Footloose in Cali (Colombia 05)

Downtown Cali

Santiago de Cali (sanˈtjaɣo ðe ˈkali], or Cali, the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, is a bustling city in southern Colombia. We only spent a couple of days there before heading into the mountains, but I took advantage of the time to wander around and check out the scene. 

The Rio Cali flows through the center of the city and offers walking paths and a venue for the famous las novies del gato ("the cat's girlfriends") art park. 

We were warned not to walk along the river at night, but the scene in daytime was pretty mellow. In the Parque Simón Bolívar Cali, people walk, bike, skateboard, read, and feed the pigeons. It was reasonably clean and well maintained. Nice spot, but not much water flow when I was there.

Waiting, ad waiting, and waiting...

Oddly, a large municipal office building complex is in the park, the Subdirección de Catastro Municipal. People were lined up in what looked like very frustrating lines. I wonder if some of them hire line-standers?

Contract typist

The men with old-fashioned manual typewriters interested me greatly. Citizens with multi-page forms hire a typist to complete these forms. Then the citizens can submit them to the appropriate office in the municipal building. Some of the typists were using carbon paper to make duplicates (do any of you "mature" Urban Decay readers remember carbon paper?). I have seen similar typists in Cuba and Tanzania. And decades ago, I remember letter-writing professionals outside of post offices in Turkey. People who could not write hired a professional and then immediately mailed their letter at the post office.

Avienda 40 oeste - just get out of the way

Yes, the traffic is dense. But the drivers were very observant of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. And I think the street condition was better than in many American cities.

At the Centenario office complex and mall

Heading back to the hotel, what to do? Stop for a coffee, of course. The Centario Mall had a nice sitting area in the atrium.

Cristo Rey

Selfie at the Cristo Rey. Great hats!

Professional portrait at the Cristo Rey

Cheerful portrait 

I am sure every tourist is taken to the 26-m statue of Cristo Rey (Christ the King), located west of Cali on the Cerro de los Cristales in the village of Los Andes. It is a steep ascent past nice suburban neighborhoods and shantytowns. According to Wikipedia,

On Sunday October 25, 1953, the statue was inaugurated at its summit an image of Christ in celebration of the fifty years following the end of the War of a Thousand Days. It is made of iron and concrete, with a mass of 464 tons and a height of 26 m, of which 5m belong to the pedestal.

More exploration to follow. For articles 01 to 04, please type "Colombia" in the search box.

Tourist note: We stayed in the  HOTEL MOVICH CASA DEL ALFÉREZ, Avenida 9 Norte No. 9 – 24, Cali. Nice place, clean, and quiet.

Tourist note 2:  Visit the archaeological museum, which has art wok 4000 years old.

These photographs are from Fuji Acros 100 film exposed with my Leica M2 camera with 35mm and 50mm Summicron lenses. I scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner.

 

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Mound and Tallulah, Louisiana (LA-02)

Dear Readers, I want to continue exploring the Dixie Overland Highway. I will start at the Mississippi River Bridge in east Louisiana and proceed west. 

From the Federal Highway Administration

To remind you were are picking up this journey on historic US80, here are some maps from the Federal Highway Administration's "Highway History." These histories about the development of our cross-continent roads are very interesting. The Arizona DOT also has an interesting history of the alignment and changes over time, including the removal of the designation of US 80.

Mound

The tallest structures in this area are grain elevators (or silos?). Some of them are impressive towers of steel and concrete. Are they not vulnerable to tornadoes, hurricanes, and lightning? Regardless, they make great photographic subjects.

Silos on Duckport Road (near Vicksburg-Tallulah Airport), Mound, LA (Tri-X Prof. film, 240mm ƒ/9 G Claron lens)

These silos are on Duckport Road in Mound (one interstate exit east of Tallulah). The thunderstorm was approaching - my favorite light.

Tallulah

Tallulah is the parish seat of Madison Parish (Louisiana does not have counties but instead divides the state into parishes). I have photographed there before in 2013 and 2018. Being only 30 minutes west of Vicksburg on I-20, it is easy to reach. The old Dixie once ran right through downtown. 

Bunge Corp. elevator, LA 602, Tallulah (GAF Versapan film, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, yellow filter, ¼ ƒ/16.5)

When I bike on LA 602, I pass this tall elevator/silo complex just south of US 80. Late afternoon on July 4, a thunderstorm was approaching and the light was ominous. I only had time for one exposure with my 4×5" camera before the drops started to fall. Within a minute, a monsoon was coming down. I hustled the equipment into the back of the car and headed home through the deluge. This is another test photograph using 1960s GAF Versapan film. Click the picture to expand and see the amazing detail.

