An Australian backpacker who flew to Colombia for an adventure has revealed how he found himself surrounded by drug-dealing hitmen in a city ruled by a brutal drug cartel.
Austin Galt was a 26-years-old banker and model based in Sydney when he decided to travel to South America in search of an adventure.
In 2001, he was one of few tourists to traverse the country which was struggling economically and at the helm of drug cartels.
Mr Galt, now 43, said it wasn’t long before he found himself in danger.
The Australian man married a Colombian woman, Lily (together) and the couple went on to have two daughters together
‘We were completely surrounded by hitmen … obviously the word had got around to the sicarios and they just swarmed out table and sat everywhere, right on my back, several of them right on my back,’ he told News.com.au.
Mr Galt said the situation ended without bloodshed, but was the beginning of a dangerous trip, which included being searched by guerrillas carrying AK-47s to a drug trafficker threatening him with his life.
In his first book, White Nights, Mr Galt said he grew addicted to the tension in the air and the sense of danger.
‘The war in the countryside between the guerrillas and the army, it was like, you see people firing their guns, you see mafia hits, dead bodies all over the place, on highways on street corners, it was just all action,’ he said.
Austin Galt (centre) with Thomas McFadden and his friend Rusty Young – the author of Marching Powder
Despite the danger, Mr Galt said he fell in love with the country so much that he never left.
The Australian man married a Colombian woman, Lily and the couple went on to have two daughters together.
While he went on to live a wholesome life with his family, Mr Galt said he came very close to entering the dangerous world of crime.
He said he remembered the moment he was asked by his friend if he wanted to do something criminal.
The country is the setting for Narcos – a show which tells the story of drug king Pablo Escobar (actor Wagner Moura pictured in Narcos)
He said he almost said yes but pulled himself back and never regretted his decision.
‘I pretty much entered that world as far as anyone could, without actually becoming involved, and that’s how I liked to leave it,’ he said.
Living in Colombia, Mr Galt said the country was still overrun by the drug industry.
He believed Colombia would only move forward if it legalised drugs because there would be less violent crime.
While he and his family felt safe, he still described Colombia as the ‘Wild West’.