Bogota Reality Check

Well I had a bit of a reality check with Bogota last night. We are
staying at a hotel right in the middle of the old town centre, where
you take one step one way and start getting to the seedy part of town.
I woke up to lots of shouting and noise. At first I tried to ignore it
and go back to sleep but then I went to the window and saw a couple of
men beating up another guy. The beaters where standing over the beatee
with truncheons in their hands and the beatee seemed to be pleading
with them all the time trying to back away from them. After a bit he
backed into the intersections and suddenly ran away down the street
but they didn´t follow.

The two men with the truncheons then spent the rest of the night
around the area, lots of shouting, sounds of broken glass. Scary.

I got out the Lonely Planet book and looked up the number for the
police but luckily the men didn´t come into the hotel. Bars on the
doors.Hopefully locked. Steph had her ear plugs on a didn´t hear a
thing. I didn´t wake her.

Tomorrow morning we have to get a cab at about 4am to catch our plane
to Panama City and then to Cuba. I hope these men will not be back. We
will have to get into the taxi very quickly and get off to the
airport.

In the morning it was just as if nothing had happened. Just the usual
traffic and noise.

Spent a lot of the day doing admin stuff. Did the e-checkin for the
flights to Panama City and Havana. Had to go to the North in a
kamikaze taxi to get to the Copa Air office as our ticket numbers were
not recognized. Taxi driver thought he was in a Grand Prix race. In
the end we had to say Mas despacio por favor and all he said was Si
but then didn´t drive any slower. When we got to the Copa office he
gave us 2000 peso less change and said it was a Christmas extra tax.
Bastardo! That´s about 1 aussie dollar. Steph didn´t want to argue so
I just left it as we wanted to get the tickets sorted out.

Tonight we go back to a great place we found where we can get wine and
access to a pool table. Played 2 games last time and had a great
night.

Seem to know Bogota through and through now. Time to move on.

Markets in Bogota

I have found the best markets in the world. It beats any markets I have seen in Australia or anywhere else by a mile. Stephanie told me that it would be good but then I thought "Yes probably like Glebe markets, all crap with some good but expensive stuff thrown in". Well I could not have been more wrong.

The markets are in the North of Bogota, the really upmarket place and there was sooo much to see. We did the rounds and congratulated ourselves with mentally just buying one quarter of everything we saw. Unfortunately there was also really good food which we know we can´t even take into Cuba to eat. Paintings, wooden jewellery, knitted shawls, booties, silver jewellery, painted albums but the big difference, it was all authentic.

Almost overcome with excitement at the thought of what we could get, we decided to have brunch and sat down to waffles, muesli, a vast array of fruit and breads with our first ever taste of Earle Grey tea in Colombia. Over this brunch we decided what we would get and then had the fun of bargaining down the vendors and artists to get just the right amount of purchases to take home. It was a Goldy Locks market day "Not too much, not too little, just right".

So do you think I´m going to tell you what I bought? Absolutely not! En absoluto! You will have to wait

Street Parade in Bogota

Just went to the plaza and there was lots of stuff going on. Then
there was a big sound of sirens coming down the road and everyone got
out of the way, kids, parents, dogs and us gringos. What appeared in
the distance was a line of floats of in police cars. It was the police
doing a Christmas parade complete with a woman Santa, lots of angels
and wise men and donkeys (men in suits). Shows you the police have a
sense of humour. Lots of fun here.

Another day in Bogota

Today we took the cable car to the church way up on top of the mountains that overlook Bogota. At the top the altitude is about 3000 metres so we got some shortness of breath walking up some of the steps. we went into the church where there was a Mass and I saw something I haven´t seen for a long time...a young priest. What I mean by that is one under 60 years old.

The aspect down to Bogota was absolutely breathtaking and the view on the other side to the mountains was even better.

Then we went to the National Museum and went to a free concert of something that seemed to be Medieval English folk songs sung by a couple of sopranos and a tenor to the strumming of a classic guitar. Intriguing!!!!

Then to the exhibits of the National Museum that specialised in telling the history of Columbia through art. Excellent. At first we went through trying to understand everything in Spanish but then found some cards in English. We spent over 5 hours there and learned a lot about Colombian history. What a lot of plucky people the are and a very bloody history. I really feel for them.

Last night we went to the Plaza and it seemed like one giant party. The streets were packed. street vendors sold yummy tamales, roaster corn on the cob, aromatic tea (Steph´s favourite) and lots of other stuff. Loads of street theatre and other performers. What a wonderful feeling of community!

Tonight we will be going there again. They were already starting at around 5 pm when we stopped to have some aromatic tea.

There seems to be lots of melding of the four groups of peoples - the Caribbean peoples, the Spanish, the Indigenous Indians and the Negros who were brought as slaves.Some times though you see an Indian and they look amazing.

