Fri 15th 2058 Incidentally the couple who took my photo by chiva during the planned break were on my minibus to Manizales. I didn't speak to them and they didn't speak to me, he also seemed to be falling asleep at points so it obviously wasn't just me. (I don't think I did sleep, partly as I had picked the single seat by the door for extra legroom without realising I'd need to keep moving my legs when people got picked up/dropped off en route. But TBF I half didn't *want* to sleep as even seeing stuff out of the window *is* still seeing stuff.)
Anyway, bed.
Sat 16th 1745 Not a bad day's touristing.
Alone on roof terrace with a 4k beer purchased from hostel's honesty system. I had thought this was pretty good but it turns out this is 4k for a 269ml (tho it says 269cm^3 which feels wrong) which is tiny and faintly insulting - I haven't seen a can this small before. Anyway. (OK, I checked with frink and indeed ml and cm^3 are the same. This still feels wrong, showing I guess what a poor intuition I have for volumetric measures.)
1753 Nearly finished beer.
Didn't sleep very well. Vague not nightmarish but disturbing ("I am about to leave on a major trip abroad and I haven't told work" being the vague vibe insofar as I can remember) semi-waking dreams. Anyway, got up about 830, a few people round breakfast table, said "hola" , cleaned teeth, rejoined them and staff brought me glass of prob papaya juice (there was also milk to go in the free coffee) and an omlette and some sliced banana and cubed watermelon. Not bad at all. Very litte chat. Everyone seemed to be Spanish speaking but mostly silent, with a certain couply vibe. Two German girls (not sure if same ones from yday; probably) turned up and were oddly giggly but didn't speak much even in German.
Went out to Ecosistema round corner; OM had outdated address, so I went to GM address next and tho it just seemed to be a hotel I went in and asked and they did seem to know ES and I ended up on a WA phone call with the hotel desk woman's phone to ES (which of course I could have done from my own hostel but all part of the experience I guess). Long story short they do a hike (3 days or 3 nights?) from here to Salento and 70yos have done it and it sounds fine, even if it's COP1m (£200ish), *but* a group left at 5am this morning and they have no other group. I think I am on a kind of candidate list. They also said they'd ask Kwhatsit who I had been planning on visiting (via cable car) so I decided not to; I did however message Kwhatsit on my own account an hour later while having arepa con carne (4k) and a tinto (1.5k) in a place near Fundadores opposite a mural of maybe-George Lucas and I think (and hopefully ES got this message across to them anyway) they have put me on a waiting list too. They do various tours but within reason as long as it isn't too "ffs I clearly can't handle that" beggars can't be choosers and anything will do.
I will keep extending here a day at a time up to at least 4 nights I think, I would prob have done 4 anyway but just have an eye on suddenly being away for a trek so not wanting to pay for unused accom.
Frankly I am not that optimistic but who knows and I cannot do any more than try, as I have done. Rationally or not I am rather liking Manizales, it is hilly but the climate feels interestingly variable between too damn hot and cool so it's comfortableish, it feels like a real Colombian city, it has real shops and lots of cheap bars and restaurants, it is big but not so big it feels overwhelming, people seem to speak Spanish even with me, it doesn't (fool's paradise?) feel dangerous, the cable cars are cool and while tiring the hills add to the slightly gritty charm. I could easily imagine myself studying Spanish here for a month - obviously not now, and I have no idea if there are Spanish schools here.
Finger break. I am also gonna go down and get a bottle of H2Oh toroncello (toronja+limon flavour) I got earlier and semi-sneak (prob no need; I think own alcohol is allowed, eg wine bottles in kitchen) a bottle of Aguardiente Antioqueña (henceforth AA) "green" I bought at supermarket earlier.
