Colombia - Week One!

Well, there's no rest for the wicked! After the long wait in Lago Agrio, I eventually boarded the night bus to Tulcán. It was a fairly decent journey, except that I had to travel back across the mountains and so it was a bit bumpy. We also stopped for what seemed like an hour, while the driver hammered away at something under the bus. I have no idea why, but of course, I was then concerned that something was wrong. I kept looking out of the window and at one point saw us drive through a river; great, I was then worried about my backpack being soaked!

Once I arrived at Tulcán, it was a little before 7am and thankfully my backpack was absolutely fine! It had been a long 24 hours, and so I decided to make things easier for myself for a change and I took a taxi to the border. There I had to queue on the Ecuadorian side to gain an exit stamp. The Lonely Planet advises you to be prepared for thorough searches on both sides of this border crossing, but I was swiftly stamped out. I then had to walk over to the Colombian side and I realised that this was the first time that I have been across a land frontier completely on my own, i.e. without being on a tour or with other tourists. I felt rather damn cool walking over to Colombia, although if they decided not to let me in for some reason, I would be stranded in the middle!

I was stamped out of Ecuador at 7.45am. I was stamped into Colombia at 9.15. Now, "What was the delay?" I hear you ask. I would love to be able to give you an intriguing tale of searches and interrogations, but alas, no. There was simply no one behind the desks at immigration and everyone had to wait ages for an offical to appear. Once someone came, I was stamped in with no problems at all, no questions and no search! Easy peasy! I then took another taxi to the bus terminal in Ipiales, where I could take an onward connection to Popayán. The agreed fare was $3.50 and I asked if it would be possible to go via an ATM for the same price. Yes, no problem. It took a little while to actually find one that worked, and so I thought I should probably give the driver a little extra. However, he decided that he would personally accompany me into the terminal and help me buy a bus ticket. How helpful, and only for $5 (like I had a choice!) So, after all the travelling from Cuyabeno, I was then in a minibus for another 7 hours!!!

The ride to Popayán was great. The guy sat next to me broke his seat and then had to move, so for most of the journey I had more space. The scenery was stunning as we wound our way through the mountains. Once in Popayán, I took yet another taxi to my hostel and then set off in search of an internet café. It is a beautiful town, but every street looks the same, so it is really easy to get lost. Also, in Colombia, streets are numbered rather than named, so although that seems very logical, it is actually more difficult to remember where you should be going! I looked into taking a trip to San Agustin, but I found out that it would be yet another 8 hour journey to get there! I don't have much time in Colombia, and so at that point, I decided to abandon that idea. However, when I couldn't even find anywhere open for breakfast on Sunday morning, on the spur of the moment I got my things together and checked out of my hostel to accompany my new roommate, Vashek, to Tierradentro, another significant archaeological site.

So, I spent the majority of Sunday sat on a bus again! We arrived in the village of San Andres de Pisimbala in the afternoon, and our bags were pale beige from a thick coating of dust! We found a guesthouse, dropped off our belongings and headed out in search of food. After a cheap meal in a lovely little restaurant, the owner leonardo drew us a map of the Tierradentro area and recommended the route we should walk the next day, in order to see all the main sites. Afterwards, we walked around San Andres and saw a beautiful sunset in the valley.

On Monday, off we set to Tierradentro, about 20 minutes walk down the road. We first visited the on-site museums, before heading up the hill to the tombs. The culture that made these tombs is completely unique to Colombia and is only found in this area. It was a beautiful day, but I became tired very quickly. Well, it was hot, hilly, at high altitude... and I had travelled a hell of a lot over the past few days. Plus there were my moments of fraility in the jungle, so I think I had a good excuse! The tombs were interesting, but I must admit, once I had seen one, I felt like I had seen them all! In the end, I did visit most of the sites, but not the one highest up the hill - it seemed like a hell of a walk and I had a feeling that I'd not see anything different there. As it turns out I was right, as confirmed by Vashek who trekked all the way there!

