Blogs from Bogota, Colombia, South America - page 57

a beautiful city with very friendly people Dont believe all you read about Colombia... read more

8th August- 15th august i was meant to be on my home by now. Had a flight booked from BA in Argentina for 7th August!!! Though not yet ready to get back home! and am still so far from BA- a place that i dearly love, but will one day soon also hold the place that i return back home from!! so if anyone wants to come out and join me and make me stay longer, i would be forever inviting! Bogota, the capital of Colombia, was a definite surprise. My 2nd favourite city in South America thus far, it was cosmopolitan. trendy people. trendy bars and clubs. Awesome nightlife. Great museums! And yet so little tourism! That is one great thing about Colombia- a country that is unfortunately burdened with the memory of danger. Yet, ... read more

Well, I am wrapping up my time here in Colombia. I spent the vast majority of my time in the capital city of Bogotá. One of the reasons I am intrigued by Colombia is the lack of knowledge we as North Americans have of the culture here. Similar to Russia of the Cold-War era it seems the information we receive about our latino-brothers to the south is narrowly focused on the problems (in this case drugs and violence) and the vast spectrum of culture is missed. To be sure, this filter has deterred international travel here to the extent that there is a refreshing lack of turism infrastructure. Bogotá is a vibrant, powerful city that exists on its own terms because it is has not yet been influenced by the financial opportunities of turism. For those ... read more

Back at altitude with attitude again but I must be getting acclimatised. Great Bogota. Home to Bolivar’s greatest and lowest moments and still alive with a sense of history, passionate, proud and over populated with beggars. A little scene setting, this morning I took off the damaged panier, you might remember from the dog crash ep, I took it over the road to a small ferreteria (hardware) and told them I needed to fix it….did they have drill, hinges, rivets etc, within 5 mins the boy, the boss and 2 passing bike riders had accumulated tools, bits and pieces, sent the boy off to buy bits, pushed me, gently, aside, after 3 hours, all panel beaten, new hinge and back on bike…we chatted for a while about the bike, the trip, life, the universe and everything…then ... read more

Ah Bogota... Quelle charmante ville! Non en fait pas vraiment, je me demande bien ce que je suis venu faire ici... Bon, pour etre serieux il y a deux-trois monuments, batiments ou eglises qui valent le coup d'oeil mais l'atmosphere ici n'est pas tranquilisante. Mon auberge de jeunesse, reputee car faisant parti de l'organisation YHI est immense mais vide... ce qui n'est pas tres rassurant. C'est pas des conneries, j'etais le seul a dormir la-bas dedans. Ca faisait 4 jours que j'etais la-bas et je n'ai pas vu un seul "touriste". Donc cote fete, a nouveau : "oublie!" En plus la ville est remplie de militaires avec leur mitraillettes... Et ils decident de te fouiller a n'importe quel moment sans soupcon apparant. Donc faut toujours avoir ces papiers, c'est mieux! Mais je me suis pas trop ... read more