1808 So I wandered down towards Fundadores as mentioned (tho still haven't noticed the massive memorial iirc) and back up another street and along the "cliff" (nice views) to Torre del Chipre which looked closed (the "cerrado" sign on the ticket booth threw me) but wasn't and paid 35k to go up and do the sky walk (with a nice chap called Miguelito Angelo; I had a chat with him in Spanish on the narrow unfenced walkway nearly 40m above the street, tho of course we were strapped to a safety harness). The sky walk was slightly scary but not too bad (I felt most nervous when getting my phone out as I knew *I* couldn't fall but it clearly could, but there were 40m wax palms - he said they can grow to 100m - next to us and I thought I ought to get a photo of me on a level with their tops) and kind of fun. TBH 15k just to go up feels a rip off (gb says 15k to do sky walk), 35k for the sky walk feels a smidge expensive (esp when gb has set expectation of 15k) but not too bad.
Finger break.
1815 Sudden thought, quick poke on web for lang exch here but can't find one. Not tried meetup as have K1 with me and login is on O6, suspect there isn't one, may check later and if I miss one tonight that's life.
Toronchelo OK (tried straight) but not amazing, sadly. AA doesn't go badly with it but also not wow. May have some AA in black coffee and/or that semi agua panela type free "tea" later, perhaps making an improvised carajillo/canela-ish drink.
GP storage filled up last night. I may actually take their promo offer of 100GB for 39p/month for three months up - I don't like the idea of giving them money, but it's negligible, and I already decided my holiday photos are not a privacy concern and I do value having them backed up, so I could do this for one month and download them all when I get home and cancel. (There is also some value in GP doing auto panoramas and its own version of HDR from my HDR components etc, so by buying extra space I can continue to upload everything and get these auto versions for the entire trip.)
Anyway, having talked to MA and also looked at map on phone I trogged over to Ecoparque Los Alcanzares Arenillo (sp? have photo) - which is a bugger to get to given the way the roads all double back on each other. Oh, on the way I spotted a small Juan Valdez at the water park and J having recommended their granizado the other day I went and had one (12k, but I'm on holiday) and it was very nice. Water park small but quietly cool.
Ecoparque was kind of fun but hard work - lots of downhill then uphill, the tower was sadly closed, path signage rather poor overall and I did get lost (near, I think, the "bamboo cave", which was a load of bamboo making a rather dark shady area which I did go into and which was kind of cool) and felt slightly panicky as I knew I'd come in on a clearish track but couldn't find it again - trails on OM only very loosely related to reality - but while I didn't see any birds and had no idea what I was looking at plant-wise it was all exercise and nature and while quite tiring and sweaty wasn't a bad afternoon.
Oh, I tried to get a homemade cone type ice cream at heladeria ecoparque before going in, but despite extensive Spanish discussion with the woman there I was unable to get the idea across or she just didn't have any. I got a Polet frutos (not frutas, need to look into that) del bosque for 5.1k at a small shop after I finally got out of EP and was heading back towards hostel (with plans to go to supermarket and get AA and some soft drink). I found myself passing JV again so went and had another large granizado - same size, but this time it cost 12.5k for some reason - and slightly milked watching the fountains (which are obviously computer controlled).
I then went into supermarket where by chance a woman was promoting AA green and I got a free sample and I did buy AA green as a result, tho tbh the stronger traditional (with sugar) and without sugar variants at the same price might be nicer, but I figured I would at least try buying the green. I am (and was eg last night) thinking I might buy some AA at the airport airside, where I assume/hope I will be allowed to take it home in my carry on baggage.
Came back to hostel, sneakily washed trousers with soap in bucket in shower (rolling them in my Packtowl in shower to help dry them) and had a shower myself, went back to room and changed fully and went out to El Palador Paisa on Carrera 23 which had spotted on walk back from JV and had an arroz paisa personal and a jugo de lulo, I asked for leche but I think (and they did seem to check and concede this when I paid) it was actually in water as it was OK but not that great, APP was quite nice tho. Had been feeling a little gut-achey, probably just aftermath of massive sandwich overload last night, so this was probably a decent sized "dinner" (esp on top of breakfast and arepa con carne etc).
And then I came up here, so I think we're caught up.
