I am posting this from an internet cafe on a little island in the Carribean called Providencia, Colombia, so forgive me if I don't answer questions in a timely manner as I am in the midst of my honeymoon and probably won´t see an internet connection again in several days.
When we left last Tuesday from the Bogota, I almost got robbed by the infamous "men in gray" that Calipro reported on back in late January. This happened at the Bogota airport. It was about 6:00 in the morning and as my wife and I walked over to a payphone she remarked to me that I had ketchup on my pants. I thought it could have been from a ketchup packet in the seat I was sitting in, though I didn't remember it and you would think you would remember something like that. But I headed over to the nearest bathroom to clean it off. The nearest one happened to be the one near the international gate entrance, where you go into customs. As I approached the bathroom there was a man in a gray suit with a religious cross on his lapel telling everyone to leave their belongings at the entrance to the bathroom "for security". The well-dressed gentleman in front of me put his laptop down without question and entered the bathroom and so I started to as well. But I decided I didn't like the situation and I started saying "Credentials, Credentials!", requiring that he show me his badge or something. He looked at me blankly as if I didn't say anything. Finally I decided he could just call help if he wanted to but I wasn't leaving my stuff outside the bathroom so I picked up my stuff. I happened to look behind me and there was another man in a gray suit about 20 feet back and then it dawned on me that this was a setup It stunned me that this could go on only 20 or 30 feet from the soldiers checking passengers going into the international area. When I went back to my wife after the bathroom we realized they probably squirted ketchup on me to send me to the bathroom. And the well-dressed guy in front of me was part of the setup too as leaving his laptop encouraged me to leave mine. It really left me dumbfounded that such a sophistocated scam could be run right under everyone's noses. It really started my honeymoon off on a sour note as I was super-suspicious of everyone else for the next couple days and when some guy started loading my suitcases into a taxi in Provedencia without first asking me, I just about went off on him. I demanded he unload my bags immediately, because I was so suspicious a scam was going on, but I think it was just local enthusiasm to earn a buck giving a taxi ride. I was grateful the "men in gray" scam didn't succeed but it still tainted a wonderful honeymoon.
