Visits in Bogota and around.

27.02.11

I convinced two canadian chpas fronm the hostel that Villa de Leyva was worth a visit. So I hopped on a bus as they left. Was nice to travel with a bot of company: but this was only a two day trip and we weren't goign any where else. In such conditions, any friendly company is fine.

Weather said it was meant to rain. it did poor the night we got there and the night we left. ITs a four hour bus trip out of Bogota and you get to see beautiful scenery all along the way.

Villa de LEyva is this old colonial city in the region of Boyaca. All the houses are white, and here too there's that weirs feeling of being in a Zorro film/ People here are very different from Bogota. To start with, we're in the middle of nowhere, so peope still wear ponchos. Actually here, they're made of wool and they're much thicker than the basic poncho. These are calles Ruanas. I bought two very pretty and unusual ones. HEre in colombia, they make me look like a local. Anywhere in europe, they would make me look like a tramp/

People visit Villa de LEyva for different reasons. The main one os probably for the village its self. But paleonthologists would probably find intereting to vist the fossil museum. there's this big huge dinosaur skeleton there. Something between a croc and a whale. very impressive. As a student in social sciences, i also found something for me. There's a place here with stone alignments. Somewhat like stone henge. They think it dates back from the same period. Third thing we saw was this strange house that shockingly resembles the one in the Flinstones. These are spread out in the country side. We rented bikes to get there: 4000pesos/hour. I'll let you look at the pictures...


The Plaza Mayor is meant to be one of the biggets of the country despite the village being so small



Arrggh!!! Gringos!!! Ahiii nooo! Son un Gringo y un Chino!!!




Country side around villa de LEyva. Locals are all selling their pieces of land to foreigners. landscape is similar to south of spain's, and its warm all year round, perfect place to retire. i reckon that it will be crouded with retired foreigners within 10 years, and the perfect place for tourists to have a quite stay inthe country.




This is the Flinstone house, two pics down, you're probably wonderring what i'm doing. well I thought since it was the Flinstone's house, that i'd be breaking stones. But you can't really tell since my arm disapears behind me...






The beast. It doesn;t look like much on this pictures, but I took some measurements: I could fit in its mouth, and it could swallow me without even biting me into pieces!!




This place is called the "Infernito" = the small hell/. It's an archeological site that - from what I understand - was used by women for some sort of fertility ceremony. Very interesing anthropological reference. Surprised its so unknown. Very impressive... I mean teh stones.



So I thought I'd have a go,.. just to pretend!



even bigger!




In the end, we stayed two days here. I went back to Bogota and got back just in time for my shift. The guyes went up to San Gil which will probably be on my itinerary on my next trip out of Bogota. For future reference: there are waterfalls in the area of Villa de LEyva. They're meant to be nteresting not only for the sightm but especially for the vegetation, and for the sorts of mushrooms that grow there... Something to try the next time!


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22.01.11 Bogota: the salt mines, but not just any!...

First visit around Bogota. I was with rwo couples fromn the hostel, and we went out for a day all together. Two americans and two autralians: we took the Transmilenio which is sort ofthe local tram system. Coz theres' no metro in this huge city. wonder if that isn't due to the place's topography. Tranmilenio is really nmodern: it feels like steping into a regional train cos it makes you go through a sort of sation galery first ; thats where you buy your ticket ; then you go and queue behid transparent doors in front of which those of the bus open when it arrives. So was 2 hours of that and it got us to a city called Zipaquira. It was a shiny old colonuial village where the Christmas tree was still up on the plazza mayor. 25 degrees. There, we asked our way around to get to the salt mines.

These aren't just any salt mines: they were already in use before the arrival of the first europeans. Its in the 50s that were perated major transformations: they turned the salt ines into a cathedral called "la catedral de sal" dedicated to la Senora del Rosario, patron of mine woorkers. The place is monumental: it takes you through hundreds of shiny tunnels in which crosses and alters were carved out of the rock and salt. It was full of tourists. The athmosphere was definitely noit suited to feel the mysticism this place must generate when visited alone and in silence. Also, I didn't feel like this place was built with as much devotion as might have been the old 16th century churches of Bogota city center. Anyway, it was certainly a must see, but I was more fascinated by the the visual effects of the salt than by the religious artefacts. I wonder if the Cathedral de Sal organises mass?!

work at the bar

Bogota. 14.02.11.

So, as you all know it by now, I don-t pay for rent here in Colombia. Instead, I was able to find a job as a bartender in a hostel... Some customers were kind enough to offer me these pictures...

Musicology bar at opening hour.


MAking mojito.

Its happy houirs, so you get two cocktails for the price of one.

I work here in teh evenings, and I get a bed and food in exchange. Quite a good deal and a lot of fun. I get a lot of info from travellers, and get to use my different languages quite frequently.

Bull Fighting

Bogota 13.02.11.



Since its the right season, I went with a friend from the hostel to see a bull fight today. What a show! I confess that it isnt easy to watch them kill the bulls. They still do it in a very traditional way here. It was very interesting though seeing how the people reacted to the Toreador-s stunts.

the rest of Bogota

Bogota. 11.02.11

I might as well throw in a few pictures on the rest of Bogota....

