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From a dull, grey Lima, to a colourful, energetic Bogotá!
The reset button was pressed as I took the 2.00am flight on Friday morning from one capital to another.
I touched down in Colombia shortly after 5.00am expecting great things having heard so many rave reviews about the country.
Negotiating a cab was simple, if a little overpriced, even though I was aware of the dodgy taxi driver stories here. I was in no frame of mind to haggle over a few million Pesos following a cramped, restless flight. Not as much as it sounds I promise.
I checked in to my hostel in the popular La Candelaria part of town and hit the hay to catch up on some much needed sleep.
A few hours later I was ready to check out Bogotá. Sunshine breaking through the cloud was a welcome sight.. I can't remember the last time I saw it after the miserable grey of Lima. With that in mind I headed straight for Monserrate, a mountain which dominates Bogotá's skyline and home to a viewpoint over the whole city which can be reached by a teléferico (cable car).
On route to the cable cars I popped in to a local bakery to sample the local treats. They were absolutely delicious, and unbelievably cheap!
The streets were intricate and captivating.. bustling with energy, so much to keep you engaged. The street art, colourful and creative. The locals curious, eyeballing the new "gringo" in town. Men holding out white plates in front of themselves selling guess what?? Cocaine! Shameless, brash, out in the open, in the middle of a busy street with police walking by.. crazy!! Welcome to Colombia!!
It's possible to walk to the top of Monserrate but it would take a serious amount of sweat and tears.. it's steeeeep! The cable car was definitely a wise choice.
At 3152m above sea level the view from the summit was impressive, and gives you a clear idea of the massive scale of the capital which is home to around 9 million people. A white church, some beautiful gardens, and a market is also located on the mountain top.
The El Carnero Hostel was small but a great place to socialise. I had a wicked time with an English couple from Watford called Duncan and Emily.. fantastic people! I also had a great time with a cool girl called Sofie from Sweden, as well as Bobbie and Ineke who were both Dutch.
La Candelaria may be the most popular area in town but I'd been warned of the dangers that come with it. Muggers, pick-pockets, corrupt coppers are all rife here, and looking to take advantage of backpackers. I was told to avoid being out later than 10.00pm.. pffft!
Duncan, Emily, Sofie, Ineke, a German girl named Magdalena, as well as myself, decided to check out the nightlife where the locals were having some sort of gathering in a nearby square. Drinking on the streets is a bit of an odd one here.. whether it's allowed or not, I don't know, but we did. Hidden within a black plastic bag it appears acceptable because obviously no-one knows what you are doing, especially the police. It worked anyway.
We found a lively Colombian bar which was full of locals dancing to Latin music. We stuck out like a sore thumb but the natives seemed to embrace us being there when they began grabbing us to join in with them.. great fun and what friendly people they were!
Sofie and I decided to continue the night at a local hotspot called La Candelaria.. the club was packed and the whole place went nuts when a trio of DJ's began smashing up some crazy South American beats together. What a great first day in Bogotá!
A well deserved lie in helped me to catch up on some zzz'd before I met up with Emily and Duncan in a bar down the road from the hostel to watch the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid. Again the place was rammed with locals, the majority cheering on Real so the place erupted when Los Blancos claimed a 4-1 win!
Another night out had been planned for Saturday evening at a nightclub called Theatron.. apparently one of the biggest gay clubs in the world. I'd been deliberating all day whether to join some of the others as it's not my kind of scene but it was supposedly a heterosexual night. Knowing I had an early start in the morning was in the back of my mind too.
After a few beers in the hostel with everyone, I thought, "sack it, I might as well join, it will be an experience, if anything, and I'll worry about the bus in the morning!" Must have been the beer talking!
Uber called. Four in the back of a tiny Chevrolet Spark was madness.. Sofie, Ineke, Bobbie, a German guy called Max who I'd met briefly in Mendoza, and I, made our way to the bar.
On arrival, I was blown away by the amount of people waiting outside. The roads were packed, the queues for two separate entrances were massive, just people everywhere! It was like there was a huge concert going on.
So the deal was, you pay an entry fee the equivalent of £13.50, you receive a small blue cup, and then you can drink as much as you like until 2.00am. Don't lose your cup though or it's game over.. you'll start paying for drinks. I definitely got my money's worth but it sure was a ballache having to fight your way to the bar every 10 minutes to get a refill.
I've been to some massive clubs all around the world, but the scale of Theatron was on a par of those in Ibiza. You could get lost in here.. and we did a few times. I lost count of how many different rooms there was to go at, each with a different theme playing a variety of genres. The hot sweaty room with a greased-up, chiselled fella gyrating on a podium was my favourite..... NOT!!!! Haha. Get me the hell out of there!!!! Way too much.
The large rooftop terrace was pretty sweet though playing recent progressive house music. A small room playing old school dance classics is were it was at!