Vague plan for tomorrow is to extend after breakfast (could try tonight, but v slim chance tour agency will call say 9pm saying there is a tour tomorrow) for one more night and then go over to the park on the other side of town. If nothing turns up re tour tomorrow I will again extend for one night and try to daytrip out to one of the numerous thermal bath places nearby on Mon - mixing things up might suggest doing this tomorrow, but I am assuming it will be quieter on Mon. After that we'll see, I won't rule out a fifth night here but it may be excessive.
I am slightly worried semana santa is going to screw me over on accom/accom pricing but can't do much right now. I should perhaps be thinking where I want to be in Bogota (a hopefully sociable hostel in La Candelaria, or somewhere "safer" to go out at night?) and booking that, ideally w free cancellation, soon-ish.
1843 OK, went down, put rest of H2Oh in fridge for tomorrow, got myself a black coffee and have laced it with AA. Nearly too dark to see up here except for phone. Checked meetup while down there and brought O6 and headphones up to maybe listen to music or watch YT - there's nothing in person at all on meetup in Manizales for "any day" , so at least I checked. It doesn't feel like people are socialising all over the hostel and I'm just too shy/unskilled to join them, so might as well just enjoy myself solo.
The AA-laced coffee is not bad, if not "wow" . Maybe I'm just not in a "wow" mood.
As per sketched out plan above, I will barring sudden trek prob spend four nights in Manizales. That is roughly what my "plan" says to do anyway and I think it's easily worth that and this doesn't automatically preclude a multi-day hike from somewhere else, though time is getting tight-ish and it would prob need to be starting from whichever town I go to next.
1848 Into the lining. Just went to sign up for the 100GB GP trial thing and it turns out I can pay using my £0.88 GP balance from (ages ago) doing the surveys, so I don't have to give them my credit card and can spend this practically useless balance. (Way way back I was vaguely hoping to get enough to buy Ultralingua Spanish dictionary without giving Google Play my credit card, but the app/company disappeared long before I had enough and I just kept doing the odd survey here and there and my balance kept expiring in dribs and drabs.)
I wish I hadn't deleted a handful of "large" videos last night now. They may be in the bin, if so I will restore them. If not they were *prob* taken on O6 so I prob have them on there (I am fairly careful to copy O6 - main photo and daily carry phone - to K1 so it is another backup and gets backed up to GP, I am very lax about backing up photos/video from K1 to USB or O6).
1908 OK, that was oddly emotional. Was sitting - not particularly dejectedly - in the dark corner listening to Caledonia (the Dolores Keane version, of course) and on a whim I brought my coffee over to the edge of the roof terrace and looked over and saw all the bright lights in the street and the traffic and people milling around and it all just felt so much more lively. Probably some kind of metaphor for life and/or morality tale to be drawn from this. :-)
1918 FWIW altho MA warned me, the last bit of the sky walk just as you're about to go in the "sled" above holding the safety rope has a tendency to run on ahead and a bit sideways and while of course it was fine this was actually perhaps the scariest bit.
1922 Just been down to get a sugary water tea thing. Youngish woman presumably guest sitting on her own writing on sofa in large common area, elderlyish woman ditto in kitchen playing on her phone, one guy came up stairs. Said buenas tardes to them (except youngish woman). Really doesn't feel like there's a party and I'm not invited; there's just no party. Which is a shame (obv party is an exaggerated word) but outside my control.
Yeah, maybe I just put a lot in but this sugary whatever the hell it is tea plus AA works well. I only had one so far (had eye out but not seen anything offered lately) but it does take very vaguely canela-ish.
1929 Oldish bloke just came up and had a look over the edge. I took one earphone out and said buenas noches, didn't try to push conversation and he's gone. Meh.
1938 I think - not checked - this AA green is "only" 24% and the bottle is 375ml. So not that I'm going to, if I drank the lot it would "only" be like having a bit over 3 pints at 5%. So the fact I might have got through a quarter of bottle already is not a big deal.
