I'm writing from San Gil, an adventure/eco-tourist town in central Colombia. We arrived here after a bus ride that was more like a roller coaster. I'm serious. The only difference was that there were no seat belts (added bonus), it lasted four hours and every now and then we passed soldiers armed with heavy-duty shotguns. But I wont harp on about buses again, even though this one was yet another gem. Having been wifi-less for some time now, we're skipping the abseiling and rafting opportunities in San Gil and opting for an 'admin day', to catch up on emails/blogs etc, before we hop on an overnight bus to the Caribbean coast. I have to say, it's a welcome break!
After our Amazon trip it was back to Quito, a city I've already mentioned as not having warmed to. So, not surprisingly, after tasting the Quito nightlife with some of our Amazon tour friends, we 'had to get the heck out of the area' (per 'Dimitri' on youtube) and head north-west for an overnight visit to Mindo, another adventure town similar to Banos. With plans for canopying - which entails zip-lining through rainforest canopies in a harness - we booked into the gorgeous Hotel Bambu which overlooks a nearby cloud forest. Unfortunately, the crumby Ecuadorian weather was not surprisingly uncooperative and canopying was not an option in the rain, so we spent a lazy morning waiting for the bus back to Quito as we were due to fly out the following evening. That night I was, however, compensated for Mindo's disappointments with a delicious (and enormous) seafood paella at Quito restaurant that lived up to its name: Paella de Valenciana.
The view of the cloud forest from our hostel, Mindo
The next day was spent killing time. Again the weather did not agree we us but, determined to spend the day outdoors, we spent $8 to sit on the covered Teleferico cable car which took us over 4km high and boasted 'sweeping views' of Quito. The car went about 1km an hour and all we saw were clouds. Thanks again Quito! One upside to the day was getting a seat on a very crowded city bus. I was impressed by how polite one local was when she tapped me on the shoulder as she got out of her seat. Thinking she was exiting at the next stop, I soon realised she thought I was pregnant, as I hadn't removed the bag I'd stuffed in my jacket to keep dry from the rain. Feeling slightly guilty, I couldn't bring myself to admit that in fact I wasn't an up-the-duff backpacker, so I spent the remainder of the trip sitting practically under her, with a maternal hand on my belly. Perhaps a strategy for naughty school kids back home who don't stand up for adults?
Me, with child (and our friend Anna).
Fiiiinally it was time to head to the country we'd heard so much about, Colombia. For some reason, my travel agent had booked a puzzling route for our reaching Colombia's capital: Quito - Lima - Bogota. Yes, that makes sense. Just for fun, why not fly south to Peru before heading north, crossing Ecuador again, to get to Colombia when there are direct flights between Quito and Bogota? To make matters worse, our landing time in Bogota was scheduled for 3.30am. So we knew we were in for a long evening and, when the whole plane simultaneously cheered when we hit the tarmac safely in Lima (is this not a normal event?), I was unusually apprehensive about the next flight. We did, however, arrive in Bogota and finally hit the pillow at 5am. This was neither in the hostel or neighbourhood where we'd booked which, according to our very friendly cab driver, was in an area that was 'no seguro' (not safe). By the third hostel we were in luck, this one found by our driver who had been getting in and out of the cab in the pouring rain to ask if there were vacancies. Our first experience of Colombian warmth.
I'm not going to lie, neither Bec or I are huge fans of big cities in South America. They're usually much more dangerous and far less appealing than the typically beautiful country towns. There's often a lot of cheesy tourist traps that can suck you in, such as the Teleferico in Quito - no more cable cars for me! So, when in big cities, I have to admit you might find us in the odd shopping mall here and there, or a movie cinema, luxuries you miss from home. This sometimes does have its benefits. In Bogota we went to see a film called 'Millenium' (based on the novel 'The girl with the Dragon Tattoo'), which was advertised as having Spanish subtitles. Almost always these movies are in English, but this one was in Swedish, so it turned out to be great Spanish practice. I was surprised how much I understood. Our trip to the mall also scored me a much needed new pair of non-imitation Nikes for our upcoming trek of the Lost City, something you don't usually find in the countryside.
Some 'big-city' security in Bogota.
