Grinder backpacking South America
January 27th, 2019 at 10:04:25 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinderViva la revolución!!!!
AHA! I knew it.
I've sent a message to Dudley Do-Right who I'm sure will hop on his horse, (who is named Horse, of course), and be in Venezuela before they start torturing you. (That is providing Dudley isn't riding Horse backwards as he usually is in which case you might want to shift your location to Russia).
I knew something was up because you wrote in the first message on this page:
Quote: PokerGrinderI am headed to South America today and my plan is to post here every few days with details of my adventures.
Oddly enough, apparently I'm not just psycho, but psychic as well:
Quote: HullabalooWhat's the line on Grinder actually making posts every 3 days? I'm guessing at least one 10 day break between posts.
January 27th, 2019 at 10:34:30 AM
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Quote: HullabalooAHA! I knew it.
I've sent a message to Dudley Do-Right who I'm sure will hop on his horse, (who is named Horse, of course), and be in Venezuela before they start torturing you. (That is providing Dudley isn't riding Horse backwards as he usually is in which case you might want to shift your location to Russia).
I knew something was up because you wrote in the first message on this page:
Oddly enough, apparently I'm not just psycho, but psychic as well:
Well I mean you can look at my past TR history and see I’m anything but prompt.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 27th, 2019 at 12:13:55 PM
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So far the food looks unappetizing and boring
and mundane. One of the many reasons I loathe
traveling. Whenever I travel, I constantly wish
it was over and I was home. Which makes me
a very bad travel companion.
I can see and hear any place in the world right
here online. I can't smell it or feel it, which
most of the time is a good thing.
and mundane. One of the many reasons I loathe
traveling. Whenever I travel, I constantly wish
it was over and I was home. Which makes me
a very bad travel companion.
I can see and hear any place in the world right
here online. I can't smell it or feel it, which
most of the time is a good thing.
"It's not enough to succeed, your friends must fail."
Gore Vidal
January 27th, 2019 at 10:02:06 PM
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Ok so I did a write up at the airport but I had no wifi so I couldn’t upload the pictures. Then I lost my phone in an Uber and spent the next 6 hours worrying. I got it back, I love that Uber driver!!! Update most likely tomorrow!
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 28th, 2019 at 5:03:30 AM
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When I was running my Maritime and Trans-National Search and Rescue consultancy, I formed a very low opinion of those otherwise much admired "Horsemen".Quote: PokerGrinderYou think the Mounties would come all the way to Venezuela lol?
January 28th, 2019 at 5:49:29 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinderOk so I did a write up at the airport but I had no wifi so I couldn’t upload the pictures. Then I lost my phone in an Uber and spent the next 6 hours worrying. I got it back, I love that Uber driver!!! Update most likely tomorrow!
I'd think that's a better "win" than any of your casino visits :)
And nice to know there are still honest people in the world. (Or did he charge you $500 to get it back?)
January 28th, 2019 at 8:21:12 AM
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Grinder living the WARM LIFE got to be what about 130*F warmer where he is compared to back home
Warnings
4:25 AM CST Monday 28 January 2019
Extreme Cold Warning in effect for:
City of Winnipeg
A period of very cold wind chills is expected.
A cold front moving through Manitoba today will bring a frigid Arctic airmass into southern Manitoba this evening. Widespread extreme wind chill values of -40 to -50 are expected to begin late this evening and last through Thursday afternoon.
Warnings
4:25 AM CST Monday 28 January 2019
Extreme Cold Warning in effect for:
City of Winnipeg
A period of very cold wind chills is expected.
A cold front moving through Manitoba today will bring a frigid Arctic airmass into southern Manitoba this evening. Widespread extreme wind chill values of -40 to -50 are expected to begin late this evening and last through Thursday afternoon.
January 28th, 2019 at 8:41:38 AM
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I'm not sure what's worse, Winnipeg or Siberia. Anything below zero qualifies as being on another planet in my book.