1948 Just been down for another fruit tea thing (took photo of bag) and two guests staring at phones in common area.
Hostel is huge and (presumably) pre-pandemic or maybe during higher season here (semana santa, I guess, if it attracts Colombian tourists as presumably it does) it must be heaving.
Two ppl just come up but they are speaking German. Prob just come up for a smoke, I shall keep headphones off but not obviously intrude.
2010 Despite poss appearances to contrary, I am *not* gagging for social interaction at all costs. It would be nice, it's just that I want to be sure I'm not hiding away or otherwise being shy or not stretching my comfort zone and wasting opportunities, to put it overly seriously.
BTW on random note you do occasionally see someone wearing a mask, but - I think this has been true everywhere, not just here - despite (of course) outdated mandatory mask signs and social distancing signs everywhere, I'd say 99% of people are not wearing masks.
2128 Back in dorm, which I still have to myself. Persistence pays off! On returning upstairs with another cup of fruit tea (they are all different btw, so photo is just of one) I met a guy - Sebastien (sp) from Cali - who is a professional drone pilot who has just got into rc car racing and is here to participate in Caldas 27 tomorrow. He did invite me and I just may go over but it looks like a mare to get to, but we had a very nice chat (in Spanish, with him throwing in a little English). He has stayed in this hostel before, he says it has been much busier recently (I was vaguely unclear why it isn't busy now, maybe because we're in between ferias but that is not a high confidence statement) and the clientele is mostly international not Colombian. He was waiting for a pizza and the conversation came to a friendly enough pause so I made my excuses and left him before his pizza arrived, but may see him tomorrow night.
Will prob hang out on my own in dorm a little bit before cleaning teeth etc. He recommended thermal baths in general to me but when I said I intended to go Mon as would be quieter than Sun he said that was sensible and that they are open all week, indeed apparently some are open late into the night and poss all night.
I have prob drunk 2/3 of the bottle of AA - I would have offered Sebastien some but he was drinking beer and didn't have a glass and I also was leery of over-extending things and running into his pizza. Don't feel particularly drunk, as I guess I shouldn't after the equivalent of maybe 2 pints over a fair length of time plus that tiny beer earlier.
2312 Music pounding from a nearby club, very bass heavy and rhythmic. But it's actually softened just enough by distance that it's kind of welcome.
Anyway, bed.
Sat 16th 1745 Not a bad day's touristing.
Alone on roof terrace with a 4k beer purchased from hostel's honesty system. I had thought this was pretty good but it turns out this is 4k for a 269ml (tho it says 269cm^3 which feels wrong) which is tiny and faintly insulting - I haven't seen a can this small before. Anyway. (OK, I checked with frink and indeed ml and cm^3 are the same. This still feels wrong, showing I guess what a poor intuition I have for volumetric measures.)
1753 Nearly finished beer.
Didn't sleep very well. Vague not nightmarish but disturbing ("I am about to leave on a major trip abroad and I haven't told work" being the vague vibe insofar as I can remember) semi-waking dreams. Anyway, got up about 830, a few people round breakfast table, said "hola" , cleaned teeth, rejoined them and staff brought me glass of prob papaya juice (there was also milk to go in the free coffee) and an omlette and some sliced banana and cubed watermelon. Not bad at all. Very litte chat. Everyone seemed to be Spanish speaking but mostly silent, with a certain couply vibe. Two German girls (not sure if same ones from yday; probably) turned up and were oddly giggly but didn't speak much even in German.
Went out to Ecosistema round corner; OM had outdated address, so I went to GM address next and tho it just seemed to be a hotel I went in and asked and they did seem to know ES and I ended up on a WA phone call with the hotel desk woman's phone to ES (which of course I could have done from my own hostel but all part of the experience I guess). Long story short they do a hike (3 days or 3 nights?) from here to Salento and 70yos have done it and it sounds fine, even if it's COP1m (£200ish), *but* a group left at 5am this morning and they have no other group. I think I am on a kind of candidate list. They also said they'd ask Kwhatsit who I had been planning on visiting (via cable car) so I decided not to; I did however message Kwhatsit on my own account an hour later while having arepa con carne (4k) and a tinto (1.5k) in a place near Fundadores opposite a mural of maybe-George Lucas and I think (and hopefully ES got this message across to them anyway) they have put me on a waiting list too. They do various tours but within reason as long as it isn't too "ffs I clearly can't handle that" beggars can't be choosers and anything will do.
