Hotel Real de la T Bogota

... sesoße, Würstchen (=Salchichas), Kartoffeln und Salsa de Tomate, was genau wie Ketchup schmeckt! *mmmhh*
Und letzten Sonntag war ich mit meine Gasteltern, Patto und Baby in einem riesigen Markt – oder vielmehr einer Halle mit ganz vielen Ständen. Am Anfang waren lauter Obst- und Gemüsestände und wir haben richtig viel eingekauft, z.B. eine mega Ananas fuer 4000 Pesos (=1,35€) und auch Fruechte, die ich in meinem Leben noch nie gesehen ...

... einem Zimmer sein darf. Und vielleicht haben die nebenan deswegen auch keine Tür. Und meine sieht auch aus wie frisch eingebaut - hab ich wohl noch mal Glück gehabt! :D

Eine andere – total komische – Sache ist, dass es hier im Haus nirgendwo einen Esstisch gibt!! Also man kommt unten zur Haustüre rein und da steht dann gleich n Sofa, auf dem wohl kaum je einer sitzt außer dem Hund. Daneben das Zimmer der Jungs mit einem Stockbett. Überhaupt ist es, soweit ich ...

... live bands playing different types of music. Every so often, into our carriage stepped a band, nestled themselves in the aisle and played some traditional and popular Colombian music. All along the route people waved. Trains were not common in Colombia, steam trains were quite a novelty as I guess they are in many countries.

When we arrived at Zapaquira we transferred onto a collective for the 10min ascent to the salt mine ...

... a railway crossing and we got stuck between the gates. Luckily the buses in Bogota are so tiny we squeezed into the space between the track and the gate and the train rumbled past, but it was a close call. Not sure how many lives i´ve got left now...

Working out our route with Pip in a bar that night we realised we had no choice but to take a 20 hour bus journey on my birthday. Boooooooooo. Now that´s the way to spend your holdiday!

... to come over, and soon we were all sharing beers and conversation. They seemed amazed that we gringos had just chosen to come to Colombia for no apparent reason. Didn´t all North Americans think of Colombians as nothing but drug traffickers and terrorists, they asked. Well, yeah, kind of, but that didn´t stop us! A few salsa dances and Vicente Fernandez songs later, we closed out the bar with our new Colombian friends, and then headed back to the hostel to close out our last night in Bogota.

... turquía*). Bariloche fue la cuidad mas hermosa para todo mi viaje... lagos, montañas, buena onda, y Juanito... cena con mis amigos, Emmanuelle y esposo de ella... Max, de Suiza y con el guitara (pueden escucharlo en el radio una dia)... balsa en el rio con Eric y Pierre (Pierre! Ah! Un chico mas suerte en el mundo! El es un panadero en francia, y un chico que es divertidisimo viajar con, especialmente en Patagonia. ... Festival de Jazz en El Bolson fue incredible.. 3 ...

... out of the hostel into the street my first impression of what I saw was something reminiscent of Bolivia. Aesthetically it looks like many other cities in third world Latin America, but the one thing that really distinguishes it from the rest are the rugged peaks and mountains that shoot up right at the edge of the city (and our hostel is located toward the edge). We started out the day with warm cloudy weather and went to the Bogota gold museum ...

... weapon and were ordered off the pavement to walk in the street. Presumably because we looked the type to throw bombs the 30 or so yards over the iron fence to the empty buildings beyond. It left us a little confused, but this may go some way to understanding the number of people especially in smaller towns that still haven't appeared to found the meaning of pavement. Our grand tour started with an unexpected trip to a botanic expedition, walls full of pictures of ...

... las de potosi -toda una aventura-) y usaquén muy muy bien. es un antiguo pueblo absorvido por la capital y mantiene toda su esencia colonial, con callejuelas empedradas y casas bajas de colores. hemos estado en el mercado, donde como siempre no he comprado nada porque me mareo, y a cenar. mañana al norte, a santa marta, iniciaremos una ruta de 6 días por el monte donde sólo sabemos que dormiremos en hamacas, as ...

Supposedly Tayrona national park is one of the most beautiful in South America. We had heard great things about it too. Its basically loads of tropical beaches snuggled into virgin rain forest. You sleep in hammocks under the stars and can do snorkeling etc. So there is two options to get there. A small boat from the beach in Taganga (normally 90 min and you avoid the park entrance fee) or a 90 min bus and two hour walk. So being the lazy ones ...