La bouffe

15.03.11


Everyday, I go out. Every time I go out, I come accross food I-d never tried before. So whenever I go out, I just spend my time eating. Here are a few of my latest discoveries.




Ceviche de Camaron. These are shrimps that they mix in a ketchup and vinigar mix. Lots of other things in the sauce. Not easy to make. They make it also with all sorts of fish. The whole idea is that the fish should be fresh and raw. It *cooks* when its mixed in with the vinigar and the lemon juice.





Oxfam organised some sort of a food fair in the center of Bogota, in Front of the presidential palace and the ssenate, Lots of interesting stuff to eat including soops and roasts of all sorts.

This is my favourit. Its called LECHONE. Its a roasted pig stuffed with rice, corn and potato. Yumi. 6000 pesos a portion that comes with a drink and an arepa

I found my favourit place to eat Arepa con queso. Strangely enough,m these are called arepas, but don-t have the shape nor the consistency. The cheese squeeses out of the sides when you bite into it, and it makes long strings when you pull at it. ITs the only proppeer cheese stuffed food Ive found here so far.



The brown cake on the left os BAnana cake., they really know how to cook their bananas here. BEst desert i-ve had here although coconut and milk pudding is good too.

Queso Paipa. This is the only matured cheese that Ive found so far. So this actually looks and tastes like cheese. Others have a line on the package that mentions *queso typo mozzarella*. It makes you guess to start with that its not mozzarella, and since it wouldnt have a name of its own, it even makes you wonder whether its actually cheese at all. Queso PAipa is the only proper one, and the only onem I buy. 9000 pesos for a whole one. People eat it with Boccadillo (Goyaba paste). Combunation is interesting: since the Boccadillo is a sort of sweet fruit gelly paste, its similar to they way they eat cheese in Corsica, except that the cheese it self is not as tasty.









This is the inside of a giant oven we foudn in Villa de Leyva. I could have stood in there and not even touch the top. There was beef cooking in there. It smelt so good we sat at a table for a meal. Excellent piece of meet!



BANDEJA PAISA. The typical country man-s meal in the area of Bogota. Its usually cooked and served on a flat dish amde of clay> something you see less often since they relised that there were hygene problems with the clay dishes. The *bandeja* always consists in rice, beans, and egg, fried platana, an arepa, porc scratchings, a piece of avocado, a sausage and either minst meat or a piece of steak. They-d give you so much in one helping that I got used to going for them with a friend, and we-d split one between the two of us/ Served with a fruit juice and an Ajiaco soop (chicken soup) - 9000 pesos

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Food.
This is probably one of my main interests when I travel. So i had to write a little something to show you all what you get around here. these are just pictures of stuff I'vebeen eating, and a few words of personal opinion about it. The descriptions will probably not be very relevant, so if you want to identify in more familiar terms what it was that I actually eat, you'd beter refer to wiki.

The streets are loaded with corner shops and peopel pushing char riots full of junk food. It's difficult to resist it all, especially since it sall so cheap and tasty.

HEre's quite a good selection of what you can find: most of this is fried or baked with meaty fillings..


These here are Bunelos. They're sort of like bread only they're deep fried. And they're really good though a bit dry if you don't cover it in aji sauce and Salsa Rosa.


This is just me happy to be eating.


Colombian coffee. it all produced here. It wasnt very tasty though. apparently, all the best is exported.


Tamales. The concept is vcery similar to our chinese rice things, coz these are rapped in bana leaves too. They contain rice, porc and egg like what we get, but these have also some potato, beef and chicken in them. Very tastym and one is enough to keep you goign all day. We get them for diner at the hostel every now and again.


Roasted pig. This stuff is sold int he streets, and the skin is particularly appreciated here too. its crispy and has a good thick layer of fat, It costs nearly 30 euro cents for a small portion of the skin. Good stuff.


A bog canteen sinilar to what you get in china. Food is very cheap and you can get all sorts of thing. i go there after school from time to time, to treat my self with a proper meal instead of my usual diet of junk food i find in the streets. I got used to sitting at the same stand, and they usually help me with a traditionnal fish soop or salad, a big plate of chips, rice, vegies and meat. It's very satisfying and costs only 5000COP or approx 2 euros.

This is just a poicture of me messing about in front of a freezer. We were ust thinking how unusual the girl of the picture was. Not that she looks strangem only that she-s not the sort of girl that you-d expect to find on an ice cream freezer. Don-t you think she be more suited for an advert for L-Oreal? Oh. and we also found it funny that they should have named her *Polet*

*Queso con Bocadillo*. Queso is cheese. What they have here, and its actally the only cheese they have / is similar to a bad mozzarella, with even less taste. IT can come salted and more or less fresh. In this case, it is sold in big chunks with a fruit paste called Bocadillo. Its in fact a Guava paste and you et it together with the cheese. Its special, but i quite liked it,. Every body eats cheese with bocadillo here. Its an interesting and subtle combination of sweet and salty. Couldnt eat it every dya though.

