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“I like this City!” |
Bogota is an amazing city.....very beautiful and very cultural, a mix of old antique architecture and modern architectural art.
On my first day here, I walked around the city centre and then met up with a Colombian friend I made in Taganga. He showed me around town and took me out for dinner in the trendy place in town.
The next day I spent walking around town trying to find cheap flights to Argentina but all flights to anywhere from Bogota are extortionately priced. I also visited various artisan markets, and got a new tattoo - The name of my birthtown - Kisumu, in gothic writing on my upper left arm (will try upload pictures soon - been having many problems with uploading more pictures)!!!!! At night I met up with another friend, who took me out for a few drinks and to a few sights in Bogota, including the highest point of the district, a village called La Calera, from where we could see the whole of Bogota by night - a splendid sight.
On the following days, I visited the museum of gold (Museo del Oro), and the Colombian National Museum, both of which were extremely interesting. I also hiked up to the highest point in Bogota which took just over an hour, but was well worth it as the early morning views from up there were breathtaking. I also met up with another friend I made in Taganga and had a big night out in town on Friday 13th.
I have also been thinking of getting a bus down to Argentina. The journey will take at least 7 continuous days and will be half the price of the flight. More news on this to follow.
------------------------ ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- ---------- 16-1-06
Oh well.........the bus thing didn´t work out due to many logistics problems and due to the fact that it wasn´t going to work out as cheap as I thought. The bus ride was supposed to cost $260 but the prices have gone up to $350 of late. Besides, I have heard many bad reviews about the bus company that operates this transcontinental route. So option two was the more complicated one, in that I would have to do the journey in short journeys in different buses and have the hassle of currency exchange at every border town, not forgetting the extreme fatigue I would have been suffering at the end of it all. I would also have had to deal with the stress of bus times, missing buses etc. This option, HOWEVER, would have been the cheapest (about $200) and obviously the longest. The time factor is what got to me as I didn´t want to spend 10 days (minimum) on buses everyday all day. As a result, I have opted for option 3 AKA `The most expensive route that I didn´t want to take but I had to´ AKA THE DAMNED PLANE!!! I bought my ticket today and it has set me back the hefty amount of $520!!! But that´s the price I pay for really wanting to go to Argentina.......I could have easily skipped it out and saved all the cash but Peru and Bolivia (my initially planned countries to go to after Colombia), despite all their beauty and cheap prices, have their rainy season now. I can´t be dealing with any more rain, especially after having been in 3 hurricanes in Central America. I guess I will just have to work extra hard at economising elsewhere. I leave Bogota on Wednesday18th and get to Buenos Aires early the next day.
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17-1-06
Today, I went to the salt cathedral of Zipaquira, an hour by road from Bogota. This has to be, by far, the best thing I have seen since coming to Colombia, in terms of architecture and uniqueness. The cathedral is all underground and is built below a salt mountain, and thus is made completely of salt. It contains amazing statues and architecture, and houses the biggest underground cross in the world.
Being in it put a smile on my face.........can´t say exactly why, but I guess there was a very positive energy in there that made me feel good......a similar energy as I felt in Tikal (Guatemala), just in a lower dose.
In the evening, I met up with my Colombian friends once again for my last drinks before I set off to Argentina tomorrow. Needless to say, today was a great day!!!
previous travel blog entry
Tom-NY says:
I loved all of your photos of South America. It makes me want to hop on a plane and visit again. I spent New Years Eve unexpectedly in Bogota,Colombia and had a great time, and have visited many parts of South America ( I am from New York) I really enjoyed the pictures, and hope you are off on a new adventure soon-Tom