I will keep extending here a day at a time up to at least 4 nights I think, I would prob have done 4 anyway but just have an eye on suddenly being away for a trek so not wanting to pay for unused accom.
Frankly I am not that optimistic but who knows and I cannot do any more than try, as I have done. Rationally or not I am rather liking Manizales, it is hilly but the climate feels interestingly variable between too damn hot and cool so it's comfortableish, it feels like a real Colombian city, it has real shops and lots of cheap bars and restaurants, it is big but not so big it feels overwhelming, people seem to speak Spanish even with me, it doesn't (fool's paradise?) feel dangerous, the cable cars are cool and while tiring the hills add to the slightly gritty charm. I could easily imagine myself studying Spanish here for a month - obviously not now, and I have no idea if there are Spanish schools here.
Finger break. I am also gonna go down and get a bottle of H2Oh toroncello (toronja+limon flavour) I got earlier and semi-sneak (prob no need; I think own alcohol is allowed, eg wine bottles in kitchen) a bottle of Aguardiente Antioqueña (henceforth AA) "green" I bought at supermarket earlier.
1808 So I wandered down towards Fundadores as mentioned (tho still haven't noticed the massive memorial iirc) and back up another street and along the "cliff" (nice views) to Torre del Chipre which looked closed (the "cerrado" sign on the ticket booth threw me) but wasn't and paid 35k to go up and do the sky walk (with a nice chap called Miguelito Angelo; I had a chat with him in Spanish on the narrow unfenced walkway nearly 40m above the street, tho of course we were strapped to a safety harness). The sky walk was slightly scary but not too bad (I felt most nervous when getting my phone out as I knew *I* couldn't fall but it clearly could, but there were 40m wax palms - he said they can grow to 100m - next to us and I thought I ought to get a photo of me on a level with their tops) and kind of fun. TBH 15k just to go up feels a rip off (gb says 15k to do sky walk), 35k for the sky walk feels a smidge expensive (esp when gb has set expectation of 15k) but not too bad.
Finger break.
1815 Sudden thought, quick poke on web for lang exch here but can't find one. Not tried meetup as have K1 with me and login is on O6, suspect there isn't one, may check later and if I miss one tonight that's life.
Toronchelo OK (tried straight) but not amazing, sadly. AA doesn't go badly with it but also not wow. May have some AA in black coffee and/or that semi agua panela type free "tea" later, perhaps making an improvised carajillo/canela-ish drink.
GP storage filled up last night. I may actually take their promo offer of 100GB for 39p/month for three months up - I don't like the idea of giving them money, but it's negligible, and I already decided my holiday photos are not a privacy concern and I do value having them backed up, so I could do this for one month and download them all when I get home and cancel. (There is also some value in GP doing auto panoramas and its own version of HDR from my HDR components etc, so by buying extra space I can continue to upload everything and get these auto versions for the entire trip.)
Anyway, having talked to MA and also looked at map on phone I trogged over to Ecoparque Los Alcanzares Arenillo (sp? have photo) - which is a bugger to get to given the way the roads all double back on each other. Oh, on the way I spotted a small Juan Valdez at the water park and J having recommended their granizado the other day I went and had one (12k, but I'm on holiday) and it was very nice. Water park small but quietly cool.
Ecoparque was kind of fun but hard work - lots of downhill then uphill, the tower was sadly closed, path signage rather poor overall and I did get lost (near, I think, the "bamboo cave", which was a load of bamboo making a rather dark shady area which I did go into and which was kind of cool) and felt slightly panicky as I knew I'd come in on a clearish track but couldn't find it again - trails on OM only very loosely related to reality - but while I didn't see any birds and had no idea what I was looking at plant-wise it was all exercise and nature and while quite tiring and sweaty wasn't a bad afternoon.
