Mon 15th 2143 Previously forseen problem is the deuter flip belt, being designed to loop round trouser belt, is "vulnerable" in a shared room - the old round the waist belt could be worn in bed. It doesn't feel a huge risk here and passport is locked in top part of main bag (hardly super secure but at least locked), but not ideal. I suppose I could sleep with it under pillow at a push.
Tue 16th 1955 In deserted hostel garden area. Had a 473ml can on Andina Dorada (prob COP3700, chilled, brough back from a little shop) and may have a second. After some thought and discussion with Rab have decided to ask them I can go on Fri 2nd Feb and if I can pay with PayPal. A quick web search suggests FX bureaux here may charge 10% premium so apart from anything else paying them 7% premium (sucky as it is) to pay via PayPal might well make financial sense.
Slept OK, woke up on alarm 0815 and got up about 0830. Woman still asleep but not a big deal. I did click away on K1 writing response to Rab in bed but not as if it was middle of night.
Got chatting to some people over a (free) coffee. Went out to walk up to statue of saint they told me about near town - quite a cool walk, very nice views and spoke a bit to some people up there, spent maybe 2hish at top (phoned parents, mulled over boat trip, didn't just sit there and silently contemplate view), then came down. Had an empanada at a small shop (not huge, but OK and 3.5k not insane and used up some change) then tried to find Museo Carmen (?) and in fact did but there was a sign on door saying to use "porteria arriba" but there seemed to be no door open anywhere on the building. So I ended up walking out the modest distance to the Museo Paleontologico, which was quietly enjoyable if not huge - I wandered round the fairly big garden a bit but always hard to take this sort of thing in when you're not a botanist, and I felt slightly against the clock as they shut at 1630 and I didn't get there til maybe 3ish, tho only the garden was remotely time-consuming as inside is cool but not very big.
Came back and managed to find El Original Arroz Paisa and had same as yday except guanabana juice tonight. 26k and only tipped 2k as wasn't think, but sure that's probably fine and I can over-tip another night.
Oh, between hill and museums I went to get some cash, Davivienda seemed to *insist* on doing the conversion to GBP themselves at a very poor rate (GBP290ish fair price was GBP310ish their price) so I declined and I *think* the transaction is sort of pending so slightly worryingly Starling app shows it (pending) but I hope it will go, think this has happened before. This killed wd from another bank (green? Banco Agrario?) as I had in Starling's opinion exceeded my daily allowance, so came back to hostel for Barclaycard and got my 1.4mCOP from the green machine - not sure if there was a fee, but if so it was OKish 20k and they probably offered to convert to GBP at shit rate but I could decline. So I did hear the sweet clunk of a huge wodge of local currency being dispensed, which was a relief.
After food came back to hostel and had shower (they seemed to have locked one of the two bathrooms off...) and sneakily washed two tops, tho bit worried they are gonna drip on dorm floor.
I then shoved my head into garden on offchance the guys from this morning were around (they weren't) and went out with a vague idea of having literally a couple of beers in a bar. It was also quite cool to be wandering round after dark and seeing Plaza Mayor lit up etc. Neither of the two bars I'd picked out seemed open (maybe weekends only??) and I couldn't see anything else that wasn't a restaurant so I wandered round for maybe 30 mins and then got these two cans of AD and came back.
I'd be lying if I said nothing about the SBA trip bothered me (the water supply, the apparent need to have three copies of your passport, seasickness risk, clothing concerns, etc etc etc) but *if* they will let me pay with Paypal everything else is just a question of grinding through chores getting copies of passport and being ripped off changing an extra USD100ish at a bureau and buying seasickness tablets and so forth. I do "want" to do this trip and apart from the fact it's far from clear they are better wrt payments etc, bluesailing feel a bit risky wrt seasickness and food even ignoring the fact they are mostly booked up.
Plan for tomorrow I think is just to take it easy-ish again, maybe go over to the hostel the guide book says has a 2hish hiking trail they let non-guests use, then maybe do some museum in the afternoon or something.
