Matador Network's Blog, page 2153
January 30, 2015
The best of Colombian street art
Nowadays, Colombia is one of the best places in the Americas for street art. The quality of urban art together with the decentralization of murals to small and medium-size towns make Colombian walls and streets feel alive with colors and messages. Common topics include social commentary, historical characters, cultural heritage, and a reflection about how we relate to nature in modern times. Here’s a compilation of some of the best street art in the country — enjoy. 
All photos via Street Art in Columbia.
1
Numerous murals in Bogota have been created by prestigious local and international artists.
The picture shows one of the first ones. Created by Blu in 2009, it represents Colombia's dark days of violence and drug trafficking.
2
Graffiti and large-scale “interventions” are much more valued now.
New large-scale urban art emerges in the streets of both the capital city and small towns. The picture of JADE’s piece, made in collaboration with Vertigo Graffiti and MDCREW, is just a well-renowned example. For the past 10 years there has been a boom in street art, with growing appreciation from the general public. Now all you need is a property owner’s permission to paint, and there’s even designated public areas for this purpose.
3
You can find murals in the making, international festivals, and workshops all year round.
All over the country and all-year long, murals and graffiti are spreading through the urban centers. There are also international festivals taking places in Bogota (like Meeting of Styles), Medellin, Cali, and Manizales, among other cities. On top of that, some cultural organizations carry out sponsored workshops for artists.
Intermission
97
How to piss off someone from Cornwall
by Lauren Williams
VICE’s ‘The Backdrop': De-homogenizing America through music
by Josh Heller
7
6 myths about Colombia that need to be busted
by Sarah Duncan
4
Great artists leave their legacy in remote and isolated places too.
That’s the case of Isla de San Andrés, where several street artists got inspired. Stinkfish, for instance, created “urban mirrors” using local people as models for his stencils. Image by Stinkfish.
5
No town is too small or too far away for street art.
Even towns two hours away from Cartagena receive artists from different parts of the world that want to contribute to public spaces. They incorporate symbols from the local communities in their designs, so that their pieces end up teaching a little bit of history through images. Picture by Ledania.
6
Even small communities have stories to be told and characters worth honoring.
This gigantic mural, in Manizales city, portrays Tonra, Fercho and Ecks. The artists in charge of it decided to use elements from local history and to represent its culture and idiosyncrasy.
7
Colombian street art attracts tourists and “specialized” tour guides.
Urban art forms—informally called “rayones” in Colombian Spanish—invade the streets of Bogota, especially Cra. Séptima Avenue. The design above belongs to Bastardilla, a talented local (female) street artist. Guided tours take visitors to see this and other creations. Many tours are given by expats: former tourists that saw the potential of street art in Colombia and decided to stay, making a business out of it.
8
Walls are turned into political and historical showcases.
This is a depiction of Jaime Garzón, a well-known victim of violence who was murdered for using political satire to criticize corruption in Colombia. This type of graffiti not only honors historical characters, but also fosters freedom of expression.
9
Colombian cultural icons are re-interpreted by street artists.
Toxicómano is one of the most renowned street artists in Colombia. Amongst his multiple urban interventions, this one portrays novelist Gabriel García Márquez. The mural invites people to learn about the work of this indisputable Colombian icon.
Intermission
94
How to piss off someone from Iowa
by Jacqueline Kehoe
2
David Černý’s wicked public art in Prague [PICs]
by Katka Lapelosová
177
How to piss off a Colombian
by Jessica Smith Soto
10
Cultural heritage and popular city markets meet in street art.
Gauche’s interventions not only beautify popular city markets’ walls, but also re-interpret Latin American and indigenous symbols. The piece in the photograph was created with the help of people who work there every day selling fruits and vegetables to support their families. This perfect combination of colors, nature and human shapes synthesizes what our ancestors left us in a fantastic way. Image by Manizales biocultural.
11
"Esperanza” (hope) for a peaceful future permeates the murals.
The picture shows only a fraction of the Calle 26 collection of street art in Bogota, a long wall where many pieces refer to the sociopolitical conflicts in Colombia. Street art plays an important role in the public “discussion” of controversial issues. The last thing we lose is hope in the possibility of a better country away from war, drugs, and fear. The mural represents rural inhabitants and their dream of ceasing armed conflicts.
12
Of course, old facades are a constant.
All over the country, abandoned buildings and old houses attract street artists who seek to enhance and re-interpret local urban spaces.
13
Our relationship with nature is also depicted.
