Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2017 19:31:41 GMT -5
10 years ago, when my wife and I were still novios, and I was just a “visitor,” I asked my wife if she would like to take a trip to Cali with me. She said... “no way...it's too dangerous... and way too dangerous for a gringo.” My wife had just done a tour of duty in Cali for work. After being robbed at gunpoint, she quit, and came straight back to Medellin.
Fast forward to 2017, and we finally got around to talking about a trip to Cali again. I scored a great deal on Avianca with MDE-CLO tickets (287,000 pesos for two r/t tickets), and my wife found a Groupon romantic getaway package at the Hotel Dann Carlton in the El Penon section of Cali for 219,000 pesos. I booked an additional night at the Hampton by Hilton on Cheaptickets for $51 US. So far, the trip was only costing us 659,000 pesos for airfare and lodging.
I am writing this report from the perspective of an Ameri-paisa, so my perspective will be slanted towards comparing Cali against the backdrop of the greater Medellin area. Any of you who live down there, please feel free to jump in and elaborate, clarify or correct anything I have written.
As far as transport for the 3 days and 2 nights in the city, an amiga in the States put us in touch with Javier, an old boyfriend and Uber driver with a new Hyundai. Javier schlepped us around the city and nearby areas for 2 ½ days and charged us a total of $220,000.
Our plane left Rionegro with wheels up at 6:15 am and by 7:00 am we were entering the baggage claim area. Javier was waiting for us on the other side. Alfonso Bonilla Aragon Airport (CLO) has expanded significantly since I last made a connection there 4 years ago. We arrived on a Sunday, so in no time (like less than 30 minutes), we were at the Dann Carlton. The front desk had no problem checking us in early, but our room was not ready, so we headed up to the 4th floor restaurant for the breakfast buffet. I might add, that the Dann Carlton has a great buffet which you can enjoy poolside. The Dann Carlton is a 5 star hotel, and based upon my experience, it certainly deserves those 5 stars.
At 9:00 am we were taken to our honeymoon suite. The room was filled with heart-shaped balloons and rose petals. A bouquet of red roses, chocolates and a soap and bath oil kit graced the bed spread. After dropping our bags, we spent a minute taking it all in before heading downstairs to meet Javier. We spent the first day taking in the sights. Our first stop was Cerro Cristo Rey... a mountain with a Rio de Janeiroesque statue of Christ overlooking the city. There is a parking lot a few hundred meters from the summit, so it was a short hike up to the statue. The view of the city would have been magnificent had it not been for the fog and rain obscuring our vista. The city of Cali hugs a range of the Andes in the west, but has for the most part, flat terrain unlike the steep terrain of Medellin. Most of the city is flat like Patio Bonito in Poblado. In light of the poor visibility, we decided to cancel a trip to the other well-known panoramic vista, “Tres Cruces,” on a neighboring mountain. Our next stop was the Parque de los Gatos near our hotel in El Penon. The park is a small sliver of wooded land next to Rio Cali which runs through the center of the city. There are about a dozen and a half statues of cats along the rive bank that depict different personalities of feline characters. The statues are colorful and humorous. El Penon is full of upscale hotels and restaurants, so it is a pretty popular area for foreign tourists.
We moved on to Centro and visited the church “Emerita” and the old National Tobacco Company building. The church is beautiful, and one of the icons of Cali. A couple of blocks away, we browsed through Plaza Cayzedo and San Pedro Cathedral. Unlike Medellin, buildings with traditional colonial architecture are still prevalent throughout this district. However, centro Cali is nonetheless dangerous as cops were searching the park for knives and other evidence from some violent crime earlier in the day.
Javier took us to “La Sexta” where we did a walking tour for a few blocks. La Sexta is sort of like “La Setenta” entertainment district in Laureles, Medellin. There are a number of upscale restaurants from which to choose. We settled for a late lunch/early dinner at Simon Parrillla- Cali Norte. The food here was very good and reasonably-priced. We ended up our first day checking out Centro Comercial La Estacion... one of 10 shopping malls in greater Cali. This mall is very new. And not having to deal with the constraints of extreme terrain like in Medellin, the malls in Cali are built on flat ground... so they can be sprawling and spacious like in the US. On our way back to the hotel, I remarked to Javier how more “civilized” and less congested the roads in Cali were compared to Medellin. He replied, just wait until tomorrow morning... the start of the work week. We returned to Dann Carlton, and were pleased to find a chilled bottle of champagne and a cheese and salami platter... compliments of the management... in our room.