I figured incidentally that apart from my general plan as waffled before, given dorm issues with eg that woman asleep this morning and wanting to minimise bag rustling, it makes sense to shower and change clothes late afternoon and then wear them for the following 24h. Though tonight I am wearing red short-sleeved top, fleece and no cap, and I will not wear the short-sleeved top during the day but give it another outing tomorrow night.
The back of my hands are a bit burned (red, not hurting yet) and I may also have some burn on neck (sunscreen not working? poorly applied? it isn't hurting at the moment, I just think it's red) but not too bad.
2011 Will have that other beer now and may go to bed 9ish if nothing comes up.
Oh, would be good to try some of this canela coffee I see advertised all over tomorrow. Maybe part of a lazy-ish afternoon after possible hike.
My dorm mate is in kitchen (I think) looking at phone on her own. I think she is native English speaking and maybe English, though we've only exchanged a handful of words. I don't think she is over-keen to socialise (at least not with me, or with probably French couple chatting quietly in garden - I don't think this is the French guy I met this morning as he was afaict solo. Also met German guy and a Colombian friend of his who he met in Germany this morning. French guy is Paolo (ish), not sure german guy and Colombian is Johannes.) I think she might be cooking actually.
Beer is only 4% actually, just saying. Tastes OK. May even have one of those aguilas after, though don't want to feel too hungover etc. Did feel teeny tiny bit "dry" in the night/morning.
Oh, crescent moon had just risen over the hill while I was up there, pretty cool (we couldn't go to the top, only to the statue - sign said no passing - a poss Colombian couple I had a brief chat with did go past but only a handful of metres then turned back - I called out to point the moon out to them - the map shows the track going on past the saint but as I say it seemed to be forbidden in practice and my *very* quick look suggested the trail wasn't super clear either.
There were quite a lot of people going up and down track to saint tho was initially a bit nervous as it seemed desolate at starting point on ground. All felt quite sociable and pleasant really. Trail very rocky but with care nothing terrible, no scrambling needed or anything. Wouldn't fancy it much in the wet though.
Assuming I get to do this boat trip, I am thinking it would be good to make sure I have one or ideally two completely clean sets of clothing inc uw in my "sealed" bag, so when I get to Panama City hostel I can feel properly clean and civilized and be reasonably sure I don't stink etc etc. :-) I may end up in a dorm anyway as I suspect SBA have at least informal links with some hostel and booking at that hostel might simplify the taxi taking me there and avoiding complications. It would be good if I could pay by credit card too just in case I have absolutely no cash.
I am thinking (again, assuming I can do the trip) I may go camp out in Caprugana/Sapzorro for a few days first, to maybe relax and also to be on the spot. One review I found said SBA's recommended hostel there is shit value and not very good, but if I can feel comfortable I can bounce back and borth between C/S without too much trouble to get to briefings and/or actual departure points I would probably just book wherever seems good to me and fuck their specific recommendations. (I did *ask* for their recommendation, as I can always ignore it.)
2024 Yay, the Starling app shows that no money paid out txn as "settled" instead of pending or it having gone to cancelled. FFS. I am not getting onto them now, this still might sort itself out (it's not like this has never happened before). I am of course sure the machine did not shove any cash out at me, but doubt begins to kick in.
I do actually believe it will probably just sort itself out, and that I'll probably get the money back even if I need to query it, but there's no denying this - needing to remember to keep an eye on it as much as anything else - is preying on my mind.
I wish I could remember precisely what happens. I am 90% sure I tried the Davivienda first as French guy had said they were supposedly no fee (if true, irrelevant given my cards as their apparent insistance on converting to GBP at shit rate amounts to a giant fee) and I *didn't* get offered a choice, and/or at the end of the txn I was given a chance to just outright cancel (which I am 75% sure is the what happened) or that I did get offered a choice to decline conversion at end but I really don't think I did. I did not get any cash and I think it was pretty clear I wasn't getting any - but as I say, doubts obviously kick in "just because" . I then tried two other machines but as this first txn had (as it turned out, not that I knew it at the time) used up my daily wd allowance and also most of my balance (which I deliberately keep low) they failed.
