Salsa in Cali @La Topa Tolondra, Cali, Colombia, March 29, 2018
It is widely believed that salsa music originated in Cuba. But to confess, I do not enjoy Cuban salsa music much, at least the modern ones – the endlessly cheerful tone wears out my emotional energy reserve within an hour. In contrast, I enjoy Colombian salsa songs – sometimes they may lack musical sophistication but they are rich with common human emotions, although a lot of them are romantic love-related. Back in the US, I saw salsa Cali performances and the style seemed to focus on...
Cerro Morro, Popayán, Colombia, march 31, 2018
I knew I was going to get to Popayan one day, because it is on the road to Ecuador. Over the past weeks though, my interest level went up, after hearing about what it was like to grow up in the town from my new Colombian friend in Medellin. Also, I read that Popayan is one of the most underestimated towns in Colombia where tourism is expected to grow. The colonial-era style city planning and architecture definitely had its charm – it reminded me of...
Small reminders, San Agustin, Colombia, April 2nd, 2018
You upload the highlight of your day on your SNS, and travelers do the same. In fact, travelers are constantly presented with beautiful and exciting scenes, and this makes it even less likely to get to know about their ‘housekeeping’ efforts to do make the traveling going day after day. In south of Colombia, the closest and the most frequented border is in Ipiales. Having heard about long delays of up to 10 hours due to Venezuelan refugees there, I finally decided to go to a...
Ajiaco santafereño, El Mejor Ajiaco del Mundo, Centro, Bogota, Colombia, March 26, 2018
This soup is called Ajiaco. To be exact, this particular one is called Ajiaco Santafereño, implying that it followed the recipe in Santa Fe region in Colombia, I assume. According to Google, Ajiaco is a popular dish found in Colombia, Peru, and Cuba, and the origin of the dish is still unclear. As seen, the soup contains chicken, potato, corn and avocado. Although the list is not enough to give an idea about the taste, it was like a smooth and medium-heavy chicken soup. @El Mejor...
Salsa-singing woman, Centro, Bogotá, Colombia, March 26, 2018
It was an ordinary Monday in the Centro in Bogotá, Colombia. The sound of a salsa song was getting louder in the direction I was walking. With curiosity, I was expecting a local live band but it turned out to be a street-karaoke while the singer was promoting her albums! I could not help but think of Celia Cruz. The street singer was the closest person alive to Celia Cruz at that moment. Another small observation was the reaction of people next to her; they looked...
Pueblito Paisa, Medellín, Colombia, March 20, 2018
Pueblito Paisa is a small mock village which provides a peek into a typical Antioquia town. Itself is a small and cute village but the outlook nearby offers a clear view of Medellin. It is funny – there is nothing special about having a bird’s eye view of a city because they tend to end up looking similar, but having done so makes me feel I know the place better. Medellin is surrounded by mountains and it had been cloudy or rainy the whole week when...
Works of Botero, parque Botero, Medellin, Colombia, march 19, 2018
I’ve stayed in Medellín for two weeks. It has not been common to stay at one place for as long as two weeks. This time I wanted to finish the whole car repair, relax emotionally after the car accident (I’ll post separately on this), and revisit salsa socials and personal practice routines and enjoy the city’s ‘eternal spring’ weather. Although I didn’t do much sightseeing, time flew. But one thing I did not want to miss before leaving the city was the works of Fernando Botero....
De uniforme y de civil, museo de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, marcha 19, 2018
“De uniformes y de civil” On the ground floor of the Antioquia museum, there was an exhibition on giving back personalities to some of the members of armed groups in Colombia. Notice the powerful contrast. I remember seeing similar looking people in the right column from streets in Colombia. @museo de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, marcha 19, 2018
This website chronicles Leebong’s journey around the world for 2+ years, for the time being. To find out more, see The Travel & The Why.
To catch me, see Itinerary.
Impressions Series