"Man Babes" #AxelFabulous
January 28th, 2019 at 8:45:03 AM
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I'm sure they came to an amenable oral agreement.Quote: HullabalooI'd think that's a better "win" than any of your casino visits :)
And nice to know there are still honest people in the world. (Or did he charge you $500 to get it back?)
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪
January 29th, 2019 at 7:56:45 PM
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We woke up around 9 am for the free tour of Bogotá. Kyle and Amy were not ready to leave on time (this is a reoccurring theme) so we got to breakfast late which got us to the tour late. Luckily the tour was late leaving itself so it wasn’t a big deal. For breakfast I ordered tamal which is corn dough and chickpeas with chicken (bone and all) steamed inside a banana leaf. Not the best food but they gave us a whole basket of the most amazing croissants, they were so buttery.
The tour was a bit underwhelming as I usually expect city tours to venture out of a tiny area of the city. Our tour was just a mini tour of a couple of businesses in the area. The guide explained a few pieces of graffiti near the square where the tour started and then we went to a juice bar.
The guide explained what a bunch of fruits were and we got to try them plus a little juice shot. The fruits were tasty and different than anything I’ve had before. I was still stuffed from the mediocre breakfast so I didn’t buy a juice.
Our next stop was a Chicha bar. Chicha is a corn and alcohol drink (2% alcohol) that Colombians enjoy. The taste is quite sweet but the aftertaste isn’t good at all. I’ll pass.
Our third stop was a coco shop where they use the coco plant in different ways. They chew the leaf (again didn’t taste good) or bake it into cake or make tea. The tea and cake were ok at least.
On our way to the next stop I found a clock tower, if you’ve followed my other trips I love clock towers.
Our final stop on the tour was a coffee tasting of course because this is Colombia. We got to try one of the most rare coffee crops in Colombia that only yields beans once every 3-4 years. The coffee was served black and was way way way too strong for me to drink. I don’t drink coffee but if I did that sure wouldn’t be how I would drink it. Amy happily drank my cup of coffee.
After the tour we went for lunch in the area where the juice and fruit tasting was earlier in the day. They all had a plate of chicken, rice, beets, plantain and soup, I was still stuffed from breakfast so I passed on the food. I did however find some street food to munch on on our way back to the hostel. It was a fried corn dough ball with meat, rice and a half a hard boiled egg in it. Very tasty indeed!
That afternoon we took an Uber to Monserrate Hill to get a good view of the city. Kyle managed to drop his phone in the car and ten days later we haven’t heard back from Uber regarding our 3 emails. We took the funicular (large cable car looking thing) up to the top (10,400 feet high) for sunset. We checked out the church and took pictures of the view. I then checked out the shops which were just over priced crap as I figured they would be in a tourist spot. One of the shop owners offered me a chocolate covered coffee bean which I knew I would hate but I didn’t want to be rude, it was so nasty!
The sunset over the city was beautiful but it was hard to get great pictures even from so high up. After the sun set we headed back down the hill. I stopped and grabbed this arepa with cheesy dough inside, very much like these cheese muffins that my mom makes. We grabbed the funicular back down before taking an Uber back to the hostel, don’t worry Kyle didn’t lose anything else.
We couldn’t agree on where to eat for dinner which led to us eating at a crappy tourist restaurant. You can always tell it’s a crappy tourist restaurant if they have an English menu in an area that doesn’t speak English. Well I had mediocre steak that didn’t seem to be seasoned and had a splash of BBQ sauce on it. It came with a tiny potato and 3 tiny weird wieners. We stopped at a bakery on the way back and I got a chocolate croissant.
We spent the rest of the night in the hostel courtyard having a couple of drinks and laughing a lot with a couple people that we met on the tour. It was relaxing and a lot of fun. Mory (the guy we met) was leaning back on the flimsy plastic chair and managed to break it, lesson learned right? No! He proceeded to break another one, nobody ever said Americans were too bright 🤣.
