Bogota

21/7 Thankfully I slept all the way to Bogota (12 hrs), I was wrecked after the night before and then the day trip. Now that Im going south Im hitting the different climates along the way. Up untill now its been like Iv been on my summer holidays..... not any more!! Bogota has weather similar to home, Its rainy, cold and sunny all at the same time. The saying going that in Bogota you only have to wait twenty minutes before the weather changes.... and its true!

I stayed at the Ctanky Croc in the Candelaria area of town. Bogota is a dangearous city. Iv heard so many reports about robberies here that it did make me uneasy. But like anywhere if you stay in the right areas, dont flash your cash and get taxies at night you will be fine. I arrived at about 10ish, so after I got sorted I headed out to explore. Like I said I was nerveous but I think a lot of talk can do that to you and that in the end you have to figure things out for yourself and make up your own mind!

Bolivar Square was my first stop, ita the area with the presidents house, the courts etc. A nice spot. Next I stumbled up the Botero Museum..... remember the fat people from Medellin?!!! All his paintings and sculptures were under the one roof. I have to say I thought it was one of the best art museus Iv been in. There was also a few Picassos there and the dubs wernt left out as there was a piece by Francis Bacon.

I had read on the internet that there was a great bike tour you could do that takes you around the city and I decided to go check it out. I arrived just as a tour was about to start so I hopped on a bike and off I went. I havent been on a bike in about 10 years.... and yeah it took a while to get used to! There was only two of us on the tour along with our guide Juan. IT WAS BRILLIANT! He brought us everywhere and anywhere; A bullring (where he goes to protest when there are matches on!), an amazing fresh fruit and veg market (where I had a fruit salad with cheese and honey!), a coffee brewers (delicious) and a million other places! The tour didnt finish till 6ish so I was wrecked by the end of it. Had a bit of dinner and crashed on the couch, its all I was fit for!

22/7

Michelle my ozzie mate from Taganga was in Bogota with Sammie her travel buddy so I arranged to meet up with them and Sherrie another girl from Taganga. The girls came down to my hostel and we decided to go check out Monserrate. This is a holy mountain that over looks Bogota which you travel to by cable cars. The cable car up was no where near as impressive as the ones in Medellin but it was still fun.
We hung out at the top for a while untill it started to rain. It was pub time. Spent the rest of the day hanging out and then went for dinner. The lashing rain is a de motivator to do stuff and we spent the night crashed out in from of a DVD.

23/7
CHILL OUT DAY!!! And even better pamper day..... Only went and treated myself to a mani/pedi.... ha Sorry Im a backpacker am I? :P Agh and I bumped into the crazy Canadian Lina fro Cartagena today too!! Shes staying at Crank... Shes wants e to hook her up with my bro in Vancouver so she can cook him dinner!! Ya up for that Col?!

The hostel I was staying in was pretty cool and every night or day there was something on. As it was Saturday there was a party bus to Andres Carnes De Res. This is the most talked about club in Bogota and I was defo on boards this party bus to check it out!! 40 people were on the bus it was mental. The club its self was UNREAL. I actually cant put it into words... Alice In Wonderland on acid might describe the decor!
Here take a look: http://www.google.ie/search?q=andres+carnes+de+res&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-ie:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7RNRN_en&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=sn8uTp3LHoPQgAeAkLl-&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=394

Anyway mad mad mad night had by everyone!

24/7

DYING. Spent the day on the couch with the rest of the hostel who were all in bits. Then went to meet the girls for some lovely hangover grub in the local Irish bar HAHA.....

Unfortunatly both myslef and Michelle and Sammie would be going our seperate ways in the morning :( The girls are off to Cuba, and I Peru....

And thats it.... My Colombian adventure is over :( Im going to miss it, I could easily spend the rest of my two months in this country. Its beautiful and Iv met some super people along the way. But the adventure must continue....
Next stop Cusco, Peru

(Ah I cant believe I caught up! Im still sitting in starbucks in Lima Airport, Its now 4.07am... tie to go check in)








Medellin

This city was once the most dangerous place in Colombia. As little as 10 years ago a tourist would not have dared set foot here. The vast amount of crime that Medellin experienced was down to the drug cartels which ran the city and whom the police had no control over. However today things are much different and I have to say that Medellin is my favourite city so far.

