Anyway, I'm in Bogota, Colombia. I arrived almost a month ago from Panama City. I only spent a few days in Panama but I did see the canal which was interesting. I left Rosey, my British travel companion, in Panama City and met up with Chris, my Australian travel companion, in Bogota.
In Bogota, I met up with Sebastian and Mariana - a brother and sister who were like family to me when I lived in Germany. I met Sebastian in my German classes in Hamburg and through him met his sister. It was really great to see them. I hadn't seen them for about 3 or 4 years.
Chris and I just spent a few days in Bogota before heading to Cartegena on the Caribbean coast, but we visited the Gold Museum, a cathedral outside of the city that is built inside an old salt mine, and took a cable car up a famous hill in Bogota where there is a beautiful church and a view of the city of 8 million people!
The salt mine cathedral was interesting and not all what I expected...I guess I was thinking Disney because I had picture a big beautiful white cathedral made of salt. I must have overlooked the mine part of the description which would indicate dark underground tunnels! So it wasn't Disney, but it was interesting.We headed up to the coast to Barranquilla for Carnival, which proved to be a little bit too wild for either of us. So after one day and night of being harrassed and ¨robbed¨by street hoodlums we headed back to peaceful little Cartegena and didn't experience Carnival at all. Once we got to Cartegena I was a little bummed that we didn't stick it out in Barranquilla and experience Carnival, but at the same time it's hard to have fun when you are constantly worried about your safety or getting robbed or pickpocketed. So maybe it was for the better.
Cartagena was a nice place with a beautiful walled old town - very colonial - with some beaches nearby. We didn't really do a whole lot there. We went to two different beaches, one for lunch one afternoon and the other so I could do a little tanning. It was hard to enjoy the time on the beach because we were constantly bothered by vendors selling ceviche, sunglasses, massages, pedicures & manicures - and just one look at the set up for massages (lay yourself right on the sand) with who knows what kind of ¨oil,¨ you would never take them up on it, no matter how cheap! At least I wouldn't! Same goes for the pedicures and manicures!
From Cartagena, it was an 10 hour night bus ride or so back south to Medellin - I think the third largest city in Colombia. In Medellin we really enjoyed the restaurant options because Cartagena was a week full of ¨tipico¨: for me that meant rice, beans, fried banana, salad, and a fried egg...and it was the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were some nice non-tipico restaurants in Cartagena, but they weren't for the backpackers budget. And I guess we splurged a little bit on dining in Medellin, but it was worth it!
It rained a fair amount in Medellin so we found ourselves passing the time in a couple of pool halls...which in Colombia appear to be strictly for men, but no one seemed to pay too much attention when we came strolling in, which for me was nice for a change! The problem for us was that we couldn't play pool at most of these pool halls because the tables had no pockets! This wasn't 8-ball. It was a pocketless game with three balls and the object was to use one of the balls to contact the other two. And each time you did that you got one point and another turn. I think they played 'til 50, and it was generally an hour a game. It was mostly older men who played. And there was always 10-15 men just hanging around each table watching maybe drinking some coffee, there wasn't much alcohol. We got a kick out watching them...I mean pool with no pockets!
We eventually found a couple of pool halls with a ¨normal¨ table but we could only play there (or I only felt comfortable playing) if it wasn't too busy because the only normal table they had always right by the urinals which were just up against a wall out in the open...so needless to say it wasn't an ideal set up for me.
We also visited a nice botanic garden in Medellin with beautiful orchids and banana trees...banana trees are fascinating!
From Medellin we headed by night bus back to Bogota to meet up with Mariana and Sebastian again, just in time for Chris' birthday. It was a wild night that started early that Friday afternoon in Sebastian's restaurant. We had done a little pre-celebrating the night before in the old town of Bogota which is now a university area, so by the time we showed at the restaurant, Sebastian was more or less done for the day, and friends were already there for Friday afternoon drinks. Once we had completely consumed all the beer and Aguardiente (literally hot water - a nice Colombia liquor kind of like Sambuca), we headed to a the apartment of one of Sebastian's friends. I think the night ended around 4 or 5 a.m. And I stayed in bed until about 5 p.m. the next day! The total count: 100 beers, 5 bottles of Aguardiente, 1.5 bottles of whiskey. What a party!
Sunday Mariana, Sebastian and their cousin Frederico took us on a little day trip north of the city. We saw some beautiful countryside, took a little boat trip, and had a nice lunch. We were all still recovering a bit from Friday night, so a mellow day with an early evening was in order.
Chris left for Buenos Aires earlier this week to continue his world trip, and I moved in with Mariana and Sebastian at their mom's house for the rest of my stay here. Once again, it has been such a treat to stay at someone's house and be out of the hotels and hostels. There's no place like home, even if it's not your own, I suppose.
I'm heading to Ecuador on Tuesday or Wednesday this week via night bus...ugh. It's 24 hours between here and Quito, but I'm gonna break it up and stay a night or two in Cali - a Colombian town about 1/2 way.
I applied for and was granted a work visa for Australia that requires me to enter the country before May 2nd or the visa will be revoked, so I'm on a bit of a time crunch now. I've decided to cut out Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. I've been to Chile once before, so that's okay, but I'm a little bummed about Argentina and Bolivia. I guess I'll have to take another trip down here sometime!
I'm planning to spend about two weeks in Ecuador before heading to Peru to see Machu Picchu, the Inca ruins. Then I'm hoping to fly from Lima to Sao Paulo, Brazil to visit Danielle - another friend from Germany. And then from Sao Paulo to Sydney or Melbourne or somewhere Down Under!
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