My Paradise:)

The bus ride from Medellin to Salento was splendid. Just beautiful green hills and cute little towns to stop in. It's common that people will hop on the bus and sell foods and goods, which were usually pretty crappy, but on this ride a man got on with homemade popsicles flavored blackberry, dulce de leche, and coconut. Those eased my nausea which was nice, but it all came back after our first stop when we ordered 4 different kinds of breads made with cheese. About midway into our trip, an adorable little girl sat with her mom next to nick, and she did a great job of having my attention. Later as I noticed nick was trying to read and the little girl mummbled loudly some childhood songs, I asked Nick if he wanted to trade. It was lovely, sitting and talking with her mother, Aura Maria, who invited me to come and visit whenever I wanted. We told each other a lot about our lives, and it was lovely sharing those moments with her. Soon after, she encouraged me to ask where two other foreigners who sat a couple of rows in front of us were from. The one sitting in the isle turned and said Melbourne, and proceeded to talk to me and we shared a few travel stories. The conversation began to deepen after we began talking about the farms I was looking into going to and our interest in expanding through spirituality. We ended up talking for the rest of the bus ride, and he totally inspired me with his enthusiasm and excitement for life and traveling. He then passed along the name of the camping grounds they were headed to and we ended up meeting there. We would have no clue of the paradise we were in until the next morning, but that night we were greeted by a sweet Argentine from my favorite region of the world, Rio Negro. That night I was able to bond with a bunch of awesome architecture students from Manizales, a bigger city near by, Argentine and another young french guy, both who turned out to be volunteering at that moment. It worked out that the French guy, Hugo, would be leaving the next day and I would be able to take his vounteer position to have free stay! Can't deny that! So the next day we woke up on the top of a hill surrounded by valleys and mountains off in the distance covered in lush green trees and grass. That day we decided we would walk down to Finca Don Elias, a small coffee farm deep down in the valley where we got an awesome tour of the coffee harvest and roasting process. It was absolutely beautiful, and of course the three of us ask about the irrigation system only to drop our jaws when he explained that the rain is more than sufficient. At the end, we got to enjoy a fresh banana, the sweetest we'd ever had, avocado, and a cup of coffee roasted in a sautee pan right there on that little four hectare farm, and then ground up two feet away in some 100 year old grinder. When we returned, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, nearly walled with windows and beautiful views, working on a hair wrap and listening to Jack Johnson with the Argentine, Juan Manuel. He was making pizza for that night's dinner, which would be preceeded by an INCREDIBLE sunset with a bottle of wine, all about 10 feet from where our tent was set up :). Yes, now you can see why this was my paradise;  cool air, wine, mountains, lush greenery, INCREDIBLE wild flowers, and great people. The next day we would go on our horse back excursion, which was great, and it will always amazing me how horses can endure such rough rocky terrain with someone on their back... we stopped at a water fall where I was prepared with a swim suit and first to get in. Our guide however wasn't going to allow that nick leave without getting in in his little underwear, and our guide did exactly the same with him! Then Sarah came running in afterwards to join us in the 55 degree water! After the horse back riding, that night was a night for Mexican food!  And I'll tell you right now, it was better than ANY I've had in Texas. The women they have hired to cook and clean here have a gift for cooking, handmade flour tortillas, red beans cooked with garlic and cilantro, pico de gallo, AWESOME guacamole, white rice, chicken sauteed in fresh tomatoes, and beef fajita meet. But man, those tortillas. Oh, and Sarah and I got to treat everyone with fresh squeezed lime and passionfruit margaritas!!! We were thanked that night by many :). Those two dinner were magnificent, the kitchen was filled with some 15 or 20 travelers up in the mountains with dim candlelight and lots of laughter and love. It was great. Oh, not to mention, the moon has been huge and nearly full for the time we have been here! So, day three was our day to go to Valle de Cocora ,which turned out to a be a breath taking, not only for the beauty but also the steep inclines ;), 5 hour hike. It reminded me a lot of my time in the mountains of Argentina. We headed into town afterwards to get some great food for just 4 dollars a person which consisted of either chicken or trout (fresh from the region :):):) ), then vegetables, potatoes or beans, with a side of rice, salad, fried plantains, and some deeeelicious fried bread thing. This was the best meal I have had in Colombia, and one thing we decided was so great about Colombia, is the set meals with very few options...we often take this for granted but it truly does make life a bit easier. At the end of day three, it was time to say farewell to Nick :(, and off he went. Today, Thursday, Sarah and I have been super lazy, just hanging around and doing some gardening, catching up the blog, etc. But, we did pick a huge zuchini and sauteed it with some onion, garlic, and green beans, which has been the highlight of the day topped off with a brownie drenched in fresh milk from the cows on the property....Yes, this is the life we are living, and it is a blessing! Now, I'm still on a hunt/debate on whether or not I am ready to purchase a guitar to take around with me...