I took the night bus here (17/7) a journey which was nearly 18 hours.... This was my first experience on the night buses and I will admit I was a little nervous. I was parro and was convinced that everyone on the bus was a thief but besides that and the cold it was grand! For some reason these busses think there is a need to have the air con on full blast for the full 18 hours which turns the bus into an ice box. Now I had been warned that they were cold so I had my hoodie and trackies on but I forgot the most important thing.... socks! My feet were FREEZING, so cold that I couldnt sleep. In the end I had to take a headrest cover off the seat beside me and stick my feet into it. This was perfect untill the bus driver woke me up later that morning looking less than impressed at my antics. ooops.

Medellin is the only city in SA that has a metro. I was very ipressed, cleaner, faster and more frequent than the Luas. Once again my preceptions of SA have been totally totally worng!! I hoped on this at the bus station and made my way to find my hostel. I found it easily with the help of some lovely locals along the way. Tiger Paw hostel was located in a very very nice part of town and also had the 'zona rosa' (nightlife area) right around the corner. Perfect.

There was one man responsible for the main cocaine trade not just in Medellin but in the entirity of Colombia - Pablo Escobar. Escobar was the head of the Medellin drug cartell and a very powerful man in Colombia. I knew the gist about him before I went but not uch more than that. On check in I saw the hostel ran a Pablo Escobar tour so I signed up to go that day.

I can only describe the tour as jaw droping. Firstly we went to his grave, then the place where he was shot and then we went to meet his brother Roberto, at his house, which used to be a former safe house for the cartel. There was bullet proof cars, bullet holes in the walls, secret hiding places in the walls and secret panles in furniture to stash money. All this was 100% genuine. We spent a good hour at his house, taking photos and asking him photos. Our guide was fantastic and I swear some of the stories were insane. I have the photos up on FB of everything with some small explinations but if you do want an outrageous read check out Wiki .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar
 .
19/7

Hooked up with a girl from the hostel, Natasha, today and we went into town to explore 'el centro'. The city is great, really lively and it has some stunning buildings. The main square also features massive culptures by the famous Medillen artist Botero. He sculps and paints FAT PEOPLE and I think hes awesome!!!! So funny.

The weather in Medellin is PERFECT. Hot but not crazy hot like the coast and lovely and cool in the evening. And its like that al year round, its crazy.
I left Natasha around lunch time as she was heading off to do the Escobar tour and I wanted to go up on the cable cars.
Medellin is built in a valley and the houses sprawl up the sides. The cable cars are part of the metro system and go up the side of the valley with stops along the way in different neighbour hoods. Now these neighboourh oods are not the type of places Id be getting off but once you stay in the cars your fine. These are the highest, steepest cable cars Iv ever been on.... they just kept going up and up and up!!!

 At the second last stop you have the option to pay more money and keep going, so I did! A this stage the cars had left the houses behind and we were in the mountains surrounded by green. I was kinda like where the hell am I going but I just rolled with it........ and ended up in a national park! So random. So thats how I spent my evening, roaming around a lake and stuffing my face with corn on the cob! I love when good things happen by surprise!!!

Colombians know how to party and have a good time. The following day was Colombian Independance day and as alcohol would not be served tonight would be the night to party. A few of us decided we would like to go SALSA (Im still learning - its hard) and so the hostel receptionist gave us the name of a local club to go to. IT WAS AMAZING. It was packed to the rafters, we were the only non locals, there was a live salsa band playing in the middle of the room and everyone was giving it socks. I have to say I really like salsa and the atmosphere of these salsa clubs. Its traditional in the way that guys ask girls to dance, so every dance you can have a different partner... but its all just a bit of fun!! Its soooo easy going and it really is a super night out!

Tonight I discovered that Kebabs are the same at 6am no matter where you are in the world...

20/7

Managed to drag myself out of bed early today to head on a little day trip with Natasha and Harold. We were going to go to Santa Fe a beautiful colonial town about two hours outside Medellin to celebrate Colombian Independance Day. The place was just gorgeous, so quant, market stalls, bands playing, great weather, ice cream and street food.

There was a massive police pressance here too, Iv gotten so used to seeing guys standing beside me with machine guns, I actually find it comforting in a weird way.

Just outside Santa Fe is one of the first suspension bridges ever built so we took a otor taxi out to have a galk which was a bit of craic.

