And so it was that I arrived in a new continent to the very party-minded hostel, Musicology, which you can see someone just arriving at below. Some great staff (Nicole, Adriana etc thanks :) and guests made for an excellent couple of days and the first test for my new year's resolution which I'd already started - no booze :))
Went on a bike tour on my first day on the recommendation of Pat, an Aussie I'd met in San Cristobal and who I was delighted to see again randomly in Colombia. Got a great tour around various parts of the area of Bogota which is close to the mountains on the east side and south, i.e. Candelaria and beyond. The emerald market below was one of the first stops. This, if memory serves, is the less 'official' of the two that are side-by-side.
The tour continued with some amusing facts about the previous president Uribe's inauguration in this square below. He had promised to deal with the 'narcos' as they call them here and to show him what they thought of that, they fired two rockets at his opening speech. Neither landed very close, but, for impact, it beats people throwing eggs at Michael Portillo, that's for sure. Although several people have told me he was the 'worst president ever', they seem grudgingly to accept his huge increase in army presence has increased security.
The tour also included a trip round the museum dedicated to Jorge Eliezer Gaitan, a lawyer and Colombian national hero, famed for defending the interests of the poor. When told about his most famous case, I realised it was identical to the situation I had just read about in '100 years of solitude'. This was indeed deliberate, but Marquez never mentions any of the real names. A really geek-tastic 'literature-meets-life' moment, especially as my (young) guide hadn't made the connection.
Candelaria is just up from the presidential square and therefore has some very big posh government buildings nearby. It is a bit on the shabby side itself and certainly not safe to go round at night. One friend got robbed at knifepoint within 20 minutes of arrival! Anyway, after the bike tour I set out to explore it on foot during the safety of daylight over the next day or two. Some of the graffiiti was stunning.
And I liked the Banksy-style sculptures :)
Went up to Monserrate, as most tourists do, to get a panoramic look over the town. Went with a Mexican girl, Monika, who spoke excellent English and was also able to appreciate my hard-earned Mexican slang, the majority of which is utterly useless in Colombia.
New Year's Eve involved some of the typical fun of the 'party bus cancelled, long walk across town, unable to get into club despite party bracelet, disappointing music' type, but on the plus side, the club was on the thirtieth floor and had an amazing view of Bogota. A few good boogies to tunes I liked more and the fact that Colombian ladies are ridiculously beautiful made the whole night generally enjoyable.
This square was just up from the hostel and was a beautiful spot for coffee with two lovely Argentinian girls (whose good looks are generally well known amongst travellers), and these were no exception. Bogota was also good for top-quality museums, the Gold Museum, the National Museum etc and I learnt a lot about the history of Colombia's indigenous peoples in great company. The Botero museum has lots of pictures and sculptures of fat people by Botero (like the Mona Fatty here), but a good international collection too.
A quick scurry round town when I took all the photos above and that museum, and it was off to the bus station as most people had left after New Year and some poor weather set in.
I decided to follow the crowd up to Taganga as it is a beach and would be my first time in Caribbean Sea. So why not, I thought...
On which note, it's time to go to work, yippeee :)))