Cleanliness at last!

We arrived in Medellin from Cartagena, a more modern city that sits southwest of Bogota. We were immediately impressed by the climate change, much cooler than the coast! After walking around the hostal area for a while, we finally came across one that wasn't too expensive and had a very nice environment, and more imporantly, a guitar (Casa Kiwi, which I would later find out was owned by a guy from Seattle)! The city was nice, and we had pizza and enjoyed walking around the Zona Rosa area, seeing some rain, and also getting to know some other foreigners, particularly two Aussie's who we shared our room with. However, the friday night in Medellin did little to impress us. We ended up walking all around with a group from the hostal, and splitting off from them to get a solid 30 minutes of the three of us dancing like idiots to bad music. But hey, you got to enjoy what you can get! The next day we planned to go into town and see the botanical gardens, which was a strange sight with carnaval like foods for what turned out to be a "cultural celebration". However, there was a restaurant, and outside were some 20 raised garden beds filled with basils, cilantro, onions, carrots, parsley, cauliflor, cabbage, and more! It made me so happy, and sarah and I began a harvest, even though it is probably not allowed...After that, we planned to go to a local soccer game! Yay! Medellin vs. Bogota. It was great, the first half was lovely, great weather, great crowd. It is common for passionate fans to go to the game and sit on the south side of the stadium, and they call themselves "Los Del Sur". And it's a good thing, because they don't just watch the game, in fact, they don't at all, they just jump up and down, singing and chanting songs along with a huge drum and some horn players. So yes, Medellin in fact does have  a cheerleading squad of some 2,000 people! It was nuts, entertaining, and quite hilarious. So, we really enjoyed the first half, and probably two minutes in to the second, the rain began to come down, but of course us prepared Americans had our rain coats while everyone else began scrambling to buy plastic panchos. The funniest thing was that those selling the ponchos often didn't wear them...so a man completely soaked was selling panchos...another irony. Soon the field was so soaked the ball couldn't even be kicked more than 15 feet, so they postponed the game and we headed home. There, we cooked one of the best egg scrambles with avocado and tomato and other goodies that reminded me of home. And off to the coffee country the next day!

Spain in Colombia? And some scaaaary bug bites!

