De La Opera Bogota

Interesting. Now I know Columbia doesn't have the best reputation in the world. It's seen as the drug running capital of the world and I can see why they're so strict on everything that goes through there. But quite why they have to scan your hand luggage three times before transitting though to another plane is beyond me.

Not only that, but they ...

Heute war ich mit Miri im Kino in „Die nackte Wahrheit". Bei euch läuft der Film jetzt erst an, aber hier kommt er schon eine ganze Weile, weil sie ihn nicht übersetzen, sondern auf Englisch mit spanischem Untertitel zeigen. Ganz praktisch, denn so konnten wir mehr verstehen!

Und ich habe heute einen Laden gefunden, der eine Mischung aus Obi und Ikea ist! Es gibt dort genau die gleichen Gieskannen wie bei Ikea und genau die gleichen Bilder! (Ich hab sogar die ...

... Bohnen! Abends essen wir meistens Kartoffeln und Hühnchenfleisch in der Brühe, oder Kartoffeln und Reis mit Gemüse und Hähnchen! Mittags gibt’s dazu noch Platanas fritas (total lecker! Das sind Bananenscheiben in Öl angebraten) oder frittierte Yuccas. Kennt ihr Yucca? Ich habs extra im Wörterbuch nachgeschaut (spanisch: yuca – deutsch: Yucca) :D Also ich kannte diese Dinger (lila/rötlich und wie riesige, kurze, dicke Karotten) vorher nicht! Sind aber ganz ...

... behemoth companies of the world.

The main players, at the peak of the industry in the 1980s, were Medellin and Cali Cartels. The Medellin Cartel , controlling 80% of the global cocaine market at its height, earning an astonishing USD60mm per day and worth anywhere from USD10-100bn, was run by Pablo Escobar. Escobar was, controversially, listed in Forbes Top 10 Richest People in the World in 1989. Cartel money turned Miami into a ...

... techniques but he just didn`t look down and survived the return trip.

We meet up with the entire group tonight and then head on the overland truck to a place called Puerto Colombia for some beach action in the Carribean, really looking forward to some swimming as its so hot here.

Hope everyone is well. Update will follow soon.

Love, Renee and Eugene xxx

... Lima, Peru, ia uma dondoca tuga (o que ela reclamou) e, imaginem... um jovem como nós que tinha conhecido a sua futura esposa por correspondência e ia de armas e bagagens para a conhecer e casar-se no Peru!!! (há coisas...!). Conseguiram voo para 4 horas depois, na Santa Barbara Airlines (companhia da Venezuela). Para Quito, Ecuador, ia a espanhola Mónica que acabamos por conhecer melhor no hotel onde passámos a noite. Foi-lhe prometido ...

... speak English thanks to 12 years living in the US. My guide said about $20 to get to the city, but everyone was yelling $50 at me and then Ali offered $40 so I just took it - part of the deal was to include his services finding me a hotel somewhere in the city. He soon explained that the increase in taxi fee from the airport was because the main bridge had collapsed in January. He had a government brochure with an artist's impression of the proposed ...

... Rachel looks at me increduously when I show her the goods. We eat dinner in one of the greasy little cafes upstairs. People seem incredibly rude and push each other around and bark at each other. There are no smiles here for anyone. A lady thumps her 5 year old daughter hard for not eating properly. The little girl doesn`t cry but stares out into space. Eventually we find the right bus, which is another challenge in itself, and we get on board ...

My image of Venezuela involved palm trees, Cuban type music, beaches, beautiful girls from "Miss World", and men who looked like Antonio Banderas - Caracas is far removed from this. Driving in from the airport it looked quite nice, set in a long, green mountainous valley. However having been here 3 days now, apart from the odd glance up at the green mountains I am sorry but I have to sum it up as a bit of a hole! Venezuela appears to be similar to Brazil in that ...

... with tropical rain, and the walkway was flanked by swaying palm trees. We quickly claimed our bags and hailed a cab to El Centro. The first hotel we looked at was a tiny, windowless room with a fan and only a curtain separating the beds from the toilet. Call me a snob, but I had to veto that one. We walked across the street and up a flight of stairs to a much nicer, whitewashed hotel with an open patio, where we were shown to a simple, but clean and spacious room ...