Bogota is Colombia's capital city and it is much colder here. So the jeans, hoody and coat came out. I actually felt under dressed as it's a massive student city. The hostel was great with hot showers and duvets. So nice it being nice and cold to then put layers on and snuggle up. Bogota is based high up in the mountains. The people here look somewhat mixed race. Still look Colombian but because of the colder weather, they all look white. Plus a few have light eyes. Completely different to where we were before along the coast, where they all look really dark. On our first day in Bogota we went food shopping and made maximum use of the kitchen in the hostel to be able to eat more food for less. Then we headed to this computer shopping centre. About 50 small shops all servicing and selling the same thing. We just wanted to fix our laptop we purchased in Australia. Only cost £10 to fix, which isn't bad but we were expecting it to be much cheaper. We managed to board the correct bus to this shopping centre. Yet, on the way back, it was 6pm in a city. And it was rush hour and we didn't know how to get back. We had previously purchased a bus card which you top up. But when returning home, we didn't have enough funds. Thankfully, there was a guy who worked for the bus company advising people at the bus stop. And he let us get on the bus for free as we were not able to top up the card. Bare in mind, that he spoke zero English so he was testing my Spanish. It was certainly a struggle. Strangely, I thought more people would be able to speak English here but they don't. and only in international stores do people speak English. For example, if I go into the bank no one speak English, however in a Nike store at least a few people will.

Second day, we did the popular bike tour. Recommended by a few people we spoke too as it was a great way to see the city. A five-hour bike ride, but barely felt two hours. We went through red light district and what a sight that was. The guide told us beforehand not to take pictures and try not to stop and keep cycling. So many dodgy characters there. And the women were disgusting. They had barely any clothes on and their faces look like muck. I most likely won't be making a return to there. We went to a coffee shop where they made the coffee out the back. Also to a fruit market where we tried exotic fruit. And exotic it was, as I hadn't tried any of them before. Weird ones were tomatoes that were sour. Everything was just the opposite to what we are accustomed too. If the fruit was supposed to be sweet, the one we tried would be sour and a different colour but the same shape. At the end of the tour we were taken to this place which was at the back of some local, dirty restaurant. To play a game called Tiejo. Basically, you through clay pots at these small pouches of gun powder. So if you hit it, it will explode and have this deafening bang. Me and Kyle managed to hit it, but this older Scottish bloke kept on flunking his shot, terrible thrower.

We went out Friday night and was so crowded due to all the students finishing their week of studies. We went to this bar called Bogota Beer Company as they had proper quality beers and ales, but we certainly paid the price for them. Same price as back at home, although it was a lovely change from their local pissy beer. We should have stayed out and made Friday our night out but we went out on Saturday night instead and it was dead and we certainly felt unsafe walking around. The most unsafe I felt has been in Bogota but there were many Police on each corner with huge dogs. Although I am curious as to why they are there. I always manage to talk to the cleaners or receptionist and practice my Spanish. Erika who was the cleaner at our hostel in Bogota. She was so nice, she dressed up to clean with her cleaning hat on. But she reminded me of a nun. I am determined to be able to hold a conversation in Spanish before I come home.

Sunday was bike ride day in Bogota. They close miles of main roads to allow people to go running, cycling, walking, skating for miles across the city. In parts there were stalls selling local food and drinks. Literally the whole of Bogota joined in. We were heading back and Kyle's chain broke so he had to push his bike back. We all thought he would get charged but he didn't. In Kyle's defence, the chain broke because the bikes were poor and old. I thought my bike was going to break too but Kyle was the unlucky one. We also did a short walk up to this church on this incredibly steep mountain overlooking Bogota. Online it said a 45-minute walk up, which it was. However, it was a very tough 45-minute walk. Annoyingly the view from the first 10 minutes was exactly the same at the top. I could have saved myself from going all the way up if I had known. Strangely, even though we spent five nights here, we managed to fill our days with activities, exploring and cooking.