Thursday, April 22, 2010
BOGATA Capital of Columbia
BOGATA Capital of Columbia
For the most part this was a nice stay but getting pick pocketed on the 2nd last day left me feeling two ways about this amazing city of 8 million people. The people in Columbia are really nice but in a city like this there is a big gap between the rich and poor and you only have to go one street off the busy ones to see abject poverty and its no wonder that there is a lot of petty crime and we as westerners get targeted at times.
I was here for 5 nights staying at the Platypus Hostel. Its funny how the hostels using Aussie and Kiwi names appear to be popular all over the Latin American area. It was a very friendly crowd that got together for various things like going up to the lookout at Monserrate by funicular railway and then the next day organizing a group of 12 to go and experience South American Soccer. We were from Australia , South Africa , Canada , England and the US
We were walking through Bogata yesterday in light rain when I got hit in the face by what I thought was bird shit and a woman pointed up in the air and made to brush me off and when her and her friend were gone, so was my wallet. Worked out that she had wogged in my face somehow to distract me and then it happened. Realized 10 secs later but they were gone. They got about $250 and 2 bank debit cards so I had to cancel them and arrange for replacements. The South African friends, Sean and Tanja have lent me $250 which will take care of my bill here and get me up to New Orleans
I leave tonight to see the Jazz Festival so that will be a nice break from Spanish and then it will be back to Ecuador to continue with South America.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
MEDELLIN Columbia
The former base of the drug cartel headed by Pablo Escobar, this city is doing a great job of turning their reputation around with a very progressive local government. The Metro would be the envy of a lot of cities and makes transport around the sights a breeze. I stayed at the Astor Hotel right next to the Cathedral Square
SANTA MARTA Columbia
Just to the north of Cartagena is the pretty little town of Santa Marta which is basically the base for visiting the Tyrona National Park and the Sierra Nevada mountains which hid the recently discovered Pereida (lost city).I thought about the time I had available and decided to just spend the one day and night here and move on to the 2nd biggest city in Columbia, Medellin. Santa Marta village of Taganga Columbia
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