Putting this specific glitch aside, it is possible if under some circumstances I needed only a very small amount of Colombian cash, DV's "proportional fee" via the shit exchange rate might make them the best option - eg it might even be borderline reasonable (albeit worse than making one big wd, if I need lots of money over time) to withdraw ten or twenty quid's worth from them in some very specific emergency.
Roommate is at another small table 3-4m away, she has a laptop but is facing me. It is microscopically awkward, but not a big deal. I think my relative lax of relaxation is mainly boat-related edginess plus this ATM thing.
2112 A group (poss owners friends) hanging out but in a way that makes me feel not at all BNM. I feel slightly fuzzy but I may have one of those small Aguilas then move towards bed.
I feel OK now, undeniably (albeit it's very early days and things are overall going well, I feel) annoying that the boat trip is casting a long shadow in terms of burning up mental energy, and ditto a shame to have this failed ATM withdrawal hanging around, but probably be OK and as I say right now I am not too distressed.
I do need to buy a litre-ish bottle of water, as the 5l bottle is not usable to drink from and both on today's hike and when in bed the 33cl and 50cl bottles I brought from home and which are the only bottles I brought on from Bogota are a bit too small for this purpose - I don't want to be refilling the little bottles from the 5l in dorm in middle of night. Did have a quick look in Ara earlier but they had no bottles this size. Not urgent, may get one tomorrow pre-hypothetical hike.
Owner-ish crowd just gone in, feels oddly deserted and quiet out here with just me and roommate. And a mosquito just whined past my ear.
I haven't cracked this Aguila yet, maybe I won't open it. Hmm...
Fuck it, I will. And then clean teeth and go to bed.
2154 In bed. Slightly awkwardly said goodnight to dormmate (90% sure it's her) in kitchen. Been doing some semi-frantic copying of photos off O6 onto USB/K1/Google Photos in bed.
Half wish I hadn't that Aguila but not a huge deal. Piss yellow as fuck when cleaning teeth, probably not solely due to beer tonight but I really need to make an effort to drink more water tomorrow.
Tue 16th 1955 In deserted hostel garden area. Had a 473ml can on Andina Dorada (prob COP3700, chilled, brough back from a little shop) and may have a second. After some thought and discussion with Rab have decided to ask them I can go on Fri 2nd Feb and if I can pay with PayPal. A quick web search suggests FX bureaux here may charge 10% premium so apart from anything else paying them 7% premium (sucky as it is) to pay via PayPal might well make financial sense.
Slept OK, woke up on alarm 0815 and got up about 0830. Woman still asleep but not a big deal. I did click away on K1 writing response to Rab in bed but not as if it was middle of night.
Got chatting to some people over a (free) coffee. Went out to walk up to statue of saint they told me about near town - quite a cool walk, very nice views and spoke a bit to some people up there, spent maybe 2hish at top (phoned parents, mulled over boat trip, didn't just sit there and silently contemplate view), then came down. Had an empanada at a small shop (not huge, but OK and 3.5k not insane and used up some change) then tried to find Museo Carmen (?) and in fact did but there was a sign on door saying to use "porteria arriba" but there seemed to be no door open anywhere on the building. So I ended up walking out the modest distance to the Museo Paleontologico, which was quietly enjoyable if not huge - I wandered round the fairly big garden a bit but always hard to take this sort of thing in when you're not a botanist, and I felt slightly against the clock as they shut at 1630 and I didn't get there til maybe 3ish, tho only the garden was remotely time-consuming as inside is cool but not very big.
Came back and managed to find El Original Arroz Paisa and had same as yday except guanabana juice tonight. 26k and only tipped 2k as wasn't think, but sure that's probably fine and I can over-tip another night.
