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2 weeks since my last blog and I have covered quite a bit of territory. After my rafting adventures in San Gil (pronounced San Il) I headed south on a 5 hour bus journey to a small town called Villa de Leiva (pronounced Bee-ya de Lay-Ba) in the Colombian Highlands. The town was an absolute delight. All the houses were white and of Colonial style and of course there was a main plaza which was quite big. The surrounding highlands were just like something you would see in Scotland and there was much farmland with mainly potatoes, onions and tomatoes being farmed. With so many spuds in the district I couldn't help myself but to buy a couple of pounds worth (900 peso's = 50 aussie cents) and mash me up some. Very yummy and a nice change to pasta and rice.
I stayed only 2 nights as the guesthouse that I was staying in was booked out for the weekend. The town is a very popular weekend getaway for the wealthy that live in the nearby capital of Bogotá and accommodation is booked out on weekends but very quiet during the week. I was disappointed that I could not stay longer and explore the surrounding highlands on foot or by horseback but vowed that I would return at the end of my stay providing that I have time on my side to do so.
My next port of call was Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. I stayed in La Candelaria which is the old town part and where all of the hostels are located. It is a great spot to explore the many winding streets filled with cafes, restaurants and shops. The main square plaza has a very European feel to it and you would never think that you were in a Latin American city. The temperature is a lot cooler here as it is high up, with average temperatures year round at 18 degrees. Finally my thermal skivvy and sleeping bag came in handy.
I spent the weekend visiting museums, going to the movies and eating too many empanadas. On Sunday morning I walked up the mountain that sits just behind the old town. It is known as Montserrat and the locals make their pilgrimage up here each Sunday as there a church that sits at the top. You can walk, run or catch either the cable car or the train car. I opted to walk up and catch the cable car down. The views were just spectacular and there were many treats that could be bought along the way.
On the Monday I had planned to visit a nearby town but was roped into being an extra in Colombian TV Soap. What an interesting and boring day this was. About 20 backpackers and a handful of Colombians hung around the Crown Plaza Hotel lobby for the day pretending to check-in, drink coffee in the cafe or just walking around the lobby. They ran behind so our day which was supposed to be 8-3 turned into 8-6:30 but we got fed lunch and paid 90.000 peso's which is about $45us so it wasn't too bad.
On Tuesday I was planning to head south but my camera needed to be repaired (which took most of the day) so I spent another day in Bogotá. On Wednesday I managed to get out of town. I downsized my pack to a smaller day pack as I was able to leave my large pack at the hostel. I headed to Neiva (the 'v' is pronounced as a 'b') in the south, a 5 hour bus journey. The scenery was beautiful and within hours we had descended down the mountains and the temperature became hot and at one stage extremely hot as we were in close range to the desert. Luckily I was wearing layers and I was able to strip down to shorts and a tank top. I was on a non air-conditioned minibus as it was the cheap option, I thought I would melt.
Neiva was not a very interesting town. I was unable to find cheap accommodation as they were full and so stayed in a mid-range hotel that had cable tv (spent a lot of time watching it as well). My initial plans were to visit the neighbouring desert but not knowing the language and with no tourists to be seen I felt uncomfortable trying to venture there on my own so opted to stay just one night and keep moving on.
San Augustine was next on my itinerary. Famous for its archeological sights that are filled with many ancient stone statues. I travelled up and down the Andean mountain range passing through quaint towns filled with beautiful colonial houses and grand churches to arrive in this small town. I spent two days here discovering the region. The first morning we visited sights on horseback, the afternoon was spent in the main archeological park and then the second day was a full day in a jeep visiting both sights with statues and also a couple of waterfalls, one being the highest in Colombia. My experience on horseback was quite amusing. I had not ridden a horse in 10 years and even then it was just for an hour or so on the AtlanticCoast in Southern Africa and before that would of been when I was a teenager back on the farm. I thought it can't be that bad and it should be just like riding a bike. Well not so, I actually didn't enjoy it one bit as the horse I was given was quite jumpy and tried to buck me off a couple of times and of course we didn't wear riding helmets as risk liability is unheard of here. Our guide was fantastic though and he swapped me over to his horse and it was a lot better. I was really glad though when our tour was over and I had my 2 feet back firmly on the ground.
