Short Bus to Bogota
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Day 114
The day had come where we decided it was time to move on from Salento. We decided to take an overnight bus to the capital, Bogota. So with one more day in Salento we decided to stay away from trout today, checkout the town a bit more and maybe do a short walk. We started the day off with our usual cereal breakfast and great free coffee at the hostel. We headed into town after that and strolled around the clean streets. On weekends Salento is a big destination for domestic tourists, so many of the shops were closed during the week. On our way back to the hostel we picked up some food so we could make our own dinner tonight. A rare treat, we found soy meat in one of the shops!
Truly this was a lazy day, we walked about 30 minutes to a stunning viewpoint of the valley below Salento. Its actually a local families house but apparently if you walk up and just tell them you want a picture they will open the gate. We walked up and kinds stood in front of the gate. “Hola, Buenos Tardes”, I figured someone might hear me. A man peaked out the window said hello and told us to enter. The view was great and Jordana and I had to laugh about the family just letting people onto their property to snap a few shots. In so many countries the family would be asking for a few dollars for the privilege, here all that was wanted was thanks.
We sat in hammocks, read and I tried to catch up on the blog. Yes I know I am behind, is anyone actually reading this anyways? Actually I know people are reading this thanks to Counterize statistics. I even know your IP addresses! Why are you all so silent? How about a comment or two? Tell me the blog is crap or praise me on my fabulous writing talent.
Right, sorry went off on a bit of a tangent there. So we enjoyed our last few hours of Plantation House and Salento, plus a great meal that Jordana whipped up. Then it was off to the centre square to catch a bus to Armenia, the regional centre with bus connections to the capital. We met Steph, a Dutch guy from Plantation House who was also headed to Bogota that night. We travelled together to Armenia than bargained for tickets on what I was told was the best bus company in Colombia. Before we left I wanted to make a call home as it was my dads birthday. Trying to say happy birthday on a mobile phone in a noisy bus station is frustrating. Its already tough enough to be away from home for this sort of occasions, it just makes it worse when its so tough to even talk. These calls, birthdays and such are what makes me miss home. You almost wish you could atleast be home that day and then be back on the trip. The other thing I thought off as we hung up the phone was that every traveller must have the same conversation with their parents when calling from Colombia. Its mostly them talking about how wonderful the country is. Than the parents telling them to be safe and wondering when you’ll finally be leaving Colombia.
It was time to board the bus, the three of us walk out and saw a half bus. Huh? Yep, we were on the short bus to Colombia. The trip was ok, not the most comfortable and surprisingly hot on the bus. Eventually someone asked the driver to crank the a/c. We climbed high into the mountains over the Quindio Pass, 3350 meters high. I couldn’t sleep, I just stared wide eyed out the window at the traffic and how our driver seemed possesed. It was as if he had to pass every car and truck in sight, didn’t matter is it was a completely blind corner.
We arrived safely in the morning darkness of Bogota. Already at 5am this city of 8 million was buzzing. We were surprised at the cool air as we stepped of the bus. At 2650 meters above sea level Bogota is a cool city. We quickly got a taxi into the La Candelaria neighbourhood of the city. A colonial area full of character. We found a nice room at the Avenida Jimenez and passed out on the bed immediately. Exploring the city would have to wait till after we finally get some sleep today.
Michael Coroneos