Postcards from Cali

Nearly every traveller who is crossing Colombia from North to South (or vice versa) is going through the Salsa capital, Cali, which is the third-largest city in Colombia by population and and the second-largest by territory. It was founded in 1536 by the Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar.

The city center lies between two mountains, making it appear as if it's flowing from there along with the river Rio Cali, rushing down the slopes through all Santiago de Cali to the junction with Cauca River, which gives name to the region - Cauca Valley. On top of those mountains monuments are built: Cristo Rey (a big Jesus statue) and Las Tres Cruces which I skipped.

Cali is a nice place to be in, the mean day temperature holds around 24 C and weather more or less constant during all year. Some say it's boring. I say shut up, it's way better than half a year of the winter, believe me.

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As for the other conditions - criminal situation seem to be quite bad around here, tourists are getting robbed all the time. Locals say Cali became dangerous after the rise of Cali Cartel in 80s and 90s which branched out of Pablo Escobar's cartel in Medellin. This cartel was so powerful, they were said to control 90% of world's cocaine in mid 90s. They also had a wide intelligence and surveillance network, along with multiple connections to mercs and spies. All that earned them the name "The Cali KGB", being compared with omnipresent Soviet KGB.

^{Those are the bullet's traces}

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I, however, find the city cozy, at least the parts I inhabited during my short and uneventful stay. There are also many museums, shops and other attractions. I am also sure I didn't see 90% of what's worth seeing so always make your research before coming somewhere. Not doing so might lead to an adventure, as practice shows, but it also might create a situation when you have no idea where to go.

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^{And here we have some scenes from Cali's green city center}

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