Ranganathan Street

A Colombian asked me what is the difference between Bogota and Chennai.  I was tempted to elaborate on that (ofcourse good and bad!).  But the main difference I told him was the weather and then the population.  Size of Chennai is nearly the same as Bogota, but the population is twice as much!

I told him, wherever you go you will see people... people... people...  There will be a lengthy queue for everything and anything.  Just to make him understand, I wanted to show the picture of our Ranganathan street in Chennai.  I would say it is a shopper's paradise.  You get everything that you need (The same goods sometimes at a low price, sometimes at a higher price!!).

The problem is, it is difficult to get into the street and come out unscathed.  Once you get in, you do not need to make an effort to walk, you will be pushed by the people around you and when you find the shop you want to get in, you can push yourself towards it.  But start doing it a few yards before the shop otherwise you may get into the next shop.

Especially during festive seasons, it is too much crowded.  If it rains and after you get out of Ranganathan street, you would like to cut your legs than to clean it!

It may sound exaggerating, but it is *almost* true.  If you take a daylight picture of Ranganathan street from top, you will find it pitch black in colour because you will see only heads... heads... heads...  If you drop something from top, it does not reach the ground.  Just take a look at the picture below to believe it.

 

Photo Courtesy: Google Images

Bogota is unsafe!

Don't be surprised at this.  Anybody traveling to Colombia would have investigated about the safety and other things.  If you read my blog (Dec 2007 to Feb 2008), I would have done the analysis as well.

You can easily get mugged on the road.  The government also does not seem to take it seriously(may be there are plenty of such incidents coming to their notice and it became a day to day affair for them).  But people in Colombia say things have improved in the last 5 years.  I cannot imagine how bad things could have been.

Recently, one of my colleagues got mugged on Halloween night when he was walking towards his apartment.  The thieves took advantage of the Halloween and were dressed like witches, covering their face etc.  They pressed a knife on my colleague's back and robbed his mobile and the cash that he had.

There is another group of thieves who target foreigners.  They catch hold of you and say they are special officers from narcotics division.  They ask you relevant questions like where are you from, how long you have been here, do you have your passport or identity card and the like.  They tell you that they have classified information that some foreigners are trafficking drugs in and out of Colombia and it is for your safety that you should go with them and get registered in a police station nearby.  They take you to a deserted place nearby check your ID card, ask you to provide all that you carry (Eg: Camera) to them so that they can register it in the police station.  They also ask you whether you have any currency and they are checking whether the currency is fake or not.  You will be asked to handover the currency to them.

If you ask for the police identity card, they will show you the identity card!!  Needless to say they faked it.  To make everything look natural they make one of their own person to participate along with you as a foreigner.  That *foreigner* will say that he/she has traveled to Colombia many times and it is quite natural in Colombia and they do this check at times and it is safe to you give your things to the *policeman*.  They fully cooperate with the *policeman* by giving away all that they have and make you believe.

Not knowing what to do and out of fear of accusation of drug trafficking you will give all your money, belongings etc.  Once their mission gets accomplished, they ask you to wait and then they walk away in different directions.  You will still be confused, what's happening and in which direction you should go and look for them.  By the time you realize that something is wrong they vanish into thin air.

The thieves sometimes carry weapons and so it is better to give away things and come back home unscathed.

The only thing that you can do is lodge a complaint in the police station.  But you will never get your things back. 

You can ask "Are these not happening in any other country?".  The answer is "Yes, they happen!".  I have witnessed these and so I am writing to create awareness.

RAB (Roamed Around Bogota)

Just coined that title for fun!  Me and some of my colleagues roamed around Bogota.  We all shared the same feeling that this is the only city that we have seen so far is so well decorated for Christmas!!

That's right.  The city was beautiful.  Lights all around, parks, museums, shopping malls and roads were all beautifully decorated.  Wondering how much they would be spending on electricity. 

We visited most popular parks (park el virrey and another park in calle 93).  Shopping mall like Andino and also visited Monsarratte just to have a view of the city during night.

My view of Bogota can be seen here

Ciclovia Nocturna

Yet another thing that I observed in Bogota is that every Sunday morning at 7AM they close some of the roads for vehicles except for the Cyclists (of course for walkers and joggers).  I like it.  It is called "Ciclovia"

Similarly couple of days back here they had something called "Ciclovia Nocturna".  This is similar to Ciclovia but it starts in the evening and goes on the whole night (I think so). 

The only inconvenience I had was that on my way back from work I had to walk a lot as some of the main roads were closed.  But that was ok for a day.

I went out with my Canon and started shooting after 11PM.  The city was awake and unusually active.  I could see happy faces riding cycles and people were standing on the road and watching the cyclists.  Small shops cropped up on the platform selling corn, winter hats and what not. 

I wanted to try out some tricks like motion blur and the like using my Canon and I think I achieved it to an extent.  You can view the fotos of Ciclovia nocturna by clicking here.