Back at the hostel I packed up my case again and headed for another night bus, this time to Colombia's capital - Bogota

Random Thoughts

1. Mammy's Hostel
Im thinking my mother should start running our house at home like a hostel in order to make her life easier!
- Up and out of bed buy 12 on check out days. No laying around the place no matter how hungover you are.
- No noise when you come in at night, as other people ae sleeping
-Clean up yourself after you cook
-Do your own laundrey

2. Colombia
How many U's are in the spelling of Colombia?
None.

3. Change of plans
Now this is the first time Iv said this out loud... but what if I decided to stay here till December... depending on $$$$$ of course, and then just hit NZ for xmas? I would miss the world cup though which is going to be epic.... hmmmmm decisions decisions!

4. I miss my kitty cat! Sockos.... <3

Taganga & Park Tayrona

Aghhhhh Iv fallen so far behind on the blog..... I knew this would happen!!! Iv been either to tired, busy or hungover to sit down and write!

Its 12.30 am at the moment and Im sitting in Lima airport (Peru).... (in Starbucks :P) .... yes yes Iv left Colombia behind :(  Iv a 5 hour wait till my conecting flight, Im so tired but I dont fancy a kip on the floor right now, maybe later. Sooo I guess Il catch up on this instead...... (Oh Iv also got a bit of a crisp stuck under the letter M on my keyboard and its stiff, so if were missing a few M's along the way you know why!)

Right, so I left you all last just as I was leaving Cartagena to head to Taganga. Ohhh Taganga, what can I say, IT IS WILD!!!! Also along the coast, 6 hours north of Cartagena, Taganga is the place for the gringos to party on the Carbibean coast. Taganga also conviently rhymes with ganja as Katie pointed out to me one day when during a skype all I could do was grunt at her and Roisin haha!!! Anyway Im sure you get the gist of what kind of vibe the place has, its pretty damn cool.

Im usually very organised and I have my hostel booked in advance before I go anywhere but this time I decided to be MAD and just 'rock up' (my new ozzie phrase) and see where I ended up. This turned out to be a brill move as I got a spot in the most coveted hostel in Taganga - Casa Felipe. Its pretty massive, has a great social scene and the best part was that the cook was an ex Michelin star chef, sorted!

I arrived on Tue 12/7 and took it pretty handy. The weather took a turn for the worst so the rain meant no beach but lots of beer.

13/7  Booooo raining again!!! Huge thunder storms, its pretty cool but when you are in a beach town it gets a bit old. During a gap in the rain I went exploring the town and I wasnt that ipressed by what I saw. Basically its a kip and the only thing it has going for it is the beach, which frankly wasnt even that great. Back to the hostel for more beer and hanging out where I got chatting to Michelle an ozzie and Lilly a girl from England. They had been discussing going to the national park, Park Tayrona the following day if the weather wasnt bad so I got on the bandwagon and said I break in my hiking boots and go with them.

14/7 Possibly my earliest start since Iv been away, 8am ha!!!
Park Tayrona is one of Colombias best know national parks. Its located along the coast and the attraction is the amazing hike through mango forest and across beaches. You can walk for about 3 hours in total with different stops along the way where you can stay the night if you wish. We decided to do the full 3 hour hike to the last stop, Cabo.

The amazing walk to Cabo

THANK GOD the weather had cleared up and the sun had come out! The trail was muddy but it would have been ten times worse and miserable if it had of been raining. My boots got well and truly broken in but when we arrived at Cabo we discovered that the mud and sweat (and the 45 min accidental de tour we took through mango swamp) was all worth it.

Cabo beach is beautiful. After being at San Blas we all now that Im now very hard to please when it comes to beaches but this was niiiiiiice. Cabo basically has three beaches, a very small one, a medium size one that would be the most popular and then  a larger one that requires a ten min walk to get to.

Cabo

Accomidation here is tents or hammocks... and there are two places where you can sleep. The frst is in a shack beside the tents, the second is on top of a tall raised stone island just beside the beach. As you can imagine everyone wants the 'on top' hammocks as they are know. Unfortunatly the first night we got there these were gone so we opted for the lower ones. After our long walk it was amazing to jump in the sea and cool down. Lunch was home made frm supplies we brought with us. Tuna in a can is now my bessie! The rest of the day was spent lazing on the beach, swimming and reading... Im not going to say home many books I managed to polish off while I was here because Il get slagged!!
At night everyone staying there goes to the small eating area, gets food, plays cards and has a few beers. Its not a mad party place, its very chilled and mellow and its usually an early night for most pople.

