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Hi everybody. Thought I would just write a few lines to let you all know that I am still alive! This is also by way of being a record of my trip so don't feel obliged to read it all. Sorry there are no photos - will have to wait till I get home to upload these. I decided not to take my smart phone for security reasons, now wish that I had. My other ancient mobile doesn't seem to accept Colombian Sim Cards.
The journey was fine apart from the transfer in Miami which was very tedious because of the time, a couple of hours, it took to get through Customs and Immigration, which we seemed to have to do about three times. It appears that America is such a poor country it provides fewer staff for this purpose at Miami Airport than are available at Liverpool in the UK, for instance. This is in spite of their rigorous security measures, including the full body scan which, for some reason, I missed out on. Arrived in Bogotá on time and was met by the very nice driver ordered for me by the hotel. Got to bed after 4 am
UK time, 11 pm Colombian and of course woke up about four and a half hours later. At the rate I am going I shall just about have adjusted to the five hour time difference by the time I am due to come home!
Yesterday I took my courage in both hands and went into the old quarter, La Candalaria on the Transmilenio which is a metro type of bus service. It's horrendously crowded and complicated. After receiving unprompted assistance from a nice young woman, who unfortunately didn't understand the system any better than me, I spent about 20 minutes waiting for a bus which turned out only to run at rush hour. This was after getting off at the wrong stop of course! Anyway I made it back without getting lost but will not be repeating the experience unless all the other people disappear. I haven't yet googled: 'Number of people suffocated on Bogota's Transmilenio' but there must be quite a few!
Having finally got to the centre I joined a free walking tour which was, unfortunately, in English. I say unfortunately because although the guide was absolutely charming her English was excruciating. Goodness knows what the
Koreans, Brazilian, German, French and Dutch people who made up the rest of the group made of it. After that I went to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) and again took a free tour but requested the Spanish one. I understood a lot more of that one and again the guide was absolutely delightful and full of passion for her subject. She was particularly fascinating on the role that gold played in the ancient religions and the exhibits are staggering, of course. I also whizzed round the Museo de Botero. He is a famous Colombian artist who majors in the portrayal of fat people. Not sure quite why his paintings have more artistic merit than Blackpool postcards (for those of you who can remember them) but, hey, what do I know? However I also saw a Dali and Picasso so well worth the visit. There are huge numbers of excellent museums here, many of them free, or virtually so, which I shall not have time to visit.
Being worried about all the talk about safety and security I went out without my Lonely Planet Colombian Guide, the electronic version of which I have on both my Kindle and
tablet. Passed two soldiers on my five minute walk to the bank, armed, of course, and there are police all around but also lots of people flashing their mobile phone, iPads and tablets so I will take mine today.
Am off on a public bus to a place about an hour and a half from Bogotá which, apart from being pretty, has a very famous salt cathedral which everybody says you must see. To be honest am looking forward to the rest as found I was out of practice sightseeing and quickly became exhausted. Also developed some blisters on my toes and heels so put on walking boots today. It was surprisingly hot as well. Although highs are about 21C the sun feels a lot hotter than that, which I wasn't anticipating here at an altitude of about 2640 metres (8660 feet).
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