Oh, between hill and museums I went to get some cash, Davivienda seemed to *insist* on doing the conversion to GBP themselves at a very poor rate (GBP290ish fair price was GBP310ish their price) so I declined and I *think* the transaction is sort of pending so slightly worryingly Starling app shows it (pending) but I hope it will go, think this has happened before. This killed wd from another bank (green? Banco Agrario?) as I had in Starling's opinion exceeded my daily allowance, so came back to hostel for Barclaycard and got my 1.4mCOP from the green machine - not sure if there was a fee, but if so it was OKish 20k and they probably offered to convert to GBP at shit rate but I could decline. So I did hear the sweet clunk of a huge wodge of local currency being dispensed, which was a relief.
After food came back to hostel and had shower (they seemed to have locked one of the two bathrooms off...) and sneakily washed two tops, tho bit worried they are gonna drip on dorm floor.
I then shoved my head into garden on offchance the guys from this morning were around (they weren't) and went out with a vague idea of having literally a couple of beers in a bar. It was also quite cool to be wandering round after dark and seeing Plaza Mayor lit up etc. Neither of the two bars I'd picked out seemed open (maybe weekends only??) and I couldn't see anything else that wasn't a restaurant so I wandered round for maybe 30 mins and then got these two cans of AD and came back.
I'd be lying if I said nothing about the SBA trip bothered me (the water supply, the apparent need to have three copies of your passport, seasickness risk, clothing concerns, etc etc etc) but *if* they will let me pay with Paypal everything else is just a question of grinding through chores getting copies of passport and being ripped off changing an extra USD100ish at a bureau and buying seasickness tablets and so forth. I do "want" to do this trip and apart from the fact it's far from clear they are better wrt payments etc, bluesailing feel a bit risky wrt seasickness and food even ignoring the fact they are mostly booked up.
Plan for tomorrow I think is just to take it easy-ish again, maybe go over to the hostel the guide book says has a 2hish hiking trail they let non-guests use, then maybe do some museum in the afternoon or something.
I figured incidentally that apart from my general plan as waffled before, given dorm issues with eg that woman asleep this morning and wanting to minimise bag rustling, it makes sense to shower and change clothes late afternoon and then wear them for the following 24h. Though tonight I am wearing red short-sleeved top, fleece and no cap, and I will not wear the short-sleeved top during the day but give it another outing tomorrow night.
The back of my hands are a bit burned (red, not hurting yet) and I may also have some burn on neck (sunscreen not working? poorly applied? it isn't hurting at the moment, I just think it's red) but not too bad.
2011 Will have that other beer now and may go to bed 9ish if nothing comes up.
Oh, would be good to try some of this canela coffee I see advertised all over tomorrow. Maybe part of a lazy-ish afternoon after possible hike.
My dorm mate is in kitchen (I think) looking at phone on her own. I think she is native English speaking and maybe English, though we've only exchanged a handful of words. I don't think she is over-keen to socialise (at least not with me, or with probably French couple chatting quietly in garden - I don't think this is the French guy I met this morning as he was afaict solo. Also met German guy and a Colombian friend of his who he met in Germany this morning. French guy is Paolo (ish), not sure german guy and Colombian is Johannes.) I think she might be cooking actually.
Beer is only 4% actually, just saying. Tastes OK. May even have one of those aguilas after, though don't want to feel too hungover etc. Did feel teeny tiny bit "dry" in the night/morning.
Oh, crescent moon had just risen over the hill while I was up there, pretty cool (we couldn't go to the top, only to the statue - sign said no passing - a poss Colombian couple I had a brief chat with did go past but only a handful of metres then turned back - I called out to point the moon out to them - the map shows the track going on past the saint but as I say it seemed to be forbidden in practice and my *very* quick look suggested the trail wasn't super clear either.
There were quite a lot of people going up and down track to saint tho was initially a bit nervous as it seemed desolate at starting point on ground. All felt quite sociable and pleasant really. Trail very rocky but with care nothing terrible, no scrambling needed or anything. Wouldn't fancy it much in the wet though.
