Getting Closer to the Coast

Colombia is insanely beautiful!!! After weeks and weeks in the desert, I am finally seeing green! I took my first Colombian bus ride yesterday and am amazed with the difference between the dusty plains of Peru, to the rich farmlands of Colombia. I really felt like I was in Europe...maybe a tropical Europe. The rolling green hills are patchworked with farms and little villas. The landscape is dotted with palm trees and sugarcane fields. The road was cut right through the dense forests and steep cliffs. There were waterfalls cascading down the hills as our bus sped by. I am in awe of my surroundings!

After a long day in Lima, my friend and I hopped on a plane in the middle of the night destined for Bogota. We arrived at 4am and took the first taxi possible to a pretty dismal hostel somewhere in the middle of...I don't know where...somewhere in the city not next to anything. Of course, the guy didn't have our reservation right and we thought we were going to be forced to sleep on the sofas until he showed us to a private room and offered us a discounted price. We took it, but only because we were extremely tired and Bogota is not a city to be strolling around in the dark looking for somewhere new to stay. We quickly woke up and darted out of there as soon as possible in the morning.

As for Bogota, it is a HUGE city. It's incredibly green, full of parks and surrounded by mountains. The problem is, and I knew this before getting there, is that it's extremely dangerous. You're not likely to be physically harmed, but theft is a big problem. It is not safe to walk alone at night. You have to beware of shady cab drivers. You should never visit an ATM in the dark. Pretty much everyone I talked to had been robbed at some point or another. It's great to hear all of these warnings and be aware of what you should and should not do, but it definitely doesn't make you feel welcome in a new city, or a new country for that matter. Don't worry all, I made it out of Bogota safe and with all of my possessions.

It's kind of sad that it has this bad reputation, because besides that, it is an extremely livable city. The architecture is beautiful and the people seem friendly. I found a hostel in the old city, in Candelaria and stayed there. Luckily, the girl I traveled up here with has lived here before and new plenty of people around. Pretty much everyone in my hostel was living there as far as I could tell. They just come to Bogota and decide not to leave. Although I'm not really sure what they do every day, other than hit up the many fiestas that happen every night of the week.

I was in luck on Saturday night, as this big party that occurs the last Sunday of every month was going on. It just a club with a huge backyard and hundreds of people hanging out and dancing. My stomach was upset (travelers tummy was back again but thankfully gone at this point) so it was hard to get into it, but I did eventually and had a crazy night out for my first night in Colombia. I met loads of people and attempted bad spanish. I came home in the wee hours of the morning and wasted the entire next day relaxing after a long night.

I'm not really a big city person, at least not in South America, so I only stuck it out in Bogota for three days. I did a bit of touring to the main plaza and then to this church up on top of a mountain not far from my hostel. I had dinner with my friend and just generally hung out on my last day. I was pretty ready to leave by the time I woke up yesterday morning.

My goal at this point is to get to the beach asap. I haven't seen beach since Turkey, or not any that I've wanted to swim in, so I'm ready. So I took my first Colombian bus ride yesterday to San Gil, six hours north of Bogota. I had no idea what I was doing when I got to the bus station, but again my luck worked out. I chose a bus company (there are hundreds, all screaming at you trying to get your business) that had comfty seats that recline almost all the way and plenty of room for you to stretch out. As for getting the ticket, Colombia is crazy with prices. Basically, you go up to the attendant and ask for a ticket. You have to be sure to ask for the discount, or else you're charged sometimes close to double the price. I asked for the discount, although I'm not sure why I, or anyone for that matter, got it. Really, it's just one of these crazy South American deals...if you're too stupid to say something about it, they charge you more. I don't get it...but oh well...my ticket was way cheaper than the price I'd seen quoted online the day before.

The bus ride up here was so beautiful! None of the shantytowns of Peru. Some of the places I saw were villas straight out of Italy. We drove through green mountains and gorgeous canyons. The roads were smooth as we passed farms and small towns. There were a lot of police checkpoints and it was kind of random to see a lone officer with a large gun every 10 miles or so, but I guess that makes me feel a little safer. I met an older Colombian guy on the bus and we had a nice conversation using my horrible spanish. These people love their country and after this bus ride, I can see why.

I arrived in San Gil a little after five yesterday and am already planning on staying longer than I thought. It's a small town with hills steeper than San Francisco's. It's the adventure sport capital of this region. I checked into possible the smallest dorm room I've ever seen (literally, I think it's 8X8, with two sets of bunk beds) and met my three new roommates...the first time I've been with all guys (smelly! Thank god there's a window). Immediately they gave me the run-down of everything I can do here...rappelling down waterfalls, swimming under them, paragliding, white water rafting, etc. It's pretty awesome. All I need to do is walk across the street to a different hostel and put my name on the board under the activity I want for the next day. I had initially signed up to rappell down this waterfall, but then realized I can swim under it for free, so cancelled that reservation and will take a relaxing dip in the water instead today. All of these activities, although cheap, can add up moneywise, so I'm going to let myself do one thing...paragliding or rafting. I'll make the decision later, I've got nothing but time.

The other great thing about this town is Andre, the spanish teacher across the road from my hostel. I was introduced to him within 15 minutes of being here and immediately signed up for a lesson. I just got done with a two hour private class on the past tense in spanish and it was pretty good. I've been looking for a good teacher with a flexible schedule. You basically just walk in, tell him what and when you want to learn, and there you go. For $7/hour, I'm in. I think I'll take another session tomorrow.

So I'm getting closer to the coast, but think I'm going to stay here for a few days more. The original plan was to take off tomorrow and get to Santa Marta on Friday, but I'm thinking that the 13 hour bus ride can wait for now. There's plenty to do and see in San Gil. It's safe for me to walk around alone and go out to dinner at night. It's also hot all day and all night here, just like I like it. I'll eventually make it to the beach, but for now, I'm happy where I'm at.