We arrived to Cartagena in the evening and got to the hostal area of town where we left our bags with nick at a bar so Sarah and I could go find a place. We found the spot, then went to have our first tacos in Colombia, delicious and only ten dollars for six! There were also humungous Chilean empanadas for two dollars nearby which we enjoyed, all of it with lots of salsa of course! The next morning we went into the older part of town which literally looked like Spain cut out and pasted on the coast of Colombia. It was beautiful, with balconies above the streets with lots of flowers hanging off. By this time, Sarah's bug bites were bubbled up and truly infected, it was clear her body was doing some serious fighting! Within 10 minutes of being in the town, a man came up and immediately directed her to the drogueria to get some strange astringent because calimine lotion wasn't cutting it! We walked around the colonial area all day and then went to find a nice place to eat. I saw a van in the plaza near the restaurant that said Argentina a Alaska, aprendiendo a viajar. I went to chat with a guy and his girlfriend who were artisans coming up from Argentina in this van, selling their fused glass jewelry, which i couldn't believe they carried the massive oven for it in the car, and were making there way up to Alaska. Very inspiring and sweet people, offering me connections and their email in case i needed them at any moment. Sarah and Nick had to fill me in when I came to find them after chatting with my friends that they got some of the scariest looks while relaxing the plaza for Sarah's God-awful wounds on her legs. We decided that everyone must be assuming that she had arrived to South America to introduce the PLAGUE....duh duh duuuuuh, and that's how the world would end. One day being enough for us, we headed back to the hostel to get a bus to the terminal to get on our way to Medellin. But first, we had to get some food for the overnight bus ride, and luckily we came across some of the GREATEST indian food! And of course, I was ecstatic to have a meal with just vegetables since meat seems to be the main component of my diet here... What a bus ride we were in for to get to that terminal. Us three with our packs waited at the bus stop when one approached that was pretty much full, but with my rough estimation, I knew we could squish in and the driver and his assistant agreed. We hopped on the hot bus decorated in neon red lights, tassled curtains, and loud cumbia music. Within 5 minutes I was dripping sweat, thankful I hadn't showered, and I somehow got nestled towards the front of the bus right behind the driver. Things were getting heavy with my pack and the sharp breaking and turning of the bus, but I was entertained by the oddity of it all, especially the communication between the driver and his assistant who hung far out of the entryway of the bus, particularly how the driver couldn't see anything around the bus nor the front of back doorways of it. Just my luck, two guys that were sitting up front with the driver had to get off, so my pack and I each got a seat :), but I did feel guilty for Sarah and Nick still wobbling around top heavy towards the back. I chatted with the driver temporarily about the busses of the city, because I couldn't imagine that our elaborately decorated bus could be city owned. And in fact it wasn't, aside from city busses, people buy their own busses and run it all on their own, which explains why they were in for stuffing as many people on it as possible! Anyways, we arrived to the terminal after all where I insisted on cheaper tickets than what was initially offered. Although it was sketchy and I felt that we were maybe being scammed or that the bus would leave without us, it all worked out, and we saved about 12 dollars each on the ride! Another money saver on transportation to use on an expensive meal later!!!

Taganga Round 2

So we came back to Taganga and wanted to spend way less than before, so I caught us between two places that were next door to each other, and by this time I had gotten pretty good at bartering. So we settled in this someone spanish style hostal that was really old and all open air inside which was really lovely. Oh, and our shower looked out into the mountains!!! That's what sold me to the place! So we knew we wanted to go back to Pachamama, the bar we had gone to earlier with two for one coctails that were sooooo awesome. After, we finally got to cook ourselves a meal with some real protein, an egg scramble with plenty of veggies and fruit, all for some five dollars! I was really happy to go back to Taganga for one night just to reconnect with all the artesanos, which I did! I went down to the beach and we all played music for a couple of hours. I got myself into a sweet conversation with a Chilean, and we later agreed to meet in Chile in December to go trekking in the mountains. He was very sweet and walked me home and then the next morning I got to make my first smoothie with Granadilla (a strange but delicious local fruit) and spirulina!!!! We were planning to head to Cartagena next, which worked out great because right when we walked into the terminal, there was a bus leaving in 5 minutes! We had great luck with the lack of terminal time so far!

Introduction to Colombian bus rides...