Our Bogota explorations did, however, go further than the Zona Rosa mall. We enjoyed an 'Almuerzo' (set lunch) at a local haunt, and ate an unidentifed piece of meat - who eats wins is back! We ventured to the gorgeous 'Plaza Bolivar' and enjoyed a spot of people watching and dodging of sky-bombing pigeons. We took an interesting tour of the National Police Museum which is also the office of the Bogota Police Major. There were plenty of acne faced teenagers who were just starting their careers as policeman, conducting tours and proudly showing us the variety of artillery used by the Colombian police over the years. Their hospitality even extended to an offer to taste Colombian coffee, which is fantastic by the way. The big finale was a trip to the Museum's basement, which is dedicated to the hunt and execution by the police of Pablo Escobar, Colombian's infamous Drug Lord. The room is fit with some gruesome photos of the dead Escobar, along with some of his accomplices, and also houses a plank of wood with the remnants of blood stains from the final shot to Escobar's head: nice. What's more, the place was swarming with school children. Not exactly the most uplifting or G-rated location for a school excursion! We ended the day with a visit to the oldest chocolate shop in Bogota, and an art museum boasting some big names like Picasso and Cezanne, quite cultural of us really. Finally, I was able to catch up with a friend of a friend from university who's living in Bogota working for the UN. She took us out in the Zona Rosa and then back to her house where we met some of her Colombian friends and chatted a lot about the country's interesting history. It's always nice to hear a local perspective.
Bec in the Police Museum.
Bogota was also our base for a day trip to Zipaquira, a small town around 45 minutes away and well known for its Salt Cathedral. The catch is, the Cathedral is built in a salt mine and is 200m underground! After a 15m walk uphill through a park swarming with families for Mother's Day, we reached the Cathedral's entrance. We were taken on the underground tour, past fourteen small chapels representing the Stations of the Cross and on to the huge Cathedral itself. The whole place is architectually amazing and was well worth the visit.
I also had a pang of homesickness in Bogota, as it was while I was there that two of my good friends from home were married in Byron Bay. While I tried to be there in spirit by toasting them with a glass of champas, it was hard knowing that some of my best friends were all congregated in the one place while I was across the other side of the world. Photos have starting circulating on facebook and it was the most beautiful wedding, congratulations Belly and Clare!
It only took a rainy Monday for us to decided to move north-west to Medellin, another big Colombian city. The main reason for our choosing Medellin was so Bec could welcome 25 years in a place where there was good nightlife and somewhere we could celebrate in style. The celebrating in style part came off well, but unfortunately the nightlife part fell well short of our expectations. Being 'foodies' (we're both lovers of good food and wine), I took Bec to a trendy restaurant/bar called 'Herbario'. The place was like any you'd find in Sydney, complete with a jazz band on the second floor. We spoiled ourselves with goat's cheese, proscuitto, prawns, steak and copious amounts of wine, finished off with a creme brulee with mango coulis (I even had the waiter put a birthday candle on Bec's dessert, to her utter mortification). A little boozed and ready for a party, we headed to Medellin's stylish Poblado region, to find all the bars closing within the hour. Apparently the clubs and bars only take off on weekends, so it didn't help Bec's birthday falling on a Wednesday. So the night ended with vodka and oranges at our hostel, chatting to Jorge, the hostel night employee, about his university calculus homework...interesting. Not to worry, there was still the following day, Bec's actual birthday.
Bec and her birthday dinner.
After a little sleep in and an impressive lunch at a Thai restaurant, it was time for the birthday present: a three hour pampering session at a local Spa (and a one hour massage for me - the birthday girl can't have all the fun). When booking, I was offered the 'Mother's Day Special', which included a free blow-dry, so all Bec knew when she got to the Spa was that if there were any quesitons about her children, they were at the hotel for the day. Massaged, facialed, parafined and blow-dried, Bec emerged from the Spa a little older, probably not much wiser, but a new woman. With plans for an early departure to the Colombian coffee region the following morning, we had a quick bite at a Mexican restaurant, and headed back to the hostel. You can't reach the big quarter of a centuary without a birthday cake so, as my last surprise, we gobbled down cake in our dorm room while chatting away to our American room mates until the early hours. Who needs bars when you have chocolate cake?
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