Psylo Sabin and Suku are always working in the south of the country, sometimes in collaboration with artists from Peru and Ecuador. Their designs, which fill the walls with life, focus on the importance of preserving the natural environment and improving the relationship between humans and nature.
14
Street art even preserves and positively transforms heritage sites.
In the beloved Getsemaní neighborhood, in Cartagena, Yurika’s interventions add to the aesthetics of a city appreciated for its history and tradition. Because Cartagena's colonial walls have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site over 20 years ago, permits for urban art are hard to get and the artists need to make sure their work is not “offensive.” Getting a permit is actually a big accomplishment that the graffiteros celebrate. Image by Street art utopia.
It's never too late to learn to surf
Follow Matador on Vimeo
Follow Matador on YouTube
ELIZABETH is wickedly talented…she only began surfing in her mid 40s, and is now out in the water all the time, constantly trying to improve and enjoy herself. Last week I caught her YouTubing how to do aerials! I wanted to capture her cheeky personality while hopefully making a film that people will be inspired by.
10 things Brits take for granted
Photo: eastendimages
1. That special burgundy book
We all forget how lucky we our to have our British passports. And not because they’ve now been fitted with nifty computer chips, but because they can take us almost anywhere in the world without foreign immigration batting an eyelid. Our passports are magic keys in a world with so many impenetrable borders, which enable us to drift through Africa to Asia, and back through Latin America without a care in the world. Sure, there are limits — we probably can’t take a nice summer’s vacation to North Korea — but we have plenty of other military dictator friends who’ll happily let us in.
2. The linguistic lottery
We won it. So, once we get to almost anywhere in the world we can at least get by, we can always find someone to communicate with, and we can, probably, even find some employment as a result of it. Unfortunately, most of the British population takes this as a given, expecting every human being on earth to be able to recite Shakespeare. Instead, we should realize how lucky we are, and start extending more courtesies to our foreign guests who aren’t so fluent, or we could even, god forbid, try and learn another language.
3. Natural disasters, or lack thereof
One cold winter’s night at University in Sheffield my friends and I felt a somewhat surprising tremor shake our house. My friend asked in all seriousness: “Is Rob having sex upstairs?” Needless to say, my housemate did not have the physical capabilities to rattle a house by his sexual prowess alone; it was indeed a small earthquake. I’m offering this example to show just how incomprehensible the idea of a natural disaster is in the UK; that a man shaking a house in the flows of passion is more believable than the UK actually experiencing an earthquake. We do get the occasional coating of snow, and let me tell you this: it causes irrepressible havoc on our sheltered society, which is about as much as we can bear. God knows how we would respond if we were to experience a genuine natural disaster.
4. The marvelous NHS
Do any of you Brits know what it feels like to go to the doctors — or avoid the doctors for this reason — just to be slapped with a head-spinning invoice? No, because we have free healthcare for all. Each and every human being in Britain is extended the right to free healthcare, which is exactly how it should be.
Unfortunately, in most of the world healthcare is costly; it’s a privilege not a right. We need to stop letting those Tory maniacs systematically dismantle our NHS just for private profit, and start sticking up for one of the only institutions we have left that we can be genuinely proud of.
5. Everything is relatively nearby
As a nation we tend to think we’re more important than we actually are; and as an island we seem to think we’re a lot bigger than we actually are. In reality, we’re pretty small, and thus have the luxury of being able to visit every corner of our quaint little land in just a matter of hours. Although, some people would have you believe that a journey to Newcastle is akin to Frodo’s trek across Middle Earth, it’s just a few hours on a comfortable, albeit overpriced, train.
6. Talking of trains, we can get them to everywhere and anywhere.
We have an extensive rail network, probably too extensive, but glorious all the same. I’ve yet to visit any other country where you can pick up a train to absolutely everywhere from absolutely anywhere. From the most-vibrant cities to the most-unthinkable hovels, we’ve put rail tracks through them. I mean, who in their right mind knows where Adlestrop or Saudersfoot are? Nobody, but you can be damn sure that there’s a train station there if you ever need to visit. Conversely, we do not take the current ticket prices for granted, as they are getting wholly ridiculous!
7. Cultural diversity
From Caribbean to African and from Arabic to Oriental, our society is influenced by a huge array of different cultures and traditions! It has made Britain so much more vibrant and colorful. Of course, it’s something that lots of people seem to moan about, but come on, get over that false image of a golden age of ‘Britishness’ gone by and start embracing a nation filled will exotic flavors, interesting stories and perspectives, coherent dancing, colorful dress, and contemporary music. If it wasn’t for the introduction of different cultures, we’d all still be sitting around in our cummerbunds, eating boiled potatoes, and playing backgammon every night.