Well, we got the best damn bus driver in town, let me tell you he had NO fear of passing down two lane curvy road all through what I had expected Colombia to look like. Green hilly terrain just lush with flowers and healthy grass, much different than Texas right now! But man, we sat in the back of the bus, and I think we all thought we had eaten bad food, but definitely felt relief after stepping out of that miniature bus. However, I definitely realized I am a heavy sleeper, which was strongly confirmed by Sarah, because I would wake up from 30 minute naps with my head bobbing all over the place and my hair down in my face...haha! I never thought i was such a strong sleeper at home! We arrived to San Gil and took a taxi out to a hostal campestre they call them, or hostals with a backyard essentially where you can pay less to camp. So yea, we camped down by the river looking uphill to the hostal resort and swam in the pool, brushed our teeth in the bathroom, took a shower....Sarah said it was perfect, just like camping in the back yard...haha. The next day, we got to see some real Colombia beauty after standing on the side of the road waiting for about twenty minutes to catch a bus out to some Cascadas or waterfalls we had heard about. Finally, right as the bus passed us, we realized it was that one and waved it down until it stopped about a hundred yards passed us, so we sprinted up with our big floppy hats...oh how fun it is to be a tourist. We squished in this tiny bus with a bunch of locals, one who was pissed that the driver stopped for us because he was already late for work, and then arrived out at a BEAUTIFUL little hacienda looking hut where we paid about two dollars to hike some 20 minutes up to a beauitful water fall where we spent most of the day. Then we headed into town and ate some really delicious empanadas, drank some beer, and had some decilicious little sweet cornbread specialties of colombian street food wrapped in banana leafs called mantecado. The little cafe where we ate the empanadas began a trend of ours throughout the trip, our obsession with the salsa. We were lacking salsa and special sauces with our food, and when we entered that cafe, we only wanted a little snack because we'd heard about a great place with cheap food to go to later, but the empanadas were so great, then it began to rain, so we got more and some beer with them. But, even after the empanadas were gone, which we had already doused in salsa, Nick and I simply continued eating the salsa by spoon full, always checking to make sure our server didn't catch us...I am confident that no food server in Colombia could estimate the amount of salsa that the three of us need in one sitting because we ALWAYS return for fourths and fifths! That night, we headed to the bus terminal just in time, really within 5 minutes, of the last bus headed up to Tanganga, where I write you from right now!