The following morning, the roads around el Penon and the rest of Sector Oeste were bumper to bumper with cars, tractor trailers and motos... I guess Javier was right! We enjoyed another buffet breakfast at the pool. We spent the rest of the morning relaxing and then exploring the neighborhood of el Penon. At 1:00 pm, we checked out of Dann Carlton, and moved to our new hotel, Hampton by Hilton about half a mile away. The staff was very accommodating, and allowed us to check in early. The Hampton is less than 3 years old... everything is still new and fresh. The hotel seems to be geared towards the business crowd with very few tourists staying there. The rooms had all the bells and whistles, but are noticeably smaller than a standard hotel room. Nevertheless, the hotel is convenient and comfortable... and the staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating. The hot buffet breakfast was not as good as Dann Carlton, but still pretty darn good. (If you ask nice, the chef will make your eggs to order.) On the top floor is a zona humeda with a gym and jacuzzi. The top floor offer a very nice view of Calle 1 & 4 and the rio below. From this vantage point, this Sector Oeste neighborhood reminds me more of a town in Holland or Belgium. A Crepes & Waffles is conveniently located in a corner of the hotel's ground floor. Even though Hampton is an excellent discount business hotel, I would spend a few extra bucks more, and stay at one of the 4 or 5 stars hotels in the neighborhood.
After negotiating the gridlock of downtown Cali, we were soon on our way south to Jamundi... a pueblo about 35 minutes away from the center of the city. We did a quick windshield tour of Jardin, an upscale residential sector of Cali, before continuing on our trip south. I was expecting something more interesting in Jamundi. I asked what is so special about this pueblo. My wife answered.... the chalao. For the uninitiated, a chalao is a street food treat... similar to a gelati, but with little or no ice cream. The flavored ice complements a generous portion of strawberries, peaches, grapes, pineapple and uchuvas. I must admit, my chalao was delicious... and you can't beat the price... 18,000 pesos for 3 chalaos. Javier gave us a windshield tour of Jamundi. He pointed out a brand new hostel that was built on the second floor of an older building. The hostel is modern and spacious... and it looked out of place in this run-down little pueblo. Javier explained that this hostel accommodates both conventional customers and couples who need a “motel.” We left the pueblo and headed north on another north-south highway. Two semi-limited access highways run north and south through Cali. Because of the flat
terrain, and limited access, one can move pretty quickly in and out of the city. We stopped at the CC Plaza Jardin at the southern edge of the city limits. If someone told me that CC Jardin was just another mall in Florida, I would have believed them. Even the parking lot reminded me of being back in the US.
My wife and I spent our last evening strolling through various neighborhoods in Oeste. Although the streets appear to be safe, we kept our cedulas and credit cards in the safe, and took just enough cash to cover dinner and other purchases. We found an inviting little pub in el Penon called “El Faro.” My back was killing me, so rather then analyze the posted menu, I told my wife “let's do it.” EL Faro was a pleasant surprise indeed. The pub had various offer of 2 for 1 meals, appetizers and cocktails... at very reasonable prices. The menu includes a vast array of pub foods including 10 different types of pizza, burgers, sandwiches, wings, ribs and full course beef, pork and chicken dinners. The 2 X 1 wings I ordered were the best buffalo wings I've eaten in Colombia. My wife ordered a personal-size stuffed pizza, and it was excellent. The best part, dinner for 2 ended up costing 47,000 pesos.
On our last day in Cali, we asked Javier not to meet us until late in the afternoon. The wife and I started the day off with a hearty breakfast at the Hampton. The staff cut us some slack and gave us a 2:00 pm check out time. We spent the morning in the Tertulia museum of art... just a few blocks away from our hotel. The museum contains various collections of abstract and not-so-abstract art from Colombian artists over the past 60 years. We took our time looking at 3 floors of artwork. Although 3 floors seems like a lot of artwork... it really isn't. We were out of the museum in 2 hours. Normal price for a ticket is 10,000 pesos and seniors (like me) are half price.
