback on credit card and I avoid the approx 1% cash withdrawal fee, and of course reduces frequency of cash machine visits). Room is actually very nice - shared bathroom admittedly, but it's right next door - and it has a double bed and a window and a mural on the wall and so forth.
I asked about security and guy at desk told me (I summarise, and I may have missed some nuances in the Spanish) it was fine during the day, he recommended going to Parque de los Novios and said it might be a bit iffier after dark (ultra crude approximation there). So I went out. PdlN is maybe half a block away, depending how you count, and while some of the restaurants surrounding it looked borderline expensive for food at least one I saw with expensive food "only" wanted 4k for an Aguila. I wandered a bit further (I also wanted to get some exercise in, though it was around 3pm and I was a bit worried the lunch window would be closing) and found a cheapish cafe (Valeria's) which did me a pretty decent carne asada with rice, fried plantain and (dressed :-( ) salad for 13k, a nice juice whose name eludes me (melacuya??? fuck knows, I wasn't sure at the time and it was hours ago now) and the finally bill came to 19.8k including tip and they let me pay on card with no extra charge.
I then forced myself out for a walk. Streets quietish and a few vaguely beggary types around but not overly threatening and no one hassled me. Later I was walking down some very busy (a sort of lively if slightly run down looking area with lots of street stalls) street and as I got to the corner after no trouble for several blocks a group of young-ish blokes (5-10?) of them were milling on the corner and as I passed between them one said "habla amigo!" (if I heard right) (presumably) at me but I ignored him (barring probably body language issues) and carried on walking and nothing happened (in the unlikely event I was somehow called on this "rudeness" , I'd just blame it on my Spanish). Hardly a major threat, and yet it seems unlikely this particular group of youngish blokes just fancied getting to know a random tourist-looking stranger, so what *exactly* did they want?
Anyway, I then wandered off along the esplanade which was super busy. Very "ordinary family" kind of place, which mostly made it non-threatening, though just a few groups of mid-late-teen kids hanging around enough to make me a bit edgy, though no one said anything to me. I read tonight on MG that SM is mainly a Colombian tourist destination, though foreign tourists are starting to "discover" it. I could certainly believe that; I might have been the only white guy there. This wouldn't bother me except for the attempts I get from mildly threatening groups of men to intercept me on the street and engage me in conversation.
I'm not a beach person, the beach looked very crowded and not much sand but I'm sure it's very nice if you want to swim or whatever. Got a sort of "warmer Mablethorpe" vibe from it somehow. Oddly picturesque having the container port down the far end, I took some photos but felt a bit conspicuous (what if some guy goes off on one because I've got a camera within 100m of his kids? I'm just fucking taking snapshots here but with the odd poster around about sexual exploitation of children and the like it added an extra layer to my slight feeling of vulnerability). I walked most of the length of the esplanade twice (south to north then back then repeat), then decided I'd been brave enough and walked enough and came back to hostel via a small pharmacy where no prices shown but fairly helpful MoS came over after I'd been dithering a while and answered my price questions - got a warm 4l bottle water for 3k and a chilled 600ml (no sparkling, alas) water for 1k - vaguely tempted by a sugar-free coke but at 3k for 600ml it felt insanely extravagant against the 4l bottle of water.
Came back to hotel, read a bit, had shower, went up on to roof terrace (in UK terms my room is on first floor and roof terrace is 2nd) about 1750 to see if sunset was attractive and read a bit on phone and hopefully get a beer (though sign in reception showing all the activities, and another sign showing general facilities, implied bar might not open til 1900). Roof terrace large and quite nice, views nothing special but nice enough in an urban way (just streets/adjoining houses), sunset OK but not amazing (bit cloudy). There was one other guy in hammock up there who said "hola!" when I went up but otherwise we ignored each other; I suspect he's staff or "family" if this is maybe a family run place (not saying it is).
I sat in the dark til maybe 1830 then moved to a table under the terrace roof nearer the stairs with a bit of light from a soft drink fridge. There was a woman drifting around, intermittently (to judge from sound) snogging the bloke, I *suspect* she's staff too.
Maybe 1900ish the terrace lights got turned on. Around this time the weather got so that intermittently a warm but really strong blast of wind would come in; was like that all night. Quite refreshing but mildly disconcerting all the same. (Much nicer up there than in my room, I do have a fan though feared I wouldn't, but it's still stuffy.)
Because I wasn't sure if those people were staff or other guests, and ditto the few other randos who drifted in and out occasionally, I didn't like to ask any of them about getting a beer. Towards the end of the evening I even went and stood at the bar (partly because my arse was hurting from sitting on the plastic chairs so long anyway) and at least one or two of the almost-certainly staff (eg they would go and sit and talk between themselves a bit up the staff-only staircase) just walked past me without saying anything. Really hate this kind of shit, that awkward "I feel like I'm in the way" feeling. I think I may well be the only guest; in a way this is good, it's peaceful, but if it means facilities I hoped to use like the bar are essentially out of service that's annoying.
Oh, I asked when I checked in and guy said I did have breakfast included. But fuck knows what if anything will happen, I am guessing the breakfast will be at best coffee and a bread roll not anything substantial if I am the only guest.
So earlier up on terrace I did read a bit of MG and poke at GM and I'm a bit annoyed. There's a small hill/viewpoint 3.5km away called Cerro Ziruma which it might be nice in theory to walk up (and indeed over to) and comments on GM about there being a police presence at some point, but I have no idea if I can fucking risk this.