Bunge Corp. elevator, LA 602, Tallulah (Kodak Tri-X film, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, polarizing filter, 1/30 ƒ/22)

Here is the same scene with a blue sky and puffy clouds. The 135mm Caltar-S II lens is a recent purchase with impressive resolution. The shutter is fine despite being 1970s vintage.

Bottling plant, 701 E. Green St (US 80), Tallulah (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2, 50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR lens, yellow filter)

Interior of bottling plant (Fuji Acros film, 25mm ƒ/4.0 Color-Skopar lens, 1/15 ƒ/5.6)

The former Coca Cola bottling plant at 701 East Green Street (US 80) sits forlorn and unused, year after year. I saw bales of straw and some trailers inside, so maybe someone uses it for storage. I did not see any bottling machinery inside.

E. Green St. (US 80) view east, downtown Tallulah (Moto G5 digital file)

US 80 follows East Green Street in town and passes right by the Madison Parish courthouse.

Gas Sta., E. Green (US 80) and Chesnut, Tallulah (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens, yellow filter)

Original arched door in former gas station (Moto G5 digital file)

This old-fashioned gas station at the corner of East Green Street (US 80) and Chestnut probably served travelers on the old Dixie Highway in the pre-interstate era. The building is in good condition and the tile roof looks like it might have been re-tiled recently.

Chestnut Street at Craig, Tallulah (Fuji Acros film, 25mm ƒ/4.0 Color-Skopar lens)

Chestnut north of East Green is a bit dreary. Some strip malls are pretty rough.

These old stores right across Chestnut from the courthouse are crumbling. Some of the units no longer have roofs. This is a photograph with my newly-acquired Voigtländer Color-Skopar 25mm ƒ/4.0 lens. This is a modern Japanese-made lens, not one from the old pre-1970s German production. The light was harsh and contrasty.

Another old commercial block is on Chestnut south of the railroad tracks. These units were partly occupied. The big water tower looms over the block.

Dabney Street is not too inspiring, but it leads to farm fields.

This has been a short visit to a Dixie Overland Highway town. In the next few articles, we will continue heading west. Thank you for riding along!

Small Towns in the Texas Panhandle: Chillicothe (Panhandle 2019-03)

28 Mar 2020 Coronavirus note

Dear Readers, the United States is undergoing an almost unique medical and leadership crisis. Over a century ago, we endured another pandemic, the flu. Read The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry to see how the world coped with the 1918-1919 influenza outbreak. This may have killed over 50 million people, many of whom were in India, where the total number of deaths will never be known.

I wrote these Texas articles several months ago. I will keep posting them with the hope that they help take your minds, if only temporarily, off the virus news. Conditions will get better.

Heading west in the Panhandle

Heading northwest out of Wichita Falls, you enter the big prairie country, with seemingly endless farms and lonely country farm roads. US 287 does pass through an occasional town, most of which, I assume, were built during the railroad era of the late-1800s.

Chillicothe looked interesting and I pulled off for a rest. It is in Hardeman County, Texas, and had a population of only 707 at the 2010 census. The BNSF trains thunder through town on a regular basis.

Full Stop! Was it possible? The Turquoise Coffee Shop at 901 S. 2nd Street. Nice place, friendly baristas, and good coffee.

These two lonely early-20th century commercial stores caught my eye. I wonder what they once sold? They are on FM (Farm-to-Market) 91, which leads north out to the fields beyond the railroad tracks.

Heading west out of town, I saw an old farm house bravely standing up to the elements. How sad.

Big farm country, Chillicothe, Texas (Moto G5 digital image)

The square photographs are from Kodak Tri-X 400 film, exposed with a Hasselblad 501CM camera. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY, developed the film in Xtol developer. The rectangle frame of the two square shops is Fuji Acros 100 film from a Yashica Electro 35CC camera.

In the next article, the journey west continues!

On the Way Out West: East Texas (B&W film)

Introduction

Road trip! In August/September of 2019, I drove to Flagstaff, Arizona. This is serious mileage from Vicksburg, and I wanted to take my time, explore rural America on the way, and take photographs. I packed a Hasselblad medium format kit as well as my little Yashica Electro 35CC 35mm camera.

I headed west across Louisiana and then northwest across east Texas. My goal was to bypass the Dallas/Fort Worth urban area. The traffic there is so bad anytime of day and night, I wanted to totally avoid that mess. My first destination was Denison.

