Babak Fakhamzadeh
Feiling spends a lot of pages on trying to explain the history of the conflicts Colombia has had to deal with over the past few decades, specifically the interplay between army, FARC and militias. Now, with the peace talks between FARC and the government having come to fruition (after a public vote rejected a deal earlier this year, a new deal was agreed on that didn't need a public vote), this takes up too much space and this four year old book already feels outdated.
Here are a few interesting tidbits:
+ Simon Bolivar considered making Colombia an English speaking country after independence. He was dissuaded by his second in command. + Colombia's rivers and lakes contain more freshwater than those of the US and Canada, combined. + Avianca is the second oldest operating airline in the world (KLM is just two months older). + Feiling suggests the Guane were a white tribe that did not arrive from Asia, but there seems to be little evidence of that, besides that they did seem to have been more European in their appearance. + Colombia has the largest coal mine in Latin America.
At some point, Feiling agitates against the modern backpacker, a troupe of which he encounters when hiking with a Colombian friend. He wonders about their disconnect with the 'real' Colombia while being continuously connected with their Facebook friends and this particular strata of information that includes knowing how to bridge the Darien gap and which hostel to stay at in Nepal. In short, the author likes to point out he is experiencing the real Colombia. But, he also suggests that these latter day tourists look for a mix of three things; the classical Grand Tour, with the objective of 'toughening up' by experiencing foreign cultures, the post 1960s version of the Grand Tour with the objective of loosening up, and the typical holiday maker, wanting to leave the cares of the world behind. To me, this analysis seems spot on, though the author seems to miss that he's just one of them, with slightly different weights attached to these three portions. Or not. Just a few pages later, he admits to joining them in their activities.
Feiling spends a lot of pages on trying to explain the history of the conflicts Colombia has had to deal with over the past few decades, specifically the interplay between army, FARC and militias. Now, with the peace talks between FARC and the government having come to fruition (after a public vote rejected a deal earlier this year, a new deal was agreed on that didn't need a public vote), this takes up too much space and this four year old book already feels outdated.
Here are a few interesting tidbits:
+ Simon Bolivar considered making Colombia an English speaking country after independence. He was dissuaded by his second in command. + Colombia's rivers and lakes contain more freshwater than those of the US and Canada, combined. + Avianca is the second oldest operating airline in the world (KLM is just two months older). + Feiling suggests the Guane were a white tribe that did not arrive from Asia, but there seems to be little evidence of that, besides that they did seem to have been more European in their appearance. + Colombia has the largest coal mine in Latin America.
At some point, Feiling agitates against the modern backpacker, a troupe of which he encounters when hiking with a Colombian friend. He wonders about their disconnect with the 'real' Colombia while being continuously connected with their Facebook friends and this particular strata of information that includes knowing how to bridge the Darien gap and which hostel to stay at in Nepal. In short, the author likes to point out he is experiencing the real Colombia. But, he also suggests that these latter day tourists look for a mix of three things; the classical Grand Tour, with the objective of 'toughening up' by experiencing foreign cultures, the post 1960s version of the Grand Tour with the objective of loosening up, and the typical holiday maker, wanting to leave the cares of the world behind. To me, this analysis seems spot on, though the author seems to miss that he's just one of them, with slightly different weights attached to these three portions. Or not. Just a few pages later, he admits to joining them in their activities.