Assuming I get to do this boat trip, I am thinking it would be good to make sure I have one or ideally two completely clean sets of clothing inc uw in my "sealed" bag, so when I get to Panama City hostel I can feel properly clean and civilized and be reasonably sure I don't stink etc etc. :-) I may end up in a dorm anyway as I suspect SBA have at least informal links with some hostel and booking at that hostel might simplify the taxi taking me there and avoiding complications. It would be good if I could pay by credit card too just in case I have absolutely no cash.
I am thinking (again, assuming I can do the trip) I may go camp out in Caprugana/Sapzorro for a few days first, to maybe relax and also to be on the spot. One review I found said SBA's recommended hostel there is shit value and not very good, but if I can feel comfortable I can bounce back and borth between C/S without too much trouble to get to briefings and/or actual departure points I would probably just book wherever seems good to me and fuck their specific recommendations. (I did *ask* for their recommendation, as I can always ignore it.)
2024 Yay, the Starling app shows that no money paid out txn as "settled" instead of pending or it having gone to cancelled. FFS. I am not getting onto them now, this still might sort itself out (it's not like this has never happened before). I am of course sure the machine did not shove any cash out at me, but doubt begins to kick in.
I do actually believe it will probably just sort itself out, and that I'll probably get the money back even if I need to query it, but there's no denying this - needing to remember to keep an eye on it as much as anything else - is preying on my mind.
I wish I could remember precisely what happens. I am 90% sure I tried the Davivienda first as French guy had said they were supposedly no fee (if true, irrelevant given my cards as their apparent insistance on converting to GBP at shit rate amounts to a giant fee) and I *didn't* get offered a choice, and/or at the end of the txn I was given a chance to just outright cancel (which I am 75% sure is the what happened) or that I did get offered a choice to decline conversion at end but I really don't think I did. I did not get any cash and I think it was pretty clear I wasn't getting any - but as I say, doubts obviously kick in "just because" . I then tried two other machines but as this first txn had (as it turned out, not that I knew it at the time) used up my daily wd allowance and also most of my balance (which I deliberately keep low) they failed.
Putting this specific glitch aside, it is possible if under some circumstances I needed only a very small amount of Colombian cash, DV's "proportional fee" via the shit exchange rate might make them the best option - eg it might even be borderline reasonable (albeit worse than making one big wd, if I need lots of money over time) to withdraw ten or twenty quid's worth from them in some very specific emergency.
Roommate is at another small table 3-4m away, she has a laptop but is facing me. It is microscopically awkward, but not a big deal. I think my relative lax of relaxation is mainly boat-related edginess plus this ATM thing.
2112 A group (poss owners friends) hanging out but in a way that makes me feel not at all BNM. I feel slightly fuzzy but I may have one of those small Aguilas then move towards bed.
I feel OK now, undeniably (albeit it's very early days and things are overall going well, I feel) annoying that the boat trip is casting a long shadow in terms of burning up mental energy, and ditto a shame to have this failed ATM withdrawal hanging around, but probably be OK and as I say right now I am not too distressed.
I do need to buy a litre-ish bottle of water, as the 5l bottle is not usable to drink from and both on today's hike and when in bed the 33cl and 50cl bottles I brought from home and which are the only bottles I brought on from Bogota are a bit too small for this purpose - I don't want to be refilling the little bottles from the 5l in dorm in middle of night. Did have a quick look in Ara earlier but they had no bottles this size. Not urgent, may get one tomorrow pre-hypothetical hike.
Owner-ish crowd just gone in, feels oddly deserted and quiet out here with just me and roommate. And a mosquito just whined past my ear.
I haven't cracked this Aguila yet, maybe I won't open it. Hmm...
Fuck it, I will. And then clean teeth and go to bed.
2154 In bed. Slightly awkwardly said goodnight to dormmate (90% sure it's her) in kitchen. Been doing some semi-frantic copying of photos off O6 onto USB/K1/Google Photos in bed.
Half wish I hadn't that Aguila but not a huge deal. Piss yellow as fuck when cleaning teeth, probably not solely due to beer tonight but I really need to make an effort to drink more water tomorrow.
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