This is the first of many heading-out-west articles. In this article, I will show a few frames from east Texas. In future updates, I will continue to Denison, then west to Wichita Falls, and then northwest on US 287 towards Amarillo. This will form a "Texas Panhandle" series. Once you reach Amarillo, you are back on the Mother Road, Route 66. I will add some more articles to my 2016 and 2017 series on Route 66. To see these older articles, type "Route 66" in the search box.

Many people try to cross Texas as quickly as possible, but really there is a lot of rewarding photographic subject matter; just take your time and stop when you see something interesting.

OK, so I packed a lot of junk, including a tripod, hiking equipment, Polartec, tools, and more. Cameras, day pack, and munchies stayed in the body of the car. I put film in an insulated cooler bag.

Mineola

On the first day, I drove west quickly across Louisiana and crossed into Texas. I stopped in Mineola, a small town just off I-20.

Mineola looked busy with a lot of traffic. I saw only a few interesting sights, and after a few photographs, pushed on.

Emory

In Emory, I stopped at Pott's Feed Store for a snack and restroom. I met a cow. The proprietors said they would be glad to put some foam on the top of my car and tie the cow up there. Then she could make the trip to Flagstaff and keep me company. Maybe next time. In case I made a big mistake in not picking up a friendly chicken, I saw some similar ones further west in Quanah, Texas.

Sherman

Finally, some real Texas BBQ at the Cackle & Oink in Sherman, just south of Denison. It's nice to get into BBQ country again. I usually look for the locally-owned places and avoid the chains.

These photographs are from Fuji Acros 100 film exposed in my Yashica Electro 35CC camera with a 35mm ƒ/1.8 Color Yashinon-DX lens. I scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner, controlled with Silverfast Ai software.

Winter Sunshine Interlude, Part II: Old Town, Cartagena (Colombia 03)

Dear Readers, let's enjoy another sunshine update while some of you are stuck in snow, ice, and gloom. We will continue with some more frames from cheerful Cartagena, Colombia.

Cartagena, Colombia (from ArcGIS online)

Cartagena is a big city now, with condos along the shore, shipyards, port facilities, and traffic. But the old core, within and near the walls, is still an architectural gem. From Wikipedia,

"The historic center is surrounded by 11 kilometers of defensive walls. These were complemented by fortifications along the coast, making Cartagena a militarily impregnable city. The walls, made in several stages, were designed to protect the city from continual pirate attacks, with construction beginning in 1586." 

I remember reading that Charles the V kept looking west from his palace in Madrid with a spyglass. One of his courtiers asked him what he was looking for. Charles responded he wanted to see the walls at Cartagena de Indias because their construction had almost bankrupted his empire's treasury and they must be high enough to be visible. Hmmm, this may be a bit allegorical, but it is a good story, and the walls did cost the Spanish Crown a fortune (let alone the lives of hundreds or thousands of slaves used in the work).

Hanging around on Avenida Venezuela, Cartagena (Ektar 100 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera)

Waiting for a shine, Avenida Venezuela, Cartagena

The streets just west of the walls are bustling day and night. Stores are full, people are all over, and traffic is dense.

I was surprised at the numbers of snack shops and mobile phone stores. The shops in the photos above are on Carrera 11 near the bridge that carries Avenida Pedro De Heredia over the canal (sort of grungy - needs serious dredging).

Sitting out under the trees on a hot afternoon - what could be better? (Well, maybe a nap by the pool?) (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2 camera)

Inside the old walled city, there are a few modern buildings, including some 20th century architectural messes, but most of the buildings are from the 1700s and 1800s. It reminded me a bit of New Orleans without the filth or Havana but better maintained.

Plenty of liquor and cigar stores to separate the tourist from his Dollars.

The colors are cheerful in a Caribbean way. Many of these old houses are now boutique hotels, restaurants, or art shops.

Pseudo-Communist kitsch seems to be popular. I noticed the same in downtown Athens. How odd. Even Vladimir Lenin is a capitalist today.

Now this is really good: the coffee Jeep! This vendor said the coffee came from his family's plantation somewhere inland. We learned that coffee planters imported many of these Willys Jeeps in the 1940s and 1950s to replace mules on steep hillside coffee plantations. They still use them because they are light weight and narrow, perfect for mountain tracks. Most of the modern play-trucklet SUVs sold to American suburbanites are too wide, soft, and weak for serious mountain work.

Now for some Leica black and while frames on the walls. This is serious selfie terrain! You see all sorts of people enjoying the scenery and making sure that their presence is recorded for all posterity.

In the future, I'll share more Colombia photographs. This is an interesting country with amazing topography and ecological diversity. Highly recommended!