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Published: February 16th 2009
Me in columbia...
still trekking along...Hello, hello!
To anyone who is hesitant or feeling unsafe about going to Columbia -you would not be live how the country has changed. We arrived in Bogota after a short delay in Rio, and jumped on a bus to the center of the city to find ourselves a hostel. Each time we paused in the street or hesitated for just a moment, someone immediately offered to help us, and if they were not 100% sure on the address, they would ask the national police! Not to mention, everyone recommended a place to stay, a place to eat, or a friend they could call to help us - People even started asking if we were hungry and wanted to have dinner with them!
It was not long before we were settled in downtown and realizing that the friendliness of Colombian people is immeasurable. In fact, before we knew it, a couch surfer collected us and whisked us off to a nice local neighbourhood, filled with parks and cultural centers. Each day our host would take us to different parks, tourist sights, and centers, all incredibly spacious and well maintained. He showed us concerts, movies, and events available every day,
The chandelaria...
a beautiful young neighbourhood in colombia... great coffee shops and bars everywhere - what more could you want?! and all free, hundreds of museums (and I am not even exaggerating!), and a myriad of neat neighborhoods for exploring. Many of the areas even had public story telling every night - for adults, no less! It really was incredible. I can't recall ever having seen so many community events, services, and so much local involvement. Speaking of which, each Sunday over 120 Kilometers of road is closed for people to have wide areas for cycling, running, walking, roller skating, or whatever they please, and there is at least 7 hours of straight, free aerobics in the national park. As I said, truly incredible.
As for the city, there are (of course) areas that you should avoid, but no more so than any other big city, and I have never encountered such helpful people in other big cities. Every time you ask for directions, a person will surely take you there, every time you look lost of confused, there is immediately someone speaking English and offering to help. And, even when you go out in the bars, locals are talking with you and sharing drinks, waiting with you at night and making sure you are safe, always trying to
share their food and culture.
After the generosity of our host and the wonderful time we had, we were trying very hard to decide if we should get on the place to Ecuador or change our plans to see more of Columbia... unfortunately, with our timing, we decided that it is not possible to stay longer this trip - but I will be going back to Colombia for sure!
More to come, as always!
Trish xx
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