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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 22, 2022 7:44:05 GMT
It’s a bit of an art deco fest even if some are a bit scruffy.
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Post by mossie on Mar 22, 2022 7:52:39 GMT
With that lovely tidy wiring in pic 4 I wonder everyone has not been electrocuted
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 22, 2022 7:58:38 GMT
What a colourful country, fabulous thread young Mark. I showed the wiring to Jeff (ex-overhead linesman) and he went quite pale...
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 22, 2022 8:10:40 GMT
The wiring is almost as good as in Vietnam.
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Post by bjd on Mar 22, 2022 8:11:38 GMT
At least there is a sign warning of the danger of electrocution.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 22, 2022 9:12:43 GMT
This last photo - I have a sudden urge to flag the bicycle rider down and jump up onto that chair and say "High ho Silver away"!
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 22, 2022 13:48:58 GMT
The people who live in the Torre Manzur probably don't consider themselves to be living in the same world as at ground level. Built in 1962 and recently refurbished. No doubt expensive rentals. The whole centre is and has been undergoing renewal. Barranquilla from above for orientation. Manzur tower from 1m 22s - 2m 11s I'm sure the wiring could be made into a tourist attraction. This last photo - I have a sudden urge to flag the bicycle rider down and jump up onto that chair and say "High ho Silver away"! One of the modes of transport we didn't use.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 22, 2022 14:18:16 GMT
That video reminds of of the three weeks I lived in the Ramses Hilton in Cairo. No matter how nice your own building is, you still have the view of all of the tatty rooftops below. I quite enjoyed observing the families living on the roofs around the hotel in Cairo. It doesn't look like anybody lives on the roofs in Barranquilla. I assume that the rain is regular and intense enough to dissuade people from doing so.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 22, 2022 16:31:42 GMT
I quite enjoyed observing the families living on the roofs around the hotel in Cairo. Ditto experience in Hong Kong/ Our hotel in Nathan road overlooked a block of what seemed to us abandoned or ready for demolition buildings. Every morning a guy with his dog would run around the perimeter of the building about three stories from road level. Now I can quite confidentially say the square he ran around was no bigger that my study here at home. To me this was eye opening stuff. How people who needed more could turn what they had into some satisfactory outcome.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 22, 2022 16:32:33 GMT
Not so crowded I think. I saw plenty of roof living in Cairo.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 23, 2022 8:59:06 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Mar 23, 2022 9:08:13 GMT
Great photos Mark - thanks so much.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 23, 2022 10:23:55 GMT
Some lovely buildings there.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 23, 2022 11:04:14 GMT
I'm certain I'll go back at some stage, but probably not for several years. I have other places I want to go to.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 23, 2022 11:18:36 GMT
Pristinely restored colonial buildings are always a delight. Great view from the area of the hotel pool. I consider it a plus when you don't have to go up 50 floors to be able to overlook a city.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 24, 2022 19:38:47 GMT
We headed up to the coast. Thought we’d have a couple of days there in a nice hotel to relax. The usual car ride and not a lot to see this time - When we got there we went to the reception to be met by our saying that we have a reservation with the answer, no you don’t. There is no record of it in the computer. We asked as to how, after we’d booked, there had been two emails to us with information plus we’d arranged the transfer from our previous hotel with you - and now you tell us “there’s no room at the Inn.” They said the emails were just automated replies - even though we said why would you reply when we’d not made a booking? The transfer they say was arranged without checking anyway if there was a booking or not. This hotel was actually to be the most expensive we’d stay in on the whole trip. They offered a room at a partner hotel 15km away and not by the sea. First we asked if there were any rooms available anyway to be told yes, but then ten minutes later were told they were absolutely full. Oh dear. Then we asked if there were any rooms of any standard available. They mentioned they had a room they didn’t rent out as it was normally for storage. We told them we’d have a look at it (as the hotel/lodge was in an ideal place for us and we didn’t want late afternoon to try and find something else). We saw the room and had a quick discussion that fifteen or twenty years ago we’d have taken it like a shot. It was the normal type of room with a bathroom and toilet we’d have gratefully stayed in when travelling. It depended now on the price. Mrs M, who had been doing all the talking anyway as it was in Spanish, said something which I vaguely caught and had received an affirmative answer, which I did catch. That was easy enough to understand. Another short conversation was had regarding cleaning and taking out some things in there whilst we had a snack and a drink and we moved into the bar/restaurant area to do so. We quickly ordered some food and I asked Mrs M what was the bit I didn’t quite understand, but ridiculously it sounded like she’d asserted to the manageress that as we’d really made a booking (we had printouts of it) and it’s your fault you now tell us we haven’t, the room we are now taking should then be free of charge. Yes Mrs M said, I did, and the manageress agreed. No charge for the three nights. Nice result. We weren’t expecting to spend a long time in the room each day anyway so having a shower in an evening and sleeping would about be the extent of it. We’d be out all day more or less. The view from the restaurant - The food. I know mine was a quinoa filled avocado, the other may well have been fruit and veg on an arepa. Not sure though but it looks like it - A bar next door and at night -
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Post by tod2 on Mar 26, 2022 8:25:03 GMT
It amazes me how the hotel staff take you for A-holes. As if they were dealing with children who could be told anything and expected to believe it. Good on Mrs M for showing them just who is the boss!