8. Watchable television
I have often been guilty of criticizing British television myself. Often pumped full of z-list celebrities prancing around on reality TV shows, there are many aspects of British TV to scorn. But, then again, a quick trip abroad will display to you just how watchable our TV shows really are in comparison — excellent comedies, quiz shows, news specials, and documentaries. The BBC has given us a nice solid base to start, even though quality does waver from time to time, and then Channel 4 sneaks in for the slightly more racy shows for post-watershed viewing.
9. The deliciousness and versatility of fish
We’re an island nation, we’re surrounded by sea, we have bucket loads of fish. But for some godforsaken reason we’ve hardly even began to explore their culinary genius. Some British brut a long time ago decided that the only way to enjoy a good fish was to smother it in pancake batter, deep-fat fry it, and serve it up on a plate with a mountain of chips soaked in grease. What was that person thinking? And why have we never dared to question it?! We need to start appreciating our fish by showing them the love they deserve, whilst preparing them to eat.
10. 50 shades of green
You may be surprised to hear that there is more than just perpetual grey in the UK. In fact, our island is simply bursting with greenery. From forests to farms and cricket pitches to football fields, there is natural color and growth everywhere. Us Brits always seem to think that we live in a geographically boring country, but it’s really a green, vegetation-rich country. Of course, the reason for this expansive plant life and fertile ground is the unrelenting barrage of rain that lays siege to our land, but if you’ll permit me a shameless pun, the vegetation that it brings with it is quite literally the silver lining to our grey cloud.
Signs you learnt to drink in Toronto
Photo: Paul Terefenko
1. You’ve chugged a 40 of Black Ice in a ravine. In -10 weather.
2. May 2-4 means drinking a 2-4 of Creemore at the cottage.
3. You’ve been drunk snowmobiling in Collingwood.
4. You got your fake ID from that shady place next to the Eaton Centre. Or the shady guy at school who changed the date on your G1.
5. You could always count on Sneaky Dee’s, Philthy McNasty’s, and The Unicorn for some no-holds-barred underage drinking.
6. You got shitfaced on the subway before Battle of the Bands.
7. You played Circle of Death. And got frostbite afterwards.
8. You’ve been drunk enough at Steam Whistle that they had to ask you to stop pulling the steam whistle.
9. You’ve sat in the 500 section at a Jays game, polishing off a mickey.
10. Your go-to purveyor was Dial-a-Bottle. Because the delivery dudes didn’t give a shit.
11. You transported your 2-4 of Alexander Keith’s down a park hill using a discarded box like a toboggan. When it smashed on the ice below, you had to stop your crazy friend from eating the beer-soaked snow for fear he’d swallow glass.
12. You know the special pain that is arriving at the LCBO one minute too late.
13. You got chased by cops at a park party, yelling “PIGS!” the whole time.
14. Where there was beer there was weed, and where there was weed, there was a bong from Friendly Stranger.
15. It’s not brunch without clam juice.
16. You’ve snuck into a friend’s parents’ house through the basement entrance, sneaking back out to grab a Molson from the six-pack chilling in the snow.
17. You attended a rave at Guvernment, The Docks, System Soundbar, or the Opera House.
18. Then spent all of Sunday at The Comfort Zone. And maybe some of Monday.
19. You’ve had a 7 and 7 on a patio in Yorkville.
20. You’ve snuck vodka into a Maple Leafs game, then poured it into hot chocolate.
21. You celebrated your 18th birthday in Montreal.
How to: First long exposure photo
Long exposure photography is fun and probably one of my most favorite things to shoot. A whole new world opens up, full of motion and movement — the image feels alive. From rolling waves to passing cars to the night sky, there are many adventures to be had keeping the shutter open. Since so many of us are hard at work keeping our images sharp and clear and the first time figuring out how to attempt a long exposure can be a bit daunting, here are nine steps to get you started.
All photos by the author.
1
Location
To start with, pick a location that you are familiar and comfortable with. There are potential long exposure images everywhere; all you need is motion or movement. Think about your finished image: capturing a waterfall or steam or waves this way will give you smooth silky water; an urban scene with cars will capture “light trails” that streak through the image; the night sky can come alive with stars and colours even our eyes cannot see; a busy marketplace can have a blur of humanity passing through it. What kind of motion inspires you? Plan on trying to capture that. Even better if you can check the location out beforehand, since most long exposures have to happen after sunset or before sunrise.
