I asked Milena (the lady who works here at the guest house) if it was true that tourists shouldn't hail taxis here. She said "es complicado" and tried to explain why I shouldn't do this and insisted on calling a taxi for me. I wasn't quite sure what the danger would be: kidnapping, mugging, or just being ripped off on the fare. When the taxi came, she said I needed a "clave" (password) and told me to tell the taxi driver. I told him. He punched it into his device. And off we went. I later learned that the password is the last two digits of your phone number. It's a security measure.
I went to the Gold Museum in the historic district. It's an amazing place and brings to life Latin American culture and history through the story of gold and other metals.
Following that, I went to the local tourist office in Plaza de Bolivar and found out there was a walking tour. So off I went. We were accompanied by two young guys from the Army. Here we go again, I thought! More security. How lucky. How awful. As it turns out, they were on their 1-year mandatory army service but also in training to be tour guides. The army was lending them out for training. Wow! I thought this was better than the alternative: that it was so unsafe that we needed an army escort.
Back to the taxi's. Even the tourist office and my new army friend strongly advised me not to hail a cab (there was no official taxi rank) so they tried calling for one. They were all booked as it was rush hour. So my new friend stepped out and got one for me instantly. Oh my....having friends in powerful places! Here we are below :)
(I wonder how all the other tourists managed?)
I'm staying in tonight. What else? Milena is baking fresh empanadas downstairs and invited me down to enjoy. All is well that ends well!
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