Is Colombia – a
tantalizing Thrill for travellers or a terrifying
taboo due to civil war?
In the eyes of much of the world,
Colombia still blazons a scarlet letter. With Colombia’s 60 year-armed
conflict, the histories of Pablo Escobar, drug cartels, and the murder and
kidnapping records by FARC burning red hot in our memories, it challenges our
imaginations to think of Colombia as a place peaceful enough to visit. But, it
is: Colombia has been moving away from its violent past, at full speed, for
much of the past 15 years. The homicide rate almost halved between 2002 and
2006.
While the government cracks down,
people here take safety and security very seriously. They regard the petty
crime and the violence that still characterize the country as shameful. Riding
the metro and walking in the streets here, you will find any number of signs
and advertisements cautioning against violence and gun use, in the name of the
national movement to promote a more peaceful Colombia. Students wear peace
patches and adults’ bags advertise anti-violent campaigns. Trucks are littered
with Colombianos por la Paz “Colombians for Peace” stickers. The amount of Police, sniff-dogs, security checks at building entrance at Bogota on day one irrefutably proved that security has become a matter of paramount concern. Second day the (May 1st) the peaceful protesters were outnunbered by Police and the bomb squads,
I got mugged in Medelin
Colombia. I was trying to get some more pictures of the scultptures of Botero at relatively quiet public square . it was our last night
in Medelin. I had spent 4 incident-free days in Colombia. Medellín (the city made famous by it’s
legendary women, Pablo Escobar…and Entourage) but it was time to say adios
for the end of our sight-seeing for the
day.
I saw movement from my peripheral vision that two Carribean looking young man coming close to me from nowhere. First I thought that they want me to take their pictures. I had somewhat advanced ( Canon 7D with L series lens) DSLR. The dudes were moving closer together. appear
from nowhere, quickly pulling knives. They pulled my camera. After a little shuffle, I kicked the guy and got the camera back but they stabbed my hand with a knife and ran way with the camera bag. I ran after them with bleeding finger but they managed to run inside a building across the road. I was lucky that the cut and the injury was not too serious,
My camera always draws attention. It has been doing for decades. I am almost always warned to be careful by the locals no matter where I travel. It may be Buenos Aires, Barcelona or Bogota, Bombay or even Boston. I am also reminded never to fight back.
However I fought back on impulse. Fortunately they helped me to get at least the expensive camera back. Next day hired a translator and filed the police report. The Police informed me that they will not be able to investigate. I took the pictures of the robbers from the back and they were in the pictures in background. That did not help,
I leaned *Always trust your gut. Especially if your
safety’s at risk. Your instincts know way better
then you about everything – and they don’t care about looking stupid – so trust
them.
All that
matters is that we are safe. It’s a shame what happened, but we will always
have our beautiful memories together. This could have happened anywhere else.
I still felt that many strange people I met in Colombia were extra nice to us , specially we being just tourist.,
It is an easy country to fall in love with, and many travelers do. It
could well become your favorite country in South America.
Here is the link to my pictures in Colombia .