15/7

Ah hammock sleeping.... not the most comfortable thing in the world but it was a first for me so I enjoyed it! We had a visitor during the night, a random donkey decided to pay us a visit and stuck his head in a few of the hammocks, it was gas. You could just hear him walking around and everyone was like what the fuck is that!!!! GAS!

Up early and we ran to the reservations to put our names down for the high hammocks for our second and last night. Brekie was again home made, mammy Michelle had boiled some eggs so we got stuck into them. Basically a very chilled out day again but one in which we learnt a valuable lesson.... DO NOT SIT UNDER COCONUT TREES! Lying there chatting away and next thing THUMP a coconut lands right beside Michelles head. Neadless to saw we pushed our towles down towards the water a bit.
At lunch we found out we had got a spot in the high hammocks so we moved our stuff over..... it was amazing. You have to cross a river/stream to get there and basically hike up to the top where there is a circle of hammocks and a fantastic view. More beach, more swimming, more cards, reading and eating and it was bed time

The high tower

.

16/7

Oh lord was last night COLD!!! I was well wrapped up but it was freezing up there. Still it was pretty cool. We were up early again, that tends to happen when you sleep outside and sunrise is your alarm clock!! We decided to head off straight away to try and avoid walking during the hottest part of the day. The walk back was just as muddy as the one there but enjoyable. We made it back to Casa Filipe in Taganga for around 3ish which was good going. I woud defo recommend  to anyone who goes to Taganga to do the park, it was a great few days.

That evening I planned my next move (which would be to Medellin the following day) and had filet mignon with a blue cheese sauce for dinner cooked by the Michelin chef

...... sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure Im not dreaming.

Nom Nom Colombia

I love my food. Eating is defo one of my favourite things to do and I especially love trying new things. While I havnt eaten anything too mad (yet) I have tried the local cusine which I have found to be delicious (see below).

Ceviche

This dish is called Ceviche. Basically its raw fish  marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers. I love this! Its usually serverd with salad and crackers and can be picked up for a couple of dollars.



Zumo



Fresh fruit is everywhere in Colombia. You name it they got it. The lady in this pic made me a delicious fruit mix with ice nicer than any smoothie Iv ever had at home. When I do settle myself down somewhere my first purchase will be a blender!

Now this is thee typical Colombian dish. Red snapper, coconut rice, fried plantain & salad. The fish will be served with all its bones, head and tail still intact! With a squeeze of lime juice this makes for a great dinner. (Actually now that I think about it lime is served with everything, I have yet to see a lemon in S.A)

Aguadient.... the local spirit. Its a very wattered down version of Sambuca. Its not actually that bad. You buy a bottle and sit it on ice at the table. Then every now abd then between beers you take a shot followed by a slice of lime if you want. Not my favourite but its ok.

Beans beans good for you heart..... Black beans, they may not look the best but a black bean stew with a bit of chorizo thrown in tastes yummy and will fill you up!



Random Thoughts

1. Who wants to be a millionaire?
I do and in Colombia I am!! The currency is Colombian Pesos $1 = 2000COP

2. Apologies I should explain...
I have used the term 'Gringo' a good bit. A Gringo is basically a whit person in Latin America! And the 'Gringo trail' is the route that most tourists take through SA.

3. Me, Myself & I
Travelling alone has its pros and cons but the pros defo outweigh the cons. I get to do what I want when I want, Im looking after myself and no one else, it forces me to get out there, to talk to people and in turn leads to an amazing travel experience.

4. Food
I love it and Iv been eating some really delicious local cusine. When I get a second I plan on doing a section documenting the weird and wonderful foods that I have tried.

5. The wheels on the bus
I have my fist mega bus journey ahead of me tonight 16 hours..... Euwww

6. Mozzies
Feckin mozzies LOVE me. At present I have two bites on my neck, 3 on my feckin face and countless others. They are the bane of my life at the moment!

