Colombian Gold Blend

My last few days in Brazil were spent in a colonial village 6 hours (236km) south of Rio called Paraty. Paraty has been inhabited since 1650 during the eighteenth-century Paraty was a staging post for the trade in Brazilian gold, today UNESCO considers the city one of the world’s most important examples of Portuguese colonial architecture. Paraty is known for its churches and of course its beaches, so I relaxed on the beach and hung out with a girl who was a spitting image of Jennifer Garner and a couple of Aussies from Melbourne who were super friendly and invited to me to anything they were doing just what travelling should be. Paraty is a great little town to relax in but other than that there is not much here to offer people looking to party or meet other people. I did have one big night out there where I hung out with some Chileans who actually praised me on my Spanish skills; yes they were a lot more drunk than me.

The travellers going to Paraty this was normally their second stop after they flew into Rio so I was bombarded with the usual questions where you from, where you been and how long are you travelling? Very repetitive!

I flew from the great metropolis Sao Paolo to Bogota. Just like Santiago this city is ringed in by mountains and suffers from every urban ill – poverty, gridlock traffic, crime and choking smog – this overcrowded city of 7.5 million suffers from it all in excess. I personally found it bland and boring and unfortunately I booked three nights thus I had to stay that long, this being 2.5 days too long. If you like churches and museums then this place would be your heaven but personally I have seen enough museums, churches, temples, sunsets and waterfalls to last me a life time.

There are only two road names in Bogota calle and carreras with a numbering system which would be great if they decided to actually put signs on the roads also the map given to me by the hostel was about as useful as Ann Frank’s karaoke machine so I found it very hard navigating. This difficulty I am sure put me in danger but seeing as I am pretty streetwise I was onto them and returned to the street with the police presence. I have found myself at altitude again and after sending my mittens and other winter items home I am cold, only French people at the hostel means I am lonely. Not a great time.

While I have that in your mind I am going to moan about the French, I mean what is the point in them actually travelling as they gravitate towards other French people for example chat to one on their own and they will respond but soon as they meet other French people they get a massive errection then never speak to you or just speak French even if you can not understand They are certainly upholding the reputation of being very rude. Another example is in my dorm in Bogota two French girls arrived and never said hello to me but continued to welcome non-British travellers, so I left something on the communal computer that my friend Fergal told me – ‘Going to war without France is like going deer hunting with out your accordion.’

I want to note that Mel who I spent time with in Brazil did not have any of the above characteristics.

I have found the Colombians in Bogota annoy me as when I try and communicate in Spanish I get laughed at which I can deal with even though I know I am saying the phrase right but what I cannot take is them laughing at me when I don’t understand their English which by the way was inaudible and considering I have travelled with Geordies makes it even worse. That day I spoke no more Spanish which was a breath of fresh air.

I am going to moan again, travelling on your own you rely on people to accept you into their groups and generally they do but then you meet a couple of stuck up wankers who just do not bother. I could tell instantly that the aforementioned were from Sydney guitar and surfboard in tow but it was painful to actually watch them when I spoke to them their faces retorted in the look of ‘do we have to actually speak to him’. On the other hand you meet people from Melbourne they are the complete opposite, I cant comment on travellers from Perth as they never seem to go abroad just WA and people from Darwin probably spend all their money on booze.

As soon as I could I left Bogota for Salento which took eleven hours on a bus with air conditioning but no windows which would have been ok if the AC was stronger than coma victim.

Salento is in the heart of coffee country, this quaint hamlet is one of the regions earliest settlements and its slow development has barley altered the oringianl lifestyle or buildings. Here I embarked on some more trekking and ventured into the high Colombian jungles where I maybe should not have been so eager to complete the 18k loop and instead do the smaller but pride got the better of me and I found myself coming down and my legs seizing up making it very difficult and the last five hundred meters were as if I were an old age pensioner. The trip commenced in Corora which contains a thick forest of wax palm, Colombia’s national plant that can grow up to sixty meters high. The altitude ranges from 2000m to 3170m and according to the guide books this cloud forest is home to the puma, spectacled bear, deer and toucans but do you ever see these animals? No. Trekking through I felt like Indiana Jones having to cross no less than 9 rickety wooden bridges that cross the Rio Quindio.

Alas I am on the bus again to another place, moving more than a gypsy.

No pics sorry.....