My highlight though in San Augustine had nothing to do with horse's or statues but the local hairdressers/beauty parlour. On day one I treated myself to a manicure and pedicure. The horse ride had broken a couple of my nails and my feet from wearing hiking sandals were absolutely putrid so it could not wait for my return to Bogotá. Mel (NZ) who was on my horseback tour had had one the day before and it looked great. So I had the works down to having flowers painted on my big toenails. It took the poor lady about 2 hours to get both my hands and feet looking fabulous and wait for it, the cost to have this done was only 12.000 peso's (approx. $7.50 Aus) but I gave a little bit extra as it was the best pedicure I have had ever.
While I was having my manicure I witnessed an interesting haircut. Rather than use hairdressing scissors, a cut throat razor blade was used. The outcome was quite good, well at least what I could tell, and a pair of scissors was not used once. When I was asked at the end of my 2 hour session if I would like a haircut (and you have to remember that I do not speak Spanish and that the lady did not speak any English) I said yes but manana (tomorrow) as it was getting late and I didn't want to spend another hour getting my hair done that night. So the next evening after spending the day touring the countryside in a jeep I went in for my haircut. I was sure being a foreigner that scissors would be used and that I would not encounter the cut throat razor blade as had the local girl the day before. Well I was WRONG!! The scissors did not come out once. My hair was chopped (and believe me I had a lot chopped off as my hair was in a bad state) and trimmed with the razor blade. I just sat there in amazement as my hair was watered down, a bit of cream product combed through it, parted and then with one hand she grabbed hold of one side of my head of hair and sliced through it, I was speechless and even if I did have something to say she wouldn't of understood me anyway. I was a bit unsure at first of what I thought of my new hairdo but I actually quite like it and it is very easy to manage and best of all I can still tie it back which was one of my requests. (a funny thing I must note though is that she had a glossy poster of a Hollywood hairstyle which we had pointed at and discussed that I would like something like that. Well it looked nothing like that and if it had then she was certainly undercharging for her haircuts). The outcome of this hairdo was about 15 minutes of my time and 5000 peso's (around $3 Aus) - What a BARGAIN!!!Well after all of that pampering I headed off to Tierrdentro, another archeological sight but this time instead of statues it was tombs that the area was famous for. After 3 colectivo's (a colectivo can be either a pick-up truck with bench seats in the back tray or a jeep with bench seats in the back), stunning mountain scenery, a very bumpy road and sore knees from being cramped in the back of a colectivo I arrived into the small town of San Andres de Pimbala. Here I was greeted by a sweet little old grey haired lady who asked me if I needed a place to stay (in Spanish but I can actually probably understand more than I can speak). Off course I need a bed to sleep in so I went to have a look at what she had to offer. It was in her own house and it was quite basic but at 8000 peso's a night how could I say no and she even cooked so I could get dinner in as well which was fortunate as there was not much on offer in the small town.I spent one full day here and two nights. The day was spent walking up and down hills and mountains looking at tombs which were really fascinating and quite beautiful. The last mountain I climbed was quite bloody big and I thought I was back on the LostCity trek. It was well worth the hike though as the scenery was just amazing. Views over the Andean mountains just stretching for miles and miles. My evenings where not so adventurous. Dinner was served between 6-7pm and then I was in bed by about 7:30/8pm reading my book as there was no Cable TV and no other foreigners. Just me and Marta and my very little Spanish.Now I am in Popayan, a decent size town with beautiful colonial architecture and mild warm weather year round. So what does Popayan have in store for me???? Well at the moment dentistry. I have spent the morning having my first lot of work done. I am having my metal fillings replaced with porcelain ones, I am also in the process in seeing if I can get an implant and maybe a root canal. Why here in Colombia you might say??? Well they have pretty good dentistry at a 5th of the cost back home (to have all of my fillings replaced with Porcelain (porcelain is better than resin and heaps more expensive) plus 3 extra ones where I have a few small holes, plus my teeth whitened) will cost the same as me having just one metal filling replaced with resin. The implant and root canal is still in the research process and I await my dentist to arrive with the news on whether the specialist can do it or not and if so how much (the dentist actually lives next door to the hostel I'm staying at).So keep your fingers crossed that it all works out OK or it could be a quick return home for some emergency dental work.My next posting could be from Medellin, a well known city for its plastic surgery!!!!!! maybe a nose job
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