There are pink striped girl’s pajama pants on the floor of the bathroom. I really can only image why.
Bogota mornings are cold. Colder than any I think I have seen so far. I didn’t bother to take off my underarmor or undershirt until some time after I arrived at the Platypus Hostel. The Platypus is pretty nice and has a number of people here, ranging from this pretty severely homeless looking French guy who actually lives in the dorm here full time, to a hardened New York girl who is only here for 4 days.
Dallas is from Australia. Dallas and I are off in search of the Museum of the National Police. There is a problem in some of the dodgy areas of Bogota that men dress up as fake policemen and harass tourists and elicit money as bribes, etc. Dallas and I are staying in a marginally low rent district. Dallas and I are approached in the street by two very young looking policemen.
After some mangled Spanish and confused looks, one of them invites us (in English) to go to the Police Museum; the place we were headed in the first place. Luck of lucks, We get an escort to the museum and a fantastic English speaking guide named Jason. Jason was a member of the Jungle branch of the National Police that went through the FARC controlled jungle areas of Colombia hunting Guerrillas. Jason was in the jungle for about a year before they found out he could speak English and transferred him to the Museum. Jason enlisted when he was 18. Jason is 22.
The museum is relatively cool, but the highlight is definitely getting to play with all the exhibits. This museum would be nowhere near as much fun in the USA.
Neither would the courthouse.
The Platypus hostel where I am staying is almost always full. Call ahead if you want to stay. If you don’t need wireless, this is all you could ever ask for. Jasper was supposed to show up today but I haven’t received a reply to my email or seen a sign of him.
Yesterday I emailed Jasper before taking off to see a little bit of the city and the gold museum. The gold was sure glittery, but it was the writing on the wall that stood out to me.
I’m starting to get a little antsy for more, new, and different. I love Colombia, but it’s getting time to move again. In looking online I found another Aires ticket; this time for $4. The taxes were about $40, but it is still worth the 9 hours of my life I will save by skipping the bus.
As I am planning to climb Monserrat with a number of pilgrims tomorrow as they make offerings or some such in the morning, I book the flight for the afternoon; 3 p.m Sunday. Here are a few pics from the city. I like it, and after some down time, Dallas and I go out to find a local hang out spot, a nearby plaza that fills with local youth and street perfomers at night. It’s election night, so I think it will be hopping.
It is rad, the place doesn’t disappoint and there is a New Yorker running a great coffee bar there that breaks the law and serves us some irish coffee while the country is on lockdown prohibition.
Morning comes a little later than I had anticipated, and I find out that the pilgrimage road, which is too dangerous to walk during the week, is actually closed from some rain damage, so I get to skip the whole “robber” aspect, and just take a cable car up the mountain with everyone.
Five of our intrepid band, including two other Americans, leave for the mountain. I immediately start harassing the locals, as I just happened to have a white bandana in my pocket, which just happened to be the uniform of the cafeteria workers at the top of the mountain. The girls were horrified and the manager was not amused.
Today, the gigantic fruit market in Bogota is also a gigantic flower market, when all the local flora growers bring their wares in to town to sell them off. This late in the day, it is a little less than spectacular, so if you are planning on going to this, go early to see the best and brightest. Public transportation busses are quite easy to catch. Look for the ones with the “P. Quemao” sign in the window; bus ride costs about $0.75 USD.
We did miss a lot of the flowers, but Dallas, I, and the rest of the crew buy up some fresh fruits and veggies to make lunch with and head back to the hostel, buying bread and pollo along the way. Halfway through lunch, Jasper shows up.
I have to leave to catch a plane soon, but it’s great to see a familiar face, so we take some time to catch up and I grab a taxi to the airport; which, by the way, is where all the famed beautiful Colombian women actually are… working at the airport.
The flight is fast and easy. When exiting the airport at Cali, grab the collective bus to the City bus terminal for about $2 USD. Then from there catch a taxi into town for around $3 USD. This will save you the $12+ USD fare for taxi from the airport to town.
Next stop: Iguana territory.