2
Stability
For long exposures you have to use a tripod, though you could rest the camera on a flat surface in a pinch. The key to a good long exposure image is to highlight a movement while retaining sharpness in the parts of the images not moving—if everything else in the image is also blurred, it will not have the same effect. That’s just a blurry image, unless you’re absolutely doing it on purpose. It is also best to use some sort of a remote trigger to avoid any camera movement as you press the shutter. If you do not have one yet, you can use the timer on the camera, such as 2 or 10 seconds, which will give you a count down after pressing the shutter.
3
Preparation
You should shoot in RAW for the best results—do you have enough space on your memory cards for that? Will you have enough battery life shooting for a couple of hours? Do you have the clothing you need? Bug spray or rubber boots? If you're spending the night, bring a tent. The right equipment will depend on just how much darkness you’ll be working in. After sunset, you might still be blocking light with a high aperture, so even a basic kit lens can work; however, to capture the stars, which are so dim, you’ll want a lens with f/2.8 or at the very least, f/4. Do you want a wide scene, or some more zoomed in and possibly abstract? If you don’t have a fast enough lens, can you borrow or rent?
Intermission
1
This is the sickest ski video we’ve ever seen
by Matt Hershberger
46
22 reasons why we should all be moving to Barcelona right now
by Elisa Stutts-Barquin
A photographic journey through the Torres del Paine, Patagonia
by Michael Marquand
4
Conditions
Check the weather forecast. I have spent hours shooting in ski gear to save me getting cold, and I generally carry an umbrella. The umbrella is to cover my camera gear and not for me. You’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable and the camera is fairly dry. If you’re working with the night sky, you’ll want to consider if the moon is rising and/or full because that can get in the way of shooting stars.
5
Composition
What do you want in the scene? This can be tough at night as it is difficult to see through the viewfinder or in live view – come in the daytime to look around if you can. If you can't, and it's quite dark, you'll have to somewhat blindly take an image, and adjust based on the result, until it's what you like. What do you see and what do you want to capture? If you’re going into nature and can’t visit during the day, bring a powerful flashlight; if you’re going into the city, you’re probably okay to just play around until you find something you like.
6
Focus
If you’re doing an urban scene, there should be enough light to autofocus. If it starts to take a long time for the camera to figure it out, then focus it manually—you might want to practice doing this at home if you don't trust your judgement. But if you’re working in the dark, out in nature, you can shine a powerful flashlight on something (like a tree) and autofocus; then, switch the lens to manual, and the correct distance should be set—but always zoom in on the result and see. For stars or the night sky, if there's no foreground to autofocus on with a flashlight, you’ll need to manually set your lens somewhere between infinity and 3, shoot, and check the results, and repeat until it looks sharp (or recompose so there is something you can focus on).
7
Time of day
You really cannot take a long exposure during a sunny or bright daytime unless you have special filters (and a few of them). Heavy clouded days, or very shaded areas can allow for a long shutter during the day—so hike into a wooded area, or go shooting under an angry looking sky. Most of us do long exposures around sunset (after the sun is gone from the horizon), dawn, dusk, blue hour, and after dark. You want some light, but not too much, or the photo will be white/blown out. (On the other hard, if it's too dark the image will be mostly black).
8
Settings
Making the images is when you really get to play. If you are not comfortable shooting in manual mode, then set your camera to Time or Shutter Priority (S on Nikon, Tv on Canon, S on Sony, etc) and set the ISO to 100. Choose the shutter speed you want to try. It depends on how fast (or slow) the motion is happening, or how dim the situation is. If it's water moving really fast, even 1/4th or 1/10th will reveal motion to the water. If it's light streaks from cars, you'll want 10 to 30 seconds in order to get a long streak rather than a short one. If you're trying to shoot the stars, you actually will want ISO because stars are very very dim—something like ISO 2000 to start. Bare in mind that if it's still bright out, or the street is well lit, you might not be able to obtain 30 seconds right away (it is letting in a lot of light). If you're not comfortable with light and settings, just play and enjoy! The connections will start to come together soon enough. If you shoot on manual already, do all of the above but select an aperture to try along with the shutter, and the ISO at 100. If it's still bright, try f/22 to block light. If it's dusky, try f/8. If it's quite dim, try f/4 or f/2.8. Go from there!
9
Review, rework, reshoot—and enjoy!
