Goodbye South America - Hello Europe

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I enjoyed Bogota the first time but I really enjoyed it the second. I stayed in a much more chilled out hostel that was lovely in La Candeleria and I guess I felt that after spending nearly 7 weeks here in Colombia I had a better understanding of the culture and customs than when I first arrived. I met up with my friend Hector (who I had met in Tyrona National Park) and we went out for a meal and a little Agua Diente!!

People keep asking me where my favourite place is so far in South America and it is really hard to say as Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru all have some amazing and different qualities and things to offer. Overall though I think I have to say Colombia.

For a start I feel like I arrived just in time. In so many other countries you go to you try to imagine what it is like before tourism got such a firm hold. Colombia is a great place to visit right now because it has not been ruined by tourism.

Something else which most people find quite surprising is that of all of the countries I went to I definitely felt safer here than anywhere else. In Bogota and on the higways you see a heavy military presence which as a tourist makes you feel safe. Yes, sometimes the buses are stopped and the soldiers come on board (with guns in hand) to check the IDs of the passangers but it is done in a very non-threatening way. They were never interested in me and would just smile at me instead as they are not checking tourists. Even in a bus station in Bogota I went up to one of the guys in the military to ask where was the best place to buy a ticket for Medellin. He took me to the correct outlet and found out the price for me, I realised I did not have enough money on me and needed to use an ATM and he then took me to 2 atms as the first wouldn't take my card, waitied with me, came back with me to buy my ticket and then waited with me to put me on the bus, smiling from ear to ear the whole time.

I love that you can buy coffee from one of the many vendors on the street for about 20c, I love the Almuerzos (set meal menus) which cost about $1.50 for a soup, a main of rice, whole fish, beans, salad and plantains and a juice, I love the difference in people - the interior people from the cities are welcoming and love to teach you things about Colombia and want to learn about your culture (and most people I met from the interior were far more educated that me) and I love the people from the coast where there is much more of a caribbean influence. I love the variety in landscapes and climate. Bogota is at a high elevation so it is actually quite cold and rains a lot but somehow that seems to really work wiith the city, the cosntant spring style climate in Medellin, the rains and sunshine in the coffee region filled with the most amazing views, the sunshine and the caribbean wind on the coast and the hot, sweltering areas inland bvy the Magdelena river.

Colombia people tend to be much more spiritual than our culture (although that goes for South America generally) and I have enjoyed many many a night of talking and putting the world to rights with my friends here.

I have never come across a nation of people who are so proud of who they are and who really want to send the message to the rest of the world that Colombia is fantastic. I heard a saying that to be a Colombian is like having your own religion because you have to have faith to deal with what they have had to deal with but they have and still stick together. There are still a lot of different perspectives on the politics of the country which I won't go into here as I don't think I could have gained a true underdstanding in just 7 weeks but I am so happy that I was able to meet all of the Colombians there that I did and hope that one day I can return and can speak spanish so that I can meet many more.

Onto Europe now to Madrid to see Eli x

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