Our next stop was Tony Roma's at the Hotel Dann Cali. I ordered the obligatory Texas BBQ ribs for 41 mil, and was totally underwhelmed. The ribs were OK, but over hyped. Definitely not worth what I paid. The wife had a surprisingly good seafood medley pasta. I tried one of the shrimp, and it was fresh... unlike the frozen, stale seafood I'm used to buying in Jumbo and Pricesmart. The check with a tip came to 92 mil. I knew I wasn't getting out of there cheap....LOL. We checked out of the Hampton at 2 pm, and the staff kindly stored our luggage until we were ready to go to the airport.
We did some more walking, and headed to the Merced neighborhood of Oeste. We visited the Iglesia Merced... an old colonial church that is pretty much maintained in the same state as when it was first built in the early 1500s. Right next to the church is the Pre-Colombian archaeological museum... admission for the both of us was only 7,000 pesos. The museum has a very impressive collection of ancient artifacts and tools from the Calimas and other indigenous people in southwestern Colombia.
We walked two blocks to the National Gold Museum. Entrance is free, so the price is right. LOL. The collections are kept in huge vaults that serve was the display galleries. Basically, photo taking is unrestricted... except of the doors and closing mechanisms of the vaults. The first vault contained roughly 20 exhibits of abstract and regional artwork from all over Colombia. Very interesting, but I had my share of abstract artwork from the day before. The second vault really peaked my interest. Here, you could enjoy an impressive array of indigenous goldsmithing... including weapons, ceremonial dress, ornaments, helmets and artwork. The gold museum may not be as extensive as the Museo d'Oro in Bogota, but I felt more up-close and personal with the gold objects at this museum. Definitely worth a visit... and the price is right.
Javier met us at the front of the museum, and took us to the Hampton to pick up our luggage. We headed north to Chipichape. I had heard so much about Chipichape Mall... so I was dying to see it because of the hype. When we arrived, I said to myself... “WTF?” The mall seems so much smaller... and outdated than the other two malls we had visited during our stay. Nevertheless, I was hell bound and determined to check out this great mall that I had heard so much about. We spotted an Artemisa health food store, so we entered, and inquired about a Made in the USA Probiotic supplement. They had it... and for the bargain price of 27 mil. I thought to myself: “This mall is not so bad after all.” We walked over to the section of the mall where the Spiwak Hotel is located. I suggested we all indulge in a coffee or tea before heading for the airport. Two capuccinos, 1 aromatica and 3 almujabanas later, I was presented with a bill for 34 mil! I incredible.... I can get an Angus beef dinner in El Oriente for that price. And the same deal in Parque San Antonio would run me maybe 12 mil.
We arrived at Alfonso Bonilla Aragon airport with plenty of time to spare. The Avianca counter was pure chaos because all the flights to Bogota were delayed. So, the agents closed down the ticket counter for half an hour to regroup. We finally dumped off our one suitcase, and were on our way to security screening which was a snap. We were aboard the 10:20 pm flight to Medellin... the last one of the day. The plane was packed, but not a problem... it was only a 35 minute ordeal. As the plane gets ready to push back from the gate, the pilot can't ignite the #1 engine. One of the mobile TUG generators comes alongside and gives our aircraft a jump start. As my wife says a series of Hail Mary's... the engine finally lights off. The plane taxis to the runway, and we are back in Rionegro in under 35 minutes.
Overall, Cali is not what I had expected... in a good sort of way. I was expecting the city to be 80% Barrio Popular with a few nice neighborhoods thrown in for good measure. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Granted, we spent most of our time in Oeste... more or less the Poblado of Cali, so my first opinion may be influenced by that fact. I was also impressed with the cultural and historical venues in this city, too. I did not feel threatened once walking on the streets during the day or night. But then again, that is the inherent danger in Colombia... trouble will find you when and where you least expect it. However, I have to give some credence to the anecdotes told by those who have lived in Cali... like my wife. I was also prepared for the hot, balmy temperatures that Cali is noted for... but did not experience any of that. For the three days we were in Cali, the cold rainy weather reminded me of being back home in Rionegro. (I wished I had brought a jacket.) Relative costs in Cali seem to be comparable to prices in Medellin... and somewhat more expensive than where I live in the Rionegro area. Based upon a quick glance at rental prices, it appears Cali housing is more economical than in Medellin. Even though, Cali is a fun spot for a weekend getaway, I'm not sure I would want to live there. I am happy where I am in El Oriente.
