Bogota Plaza Summit Hotel

... closed. We did a lot of sightseeing in Bogota, a bit of a change of chilling by the beach, it made a welcome change. We were very lucky to coincide our visit, with an Andy Warhol exhibition that is visiting South America, we saw all his famous paintings, Mao, Marilyn Monroe and the Campbells soup tins. All very interesting and good to see, afterwards we went to to the Botero and saw lots more paintings, Picassos, Monets, Renoirs, and the best thing was both these museums were free ...

... That night I went out with a few people from the hostel. We returned to the same club that I had gone to on my first night in Columbia, which lent my time there a certain structural symmetry, which was pleasing to me. It was a fun night. The following day I went to the Museo de la Policía, the police museum. We were given a tour in English by a young policeman. He told us of the days in which the country was in the grip of a war with Pablo Escapar ...

... and we were only able to stay 4 days in Gran Sabana. Steve was a great travelling companion and we really enjoyed his great sense of humour and company during the trip but it was a time to say goodbye. Maciek and I booked ourselves to the same hostel I stayed in before The Michelle. It suited us nicely as the place offered the cheapest accommodation for the night, costing us only 20,000 Bolivares for the two of us. This is equivalent to $10 if you ...

... Lots of grey ****** highrise housing to go along with the sprawl that creeps its way out of the valley in all directions. Ali told me that people just build where there is land, providing it's not too steep and not part of the protected parks. Landmarks tend to be vandalised and not maintained anyway. Not a nice place. My guide describes it as "the least secure of all Venezuelan cities. Petty crime, robbery and armed assaults are increasing, especially at night."

... is a well-built local man with a thin moustache in my chair, and he won`t budge. I get Rachel to take her seat next to him and I start trying to find out why he´s in my seat. He won´t show me his ticket and people in adjacent seats mutter about the bus company double-selling the tickets. The bus driver holds his hands up in the air and refuses to get involved. There are other seats, so I point them out to the man but he refuses to move. Rachel ...

... down the front. Whilst the SamBil mini-society enjoys this "temple of consumerism", a couple of miles down the road most Venezuelans are way too poor to afford any luxuries at all. Much of Caracas's suburbs are a long sprawl of slums which climb up the sides of the valley around the city. Unemployment is high and gunfights are common, apparently, but you would never know this from being in Altamira or driving in from the airport along the highway where there are ...