As I write this we are sitting on the train heading further up north across the globe making our way to Vancouver, Canada. We are surrounded by amazing forests full of pine trees and mountain ranges creating very lush scenery. Lucky because this is a long train ride around thirty hours or so and having this tranquil scenery around us makes for a more peaceful journey. This journey brings us to the end of our South American travels and our visit to San Francisco. We now pass into the second phase of our trip where we will call Vancouver home for three months or so, and hit the reality of joining the world of employment again. Over the past month we have travelled so much that I have not had time to keep up with my blogs, but now I have been granted the time and now is my chance to go back to where I last left my story telling and keep this blog flowing.

The last destination I wrote about was Letica, Colombia, and I ended the story by mentioning things would be very different from this town on the side of the Amazon to the big city of Bogota. It was very different without a doubt! Our late flight landed us into the city close to midnight and arriving at our hostel at this time was probably one of the most nerve racking experiences of the trip so far. We had researched what areas we should stay in and going by our guide books recommendations and reviews from the internet, downtown was our best bet. Leaving the airport and driving into downtown was like driving through a ghost town. The streets had garbage everywhere and there were no people in sight. Within time I spotted a few homeless people and a few strange characters wandering about. The streets were not very well lit and I thought we must be in the wrong area. This could not be downtown! However it was downtown and our taxi driver was having trouble finding the hostel. This was not the welcome we had been looking for and I was beginning to feel pretty nervous. The only people on the streets were homeless and crazies who we could not trust, but one crazy guy ended up leading us to our destination. He spoke to the taxi driver and knew the name of our hostel and pointed us in the right direction. Stepping inside the hostel we were greeted by a friendly man and we felt comfort.

Our host explained to us that the city pretty much shuts down after 11pm and that the area we are staying in is safe. Late at night is when homeless people and crazies come out and it is best to stay indoors after this time. I lay in bed that night wondering how safe it really was outside the walls of our hostel and honestly did not feel comfortable. However, when we opened the doors of our hostel the next morning it was a completely different atmosphere. A sunny day and people were relaxing in the plaza where the atmosphere was relaxed and people were happy. We felt much more comfortable now and had just been unlucky with the time of our arrival.

We spent three nights in Bogota and spent our time exploring the city on foot by daylight. We were staying in the hub of the city where there were many universities and just off the plaza was a funky little lane way. Here you could find neat little cafes and shops selling all sorts of colourful fashions. The laneway was painted with colourful graffiti and there were many people about. The laneway was very narrow and the path underneath was cobbled stone. One girl managed to peddle down the path on her unicycle. There is a different vibe around the city here to other cities I have visited in South America. We are after all in another country and the atmosphere around creates a unique culture. In the plaza people pass their time by juggling, skipping and playing hacky sack. With the girl on her bike and the colourful streets and juggling acts in the plaza, Colombia is showing us her fun side.

Bogota was not necessarily somewhere at the top of our list of places we wanted to visit, but was a place to stop for a few days as we made our journey to Cartagena. We were however interested to see the city and it worked out well as a place to stop for a few days as we made our way up north. We have heard great things about Colombia, and Cartagena is the place where some of these stories came from. Our reasons for visiting Colombia were soon to be discovered in the richness of her colonial cities, colourful culture and tranquil Caribbean seas. In the meantime, we soaked up the lively city of Bogota and got a taste of the culture.

Throughout the city we enjoyed the colourful atmosphere and Dustin was in his element snapping shots of all the street art about town. I often stop to pull out my camera to snap images of patterns, and Dustin will be doing the same wherever there is street art. Sometimes our images of inspiration meet and we will be both be photographing the same scene. It can be interesting to see each other's photos to see what inspires us and catches our attention along the same path that we travel.

My photos will do a lot of the story telling for our visit to Bogota along with my stories here. Other places worth mentioning would be the main plaza. Hundreds of pigeons inhabit the area and create a whirlpool of grey and white fluttering around you. Some locals even feed them and encourage them to land on their arms. In and around the plaza sights of poverty are evident and the gap between the fortunate and poor is all around us. There are vendors selling all sorts of things on the streets from shoelaces, watches, traditional woven Colombian bags to fresh lemonade. We came across some markets selling second hand goods where you could find all sorts of random items. Stopping by a café for lunch we walked inside to find we had found a neat little place that looked like it hadn't changed much since the sixties. We enjoyed the atmosphere but struggled to find a decent coffee. It is strange that a country who exports its famous bean does not do so well transforming this bean into a decent cup of coffee for them. One of the things we really miss about home is knowing where to find our beloved hot cup of decent coffee.

Our time here went by quickly and as always we needed to set aside a few hours planning our travels and accommodation for our next destination. Sometimes this is not as simple as a few clicks on the internet, and on this occasion involved a long ride across town just to buy two plane tickets to Cartagena. I was relieved to have these two tickets in our hands and felt a wave of excitement rush over with our ticket to the Caribbean awaiting us.

This now brings me to the end of my little story about Bogota and we are still on the train making our way to Seattle. We have since past through more forests, but have also past industrial towns and wastelands. We have eaten lunch in the dinning cart which is an intimate environment where sharing tables with strangers is the only option. We met an elderly couple from the UK who have been living in Botswana for the past twenty years and are currently travelling through North America as they make a visit back home. It is not every day you meet someone who moves to Botswana for twenty years. After leaving the dining cart we have moved back to the lounge area where there are all sorts of personalities on the train. People here talk a lot that's for sure. Now it's time for me to talk about Cartagena….