Fast forward to 2017, and we finally got around to talking about a trip to Cali again. I scored a great deal on Avianca with MDE-CLO tickets (287,000 pesos for two r/t tickets), and my wife found a Groupon romantic getaway package at the Hotel Dann Carlton in the El Penon section of Cali for 219,000 pesos. I booked an additional night at the Hampton by Hilton on Cheaptickets for $51 US. So far, the trip was only costing us 659,000 pesos for airfare and lodging.
I am writing this report from the perspective of an Ameri-paisa, so my perspective will be slanted towards comparing Cali against the backdrop of the greater Medellin area. Any of you who live down there, please feel free to jump in and elaborate, clarify or correct anything I have written.
As far as transport for the 3 days and 2 nights in the city, an amiga in the States put us in touch with Javier, an old boyfriend and Uber driver with a new Hyundai. Javier schlepped us around the city and nearby areas for 2 ½ days and charged us a total of $220,000.
Our plane left Rionegro with wheels up at 6:15 am and by 7:00 am we were entering the baggage claim area. Javier was waiting for us on the other side. Alfonso Bonilla Aragon Airport (CLO) has expanded significantly since I last made a connection there 4 years ago. We arrived on a Sunday, so in no time (like less than 30 minutes), we were at the Dann Carlton. The front desk had no problem checking us in early, but our room was not ready, so we headed up to the 4th floor restaurant for the breakfast buffet. I might add, that the Dann Carlton has a great buffet which you can enjoy poolside. The Dann Carlton is a 5 star hotel, and based upon my experience, it certainly deserves those 5 stars.
At 9:00 am we were taken to our honeymoon suite. The room was filled with heart-shaped balloons and rose petals. A bouquet of red roses, chocolates and a soap and bath oil kit graced the bed spread. After dropping our bags, we spent a minute taking it all in before heading downstairs to meet Javier. We spent the first day taking in the sights. Our first stop was Cerro Cristo Rey... a mountain with a Rio de Janeiroesque statue of Christ overlooking the city. There is a parking lot a few hundred meters from the summit, so it was a short hike up to the statue. The view of the city would have been magnificent had it not been for the fog and rain obscuring our vista. The city of Cali hugs a range of the Andes in the west, but has for the most part, flat terrain unlike the steep terrain of Medellin. Most of the city is flat like Patio Bonito in Poblado. In light of the poor visibility, we decided to cancel a trip to the other well-known panoramic vista, “Tres Cruces,” on a neighboring mountain. Our next stop was the Parque de los Gatos near our hotel in El Penon. The park is a small sliver of wooded land next to Rio Cali which runs through the center of the city. There are about a dozen and a half statues of cats along the rive bank that depict different personalities of feline characters. The statues are colorful and humorous. El Penon is full of upscale hotels and restaurants, so it is a pretty popular area for foreign tourists.
We moved on to Centro and visited the church “Emerita” and the old National Tobacco Company building. The church is beautiful, and one of the icons of Cali. A couple of blocks away, we browsed through Plaza Cayzedo and San Pedro Cathedral. Unlike Medellin, buildings with traditional colonial architecture are still prevalent throughout this district. However, centro Cali is nonetheless dangerous as cops were searching the park for knives and other evidence from some violent crime earlier in the day.
Javier took us to “La Sexta” where we did a walking tour for a few blocks. La Sexta is sort of like “La Setenta” entertainment district in Laureles, Medellin. There are a number of upscale restaurants from which to choose. We settled for a late lunch/early dinner at Simon Parrillla- Cali Norte. The food here was very good and reasonably-priced. We ended up our first day checking out Centro Comercial La Estacion... one of 10 shopping malls in greater Cali. This mall is very new. And not having to deal with the constraints of extreme terrain like in Medellin, the malls in Cali are built on flat ground... so they can be sprawling and spacious like in the US. On our way back to the hotel, I remarked to Javier how more “civilized” and less congested the roads in Cali were compared to Medellin. He replied, just wait until tomorrow morning... the start of the work week. We returned to Dann Carlton, and were pleased to find a chilled bottle of champagne and a cheese and salami platter... compliments of the management... in our room.