Males, females, transsexuals, straight, gay, lesbian, bi.. all under one roof. This was one crazy place!! You'd get arrested in the UK for some of the s*** that I saw!!
A Colombian and Mexican fella tried their luck with me on two separate occasions which was.. ermm, amusing, "Nah you're alright pal you're not my type, on your way son!" Haha! Be whoever you want to be, just don't involve me, cheers.
To be fair, I had a wicked night, especially with our group of Europeans.. and it certainly was an experience!
Getting into bed at 3.00am tanked up on rum wasn't the best preparation for the 9.00am bus to Salento, but I was up and ready. As were Emily and Duncan who were also catching the same bus.
I was actually looking forward to something fresh, an alternative to the city life I'd been living for the past 2 weeks. Salento, in beautiful countryside west of Bogotá, was the perfect option for me right now.
Following some sleep, some grub, some admiration for the Colombian countryside and a longer than average journey through slow winding hill roads the bus pulled pulled into the Armenia bus station, where I waved goodbye to Emily and Duncan who were heading to a different destination. Had a great few days with these guys, so I hope to catch up with them further down the line.
From Armenia I jumped on a small town bus to make my way to Salento. During the short journey I got speaking to two cool girls from the States, Sydney and Shannon. They had been on my previous bus from Bogotá and were also heading to the countryside.
I arrived in near darkness and made the short but strenuous walk to Coffee Tree Boutique, a new purpose built hostel which was absolutely stunning, and probably the best hostel I've booked into so far. Large, detached, and located within its own private grounds, Coffee Tree is a 4-storey country house which is beautiful throughout. It's open-plan layout, wooden beams and large sliding patio doors onto a massive balcony give the place that chalet-style feel, yet extremely homely. Loved it here!
I was tired, and it was late, but I decided to have a look at the town anyway to source out some food. Based around a large main square, Salento is pretty quiet but has enough going on in the form of restaurants and bars to keep you entertained.
While searching for a nice establishment I bumped into Sydney and Shannon again who were also on the look out for some grub. So the three of us ended up eating in a tapas style restaurant while having a few beers getting to know one another.
I'd heard from a few about a "must-play" sport when you come to visit Salento, called "Tejo" - a traditional game with small but weighty metal pucks, gunpowder, and explosions.
The restaurant owner pointed us in the right direction to the Tejo hall/bar.. we knew we were in the right place when we heard a loud bang from outside, the smell was also unmistakable.
The aim of Tejo is basically to throw the metal pucks from a distance of around 12ft (approximately 20 metres in a real game but you can't trust tourists drinking beer from that far with a metal brick in their hand!) at small triangular envelopes filled with explosive materials circled around a metal pipe, which nestles itself within a 1x1 metre clay pit at a 45 degree angle. Make the small envelopes explode and you will start to accumulate points.
I'll be honest, I was absolutely awful at this game.. Sydney and Shannon kicked my ass! I didn't even manage to make one target explode, until I lost my rag at the end when I blew up the last one from close range. So frustrating!
The owner of the hall showed us how it was supposed to be done by hitting the target with his second throw from the correct distance of 20 metres. Unbelievable!
As well as coffee being an attraction in these parts, the most popular excursion in Salento is a tour to the Cocora Valley which is a 5-6 hour trek to the tallest palm trees in the world.. some of which reach a massive 60 metres in height. Fun fact.. the wax palm is also the national symbol of Colombia ;)
During breakfast in preparation for the tour, I met four others who were also heading that way. Yus and Juliet from England, Geer Co from Amsterdam, Victoria from Norway, and myself, made our way to the main square to catch a jeep to the beginning of the trek. If I was tired before, I certainly wasn't after standing on the back of a full jeep for 20 minutes with the wind blowing in my face!
Despite my hatred for trekking I actually enjoyed it. The views over the most beautiful lush green valleys were stunning, the weather was great, and we all had a good laugh together.. the only snag was a very steep uphill climb through a dense forrest which was an unexpected challenge. However, the star of the show was the wax palm trees.. their size was staggering! Scattered all around the valley, they were definitely worth coming to have a look at. Wow! Am I starting to enjoy trekking and the beauty of nature?!! Surely not!
Along the way, a Californian girl named Amanda joined our group to trek with us. And as we were having a break at the Acaime Natural Reserve (which has 6-8 species of hummingbirds) drinking chocolate water with a disgusting piece of cheese (a popular combination in these regions), we bumped into Sydney and Shannon who had met a sound couple from Manchester, called Matt and Danielle.
A chilled afternoon at Coffee Tree was followed up with a lovely curry at a restaurant in town with the two American girls. The three of us had booked our bus tickets to Medellin earlier that day so that's where I'll be heading in the morning.
I've heard so many great things about Medellin from people I've met on my travels so far. Needless to say, I can't wait to get there to see what all the fuss is about.
Love Colombia so far!
Caio Caio xx
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