Colombia 2011

The 3.5 hour American Airlines flight to Cali was pleasant. Upon landing, I was surprised to see that Colombians stand up and retrieve their bags from the overhead compartment when the aircraft is still taxiing to the gate, and that the flight attendants did nothing, but I could also see that it was culturally ingrained and there was probably nothing they could do.

At Cali airport, there were only two immigration counters open but they cleared the queue quickly. That is, until I got to the counter. The immigration officer was a surprised to see a Singapore passport and he tried to ask me a few questions in Spanish, but I could not answer him. He did not appear to speak English and neither did his supervisor. He finally stamped my passport and waved me through.

Walking into the arrivals area, we were dismayed to see that the currency exchange there was closed. Ugh. So, we had arrived in a foreign country at night with no local currency and no Spanish language skills. Sigh. I resigned myself to having to pay a premium to get to the hotel.

At the curb, a man who spoke some English approached us and secured a taxi with a driver who was willing to take US dollars for his fare. The Lonely Planet said that taxi fares from Cali Airport to town would be about the equivalent of $30, and that was precisely what he secured for us... surprise surprise, we weren't stiffed after all. He did ask for a tip, but he was not specific about how much. I gave him $5, which was the smallest bill I had on me.

The drive to the hotel took about 30 minutes. The driver did drive fast but traffic was nowhere as chaotic as I thought it would be. Along the way, I noticed several Chinese restaurants. Having seen Chinese restaurants all over the world, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at this.

Arriving at the hotel, we found our friends (who had arrived a day earlier) waiting for us. Once we were checked in and deposited our bags in our room, we set off for dinner with them and a few of the groom's family members. We walked to a food court with a burger joint open. Although the groom and his friends spoke little English, we still had a pleasant evening. I rarely eat meat but the chicken burger I ordered was great. After dinner, we turned in.

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