The following morning, the roads around el Penon and the rest of Sector Oeste were bumper to bumper with cars, tractor trailers and motos... I guess Javier was right! We enjoyed another buffet breakfast at the pool. We spent the rest of the morning relaxing and then exploring the neighborhood of el Penon. At 1:00 pm, we checked out of Dann Carlton, and moved to our new hotel, Hampton by Hilton about half a mile away. The staff was very accommodating, and allowed us to check in early. The Hampton is less than 3 years old... everything is still new and fresh. The hotel seems to be geared towards the business crowd with very few tourists staying there. The rooms had all the bells and whistles, but are noticeably smaller than a standard hotel room. Nevertheless, the hotel is convenient and comfortable... and the staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating. The hot buffet breakfast was not as good as Dann Carlton, but still pretty darn good. (If you ask nice, the chef will make your eggs to order.) On the top floor is a zona humeda with a gym and jacuzzi. The top floor offer a very nice view of Calle 1 & 4 and the rio below. From this vantage point, this Sector Oeste neighborhood reminds me more of a town in Holland or Belgium. A Crepes & Waffles is conveniently located in a corner of the hotel's ground floor. Even though Hampton is an excellent discount business hotel, I would spend a few extra bucks more, and stay at one of the 4 or 5 stars hotels in the neighborhood.
After negotiating the gridlock of downtown Cali, we were soon on our way south to Jamundi... a pueblo about 35 minutes away from the center of the city. We did a quick windshield tour of Jardin, an upscale residential sector of Cali, before continuing on our trip south. I was expecting something more interesting in Jamundi. I asked what is so special about this pueblo. My wife answered.... the chalao. For the uninitiated, a chalao is a street food treat... similar to a gelati, but with little or no ice cream. The flavored ice complements a generous portion of strawberries, peaches, grapes, pineapple and uchuvas. I must admit, my chalao was delicious... and you can't beat the price... 18,000 pesos for 3 chalaos. Javier gave us a windshield tour of Jamundi. He pointed out a brand new hostel that was built on the second floor of an older building. The hostel is modern and spacious... and it looked out of place in this run-down little pueblo. Javier explained that this hostel accommodates both conventional customers and couples who need a “motel.” We left the pueblo and headed north on another north-south highway. Two semi-limited access highways run north and south through Cali. Because of the flat
terrain, and limited access, one can move pretty quickly in and out of the city. We stopped at the CC Plaza Jardin at the southern edge of the city limits. If someone told me that CC Jardin was just another mall in Florida, I would have believed them. Even the parking lot reminded me of being back in the US.
My wife and I spent our last evening strolling through various neighborhoods in Oeste. Although the streets appear to be safe, we kept our cedulas and credit cards in the safe, and took just enough cash to cover dinner and other purchases. We found an inviting little pub in el Penon called “El Faro.” My back was killing me, so rather then analyze the posted menu, I told my wife “let's do it.” EL Faro was a pleasant surprise indeed. The pub had various offer of 2 for 1 meals, appetizers and cocktails... at very reasonable prices. The menu includes a vast array of pub foods including 10 different types of pizza, burgers, sandwiches, wings, ribs and full course beef, pork and chicken dinners. The 2 X 1 wings I ordered were the best buffalo wings I've eaten in Colombia. My wife ordered a personal-size stuffed pizza, and it was excellent. The best part, dinner for 2 ended up costing 47,000 pesos.
On our last day in Cali, we asked Javier not to meet us until late in the afternoon. The wife and I started the day off with a hearty breakfast at the Hampton. The staff cut us some slack and gave us a 2:00 pm check out time. We spent the morning in the Tertulia museum of art... just a few blocks away from our hotel. The museum contains various collections of abstract and not-so-abstract art from Colombian artists over the past 60 years. We took our time looking at 3 floors of artwork. Although 3 floors seems like a lot of artwork... it really isn't. We were out of the museum in 2 hours. Normal price for a ticket is 10,000 pesos and seniors (like me) are half price.
