Parts of the Colombian psyche seem to be so organised even Liza is jealous! Cities are organised on a grid system with Calles going one way, Carreras going the other with a numbering system that makes getting lost absolutely impossible, (wife excepted). Every building is numbered so just by looking at it you can work out where you are in the entire city.
We spent three days in Bogota exploring the sites and avoiding the demonstrations taking place due to the ongoing strike by agricultural workers complaining about the new trade arrangement with the USA which will allow cheaper imports and raise the price of their fertilizers and other raw materials. The resultant road closures creating an issue that seems now to have abated, at least in the northern and central parts of the country which is our intended destination over the coming month.
Surrounded by mountains, often with churches on top Bogota has beautiful surroundings.
Bogota is the undisputed graffiti capital of the world, a title the residents seem very keen not to relinquish, it comes in all sorts and sizes and the tourist dollar not to be sneezed at has been quick to react with graffiti tours arranged, we may go on one if time permits on our return. This building seems to have been attacked by paint gun
More artistic efforts abound
While the general tagging is absolutely everywhere
This effort, which seems to rate its own street number was right opposite our hotel.
We caught a flight, the strike having stopped the bus, for the 40 min hop (6 hour bus) to Colombia's second city Medellin. Once renowned the world over as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, so renowned we know its name and through years of British press mispronunciation find it difficult to get it right. Pronounced Med-a-gin, it is now a fair beauty taking over a large flat valley surrounded by stunning mountains and home of the only public transport cable car I have ever come across.
We stayed with Sol and her daughter Nataly, the sister of Dur whom we met at the start of our travels in Vietnam. They really made us welcome and we really appreciated then showing us the city.
Up the cable car through the low rent housing, the car has made a real difference to the people living there as it is included in their metro public transport system, a ticket anywhere to anywhere is about 60p. We took full advantage and went right up, round and down again, just for the view!
Medellin still has it's poorer places but is getting richer quickly and this can be seen in the building work and pride people take in their city.
It is known as the city of eternal or everlasting spring due to its superb weather. It is always between about 13 and 28 degrees, not much warmer or colder. The rain also tends to arrive as thunderstorms so no constant drizzle here. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the locals have organised it such that the rain is scheduled to fall between 2 and 5 in the morning either, it seems the sort of thing the Colombians would do!
Nataly demonstrates the metros unique seating arrangements.
Medellins longer type park bench as demonstrated by the ladies
Sol and Nat outside the Medellin equivalent of the science museum, a stunning place with many hands on exhibits which to be honest put the science museum to shame. I took this photo through the orange thing in the pic below designed for the purpose, a neat idea to get the perspective of the writing on the pavement showing perfectly, a very neat idea.
The next day we hit the free, beautiful and well maintained botanical gardens.
Where this guy wandering freely had made home.
As had the odd butterfly in the butterfly house
For some reason we decided to give this particular hot dog stand a miss!
Especially as that evening we went out with Sol, Nat, as well as her brother Edwardo and mother Rose. A great time was hopefully had by all.
The next day we headed south into the coffee growing country around Medellin and are now in a town called Armenia.
On another weird note I have just noticed that all motorcycle riders have their bike registration number on their helmets. Am trying to think why and the only rational explanation I can think of is so that the police can reunite head with bike if they get decapitated! Does this mean if you have two bikes you have to have two helmets?
very enjoyable laugh-out-loud post thanks Andy. I'm not surprised that you're finding the language a challenge - it's all sounds so different to European spanish and the slang is even harder. Motorcycle riders actually wearing their helmets sounds like a novelty - in Argentina we're used to seeing them either without one, or with it on their arm (guaranteeing a broken arm in the smallest of knocks) or balanced on top of the head but not "on" it, if that makes sense... Enjoy and Lucas can't wait to see you again (we can, because we're going to be jealous :))
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