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Published: July 23rd 2009
Colombia is a hard Country to leave. After Medellin, I went to Bogota, which was excellent, and then to Zona Cafetera, the coffe center of Colombia, which was also excellent. But when it came time to leave the Zona Cafetera and head south toward Ecuador, I felt a tug back toward the center of the country back to Medellin. Here´s what has happened since my last post, which was too long ago.
I left Medellin on the night bus and woke up in Bogotà, the capital of Colombia. The elevation in Bogotá is around 2,800 meters, so it is a good bit colder than Medellin. Not realizing how ridonkulously big Bogotá is, I decided to walk from the bus station in the North of the city to my hostel in the Southeast. That ended up being a 4 hour hike through urban terrain with my backpack and a guitar. Great fun. Chaffing.
Bogota is a beautiful city and the people are nearly as nice as in Medellin. There are beautiful buildings and Monserrate, the enormous mountain which looms over the capital city like a benevolent, omnipresent being. It is no wonder that a spectacular church and sculpture of Christ
have been built on top of it.
The best part of Bogotá was the friends I made there. I met three guys in my hostel whom I ended up traveling with. Neil & Callum are from England and Taare is from New Zealand. All 3 are a freaking riot. I think things are always funnier in a British accent. While in Bogotá we went to the underground Salt Cathedral in Zipá, just outside the city, which was completely wicked. It was built in an old salt mine and is therefore incredibly V A S T. Also, we drank a fair amount of Aguardiente, the anise flavored liquor of Colombia, and exchanged slang from our Countries. Callum taught me a very strange form of Cockney rhyming slang. It´s difficult to explain, but I learned that if someone says to you in London "Allo, mate. May I use your dog? Me trouble fell down the apples." He needs to use your phone because his wife fell down the stairs. (Dog goes with bone and bone rhymes with phone. Trouble goes with strife and rhymes with wife. Apples go with pears and rhyme with stairs.) Strange indeed.
Anyways, after Bogotá, we
went to Salento, which is in the heart of coffee country, for a few days of relaxation away from the parties in Bogotá, then made our way back to Medellin, sans Taare. I introduced him to his future wife on the bus from Bogotá to Salento. Seriously. They´re getting married in Armenia. I guess when its right, its right.
I think I will stay here for a bit longer. My plans to work on an organic farm in Ecuador fell through, due to the owner of the farm doing some travelling of his own and leaving the farm with a farm-sitter. This being the case, I´ve got some extra time and the feria de los flores (Festival of Flowers) starts next week, and supposed to be the most beautiful time to be in Medellin.
Right now, I´m purchasing a ticket for Emily to come visit me in Lima, Peru on the 11th of August (Hallelujah)! I probably won´t post again until around that time. Until then, enjoy the pics!
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Josh
non-member comment
Me and the wife are still trying to puzzle out that cockney slang, seems almost like a vocalized crossword puzzle.