This portion cost me 2000cop, or 80 euro cents.

This is what a chinese restaurant looks like in Bogota. YEs it is really! If you look well at the back in the kitchen, there-s a man peeping from the top of the stairs, and he is asian! I was expecting there to be more asians around, in fact, there are some chinese in Bogota, but they-re all working in the kitchens, and just never seem to go out of their restaurants!

The fruit people are a speciy of street vendors. There many sorts of them, bnut hese are my favourite> theyre the cheapest, and definitely the healthiest coz they sell fruit and freshly pressed juices! Here, ;y ;ate buying an orange juice paid 1000 cop. A cup full of mango dices costs the same! you cn also get pineaplple, papaya and peaches! Mosty likely all the best i've ever had.

Arepa de mais con Chorizo. Chorizo here isn-t quite the same than what you get in spain. To start withm, chorizo here isnt spicyma nd it has to be cooked on the barbecue! They-re like any other bis smoked saucage, and you aparently can-t eat it raw. They-re not as tasty as the spanish ones., HEre, it came in a piece of bread clled AREPA. Its made with corn flour and always lacks a bit of salt in my opinion. But its the best sort of bred they have here. All the rest are soft spungy breads, and they add sugar to the dough or something. 1500cop

Several places here sell these dishes. It may look unhealthy, but its in fact a fruit salad. These things are delicious! Strawbery, apple, peaches, pineapple, coconut and a rasberry couli over it. Here in colombia, a salad is not associated to diet. So they add some ice cream to it, and something currious> they sprinkle it with mozzarella cheese!

08.02.11
More food!!!!

In this pic, i was walking past plaza bolivar, and i saw these two strange fellows who were selling what first looked like yoghourt, It ended up being so;e sort of sweet foam that had a similar flavour to mashmellow. couldnt finish it all. too sweet. but was an interesting experience. cost: 1000cop



Yeah this is what the stuff loooks like: they spoon it into a plastic cup, pour sirup over it and then you scoop it out.







A very cheap hotdog. They call them 'perro caliente' which is the litteral translation of what it means in english, there actually is a sausage in there, its covered under tasteless cheese and sauces of all kind. I think i had ketchup, mayo, honey and some sort of apple curd. wasnt very good. They do have better stuff here, but its often much more expensive. this was only 1500cop




OBLEAS> Now from what i underdstandm this is something specific to colombia, its a sort of crispy sweet and thin pancake that they cover with a whole load of interesting thing. First time i saw this, on my very first day, i saw they had cheese in a jar. I went for it. But then the price i was paying included a second ingredient, so i asked what she could advise, and i ended up with a layer of 'Dulce de leche', which is some sort of tophee paste...

Bogota: carreras; calles and transports

bogota is full of contrasts. one of the most striking must be in the architecture. There are areas that are very poor, and others that are extra rich. it goes From perfect brick pavements and tarmac to dry dusty tracks and roughly layed stones. The diofference between the two is obviou, and the poorer areas are not necessarily dangerous. You need to know your way around, and since I work at a bar where customers are essentially travellers, I get a lot of information, and i even find my self giving some advice.

Fortunately; there are lots of means of transports to get you anywhr ein the city and you can see most of it trhough window of a Colletivo if you won't risk a walk. But it turns out that Bogota is safe as long as you don't "dar la papaya"(litterally "give the papaya": basically means that you shouldn't show off objects that could be tempting to rob - but after all, that's a very basic rul when travelling). Taxxis are cheap too. You cn get from one end to another of the capital for just approx 5 euros. The transmilenio is a rather good mean of transport: they have lanes of their own on the roads. It makes them quit quick and it costs less than a euro to take the,. They're trying to xpand the netoork to all the suburbs. Problem i that the transmilenio is always extra crowded.

I've been here for approx two weks now. i thought it was about time for me to show you a bot ore of my environment. Bogota i mush bigger than the Candellaria. This area ilive in feels like a village within the city. A bit like Montmartre in Paris. It's rather calm compared to the rest where the dense traffic, crazy buses make it impossible to get anywhere without waisting the whole day in public transports. Since my working hours in the bar are from 6 PM to 1 AM, it leaves me all day to explore the city and its curiosities. Lately, I've been struggling with paper work to try and get the "cedula de extranjero": the residence card, or local ID for foreigners. That also got me to travel left right and center. The bus system is a mess and doesn't always make sense. No map, no apparent organisation. Buses are of all shapes and colours with just a piece of card stuck on the front window with what seems to be some messy juvenile collage of colourful numbers, and street names umong other things like super market logos (french market Carrefour is quite big here). Those are unfortunately the only indicatiosn you can use to identify where the bus is going. Its always an adventure to hop on one, coz you could end up anywhere. It took 4 buses to get me to the DAS (departamento administrativo de seguridad) Fortunately, people are always nice and do their best to help. At least, you can be sure it will be a differente xperience everytime, and it's definitely an optimal way to see the city.












Inside a bus. you pay the guys in the front as you get in. pruice 1400cop for a single ride. there's usually a window between