Tomb of Tierradentro

Tombs visited, I was ready to leave San Andres as soon as possible and keep moving north. I hadn't planned on going to Bogotá so early in my visit, but after consulting my map, it made more sense to head there before the Zona Cafétera. I had been in touch with Ana (whose sister, Juliana, I had met on New Year's Eve in Sydney) and she had invited me to stay with her in Bogotá. Unfortunately, there was no internet connection in San Andres and so I couldn't let her know that I would be arriving early! Anyway, I got up while it was still dark on Tuesday morning to travel to La Plata, the nearest main town, where I could board a bus to the capital. At 5.30, a pickup truck arrived and my bag was strapped to the roof. I had to sit in the back, sheltered only from the elements by a tarpaulin. It was one of the most arduous journeys of my trip so far - 2½ hours of bumpy mountain roads at an obscenely early hour, hanging on to the metal bars of the truck, trying not to vomit. I also ended up covered in dust, just like my backpack and I have never seen a comb get so dirty as it did when I brushed my hair later that day!

Once in La Plata, a bus to Bogotá was due to leave within 15 minutes and so I did not hesitate to buy a ticket. The bus was exceptionally good and so I spent the next 8 hours (I KNOW, AGAIN!!!) in comfort. Once in the capital, a helpful girl in the tourist information office advised me how to get to a hostel that is recommended in the Lonely Planet - I thought it best to take a shower and give Ana some advance warbing of my arrival before meeting her for the first time! I then hopped on the minibus into the city centre that the girl had told me about, and then spent the journey trying to see where I was going on a map an fretting about how I would then disembark - the minibus soon became packed full and I had no idea how I would extract myself from it with all my bags!

After a while, I thought that I was roughly in the right area of the city and so I tried to get off. My goodness, it was interesting, I just had to shove my way out, all the while saying "¡Disculpe! ¡Permiso! ¡Lo siento!" It worked, even though I then got a bit jammed in the doorway! While I was then struggling with my map, trying to work out where I was, a helpful guy approached me and offered to show me to the hostel. My first thoughts were "Oh dear, is this a scam?" but I needn't have worried as it turned out that Jorge actually worked at the hostel! They had a bed available and I had a base for my first night! I was about to email Ana on Facebook, to let her know that I had arrived, when she popped up online. Ideal, as we were then able to chat and make arrangements to meet the following day.

On Wednesday morning, I got up early and headed to the Museo del Historia Policia where the really helpful police there gave me a free guided tour and explained all the exhibits. I then had time to visit an exhibition of Andy Warhol's works, again for free! That afternoon, I met Ana, and her friend Laura, and off we went to her house, where I was introduced to her lovely mother. It was great to be in a civilised environment again, and as I put my belongings into Juliana's old room, I felt really happy that I would have a few home comforts again, after all the time I have spent on buses and in hostels! That evening, we went to see the latest Harry Potter film, released that day that Ana and her family already had tickets for (YES!!) and it was a great end to a great day!

View of Bogotá

Yesterday, Ana & I went to Monserrate with her brother-in-law´s cousin, Jose. The view from the mountain over Bogotá was amazing, despite the rain that is so common in that part of the city. Then it was time to visit the Museo del Oro, which is extremely impressive, before a lovely dinner in Crepes & Waffles, with Laura and her friend Juliana (another one!) I am making a hell of a lot of new Colombian friends! Afterwards, we all headed to Marie Clara's apartment (that's Ana's oldest sister) for a game of Uno Spin, which I managed to join in despite all the instructions being in Spanish! Luckily for me, everyone speaks good English, so I've had no problems at all.

The gang now call me "Abuela" though, which means "Grandma", as I fell asleep mid-game and went to bed while the others partied on aguardiente all night... I had the last laugh though this morning, when I was as bright as a daisy and they all had hangovers! As a result, today has been a lazy day of relaxing, eating and photo-uploading! We did visit a mall earlier and I very naughtily ate three doughnuts, followed by two scoops of ice-cream! Whoops! It is going to be difficult to leave Bogotá as I have made some really good friends here and have been made to feel so welcome... but time is ticking and there are only 9 weeks of my great adventure left!!!