Once you have made your first image, review it on the screen. What do you think? Do you like the composition? Is it too bright or too dark? Play with the settings—on Shutter Priority you can use exposure compensation to brighten, or darken as best you can—you may want to switch the ISO to "Auto" if you're really struggling; on manual, you could open or close the aperture, lengthen or shorten the shutter speed, or add/remove ISO. Is the focus good or is it off? Consider your vision for the photo. Explore your creativity and what the camera is capable of doing. Ultimately, you are the photographer and the camera is the tool. You are telling the camera what you want it to produce. Most importantly, have fun and do not forget to share your images.
Monster wave devours pro surfer
Poor Pedro Calado…he…almost…had it. Calado, from Rio de Janeiro, gets up on this epic big wave on Maui’s North Shore, makes a nice bottom turn, but then loses it all at just about the worst possible place — the top of the face as the inside section closes in. What happens next is an epic dose of spin cycle — just watch.
Want to see that wipeout one more time, in slow-mo? Okay:
And that’s why they call this place “Jaws.”
Follow Matador on Vimeo
Follow Matador on YouTube
Signs you were raised on Long Island
Photo by missmareck
1. You wish you could keep Montauk and Westhampton a secret from tourists and day-trippers, but it rarely works. And the Hampton Jitney packed with Upper East Siders rolls into town every summer anyway.
2. If you’re from the South Shore, you take that Billy Joel quote to heart: “You either date a rich girl from the North Shore or a cool girl from the South Shore.” And if you’re from the North Shore, you’re like, “Screw it, I’m basically Jay Gatsby.”
3. You grumble about the endless malls and strip malls all while vehemently defending Walt Whitman mall.
4. Your Strong Island accent definitely comes out after a few Lawn Guy Land Iced Teas.
5. You actually know a bunch of people who look and sound like the Long Island Medium — even when they’re sober.
6. Your party trick is pronouncing impossibly-long Native American names correctly. You’ve had plenty of practice with towns like Cutchogue, Massapequa, Quogue, and Sagaponack.
7. You get a sick pleasure out of scaring people because you grew up sneaking in and out of the Pilgrim State Psych Center and driving around Amityville looking for the horror house.
8. But honestly, the real horror stories came from the LIRR: stories of mysteriously smelly cars, being stranded at Jamaica, and hearing the dulcet sounds of someone heaving on the last drunk train.
9. You spent most of your tween and teen years in diners slurping milkshakes past midnight, and then eventually graduated to hanging out in parking lots. Because nothing says “cool” like standing around in front of the 99 Cent Store at 2 a.m.
More like this How to piss off someone from Long Island
10. Thanksgiving Eve: the biggest party night of the year (spent at Mulcahy’s or The Nutty Irishman, of course). But the downside was you were forced to make small talk with Joey and Courtney from high school.
11. You were pretty excited when that Adventureland movie came out, and you proudly boasted to your non-Long Island friends that you spent the summers of your youth there. You were probably either the kid screaming way too loudly on the kiddie rollercoaster or the kid puking on the pirate ship.
12. Like most suburban kids, you had to learn how to play an instrument, even though you had zero talent for playing the clarinet. No matter how much you practiced, you squeaked every other note during NYSSMA.
13. Most of your friends’ Sweet 16’s were like mini weddings, complete with five-star catering, ball gowns, and a Daddy-daughter dance. You may have even had a cameo on MTV’s ‘My Super Sweet 16.’
14. You lived mere miles from “the City,” but when you were growing up, the only time you ever ventured there was to see a Broadway show or to eat a dirty water dog in Times Square.
15. You’ll only admit it when you’re feeling particularly brazen, but you really think New York City pizza and bagels can’t hold a candle to Long Island pizza and bagels.
16. You get weirdly excited or proud when Long Island is on the national news, even if it’s bad news. “Yeah, Gilgo Beach? My friends and I just hung out there last summer!”
17. Speaking of beaches, you enjoy hanging out there more than most coastal Americans because you actually like the beach: no amusement parks, water slides, carnival games, or arcades. Simply miles and miles of pure sand, water, litter, and aggressive seagulls.
6 things to bring back from France
Photo: Glen Gladman
Forget about the tiny, metal Eiffel Tower, the overpriced bottle of wine, the oh-so-chic, made-in-China cotton handbag with “Paris” written all over it, and the duty-free bottle of Chanel bought in a rush at CDG, this is what you need to bring from France to your friends abroad:
1. Vahiné’s galette des rois kit
Photo: Julien Ducenne
These packages full of baking goodness are worth the 3.90 euros you’re going to spend at the local Leclerc. I personally vote for the frangipane version; nothing says “France is beyond awesome” like an almond and butter-filled pie.