Ohhh the sweet Carribean

We woke up in Taganga and went and had an absolutely delicious breakfast of eggs and arepas (corn cakes) with a specialty organic cocao bar in warm milk (hot chocolate) and got stuck at the quaint little hut where an artisana displayed all her feather earrings and beautiful wire work while a rainstorm came through. It was a beautiful hard rain, and the hut started leaking, I really felt as though I was in Jamaica or something as Bob Marley played from the old school boom box they had. I was watching the rain and a dark skinned local looking guy asked me what my tatoo meant, which I then explained to him and somehow our conversation continued on, carrying lots of heavy and deep topics about what we search for in life and how we do it. It was such a beautiful time shared with him and went very well with the release of the rain from the sky. After some thirty minute chat, the clouds had cleared, we exchanged contact information and the three of us headed back the hostal to get on our way to the national park. What an adventure there too, because we bussed to the main city where the bus out to the jungle leaves from, and literally the roads were flooded like rivers, but everything went smoothly. We began a beautiful drive out through the mountainous rainforest on a road lined by eco hotels, little huts, cows roaming, and locals sitting out on their front porches of little quaint houses. It was absolutely lovely. We arrived to the park and walked in the heavy humidity for about an hour and a half until we arrived to our camp ground. There we chose a spot closest to the beach, a sweet little nook where we set up the tent and hung our hammock and could wake up to see the sun rise over the ocean waves. We arrived in the late afternoon just in time to set up and watch a beautiful sunset. The men who took care of the camp grounds were super sweet, constantly offering us coconuts that fell all over the ground there and assuring us to ask for anything we needed. Unfortunately, Nick wasn´t feeling very well the next day so Sarah and I went walking to the series of beaches there, so thrilled by the cool, clear blue water and decent size waves. Something we did get used to while there was falling asleep within the hour after the sun set (sadly, like 8 PM) and waking up soon after the sun rise (7 AM).  That same day, I had spoken with a really attractive darker skinned guy in his mid twenties who came with this Roman, airbrushed looking body, with a funky beard who ended up being Israeli. I told them where we were camping and that it was the cheapest place around, but at sunset I saw them off in the distance sitting on an enormous cliff/rock out on the beach. I walked some 15 minutes to go see what they were up to, and ended up chatting with them before the Police came and yelled at us to get off the rock. Later, the police also made them pack up their make shift camp spot and go find a designated camping ground, and that´s why we woke up with some new camping neighbors the next morning! For day three, we planned on headed to El Pueblito, an old ruins of the indigenous Tayrona people, a hike that you can do on your own, but  we were presented with an opportunity to have a guide, quite a funny one in fact. Even if all his stories and info about the ruins was fake, we got some 7 hours of histerical laughter out of him, and a long and spontaneous adventure. The friend I had made earlier ended up actually being a local of the area but hadn´t been to Tayrona since he was very young, so he wanted to know if he and his Israeli friend could join us. So us five and our guide began our journey, mind you that the Israeli could hardly speak spanish, the Colombia guy could only speak spanish, and obviously Sarah and nick spoke english too, so I would be trying to translate what this crazy jungle man guide was saying. He walks with no shirt, and really had a monkey like posture as he raved about a triathalon, the first one ever in the park, that he is planning in December, which he later invited me to participate in...hahaha! Before we began the hike though, we stopped to get an arepa con juevo from a little stand where a woman would plop a raw egg into a corn cake pouch and fry it until the egg was cooked! So delicious, and plus, our favorite thing to do was to drench it in salsa! So we´re walking along the windy path between the jungle and the ocean, and all of a sudden, he tells us to wait a moment as he moved ahead, then invited us to continue out to a flat rock that was bathing in the sun, where if you looked around you in all directions, there was only jungle. The most ridiculous part of all was the huge bag of marijuana he had out in the middle of the rock that he had cultivated from the jungle...The Israeli hadn´t even tapped in to what was going on as he just stared off in the distance, and finally when he looked down and saw it, he goes ¨OOHH COLOMBIA!!¨. So after that, we walked out, gave our crazy guide a minute to go stash all his goodies in a hiding spot, and we continued on up the mountain. Soon we came to a beautiful vista deeper in the jungle where you could see out the ocean. And there, we all got to try chewing on Coca leaves. It seemed like this tour was turning more into a drug exposition or something...Finally we arrived to the ruins after following the pathway of strategically placed stones and staircases laid down some three thousand years ago.  It was also neat on the way up to go down into the caverns beneath the pathway where wobbly stones above would alert whoever was below that people were walking across. We began the descent and some hour or so down, and unfortunately, the Israeli had earlier sprained his ankle and the pain was worsening for him. So, the three of us walked ahead while Javier, my Colombian friend stayed behind with the Israeli. As we were approaching the ocean (we only could tell by sound) we finally came across a community of monkeys!!! But, these monkeys were nuts! The one who we soon found out to be the leader of the pack followed us the entire way through the path, and ended up, with the help of a few others, moving along the canopy right above our heads strategically shaking branches so that things would   fall on us!!! I couldn´t believe it, they wanted to make sure we got the hell out of their village. Still though, it was a wonderful 10 minutes sight to see some 100 monkeys coming out of the trees. Then, it was incredible that within 10 minutes, the green cave of jungle came to an end and opened up to a deserted beach with a seemingly infinite grey sky and some waves reaching up to 6 feet at the shore! It was a sense of freedom I have felt only a few times, where the wind cooled all the moisture on my face and body that came from the humid and still jungle.
By this time, the Israeli had badly sprained his ankle and was far behind with Javier, so we waited for them on the beach, and Cesar our guide rolled up yet another joint, I just couldn't believe how much this man smoked! Once they arrived, we continued because night would soon fall, and we still had a good hour and a half to walk through the jungle back to our camping ground. But by this time, the Israeli was really hurting, and we had to find him accomodations in a campsite that was closer than ours. After some 45 minutes of debating with him about how there were no horses that could take him on the trail in the dark where it was very rocky and muddy...i guess he just didn't understand that horses don't have night vision, he agreed to pay the extra fee and stay at the site. After leaving the Israeli at camp, the five of us continued to walk back on the trail with only two flash lights, avoiding thoughts of how much horse poop we stepped in and the luck we were having to not step on the trails of ants slaving away into the night. Despite our exhaustion and desire to just finally return, Cesar insisted on taking a break after the first portion of jungle trail that we trekked to roll yet another joint... and finally, we arrived back, exhausted from the day, and ready for some rest. The next day, with bug bites all over our legs and only a small amount of food left, we decided to have our one and only cooked meal after eating sugary peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola, little fruit, and raisins and nuts, before leaving the park. So after our rice, lentil, celery, and potato mixture, we began packing up our sweet little home and saying our goodbyes. We headed back to the entrance and hopped on the bus back to Taganga, were we ended up finding a place to stay for some 25 dollars less! But...you live and you learn!

