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Hola from Colombia!
Starting the blog a few days early as it's pretty overcast today (don't feel too sorry for us) so we've had to postpone our island hopping trip until tomorrow...but more on that later.
On Wednesday 12th October, after a teary goodbye at Gatwick's drop-off point, Joe and Katie set off on their travels. We flew with Delta (not the best-no personal tv-minus points!) and spent the first leg of the flight (9 hours) subjected to the "comedy" stylings of Russell Brand, Jim Carrey and Owen Wilson...well Joe did, I indulged in a little casual narcolepsy!
On arrival in Atlanta we were interrogated on our relationship by a guard on an ego trip and spent most of the time trying not to laugh at the amazingly true stereotype of everyone saying "Don't even go there girrrrrrlfriend" and the like. After a brief 5 hour friendship with a right-wing, Muslim-a-phobe, private security guy, we arrived in Bogota. After travelling for 20 hours we were positively over-joyed to see a sign for "Katie O'Byrne" being held by our hostel owner at arrivals.
We stayed at a little hostel in La Candelaria (colonial quarter) with bright painted buildings, high student population and a million uncovered man-holes to keep you on your toes! Bogota was a bit of a mixed bag, some really charming parts, friendly people, LOTS of traffic and pollution and minimal tourists. My "holiday spanish" was severely tested as very few people spoke any English and the Colombian accent is so thick!
We spent some time at the Museo del Oro (yes, a museum!!! How cultured!) where we learnt a lot about carvings and gold, it seems the South Americans were mad for a bit of bling, especially nose rings! We wandered around the Plaza Bolivar and the presedential buildings which were covered in paint and graffiti, it seems Bogota has had it's own student riots recently. After a hard day of sight-seeing we returned to our hostel to find 6 policemen sat outside our room! At first we were a bit concerned such a high police presence was needed at our hostel, but we soon realised they were friends with the owner and just hung out and watched the free cable tv instead of doing any work!
The best part of Bogota was the cable car trip to Cerro Moserrate, really amazing views of the city but at 3600m above sea level it was a bit difficult to catch your breath!
As the Lonely Planet guide tells us, the bus journeys in South America give you plenty of stories...and the 23 hour trip to Cartegena did fail us. The first 5 hours was spent weaving our way up to even higher altitudes in the Colombian country side, this went hand-in-hand with me feeling like I was going to vomit for a solid 5 hours (not enjoyable). The views were totally amazing, such lush rainforest and the roads lined with tiny shacks where whole communities survived, hours away from any kind of civilisation. After travel sickness tablets and a surprisingly good sleep, we were still nowhere near Cartegena...it was a looooooong journey.
At the Cartegena bus station we then bravely jumped onto a "colectivo" to get to the town centre-these are little minibuses that serve as shared taxis. Lordy! I don't think they have health and safety here as people kept getting on, long after it was heaving (for those in the know, it was ram-jam-full). The problem came when we were squished in, far from the doors and saw our area of town whizz by the window. Having no idea how to stop the bus we had to sit patiently until a local stopped it and then lug our 65litre backpacks past the crowds on the bus, then get a taxi back to our part of town!
We are staying in Getsemani, an area of the old walled town. The architecture here is just amazing, very colonial. Feels like we are really in Colombia now. There's a lot more backpackers here and it's got a really chilled vibe. We've been to the beach (the warmest sea I've ever known) and wandered through the old town and along the city walls. The heat here is really intense and humid, and when it rains, my god it comes down! Our hostel is built around a court-yard and the past two nights it's been like sleeping next to a power shower. It doesn't let up!
We were supposed to go to Playa Blanca and some of the islands off the coast of Cartegena today, but with it being overcast we've pushed it back to tomorrow. From here we are off to Taganga, a beach area where you can do treks to the Lost City and scuba diving trips, really looking forward to it.
Sorry for lengthy blog (what else do you expect from me?!), hopefully Joe's will be more concise!
Lots of love,
Katie and Joe xxx
- comments
john leeson You sound to be having a great time. Found your blog very interesting looking forward to the next one. I'll be blogged out in a while as James and Heather will be writing one about their travels in a couple of weeks time. Envy you. Jimmies dad.
Bren You've done so much already! High5. Getting right into the swing of things. Did you find out how to stop the minibuses?...a few firm bangs on the side/window I reckon will do the trick. Enjoy scuba!! xxx