Our next stop was Tony Roma's at the Hotel Dann Cali. I ordered the obligatory Texas BBQ ribs for 41 mil, and was totally underwhelmed. The ribs were OK, but over hyped. Definitely not worth what I paid. The wife had a surprisingly good seafood medley pasta. I tried one of the shrimp, and it was fresh... unlike the frozen, stale seafood I'm used to buying in Jumbo and Pricesmart. The check with a tip came to 92 mil. I knew I wasn't getting out of there cheap....LOL. We checked out of the Hampton at 2 pm, and the staff kindly stored our luggage until we were ready to go to the airport.
We did some more walking, and headed to the Merced neighborhood of Oeste. We visited the Iglesia Merced... an old colonial church that is pretty much maintained in the same state as when it was first built in the early 1500s. Right next to the church is the Pre-Colombian archaeological museum... admission for the both of us was only 7,000 pesos. The museum has a very impressive collection of ancient artifacts and tools from the Calimas and other indigenous people in southwestern Colombia.
We walked two blocks to the National Gold Museum. Entrance is free, so the price is right. LOL. The collections are kept in huge vaults that serve was the display galleries. Basically, photo taking is unrestricted... except of the doors and closing mechanisms of the vaults. The first vault contained roughly 20 exhibits of abstract and regional artwork from all over Colombia. Very interesting, but I had my share of abstract artwork from the day before. The second vault really peaked my interest. Here, you could enjoy an impressive array of indigenous goldsmithing... including weapons, ceremonial dress, ornaments, helmets and artwork. The gold museum may not be as extensive as the Museo d'Oro in Bogota, but I felt more up-close and personal with the gold objects at this museum. Definitely worth a visit... and the price is right.
Javier met us at the front of the museum, and took us to the Hampton to pick up our luggage. We headed north to Chipichape. I had heard so much about Chipichape Mall... so I was dying to see it because of the hype. When we arrived, I said to myself... “WTF?” The mall seems so much smaller... and outdated than the other two malls we had visited during our stay. Nevertheless, I was hell bound and determined to check out this great mall that I had heard so much about. We spotted an Artemisa health food store, so we entered, and inquired about a Made in the USA Probiotic supplement. They had it... and for the bargain price of 27 mil. I thought to myself: “This mall is not so bad after all.” We walked over to the section of the mall where the Spiwak Hotel is located. I suggested we all indulge in a coffee or tea before heading for the airport. Two capuccinos, 1 aromatica and 3 almujabanas later, I was presented with a bill for 34 mil! I incredible.... I can get an Angus beef dinner in El Oriente for that price. And the same deal in Parque San Antonio would run me maybe 12 mil.
We arrived at Alfonso Bonilla Aragon airport with plenty of time to spare. The Avianca counter was pure chaos because all the flights to Bogota were delayed. So, the agents closed down the ticket counter for half an hour to regroup. We finally dumped off our one suitcase, and were on our way to security screening which was a snap. We were aboard the 10:20 pm flight to Medellin... the last one of the day. The plane was packed, but not a problem... it was only a 35 minute ordeal. As the plane gets ready to push back from the gate, the pilot can't ignite the #1 engine. One of the mobile TUG generators comes alongside and gives our aircraft a jump start. As my wife says a series of Hail Mary's... the engine finally lights off. The plane taxis to the runway, and we are back in Rionegro in under 35 minutes.
Overall, Cali is not what I had expected... in a good sort of way. I was expecting the city to be 80% Barrio Popular with a few nice neighborhoods thrown in for good measure. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Granted, we spent most of our time in Oeste... more or less the Poblado of Cali, so my first opinion may be influenced by that fact. I was also impressed with the cultural and historical venues in this city, too. I did not feel threatened once walking on the streets during the day or night. But then again, that is the inherent danger in Colombia... trouble will find you when and where you least expect it. However, I have to give some credence to the anecdotes told by those who have lived in Cali... like my wife. I was also prepared for the hot, balmy temperatures that Cali is noted for... but did not experience any of that. For the three days we were in Cali, the cold rainy weather reminded me of being back home in Rionegro. (I wished I had brought a jacket.) Relative costs in Cali seem to be comparable to prices in Medellin... and somewhat more expensive than where I live in the Rionegro area. Based upon a quick glance at rental prices, it appears Cali housing is more economical than in Medellin. Even though, Cali is a fun spot for a weekend getaway, I'm not sure I would want to live there. I am happy where I am in El Oriente.