Not only is it tasty, 100% French, and proves that you can think out of the box, but it will also be fun for those at the receiving end of this gift: they’ll bake it, hide the porcelain charm in a large chunk of unhealthy fat, eat it, and wear a paper crown!
You may have trouble finding it outside of December and January, but no worries, there’s plenty more below to please those waiting at home.
2. Breizh Cola
Photo: Stéfan
Behold the king of colas! The pride of Brittany!
Bretons have quite the sense of humour: they took the most well-known product in the world, mixed their own version right here in France, and made all of France proud with “le cola du phare ouest” (get it?). No, it’s not the most traditional French product, but you’re more likely to find a bottle of Breizh cola in a French home than a 1985 Châteauneuf-du-pape.
3. Huile prodigieuse de Nuxe
Photo: Nuxe
This is the perfect gift for those who still believe France is the epitome of chic and glamour. No need to spend a fortune at Sephora on brand names perfumes and lotions, just walk into the nearest drugstore and grab a 20-euro bottle of huile prodigieuse de Nuxe. If Cosmo, Elle, Glamour, and Marie-Claire praise it, you can bet you’ll make someone happy and moisturized.
4. A bag of Carambars
Photo: Sylvain Naudin
Carambars are THE candy every French person used to eat as a kid. I lost a baby tooth in a caranougat (the caramel kind) and my mom remembers when they were sold for 0.05 Francs at the corner store in the 1960s — I’ll tell you, it does not get more authentically French than that. Grab a large bag of them for a couple euros at the supermarket and make some foreigner smile before being held responsible for the decay of all their teeth. Don’t forget to read the joke inside the wrapper before showing the lucky recipients the proper way to eat it: bend the candy, stick it along your front gums, and smile like a simple-minded junk-food addict.
5. A copy of Charlie Hebdo
Photo: Adolfo Lujan / DISO Press
If you’re looking for a present for a French speaker with a good dose of humour and open-mindedness, get them a copy of Charlie Hebdo. Not only will you give them the gift of French satire and journalism, but you’ll support a paper that represents France’s freedom of press and you’ll show those who want to annihilate it that it’s never going to happen.
6. A box of Lu’s petits beurres
Photo: Laurence Vagner
Forget La Durée’s macaroons: First, you must be in Paris to get them and God knows there’s more to France than its capital. Second, you probably have to queue for an hour on the Champs-Elysées before you get to empty your wallet for something that’s good, but got very much blown out of proportions. On the other hand, Lu’s petits beurres may not be as decadent, but they are what real French people eat when they want a treat. You won’t break the bank, they won’t take much space in your luggage, and you’re going to give someone to gift of a genuine French experience.
Cycling guide to Cambodia's Mekong
Photo by David Chang
THE MEKONG RIVER defines Cambodia as much as the temples at Angkor. With ferries every few miles, it’s possible to hop from bank-to-bank, crossing the river with local fishermen and cycling paths through villages that rarely see visitors. The old French colonial city and fishing hub of Kratie (pronounced kra-cheh) is a good place to begin a bike journey of a few (or a few hundred) miles along the Mekong Discovery Trail.
My boyfriend Eben and I recently cycled a 50-mile stretch of the Mekong. Here’s what we learned.
Finding gear and a guide
For 2-3 day journeys, you can rent bikes from CRDTours. The company was established by the Cambodian Rural Development Team to foster alternative livelihoods so that villagers may supplement their fishing income with tourism capital and avoid harvesting methods that kill the endangered Irrawaddy river dolphin. CRDTours offers detailed maps of the route, and may arrange private guides and homestays in several island communities.
For serious cyclists interested in traveling the couple hundred kilometers north to the Laotian border, consider bringing your own bike or purchasing one in Phnom Penh. This far off the beaten path, gear can be an issue, as we couldn’t even find helmets in Mekong hub towns like Kratie. Bike panniers and trailers are also unheard of, so be sure to at least bring a daypack.
When to go
January to February is the best time to visit Cambodia — the monsoons have subsided, but the land isn’t yet fully parched. September and October have fewer crowds, but you may get caught in the rain.
Photo by Xipe Totec
The Irrawaddy river dolphins
Dolphins draw visitors to the Mekong, with Kampi most popular place to arrange tours, marked by a concrete dolphin statue 15km north of Kratie (a 40-minute ride). For $9 a person, you can charter a motorboat out onto the river, but be aware that engines alarm the animals and drivers hungry for tourists’ approval often nose too close.