Oh, I tried to get a homemade cone type ice cream at heladeria ecoparque before going in, but despite extensive Spanish discussion with the woman there I was unable to get the idea across or she just didn't have any. I got a Polet frutos (not frutas, need to look into that) del bosque for 5.1k at a small shop after I finally got out of EP and was heading back towards hostel (with plans to go to supermarket and get AA and some soft drink). I found myself passing JV again so went and had another large granizado - same size, but this time it cost 12.5k for some reason - and slightly milked watching the fountains (which are obviously computer controlled).
I then went into supermarket where by chance a woman was promoting AA green and I got a free sample and I did buy AA green as a result, tho tbh the stronger traditional (with sugar) and without sugar variants at the same price might be nicer, but I figured I would at least try buying the green. I am (and was eg last night) thinking I might buy some AA at the airport airside, where I assume/hope I will be allowed to take it home in my carry on baggage.
Came back to hostel, sneakily washed trousers with soap in bucket in shower (rolling them in my Packtowl in shower to help dry them) and had a shower myself, went back to room and changed fully and went out to El Palador Paisa on Carrera 23 which had spotted on walk back from JV and had an arroz paisa personal and a jugo de lulo, I asked for leche but I think (and they did seem to check and concede this when I paid) it was actually in water as it was OK but not that great, APP was quite nice tho. Had been feeling a little gut-achey, probably just aftermath of massive sandwich overload last night, so this was probably a decent sized "dinner" (esp on top of breakfast and arepa con carne etc).
And then I came up here, so I think we're caught up.
Vague plan for tomorrow is to extend after breakfast (could try tonight, but v slim chance tour agency will call say 9pm saying there is a tour tomorrow) for one more night and then go over to the park on the other side of town. If nothing turns up re tour tomorrow I will again extend for one night and try to daytrip out to one of the numerous thermal bath places nearby on Mon - mixing things up might suggest doing this tomorrow, but I am assuming it will be quieter on Mon. After that we'll see, I won't rule out a fifth night here but it may be excessive.
I am slightly worried semana santa is going to screw me over on accom/accom pricing but can't do much right now. I should perhaps be thinking where I want to be in Bogota (a hopefully sociable hostel in La Candelaria, or somewhere "safer" to go out at night?) and booking that, ideally w free cancellation, soon-ish.
1843 OK, went down, put rest of H2Oh in fridge for tomorrow, got myself a black coffee and have laced it with AA. Nearly too dark to see up here except for phone. Checked meetup while down there and brought O6 and headphones up to maybe listen to music or watch YT - there's nothing in person at all on meetup in Manizales for "any day" , so at least I checked. It doesn't feel like people are socialising all over the hostel and I'm just too shy/unskilled to join them, so might as well just enjoy myself solo.
The AA-laced coffee is not bad, if not "wow" . Maybe I'm just not in a "wow" mood.
As per sketched out plan above, I will barring sudden trek prob spend four nights in Manizales. That is roughly what my "plan" says to do anyway and I think it's easily worth that and this doesn't automatically preclude a multi-day hike from somewhere else, though time is getting tight-ish and it would prob need to be starting from whichever town I go to next.
1848 Into the lining. Just went to sign up for the 100GB GP trial thing and it turns out I can pay using my £0.88 GP balance from (ages ago) doing the surveys, so I don't have to give them my credit card and can spend this practically useless balance. (Way way back I was vaguely hoping to get enough to buy Ultralingua Spanish dictionary without giving Google Play my credit card, but the app/company disappeared long before I had enough and I just kept doing the odd survey here and there and my balance kept expiring in dribs and drabs.)
I wish I hadn't deleted a handful of "large" videos last night now. They may be in the bin, if so I will restore them. If not they were *prob* taken on O6 so I prob have them on there (I am fairly careful to copy O6 - main photo and daily carry phone - to K1 so it is another backup and gets backed up to GP, I am very lax about backing up photos/video from K1 to USB or O6).