Bomb blast in Bogota

It was nearly 10PM when I reached my apartment building and I pressed the buzzer for the security to open the door.  At the same moment, I heard a huge noise and I could see bright light on the wall of the opposite building.  The first thing that came to my mind was it could be a burst from some electric transformer.  The burglar alarms, cars and pets started screaming due to the heavy vibration that it created.  But the security was telling me that it was a bomb blast.  That sent a wave of fear inside me and I looked up the building to see what is happening in my apartment and I could see the light glowing in one of our bedrooms.

I went in and spoke to few friends on the phone and slept.  The next day I came to know that the blast happened near the apartment where we are staying.  There is a Blockbuster in the same street and somebody planted a bomb in the parking lot.  But it was not a very powerful one and so did not injure anybody.

I was just walking past that place say 30 seconds ago and I was returning from work.  On that day, to my surprise that place was deserted.  Usually it will have cars parked all around and people going in and out of Blockbuster.

Somebody told me that it was all just to remind people that there are groups that are unhappy about the Government.  Strange isn't it.  Face of terrorism!!

Visit to Uruguay

I am on a business visa to Colombia which is valid only for 3 months.  I need to go out of Colombia get my Temporal visa (more or less like a work permit and then enter into Colombia).

I need to travel to Uruguay to get this done and return to Colombia.  I heard Uruguay is a very safe place and you can walk around at any time during day or night.  I got my visa and I will be taking my family as well. 

I cannot imagine that 3 months got over.  Time is flying!!

**CHECK**

I work as a consultant at the Ministry of Public credit in Colombia. It is in front of the President's house and is heavily guarded at night. Some of my colleagues (non-spanish speaking people) left the office very late in the night (probably 1230 in the night) and were waiting outside the office for Taxi.

While they were waiting outside, the security guards asked them a few questions and because my colleagues did not know Spanish, they did not understand what the guards spoke. Probably, my colleagues gave some irrelevant answer and the guards asked these guys whether they can *check* them. Without understanding much these guys said yes. Can you imagine what could have happened?

These guys were made to stand against a wall facing it and the guard frisked them. These guys felt strange as they never expected this and it was a kind of embarrassment for them. Perhaps this could be the least expected for a guy who works in an Information Technology industry (a white collar job!!).

Funny and sad!!

End of 1st Month

At the end of the 1st month, here it is about Bogota, Colombia.

- I see gun men all over the city.
- If you book a taxi, it is safe. The taxi services have IVR and so you need not know Spanish.
- Almost everything is expensive (Food, Clothing etc). But taxis are cheap.
- There is an excellent mode of public transport called, Transmilenio.
- The weather is good.
- Some parts of the city is new and some old.
- In almost all the places(office, shopping mal etc), the security guard checks your bag.
- Outside office very less people speak English.

Day 1 at work - Stayed overnight

Bogota is OK. I feel people are a bit tolerant and friendly. On my first day at work, I stayed overnight and returned home the next day morning. Due to jet lag and all these, I was falling asleep after 8PM.

At work I found quite a lot of English speaking people. I found an Italian restaurant which serves vegetarian food and also the owner of the restaurant speaks English.

In Bogota, Colombia

We have reached Bogota now. It was a 23 hours flight in Air France and unfortunately our luggage has not travelled with us. The luggages came the next day.

I would not say that the flight was comfortable. There was no leg room, The hand rest did not raise fully so we could not make our child lay down on our lap. No channel varieties in the in flight entertainment. The food and hospitality was not good in the flight. I feel it is important that the hospitality should be improved especially when you are travelling with old aged people or children. Other airlines we have travelled especially Emirates is satisfactory in all these aspects.

My employer was good enough to find an apartment for us in a good residential area. We entered into the apartment straight from the airport. The apartment had internet connection and it is spacious enough for us.

My friend and collegue was at the airport with sweets and coffee (Colombian Coffee). I myself am a coffee lover and I hope to have a great time drinking coffee in Colombia.

How about Bogota...?

I am working for a multi-national company. I was told that a project for Ministry of public credit, Bogota, Colombia. (Yes, in South America!)is in deep red and I may have to travel to onsite for the project.

I had no clue about the project and no idea about the location. As usual, I powered on my computer and started searching about Colombia. At the end of the search I got a reply that was good and bad.

But I could more or less summarise it like this.
- It is a country where drug trafficing and kidnappings are more than any other part of the world.
- It is not safe to walk around on the roads after 8PM or so.
- Cost of living is not too high.
- It is safe to live only in zones 5 or 6.
- Technology is not so advanced (Like mobiles, broadband etc)
- The language spoken is Spanish
- You must book a cab and should not take a cab just by waving hands on the road

The only convincing part, I read in almost all the sites, was that the country has improved a lot in the last 2 years and the crime rate is lesser than some other popular cities in the world.

I should also list the good things that I came across about Bogota, Colombia.
- Rice is a staple diet.
- You get vegetarian food (ask for "arroz con ensalada")
- Weather is always between 18 deg celcius and 22 deg celcius all through the year
- People are kind (?!?)

Ok. I need to pack my bags now!