A better option is to save your dolphin watching for sunset or sunrise and have CRDTours arrange a more intimate boat ride with a native fishing family further upstream. Talk to Mr. Tula before you leave Kratie, or call enroute (+855099834353) if you decide later.
Though Cambodia was once home to over 1,000 dolphins, snipers slaughtered most during the Pol Pot regime, practicing their aim and harvesting the animals’ fat for generator fuel. Today, the Irrawaddy’s numbers continue to diminish in the shadow of industrial pollution and illegal fishing methods that employ battery shock and chemicals. Only 70 dolphins survive on the Mekong, 25 of which live in the currents off Koh Phdao Island.
More like this 13 places you'll almost certainly end up as a tourist in Cambodia
On our CRDTours-arranged visit, Ecocommunity President Manvichika took us to see the dolphins in his fishing boat off Koh Phdao. The boat wasn’t much wider than a kayak — we sat cross-legged on woven mats. Charting downriver, you’ll be surrounded by dolphins. Watch the surface for the slice of a dorsal fin. More importantly, listen as the sound of the dolphins’ breath breaks the silence before their bodies.
At the Rapids
Continuing up the road a few kilometers from Kampi, you’ll find the Rapids, a picnic area with palm-thatched gazebos constructed over the river. Here, the Mekong forks into a web of capillaries flowing myriad silted islands. Leave your bike with the motorcycles of local picnickers (of which there will be many), and spend an hour or two out of the sun in a hammock.
Order a coconut and sticky rice and beans steamed in bamboo tubes while dangling your feet in the Mekong, or wade among the golden sandbars that streak downstream beyond the boardwalk until the channels between islands become too deep.
Return to your bike and continue upriver, passing mats of cassava roots and rice toasting along the road under the intense Mekong sun.
The turtle-sitting monks of Sambour
The town of Sambour, a thriving metropolis in pre-Angkorian times, remains on the map because of its temple. The largest wat in Cambodia, Sarsar Mouy Rouy has 108 fluted pillars and a brightly muraled ceiling. The temple is abandoned except for a few old men sprawled on the cool tile floor. You’ll find the monks not in the temple but manning the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center in a building behind the wat.
This project was recently initiated by Conservation International and is managed by the monks at Sarsar Mouy Rouy. Here, the endangered Cantor’s Giant Softshell turtles — thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered in 2007 — are raised through their most vulnerable 10 months of life in a few humble tanks. The turtle-sitting monks are eager to show guests around and hitch up their saffron robes to dig up turtles burrowed in the sand.
Photo by Peter Winter
Island hopping on Koh Phdao
Before catching a ferry to Koh Phdao, have a drink of fresh coconut milk over the river and watch cows wander down Sambour’s main street. As the sun plunges behind the floodplain, roll your bike aboard the ferry with passengers traveling home after a day of labor on the mainland. Don’t be overcharged; it should only cost 2,000 riel (approximately 50 cents). Make arrangements with CRDTours in advance to sleep overnight on Koh Phdao with one of the island’s 14 families who host visitors in rotation.
Once ashore, bike the island’s slender geography, riding a wave of singsong greetings as children chase you through the stilted homes of Koh Phdao. “Hello, hello, hello! Where you go?” The path weaves between rice paddies, dry by winter and grazed by mud-caked buffalo. When searching for your homestay, look for the house with a sign marked “My Turn.”
More like this Cambodia beyond Angkor Wat
During our stay, our ‘room’ was a curtained mattress tucked in the corner of a large open space. Expect intimacy over privacy. A “food group” organized by the village’s ecotourism committee cooks dinner for all guests in the village and delivers it by motorbike on a huge covered tray balanced on a woman’s head riding sidesaddle. Our hosts ushered us upstairs to eat, rolled out a square of linoleum flooring, and positioned two fans to blow on us as they laid out a feast of Mekong grilled fish, fresh greens, and eggs fried with chives. Don’t feel guilty for the fuss, this is Cambodian hospitality at its finest.
Villages of the western bank
Our most memorable encounter on this less developed side of the river occurred when Eben’s rear tire went flat. We shouted into the shade of a stilted home for someone with a bike pump, and a team of four men swiftly emerged. The lead ‘mechanic’ was a shirtless man with a pump that didn’t fit the nozzle. He wore a red-and-white-checkered krama (a Khmer scarf) and vigorously shook each of our hands with both of his before he squatted at the bike.
A group of women and children swelled around us. Even though we couldn’t communicate, we waited anxiously together until he managed to inflate the tire with a misfit pump and a rubber band. He tested the leak with a wad of spit and hopped onto the bike to ride it in a triumphant circle. The crowd broke into applause as the tire held, and we were quickly on our way back to Kratie.
