very few photos of our very short time in

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Colombia.

Colombia is a terrific country. The people are open, the food is great, the music gets you in the hips. It is just that we had to cross there very quickly to get to Ecuador in time for new year. If you want, you can cross this vast magical country (let´s but aside the dubious politics for a moment) on a bus in three days. Not recommeded. We did not, therefore, get a chance to see or do much. But we did spend the night in Bucaramanga in a hotel, highly rated by the Lonely Planet, which had holes in the door, and a few cockroaches. This is also the city where you can buy fried ants in chocolate. I´ not sure if anyone eats them anymore, or if the industry survives purely on tourists buying an exotic gift to take back home "look, they eat ants in chocolate in Colombia, we´d never eat them, we just bought them to show off." We have heard from Colombian friends however that there are even more weird recipes in other parts of the country, like a cocktail of live crab (gives you energy).
We also spent the morning in Bogota which has some terrific colonial architecture. Church watchers should go there. In the hours beteen 5am and 8am the streets of Bogata are next to deserted. Even the muggers are sleeping. Get yourselves out in Bogota in the madrugada. Beautiful. You an steal a few moments for a sunrise kiss.
The road between Bogota and Cali is someting else too. Mountain meets jungle and banana plantation. This is where the age old regional differences in Colombia merge. You see isolated people clinging to life on transit routes, and lots of soldiers in remote outposts keeping an eye out for coca farmers and revolutionary types. It is kind of dislocating but compelling to see social drama played out against such wonderful scenery.

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Photos

A Colombian bus decorated
for Christmas