Artesano pit stop

After some 11 hour bus ride, we came to Cienaga, and had a really goofy bus move around in the middle of a very dusty, roudy city with lots of street vendors and peddy cabbers and such. After trading busses twice, we were headed to Santa Marta with quite an entertaining bus assistant who would call out the destination and sing to all the girls in the street as he hung out of the bus entrance door. I began running my fingers through my matted hair from the bumpy bus ride and my sleeping head rubbing all over the chair, only to look over to Sarah and a Colombian guy next to her giggling as I looked cross-eyed at the nearly dreaded piece of hair I would pull to the front of my face.  Anyways, we finally arrived to Taganga after some 13 hours of bussing. It is a beauitful little beach town that has thousands of tourists and so locals here are always ecstatic when I can actually translate clearly, not only for my two buddies, but for others when necessary. So, we arrived to the cute hostal, and of course, my first translation has to do with the managment and some drunk idiot foreigner because they were demanding he pay a fine for having jumped in the pool at 6 am while it was being treated, and he refused, ended up jumping off the balcony of his room and running away without paying....Anyways, I then met a very very sweet Argentine from Salta, the northern region, who invited us to come hang out where he is camping tonight. In the next couple of days we will be heading to Parque Tayrona, where some of the most beautiful beaches of Colombia are, SO EXCITED!!! I am quite tired of writing, but all I can say is that I am learning every day to fall in love with what is being offered to me, to let go of my expectations of what something should be worth, or be upset with what I´m getting for what I payed, and learning that it is ALL part of the adventure. There has not been one dull moment here, and I look forward to my journeys ahead. sooooo much love to you all, I hope it will rain soon!
Continued...
So I left on the note of being invited to go hang out at a different hostal in Taganga where lots of the vagabond type artesanos stay, some for up to 3 months some for shorter amounts of time, but most importantly, I knew there would be a guitar there! So we went down to the extremely limited grocery store of Taganga to stock up on supplies for our next adventure to Tayrona National Park, and get beer for the night. But of course, on our way walking to our friend´s hostal, we found a super sweet little hut/bar that had 2 for 1 drinks, and drinks they were! The best I had ever had, so we got some ginger mojitos with fresh mint and ginger, margaritas de maracuy (a local fruit), and blackberry daquiris for 3 dollars a piece, yummmmy :).  That hostal had a much less touristy vibe than ours which i liked immediately. We went and spent some time there were we met some 5 or 6 Argentines which was really nice for me. One girl named Paz from Buenos Aires was really sweet and in awe of how much I spoke like a Portena (someone from Buenos Aires). We stayed there for a while then decided to head down to where the artesans hang out on the main road to ask the guitar owner if we could play it. We ended up staying there for a while, watching a woman practicando la tela (an art of arranging silk ropes that hang from a tree in certain folds and directions to keep you suspended in different positions).It was so wonderful to be present in this artsy community, all i felt that I was lacking was my hula hoop...It was also very interesting to be spending time with people who live with such little money but so much enthusiasm and life. Nick and Sarah headed home and I returned to spend some more time with the wide array of young artesans from all over south america, teaching them the little bit of Acro Yoga I know and in return getting a quick lesson on the silks. We headed up to their hostal afterwards, where I played some songs that no one could understand, which was GREAT! I never realized how fun it is to sing when no one can understand you...After I finished playing, I made eye contact with a guy lying in a hammock across the way, one who had come busking for donations playing his cumbia tunes on his little classical guitar at the hut restaurant next to the beach where we had eaten earlier that day. Within fifteen minutes of talking, he was stroking my hand telling me about how he had been awoken by an angel singing and that he was totally ¨enamorado de mi¨ or in love with me, haha! So I grinned as this silly latino was attempting to convince me to stay with him. However, he sweetly walked me back to my hostal and the following morning we headed to Parque Tayrona.