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 26, 2022 8:42:58 GMT
Fortunately it all turned out ok but it did leave a nasty taste in the mouth.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 26, 2022 8:44:38 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Mar 26, 2022 8:52:59 GMT
Lovely photos - the white villas with the usual palm roofs remind me so much of Mauritius.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 26, 2022 12:42:36 GMT
Terrific natural history pictures Mark. Thanks!
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 26, 2022 15:23:28 GMT
I like to mix it up a bit.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 26, 2022 15:37:03 GMT
I have always been amazed at some of the bad faith shown at hotel reception desks even when you show them the printed confirmation of your reservation. At the same time, I know they are not the people in charge and this is one of their worst nightmares since the decisionary powers are generally inaccessible. At the same time, in most of Asia (but NOT Singapore), the people try so hard to find a solution, usually in a nearby hotel, that it is impressive. I remember that in Hanoi, I was personally escorted to a replacement hotel a couple of blocks away. I never get offered free rooms, though -- but I don't ask for them either. I think that Mrs. M is a lot like my mother used to be -- ready to drive a hard bargain.
Your parrot photos are fantastic.
Rough water at the beach never appeals to me, but then again, beaches almost never appeal to me.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 26, 2022 18:19:49 GMT
I've always had quite good results from booking problems and given an alternative that I know is the best they can do. I think the reason for it being free is exactly for that reason, they couldn't come up with a viable alternative. The worst experience I've had was in Sri Lanka where I was told they didn't have the booking and then turned away from me.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 26, 2022 19:23:02 GMT
Penultimate set of photos from Barranquilla. There are so many because round every corner there was something photogenic. Or to me at least. I think the city was quite a surprise and tends to be ignored generally by tourists but if, like me, you are quite happy just wandering around and not just wanting to see one place of interest and then quickly on to the next, it'd be a city I'd go back to, to explore more - I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up and commenting, but I am enjoying this very much. When I do comment, it gives me an opportunity to give a second, better look at everything. I can definitely see how you came to the conclusion in the quote! Love all the architectural photos & want to live in the Edificio Garcia. What a delight to see that it was included in the wall art! A couple of the pictures at the end of page seven look like repurposed movie theatres. I imagine there might be more of that there. Some fun mysteries ~ the Flintstone car for sure, and that weird Brutalist thing right after it, which looks like a modern take on a martyr's shrine from an old European church. The elephant? diver? man appears in lots of the wall art. There is even a mannequin dressed like it! The Torre Manzur in the video looks as though it was plopped down by aliens right in the middle of the older city. You saved lots of gorgeousness for the final looks at Barranquilla which, as you said, definitely calls out to be explored. The coast is quite a contrast after the city and your landscape pictures are breathtaking.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 26, 2022 20:48:39 GMT
The elephant? diver? man appears in lots of the wall art. There is even a mannequin dressed like it! "Barranquilla locals – known as Barranquilleros – take pride in the marimonda as the only Carnival character with origins in Barranquilla. The masked character with a long nose and big ears appears like a monkey mixed with an elephant dressed in bright, mismatched colors. Originally, the marimonda was created by a poor man who used the resources available to him to poke fun of high society. The poor man did this by giving the marimonda a comical suit and jacket with two ties – one on the front and one on the back – and large pants he borrowed from his brother. Today, with erratic and playful dancing, the marimonda represents the humorous and irreverent spirit of the Barranquilleros." and that weird Brutalist thing right after it, which looks like a modern take on a martyr's shrine from an old European church. I know it is in the Parque Los Fundadores but can't initially see anything about that thing.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2022 7:28:46 GMT
