Columbia

Now I am in Columbia with Francia.  She lives in a city called Cali.  It is a very large city with a population of 2.3 million.

I am impressed with how clean and modern and orderly it is, quite unlike Panama city.  Of course it has it's bad parts too but we will not be visiting those areas.  Not that Panama city is not modern but it is totally disorganized.  Traffic really moves here and you are not allowed to park just anywhere, blocking traffic like in Panama.  Transito (traffic cops) are everywhere and, if you park, there will immediately be one over at the car telling you if you can or cannot be there. On every day of the week between Monday and Friday there will be 2 numbers that are not allowed to be on the street.  If the last number of the licence plate of your car contains one of these 2 numbers you are not allowed to be on the street between the hours of 7-10 an the morning 5-8 in the evening.  That reduces the number of cars on the street during rush hour and believe me when I say that they will catch you as the cops are everywhere, almost on every block or 2 you will see at least one in the high traffic areas.

The other thing that amazes me is the number of motorcycles on the streets.  They are everywhere and they ride anywhere that they can fit.  They go between the cars, around the cars, to the left or right, on the shoulders wherever.   At a light they will all come to the front of the light to be first in line when the light changes.  It makes for very dangerous driving and you have to constantly watch for them especially if turning or changing lanes as they could be beside you.  I am gong to try to post a short video to demonstrate what I mean.

Above is a photo of the bikes in a parking lot at the mall.  This was just one small area.  There were thousands of them in special areas dedicated to bikes.  There are about 2 cars for every bike I would say. Below is a video of how the bikes weave in and out amoungst the traffic.  It is incredibly dangerous as they are often beside you when you need to turn left or want to switch lanes and you know how easily they fit into a blind spot.