The next morning we ate the free breakfast at the hostel, scrambled egg and a croissant. We had a queso arepa from a street cart. It’s a corn dough with crap tons of cheese inside, it’s gets grilled and has a glob of butter and salt on top. It tasted amazing but by the end I was getting nauseas. It also didn’t agree with my stomach as I don’t deal great with dairy. I know it wasn’t a good idea but it looked so good. I would regret the decision about half way through our free graffiti tour.
The graffiti tour was amazing! Our guide is an artist herself and knows so much about the local scene. She gave us the history of graffiti/street art and how the scene is now as well. Luckily I was able to make it through the whole tour and get back to the hostel bathroom before something bad happened.
Fish
Corporate greed
For lunch we went to Azahar Cafe where we tried the coffee the day before. I had the chicken chilequiles which is nachoesque. It had chicken, goat cheese, avocado, a egg and a gravy on top of chips. It was ok, not great. There weren’t enough chips and too much of the sauce.
We walked around a bit and had cake (I had chocolate moose cake) and then a street donut which had Colombian caramel inside. Their caramel is a much lighter flavour then what we are used to in North America. Kyle and Amy went to a museum while I went back to the hostel to rest. I’m not a big fan of museums.
That night we went with Mory and his girlfriend Meredith to Dos Gatos Y Simone which is a Mexican-Colombian fusion restaurant. I got the variety plate (as did Kyle and Mory) which included a taco with amazing beef, a small taco bowl with cubed chicken and salad, quesadilla with mushrooms and chips. Everything was excellent.
The plan for the night was to go to the largest night club in the world or was it South America, I don’t remember. It’s called Theatron de Palatonic and it used to be a massive theatre. There are about 40 rooms although not all of them are always open. Each room has a different DJ or a live band. The cover was 40,000 pesos and that includes free drinks all night. We drank and played drinking games at the hostel before heading to the club around 11.
The club was a lot of fun but it was extremely crowded. The live band in the outside area was really good and the DJ’s weren’t half bad either. We left around two and ordered an Uber. We got street food while we waited, I had an empanada which still had a chicken bone in it and another corn ball with meat, rice and egg. The first one of these the other day was much better but when you’re drunk everything tastes good.
We got back to the hostel and got a little sleep before waking up early for our flight to Medellin.
The tour was a bit underwhelming as I usually expect city tours to venture out of a tiny area of the city. Our tour was just a mini tour of a couple of businesses in the area. The guide explained a few pieces of graffiti near the square where the tour started and then we went to a juice bar.
The guide explained what a bunch of fruits were and we got to try them plus a little juice shot. The fruits were tasty and different than anything I’ve had before. I was still stuffed from the mediocre breakfast so I didn’t buy a juice.
Our next stop was a Chicha bar. Chicha is a corn and alcohol drink (2% alcohol) that Colombians enjoy. The taste is quite sweet but the aftertaste isn’t good at all. I’ll pass.
Our third stop was a coco shop where they use the coco plant in different ways. They chew the leaf (again didn’t taste good) or bake it into cake or make tea. The tea and cake were ok at least.
On our way to the next stop I found a clock tower, if you’ve followed my other trips I love clock towers.
Our final stop on the tour was a coffee tasting of course because this is Colombia. We got to try one of the most rare coffee crops in Colombia that only yields beans once every 3-4 years. The coffee was served black and was way way way too strong for me to drink. I don’t drink coffee but if I did that sure wouldn’t be how I would drink it. Amy happily drank my cup of coffee.
After the tour we went for lunch in the area where the juice and fruit tasting was earlier in the day. They all had a plate of chicken, rice, beets, plantain and soup, I was still stuffed from breakfast so I passed on the food. I did however find some street food to munch on on our way back to the hostel. It was a fried corn dough ball with meat, rice and a half a hard boiled egg in it. Very tasty indeed!
