October 15, 2016
Imagine you were born in a poor family, in a poor city, in a poor country, and by the time you were 28 years old, you have so much you can’t even count it. What do you do? You make your dreams come true.
Well that is what Pablo Escobar did and in doing so, changed the course of history forever for Colombia. My knowledge of Colombia was very limited. All I knew was that Colombia had been the Mecca for drug trafficking for many years until just a few years ago. I had read about the disturbing state of affairs in the country but never really bothered to learn more until I watched the Netflix show – Narcos. Now, I am someone that spends weekends watching the Discovery Channel and documentaries. Never have I shown any interest in shows until I was introduced to Narcos. Suhail had been on my case to watch the show forever but I never really showed interest (probably because I was busy watching documentaries on ‘juice diets’ or ‘India’s Frontier Railways’). One fine Friday though, I decide to watch an episode of Narcos (it was first on my Netflix list of recommended things to watch). With Akshita working over the weekend, next thing you know, it is Monday afternoon and I am on the last episode of the 2 season series – and season 2 had just come out on that Saturday. Never had I ever been this addicted to a show, let alone finish one. The show was a perfect combination of drama, history and essentially felt like watching a documentary (perhaps the reason why I was addicted to it to begin with).
Who says travel plans can’t be made over wine and a good show? While deciding where to go on vacation in December with parents and our brothers, we stumbled upon Colombia after having considered Brazil, Argentina, and Peru. To say that the show Narcos didn’t influence our decision to go to Colombia would be a lie. With only a week of vacation and close proximity in comparison to other countries in South America, Colombia seems feasible and will also end up working out pretty well with flights from Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. And of course the show Narcos has shown us how beautiful the country is and definitely put Colombia on our radar.
Our trip will begin in Pablo Escobar’s Homeland….the City of Medellin. After spending about 2 and a half days in Medellin, we will travel over to the northern coastal city of Cartagena. After spending 2 nights in Cartagena, we will end our trip in the Metropolitan city and capital of Colombia, Bogota. Suhail will continue onward to Peru for a week (joined by my cousin Komal who lives in Houston) visiting Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and capital, Lima.
There And Back... 