1908 OK, that was oddly emotional. Was sitting - not particularly dejectedly - in the dark corner listening to Caledonia (the Dolores Keane version, of course) and on a whim I brought my coffee over to the edge of the roof terrace and looked over and saw all the bright lights in the street and the traffic and people milling around and it all just felt so much more lively. Probably some kind of metaphor for life and/or morality tale to be drawn from this. :-)
1918 FWIW altho MA warned me, the last bit of the sky walk just as you're about to go in the "sled" above holding the safety rope has a tendency to run on ahead and a bit sideways and while of course it was fine this was actually perhaps the scariest bit.
1922 Just been down to get a sugary water tea thing. Youngish woman presumably guest sitting on her own writing on sofa in large common area, elderlyish woman ditto in kitchen playing on her phone, one guy came up stairs. Said buenas tardes to them (except youngish woman). Really doesn't feel like there's a party and I'm not invited; there's just no party. Which is a shame (obv party is an exaggerated word) but outside my control.
Yeah, maybe I just put a lot in but this sugary whatever the hell it is tea plus AA works well. I only had one so far (had eye out but not seen anything offered lately) but it does take very vaguely canela-ish.
1929 Oldish bloke just came up and had a look over the edge. I took one earphone out and said buenas noches, didn't try to push conversation and he's gone. Meh.
1938 I think - not checked - this AA green is "only" 24% and the bottle is 375ml. So not that I'm going to, if I drank the lot it would "only" be like having a bit over 3 pints at 5%. So the fact I might have got through a quarter of bottle already is not a big deal.
1948 Just been down for another fruit tea thing (took photo of bag) and two guests staring at phones in common area.
Hostel is huge and (presumably) pre-pandemic or maybe during higher season here (semana santa, I guess, if it attracts Colombian tourists as presumably it does) it must be heaving.
Two ppl just come up but they are speaking German. Prob just come up for a smoke, I shall keep headphones off but not obviously intrude.
2010 Despite poss appearances to contrary, I am *not* gagging for social interaction at all costs. It would be nice, it's just that I want to be sure I'm not hiding away or otherwise being shy or not stretching my comfort zone and wasting opportunities, to put it overly seriously.
BTW on random note you do occasionally see someone wearing a mask, but - I think this has been true everywhere, not just here - despite (of course) outdated mandatory mask signs and social distancing signs everywhere, I'd say 99% of people are not wearing masks.
2128 Back in dorm, which I still have to myself. Persistence pays off! On returning upstairs with another cup of fruit tea (they are all different btw, so photo is just of one) I met a guy - Sebastien (sp) from Cali - who is a professional drone pilot who has just got into rc car racing and is here to participate in Caldas 27 tomorrow. He did invite me and I just may go over but it looks like a mare to get to, but we had a very nice chat (in Spanish, with him throwing in a little English). He has stayed in this hostel before, he says it has been much busier recently (I was vaguely unclear why it isn't busy now, maybe because we're in between ferias but that is not a high confidence statement) and the clientele is mostly international not Colombian. He was waiting for a pizza and the conversation came to a friendly enough pause so I made my excuses and left him before his pizza arrived, but may see him tomorrow night.
Will prob hang out on my own in dorm a little bit before cleaning teeth etc. He recommended thermal baths in general to me but when I said I intended to go Mon as would be quieter than Sun he said that was sensible and that they are open all week, indeed apparently some are open late into the night and poss all night.
I have prob drunk 2/3 of the bottle of AA - I would have offered Sebastien some but he was drinking beer and didn't have a glass and I also was leery of over-extending things and running into his pizza. Don't feel particularly drunk, as I guess I shouldn't after the equivalent of maybe 2 pints over a fair length of time plus that tiny beer earlier.
2312 Music pounding from a nearby club, very bass heavy and rhythmic. But it's actually softened just enough by distance that it's kind of welcome.
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