I woke up and decided I was done with Medellin, which has been a really fun party town, but has not been healthy for my wallet. Or liver. So, I hit the guidebook over a cup of coffee, and landed on Cali as a destination. It’s the Salsa capital of the world, and a good spot to break up the long trip to the Ecuadoran border.
Another 14 hour bus ride meant another night bus for me. I checked out of the hostel at noon, but stuck around all day, mostly researching the next chunk of my trip.
In an otherwise less-than-noteworthy day, one crazy thing happened. A few of us went down to Mega Pizza (and while it’s not the crazy thing I was referring to, this place is worth mentioning – they serve gigantic slices which are then cut into 4 roughly normal sized slices) for lunch. On the walk, we all noticed a slight burning sensation in our eyes and nostrils, which we thought was odd. Then on the street, we saw a large crowd gathered. Dozens of college students were protesting (we never actually found out what the protest was about) and the police showed up. They were decked in full riot gear, with plexiglass shields, full body armor, rubber bullet guns and tear gas grenade launchers. And they used all of it. Some of the students threw rocks and the cops went chasing after. The whole episode played out surreally, while we and the other customers of Mega Pizza stuffed our faces.
And so, I can now check “Get partially tear-gassed at a college protest, while eating giant pizza in Colombia” off my bucket list. That’s a load off.
The rest of the day was spent trying not to fall into the trap of “una mas noche.” Essentially everyone I had been hanging out with has plans to leave today, but were lured back in with promises of brewery tours, happy hours, exclusive club guest lists, or some other reason to stay in Medellin. Ana, the receptionist at the hostel, told us about one guest who kept saying “una mas noche” until she ended up staying for a whole year. Though I didn’t think that would happen to me, I still thought it best to move on.
The bus to Cali was big, comfortable and had seats that reclined further than any bus I’d ever been on. As a bonus, I was one of the few people to have an empty seat next to me. Sleep would come easy.