Brrr Bogota is chilly! It's like being in England... well not quite! I've been here a couple of days and I already love this city. It's more cosmopolitan than Medellin. I love the variety here. Just like many capital cities you can walk down the street and see punks, hippies, trendy girls in skinny jeans, beggers, yuppies in shiny cars, junkies, business men... but there's also something distinctly Colombian about it. It's vibrant and people are as friendly as ever but you can easily turn a corner and wander into a street that you have the instant desire to back out of as quickly as possible! It's a city filled with history, arts and culture but there is also very apparent poverty, drug abuse and homelessness... which is not unique I suppose it's just that the bad stuff seems more extreme. Anyway, it's a fascinating city to explore... we caution of course. We've been out and about each day. Found some lovely places to eat, drink coffee and have a good dance. It's nice to find some night spots that branch out from the obligatory reggaeton and to even meet a good amount of latinos who agree that it's terrible! We found something else that was quite unusual and apparently a signature Colombian thing... hot chocolate with cheese! Most cafe's serve it and it's very strange. You put strips of cheese in your hot chocolate, let it melt and go stringy then enjoy... or not if you're me! I love cheese and I love chocolate but the combination of the two doesn't quite work for me!

Well best be off now for some more exploration as it looks like I'll be leaving Bogota a little sooner than I thought. I was out last night with Piper and Yaron, two of my boat friends, enjoying a delicious hot chocolate with rum and ice cream (that combination makes a lot more sense!) and we got talking to yet another group of friendly young Colombians who after welcoming us to their country invited us to a party out of town over the weekend. They're going to put us up and introduce us to all their friends... naturally! I feel like I'm not going to want to leave this country!

...and yes I'm very glad I'm not in Peru right now too!

x