Cartagena, Colombia

Im sitting in 34c heat, Im sweating, I have a tiny bit of sunburn on the back of my legs, and Im facing a 19 hour night bus later on.... All I want to do right now is lie in a hammock, read my book and drink my CocaCola. I am not in the mood to write BUT blog calls and I need to catch up or else I will have loads to write and it will never get done!!

So far my preception of the places I have been has been very different to the reality, and Cartagena, Colombia was no different. I expected a tiny, old fashioned fishing village but instead, as we sailed into the bay, I was greeted by a high rise, modern city. I will admit I was a little dissapointed. However over the next few days of my stay there Cartagena redeemed itself.

We arrived at sunset on Thursday (7/7). I had managed to hold it together and not get sea sick so I was pretty happy with myself. As we arrived late we were not in time to get our passports stamped that day so we had to stay one more night on the boat. However Tony said he would take us all over to the main land for dinner. So technically we illegally set off for dinner! I unfortunatly wasnt able to eat much. I had gotten so used to the boat that when I sat down at the table to eat everything was still swaying and moving about and the weird tiredness that had taken over our bodies on the trip was still there. We were all glad to get back to the boat and to bed!

(8/7)

Our passports were taken over to the immigration office early in the morning and by 12 noon we had them back and stamped with no hassle and no fuss which was great. And so it was time to say goodbye to all my fellow boat crew and make my own way once again.

After hopping into a taxi I quickly found my hostel which was loacted in the 'old town'.  I was only in the door of the hostel when I met Lauren, a spanish teacher from Kentucky who became my buddy and spanish teacher for the next few days. Afer grabing a quick bit of lunch (pizza slice and a beer all for $3) we headed off to explore the city. The Old Town can only be described as beautiful. High stone walls, old colonial buildings, many cobbled squares and streets lined with artists and traders selling their goods. After a walk around the heat started to get unbearable, it can easily reach 37c here between 12 and 2, a heat that no Irish person would be able to handle! Luckly Cartagena has many museums with air con that we could take refuge in. So we headed to the Museum of Modern Art which was a nice walk around for an hour.

My hostel

Dinner was the next duty of the day, and so after an amazing cold shower and a quick change we headed off  for some grub. There are vast amounts of restraunts in the old town, we choose to be real tourists and sit outside in one of the main squares facing the town church. After dinner, well dancing of course and what better dance to do than the Colombian salsa! I didnt know how tricky salsa was but I think I got the hang of it. Fidels is the local salsa club and it was the very early hours of the morning before we got home!

9/7

A nice lie in today after last nights antics and then up to do more sightseeing! Today we hit The Inquisition Museum, again the lure of air con was what drew me here. After that it was Musseo del Ori Zenu, a gold museum, showing artifacts from as far back as 300BC. And finally we went to San Felipe de Barajas, an old fort. Pretty cool, full of underground tunnels to play in.

Here we bumped into Lynda, a crazy lady from Vancouver and arranged to meet here for some more salsa later that night. One place everyone said we had to go to was Cafe Del Mar. This is a bar set on the wall of the old town facing the ocean and is thee place to go to watch the sunset. So we spent the evening sipping cocktails, watching the sunset while Lauren gave me Spanish lessons. Perfect. We met Lynda later that night and it was another late one. I was introduced to the local drink called Aguadient (agua-dent-a), a slightly toned down version of Sambuca... so another late one to say the least!

10/7

Tourist day again today but this time we were going to the beach!! Playa Blanca is a 50 min boat ride from the old town. On the way there we passed the Rosario Islands which is the playground to the rich and famous of Colombia. The president has a house here and we wre also shown Pablo Escobars former summer house. I was very dissapointed by Playa Blanca. After being to San Blas my expectations of beaches have gone up a notch or two and I can only describe Playa Banca as the Donabate beach of Colombia!! There were hundreds of people on the beach, mostly Colombian holiday makers, it was noisy, crowded, and people were walking up and down selling you EVERYING under the sun. Maybe Im a slight hypocrite as I did buy a Mojito and a massage ha! The boat ride back from Playa Banca was a bit of craic, we got caught in a storm, got soaked and just about escaped with our lives.

11/7

Lauren left today and as I had been on the go for the past nine days I though it was a good day to do NOTHING. I took my book found shade under a tree in one of the squares and read for the day. Headed bake up to Cafe Del Mar again that eve for some more yummy cocktails with a few other from the hostel but I had an early night as I was up early the following morning to head off to my next destination.