Up, up and away!!!

So what an adventure, and only five days in...I left Austin on quite a beautiful note, having had brunch with the most important people in my life at Blue Dalia which was absolutely essential, but to top that off, my final landing place in Austin was at the capital to listen to some 300 ohms radiating about the building! Yes, many of whom were people I would have never seen otherwise! After a day of blissful tears, laughter, and love, I left that afternoon at 4:00 with my traveling buddies Sarah and Nick. So, we headed to Dallas to stay the night and were up by 3:45 the next morning to make it to the airport. There, of course I would only find troubles with Spirit airlines who eventually scammed me into buying a return ticket because "colombia would probaby not let me in" with a one way ticket. Anyways, I got that worked out in the long run. The flights went smoothly and cut verrry close on time, which seemed pretty normal when watching all the Spirit airline employees as we were already delayed 20 minutes with only a 30 minute layover in Florida...So, the question really is, have you ever seen a plane sponsored by Cartoon Network? Because this one was! It was hilarious, covered in CN logos and Tazmanian devil, silvester and tweety pictures...too funny.

So we land in the crazed city of Bogota, which I guess you could say is nestled in the highlands of Colombia, but that just doesn´t sound right once you see it´s immensity from a chapel (monserrat or something like that) which lies at the top of a large mountain above the city. Our first afternoon we spent getting aquainted with our Couch Surfing host and his girlfriend, and their 3 month old white fluffy husky looking pup, who had a nice high rise apartment at the north end of town. Then we visited around a bit more ritsy area of northern bogota, getting some plantain dishes, yuuum, beer, and finished off the night eating out of this little local authentic japonese restaurant. Yes...as you can see, our trip has had some days completely centered on eating. Day two we went into town and walked around Candelaria, a very cute older part of town near down town and a lot of universities, so there is a large youth culture there. We got to see some of them juggling, doing acrobatics and hanging from Silks, then we proceeded to go up to the chapel to the appauling lookout of the massive city. One of the funniest moments was upon our return from downtown that day, on a bus packed full of people, we rode home and were coming near to our stop. Bogota has an above ground metro system for public transportation, so the busses pull up to these stations and you step off into the station, much like a subway. But, I had noticed earlier the danger of the space between the bus and the station being JUST large enough for a foot to fall right through. So of course, when I least expect it, our stop comes and the 3 of us are some five feet from the door, except ahead of us lies people as tightly packed together as a can of sardines. So I start trying to push through as the doors open, and eventually have to send all my weight forward to push the people out the way, saying "Tenemos que bajar!!" or "we have to get off!!" I think the only reason we were able to get off the bus that day, was just as i reached the sliding door, what do you know my foot falls straight down the gap and I´m leaning on my side, laughing hysterically looking up at Sarah as all the people move apart, some sympathetic women grunting "que peligro..." or "what a danger..." Anyways, my clumsy fall is what allowed us to arrive home without having to do any turn arounds and gave us a greeeat kick for the day. We went home to cook dinner and pack our bags to head out the next morning for the North, to a small town called San Gil. Never thought that bus ride would be so exhilerating...we took the public trans with all our heavy packs, goofy as you can imagine, to arrive to this strange set up of a bus stop to get on a bus headed north.