A longer stay
It’s possible to sign up for a week of volunteer tourism with the Cambodian Rural Development Team in Koh Phdao’s string of villages. Guests learn about rural agriculture while contributing to projects from building community toilets to transplanting rice with families in the wet season.
Additionally, you can cycle one of CRDTour’s other routes, like the 40km Dolphin Trail that originates in the town of Stung Treng (145km north of Kratie). Visit the CRDTours office for maps of this path and many shorter loops highlighting local cuisine and sites in smaller Mekong towns.
For more adventurous travelers, talk to Mr. Tula at CRDTours about biking all the way to the Laotian border (410km round trip from Kratie). While the route is not very developed, CRDTours can assist you with developing an itinerary and arranging homestays.
This article was originally published on April 18, 2013.
13 signs you'll never Argentine
Photo: Julian Rod
SO you’ve lived in Buenos Aires for three years. You’ve roasted beef over hot coals, you’ve overpaid for tango shoes and even used them occasionally, and your accent is so convincing you could make a viral YouTube video out of it. Argentine friends tell you “sos más porteño que el Obelisco” and “estás más acriollado que el dulce de leche”, just because you drink Fernet and end your every sentence with “boludo.”
But as you watch them link arms and jump up and down to some dreadful Argentine ska-punk band from the early 1990s, you begin to doubt that you will ever really be one of them. Cultivate that doubt. You will never truly be an Argentine. Here’s why…
1. You’re puzzled by the excitement such ordinary foods inspire in the locals.
You think alfajores are all right, but you’d rather have a Twix. You don’t have an irrational emotional urge to eat pasta every Sunday. Cremón cheese adverts anger you. “That’s not cheese!” you mutter at the TV. “That’s NOT cheese!”
2. You feel a twinge of anxiety when your taxi doesn’t have seatbelts.
3. Your poverty / crisis / quilombo threshold is too low.
Don’t get me wrong, you enjoy a good old cacerolazo as much as the next Recoleta housewife, and a severe devaluation of the peso would bring you and your foreign bank account nothing but joy. But your patience will prove short if the government keeps depriving you of iPhones and Sriracha sauce, and at the first sign of things really kicking off 2001-style you’ll be on the first plane to Barcelona (feeling no patriotic duty to fly Aerolíneas). Also, don’t all these poor people get awfully depressing after a while?
4. Your clothes are all wrong.
You think “elegante sport” is the Spanish for “show jumping.” You don’t know when to wear a tie or not (answer: never wear a tie). The only time you ever wore alpargatas was for a fancy dress party, to which you went as the world’s least-convincing gaucho. It’s even worse if you’re a foreign woman in Buenos Aires, enduring the third year of a gruelling buffing-waxing-shopping-dieting regime in constant fear that the slightest slip will result in being cast out from polite society.
5. You’re scared of the plug sockets.
6. You think people catch colds from coming into contact with what we doctors call the “rhinovirus.”
In fact, colds are caused by going out with wet hair and an exposed neck when the season changes. Also, it’s not a cold, it’s flu. Probably swine flu.
7. You don’t know the first thing about piropos.
You think it’s quite rude to shout out compliments and / or oral sex requests / offers at passing women. The most daring thing you ever said to a strange woman in public was when you asked a pretty girl at the bus stop the time. You’ve never had sex with a prostitute either. Maricón.
8. You’re too polite. You say “hola” when you walk into a supermarket.
You say “por favor” to the bus driver. You think the Spanish for “thank you” is “gracias,” when it is in fact “listo,” and you think the Spanish for “goodbye” is “chau,” when it is in fact a stony silence.
9. Paradoxically, you’re too rude.
You take your shoes off indoors. You eat lunch without using a napkin. Sometimes, you just can’t be bothered to kiss people goodbye. Ortiba.
10. That’s STILL not cheese!
11. You can’t make a drink in a bar last longer than 30 minutes without ordering another.
And you never cease to be amazed at how these people can jabber on until 6am with just a 7-Up for sustenance.
12. Your Spanish will never be good enough.
You could immerse yourself in a small village in Entre Ríos for thirty years, cut yourself off from all contact with the English language, and the locals will still think of you as a foreigner and comment that you’ve still got a bit of a “tonito inglés.” The bastards.
13. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t get that enthusiastic about Erasure.
Because they’re terrible.
This article was originally posted on DanielTunnard.com, and has been re-published here with permission.
Matador Network's Blog
- Matador Network's profile
- 6 followers