The reason we stayed where we did is because we intended to visit Tayrona National Park, the entrance was within walking distance for us. We made a bit of a miscalculation though with something else. Best if I just paste this for info about the park to give you an idea - “The park presents a biodiversity endemic to the area of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, featuring a variety of climates (mountain climate) and geography that ranges from arid sea level to 900 meters above sea level. The park covers approximately 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) of maritime area in the Caribbean sea and approximately 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi) of land.” Inside the park are claimed to be 108 species of mammals and 300 species of birds. Also 70 of bats, 31 of reptiles, 401 of sea and river fish, 350 of algae and 770 species of plants. Quite diverse then. There is evidence of human habitation up until the 16 Century but now is an eco-tourist site with a number of walks through the environment and beaches to swim from - Due to covid the park had been closed for some time. Normally it would close anyway for the whole of February for maintenance, clearing up and so on. With the itinerary we had made we weren’t sure beforehand if it would be open at all. Never mind, but we’d miss it if it was. We had news just before we went that it would be open but not sure exactly when. Then we found out a few days before we got there the date of opening after the long closure would be the very day we had intended to go. As that date had only just been confirmed we felt it as reasonable to believe it would be unlikely that there would be an inundation of visitors on the first day. That was our miscalculation. After an early breakfast we set off walking, a distance we knew to be about 2km. After just 1km we saw and joined on to the back of the queue. Strung along the road, three and four deep in groups it seemed, were the youth of humanity. And I mean youth. Nobody looked older than 30 yrs old and most had rucksacks and sleeping bags. Some had roller cabin bags, some just a bin liner full of something like clothes. I was the oldest person I could see and in fact when we did get into the park, only a handful of people we saw were my age or a little older, I think because the physicality of the whole walking thing in the heat along good trails but plenty of wooden steps was off putting. We joined the back of the queue and waited. Our intention was to see how quickly it moved. After 20 minutes or so we hadn’t moved one inch. We knew the gates were open but nevertheless, I wondered what the holdup was. Later investigation found that they would let about 50 people in, they then would “have to” sit through a ten minute presentation (many didn’t and slipped past we saw later) but then another fifty would be let in. I could see us being there all day. After 20 mins or so I left Mrs M and walked to the front to see what the system was. That’s when I realised the slide show thing. I also saw everyone was corralled into a snake like in an airport as you got close. There were numerous levels and going was slow. I went back to Mrs M and told her, and said we can try something but it’ll be shit or bust. If it doesn’t work we’ll either have to just wait it out after losing our place in the queue or try and come back (inconveniently) another day, though it looked like the next couple of weeks or even more would be as busy. At the entrance were two gates, one to let people in to get a ticket and the slide show and then another to get then into the park proper. We walked up to the first gate. I was affecting a limp. Not too bad but like it was an old injury that never healed. At the gate was a woman official aged somewhere around my age. I’d seen that there as a cheaper price for entry for those over sixty. That’d be me then. There are times in Colombia whereby the older generation get priority and we were hoping it was also the case here. It was. After a short conversation with the gate lady she let us in to buy the ticket and then go through. Mind you, it still took half an hour just to get to the front of the ticket queue. But we were then in. It’s a few kilometres than to get through the first part of the park to the interesting bit with walking trails and beaches. There are shuttle buses but you have to pay extra, something equivalent to a few Euros. We paid and jumped on one. I didn’t actually jump as I was still in sight of the gate woman so I gingerly made my way up the steps. At least half the entrants didn’t want to pay to take the bus, even though they seemed to be loaded down with their rucksacks and the odd cabin bag being wheeled along. As we drove along we saw more and more (it was by now quite hot) trying to flag the bus down for a lift. No way that would happen, we were full. We stopped at the end of the road and started to walk. You can take horses if that’s what you want, we didn’t though. From here it is just walking paths which is one of the reasons why we’d come. The trail was well maintained. The only problem being the amount of people, all wanting to go at different speeds, that you had to pass or wanted to pass you - At last the coast came into view -
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 28, 2022 9:38:21 GMT
I presume that the monkey's teeth are for cracking open nuts and things and not for biting people.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2022 9:50:10 GMT
I think they are dual purpose.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 28, 2022 12:08:22 GMT
Interesting photos once again Mark - that monkey is a Colombian white-faced capuchin. They virtually eat anything that moves including squirrels, birds, insects, fruit, lizards etc.
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