That afternoon we took an Uber to Monserrate Hill to get a good view of the city. Kyle managed to drop his phone in the car and ten days later we haven’t heard back from Uber regarding our 3 emails. We took the funicular (large cable car looking thing) up to the top (10,400 feet high) for sunset. We checked out the church and took pictures of the view. I then checked out the shops which were just over priced crap as I figured they would be in a tourist spot. One of the shop owners offered me a chocolate covered coffee bean which I knew I would hate but I didn’t want to be rude, it was so nasty!
The sunset over the city was beautiful but it was hard to get great pictures even from so high up. After the sun set we headed back down the hill. I stopped and grabbed this arepa with cheesy dough inside, very much like these cheese muffins that my mom makes. We grabbed the funicular back down before taking an Uber back to the hostel, don’t worry Kyle didn’t lose anything else.
We couldn’t agree on where to eat for dinner which led to us eating at a crappy tourist restaurant. You can always tell it’s a crappy tourist restaurant if they have an English menu in an area that doesn’t speak English. Well I had mediocre steak that didn’t seem to be seasoned and had a splash of BBQ sauce on it. It came with a tiny potato and 3 tiny weird wieners. We stopped at a bakery on the way back and I got a chocolate croissant.
We spent the rest of the night in the hostel courtyard having a couple of drinks and laughing a lot with a couple people that we met on the tour. It was relaxing and a lot of fun. Mory (the guy we met) was leaning back on the flimsy plastic chair and managed to break it, lesson learned right? No! He proceeded to break another one, nobody ever said Americans were too bright 🤣.
The next morning we ate the free breakfast at the hostel, scrambled egg and a croissant. We had a queso arepa from a street cart. It’s a corn dough with crap tons of cheese inside, it’s gets grilled and has a glob of butter and salt on top. It tasted amazing but by the end I was getting nauseas. It also didn’t agree with my stomach as I don’t deal great with dairy. I know it wasn’t a good idea but it looked so good. I would regret the decision about half way through our free graffiti tour.
The graffiti tour was amazing! Our guide is an artist herself and knows so much about the local scene. She gave us the history of graffiti/street art and how the scene is now as well. Luckily I was able to make it through the whole tour and get back to the hostel bathroom before something bad happened.
Fish
Corporate greed
For lunch we went to Azahar Cafe where we tried the coffee the day before. I had the chicken chilequiles which is nachoesque. It had chicken, goat cheese, avocado, a egg and a gravy on top of chips. It was ok, not great. There weren’t enough chips and too much of the sauce.
We walked around a bit and had cake (I had chocolate moose cake) and then a street donut which had Colombian caramel inside. Their caramel is a much lighter flavour then what we are used to in North America. Kyle and Amy went to a museum while I went back to the hostel to rest. I’m not a big fan of museums.
That night we went with Mory and his girlfriend Meredith to Dos Gatos Y Simone which is a Mexican-Colombian fusion restaurant. I got the variety plate (as did Kyle and Mory) which included a taco with amazing beef, a small taco bowl with cubed chicken and salad, quesadilla with mushrooms and chips. Everything was excellent.
The plan for the night was to go to the largest night club in the world or was it South America, I don’t remember. It’s called Theatron de Palatonic and it used to be a massive theatre. There are about 40 rooms although not all of them are always open. Each room has a different DJ or a live band. The cover was 40,000 pesos and that includes free drinks all night. We drank and played drinking games at the hostel before heading to the club around 11.
The club was a lot of fun but it was extremely crowded. The live band in the outside area was really good and the DJ’s weren’t half bad either. We left around two and ordered an Uber. We got street food while we waited, I had an empanada which still had a chicken bone in it and another corn ball with meat, rice and egg. The first one of these the other day was much better but when you’re drunk everything tastes good.
We got back to the hostel and got a little sleep before waking up early for our flight to Medellin.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