There also a 3000m peak (Cerro Kennedy) near-ish by and I think tomorrow I will make my main quest visiting some tour agencies and seeing what they can do. This annoys me because a couple of comments on web suggest people have DIYed this - apparently some bloke who lives on top to look after a radio aerial will take in up to 4 guests overnight - and so I kind of wish I could do that sort of thing, but TBH this would probably be foolish. I'm on my own (not that this seems to stop these other commenters), I have no equipment (eg if I had to camp out cos bloke's place is full or he's on holiday) and even if I had no security concerns it doesn't seem prudent to go trogging off into the hills solo with no info or training or whatever. But I still feel like a fucking sap and a wuss for feeling like this.
One tour on web advertised something like USD70 per person (per day?) for a two day tour but then showed a "total price" of USD370ish. WTF? Another tour wanted COP900k. I can and probably will pay this if I have to but it seems a lot. I also have a niggling feeling that I'm going to struggle to find a tour agency who will be happy to sell me this and who inspire confidence; maybe I'm wrong but this just feels like a doomed quest, eg they'll all want me to arrange my own group instead of just assembling people into a group, or they'll say there's no demand but they might have a tour in a few days and they'll let me know. But we'll see what happens tomorrow, I can only try and if it can't be done it's not the end of the world.
I think with PdlN being so close and based on a peer from the terrace into street it not looking too scary out there I may go out for a drink there and walk back after dark no later than about 10pm tomorrow night. I haven't yet written my thoughts on worrying about getting mugged up but I probably need to try not to get too over-paranoid about being mugged and completely fuck the trip over.
EasyTaxi don't have service here FWIW. Probably not much. I got a really shitty semi-stock reply from them (in Spanish, even though I wrote to them in English, not that it really matters) saying I can ask the driver for the price and they will have a card in most cases showing prices set by the local authority. So without actually saying it in as many words, they do seem to be saying "yeah, the price we show in the app means absolutely nothing - it's just something which make up to entice you to book. Just like we show really brief waiting times before you book, then quote something far higher immediately afterwards, then the cab remains 8 minutes away for about half an hour anyway".
(And if I am supposed to ask the driver for this price list, and it will be way higher than the price in the app I expect, does that mean I can tell the driver "no thanks" and just forget the booking without incurring any penalty?)
I may reply to them tomorrow just to see what happens but for my own self respect I kind of don't want to write anything bitter or insulting, and I'm not sure any other kind of response is possible. (Maybe I could ask that "And if I am..." question in a less shitty form, if I really want to write just for hell of it.)
I'm glad I didn't book in at this hostel for more than the 4 nights. I'm not saying I won't stay longer - it's not *too* expensive for the area, the location is pretty good wrt PdlN - if it turns out to be helpful, eg I do manage to get a half-decent tour to CK but it's after my initial 4 nights are up, but right now this doesn't feel either social *or* (due to no bar and the awkward vibe of being outnumbered by drifting staff) somewhere I can kick back in quiet comfort on my own.
On the upside, the woman who's probably staff did sit in corner of terrace strumming away on a ukulele for maybe 30 mins or more, and she's good enough to my untrained ear this was quite pleasant. I don't know if she was playing a tune, to me it was a sort of series of pleasant chords, kind of deal.
I suppose in theory I could have asked a random person "excuse me, do you know if the bar's open/going to be open?" and then it wouldn't have mattered if they weren't staff or were off duty staff or were staff whose duties don't include touching the bar, but I feel really vulnerable dealing with people in mildly iffy situations like that in Spanish.
I had the HTC up on terrace but I should have taken Priv (or popped back down to room for it) as then I'd have been able to write some of this up there. As it is I feel a bit tired and sort of fed up and want to go to bed but I'm bashing this out now because I "couldn't" do it earlier.
FWIW lots of cheapish looking bars and restaurants along the esplanade (on land side of road, not right on sea front) so lots of potential there. I am aware it's Sunday so that may explain business and esplanade may be quietly, perhaps almost dangerously so, tomorrow. Though I think it may also be school holidays here, not sure.
I think that about covers it. Let's at least move towards bed.
Wrt bar, I don't expect or even want obsequious service. I'd just like someone to take (say) a 5k note off me, take a beer out of the fridge, pop the top off and hand me the beer.
Incidentally there's a water dispenser in reception but they want 1.5k for a litre. Good as a convenient fallback I guess but decidedly a rip off compared to 3k for 4l bottle (the water dispenser doesn't look like it's serving chilled water) a couple of minutes' walk away.
2311 Piss is running pretty yellow again. I'm sure I had it clear the other day.
Being positive, the shower here (had one just before sunset, not right now) is at least warm-ish (and it's not a cold place so plenty hot enough). Being negative, there are no hooks or anything to put my clothes on in the room; just a few on the back of the door would make all the difference.
2347 Bed. Minor spider scare when filling water bottle from 4l bottle in corner of room, some dust/hair got blown by fan and gave me a small jolt. :-)
I don't feel terrible but I don't feel great either. I think it's all down to this fucking business of calibrating my risk sensitivity with things like DIYing mini tours, especially given it's not rare (if not super common) for mildly threatening groups of randos on the street to try to engage me in conversation (ie stop me walking past) making me edgy about getting off the beaten track (though there may be less randos there) and eg onto quiet back roads on foot or onto public buses. Of course doing these things would be challenging but it would be good for my Spanish and self confidence etc, but do these things just seem a bit risky or would they really truly be risky? I just can't fucking judge. In some ways part of the problem is I've no one here to ask for thoughts, except hotel staff about the safety of the immediate vicinity - if I could somehow get to speak to some other travellers (especially solo ones) or maybe were at a Spanish school or something it might be easier.
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