Cartagena to Bogota

On the last day in Cartagena we had a big breakfast and then took a cab drive to the bus terminal. The bus terminals are always in the seediest parts of town but Steph found a bus and we were on our way within an hour. We got frisked and bags checked before going in which was a bit of a worry since I was wearing all my cash in my money belt. However, they only did a cursory one on us. I think the men were a bit embarrassed at haveing to check us western women. Then the trip started and for the first four hours we made almost no progress at all. In fact if you can look at a map we went in the wrong direction, going up to Santa Marta before heading south on what is part of the Pan American Highway. I checked the map and realised that we were going to go through all of Santander which is a level 5 area. In the night tried to use the loo while the bus was bumping down the road while not actually touching the toilet seat which was pretty disgusting. We bought some arepas from a vendor who came in on the bus and gave them the aussie treatment by smearing them with vegemite. Before we left we asked a street vendor to fill our plastic tupperware box with fruit (mangoes, papaya and watermelon) and that was our dinner and breakfast.

In the morning we watched as the bus crawled up the misty mountains. The right lane was a long unbroken line of semi-trailers so we spent most of the time in the left lane. Lots of honking but then that´s the traffic everywhere.

When we got to Bogota we had been on the bus for 21 hours. Fast really. We thought it was going to take 24. Only one holdup and that was by police who made everyone get out and examined the bus inch by inch, looking under seats with torches but found nothing.

So Bogota. We had a huge lunch and then a sleep. The altitude or the bus ride has made us a little sleepy but now it´s evening and we are going to the main plaza to look at the Christmas tree and lights. Cool. Literally. It´s quite cold here because of the altitude!!

Cartagena

Well I arrived in Cartagena on Monday after a full day lying around airports and a little flying. In 3 days I would not have had a stretch of more than 2 hours sleep, and the same clothes I left in Sydney. Steph met me at the the airport and we took a taxi back home to the old town centre of Cartagena. We then got a little lost but eventually found our way to the hotel. Cartagena{s old town centre is surrounded by wind pitted walls with canons trained out to sea. Presumably to defend the city against the pirates of the Carribean or some bad and mean English sailors trying to get the gold and emeralds the place is famous for. We then had the most fantastic meal as follows:
1. Chilled red Chilean wine2. Cold seafood salad with lobster, squid in a piquant lime dressing3. White fleshed local fish in a spicy tomato sauce4. Coconut tart
Delicious. Will go down on my list of memorable meals. Steph and I had a lot to catch up on and talked and talked. As is the Belcredi way, we must have been loud because some people at the next table joined in a discussion of Sarah Palin and we exchanged information. People are always very interested in Australians as they must be quite exotic here.
Next day we went on a long run and arrived hot and exhausted at the hotel. On our run Steph caused quite a stir, holding up traffic as even a bus slowed down and followed us so that the passengers could get a good look at her and do their whooping and whistling. We had breakfast at a couple of spots and did some museums to learn about the history of Cartagena. It was a boiling hot day so there were lots of stops for iced tea and the air conditioned museums were very welcoming.
Then Steph had organised a massage and pedicure for me for my birthday. Life doesn´t get much better than this.
By late afternoon we had found a high spot on top of the fortifications to watch the sun set over the water. Our attention was distracted for some moments as we watched a group of police arrest some men to the load applause of those watching. One man tried to struggle and was punched down with a loud thwack as his head hit the bitumen. Four police then pinned him down as they seemed to pose for photographers before leading him to the paddy wagon.
Today we took a boat out for diving. Our guide, Manuel, was a huge black guy with dreads and the usual set of perfect sparkling white choppers. He seemed to be born for the water.
The first dive was a bit disappointing compared to the Great Barrier Reef but there was a wreck to see. The swell was quite high, about 3 metres so we were thrown around a bit getting back on the boat. One boy threw up into the water and Steph felt sick as we hit the waves to the next dive spot. Steph and I studiously watched the city buildings in the distance to ward off sea sickness.
The second dive was much more interesting. A very interesting wreck that looked like a PT boat, we lowered ourselves into the hold and explored the inside with the aid of torches. Outside there were some very colourful tropical fish and even a long barracuda like fish.
By the time that dive was finished, we were well and truly water logged and longed to get dry. However, it was not to be as we hit the waves again with lots of spray, I decided to stay in my wet suit so try and keep warm.
Lunch was on a beach under thatched huts eating freshly barbecued fish, rice and salsa. Eating this looking out onto the blue Caribbean was like a dream. Perfect for my birthday!
On the way back we were treated to a ride which rivalled Luna Park. At some points we were airborne and it seemed to take some seconds to fall and hit the water. Fantastic. But I was still wet.
Now we are dry and Steph insists on taking me out for my birthday. I think I can get hungry again.
We discovered a German cafe with a map of Berlin on the wall and yummy German pastries and bread. They also do fantastic juices here, all fresh and you have an almost infinite array fruits to choose from.



Tomorrow we go to Bogota. That will be an adventure.