We have arrived in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, we had a tiring but relatively trouble free journey over the border from Venezuela, apart form one annoying bus driver who refused to take us to the border town of San Antonio which was the supposed destination and left us at a different town with another hour of bus journey to go! We arrived unscathed at a nice hostel in the old district of Bogota. We´re already hearing horror stories of violent robberies from fellow travelers but it seems to be that with a bit of the usual common sense problems can be avoided. More to follow when we´ve seen a few things...

Three days in and around Bogota have given us a mixed impression of the city. It´s a great cosmopolitan metropolis with all the conveniences you might want at great prices! On the other hand we heard first hand of four violent muggings ín the time we´ve been here, one of which was in the afternoon on an open square. Hmmm...

We walked around Candelaria which is the historical town centre to see the changing of the guard and flag folding ceremony outside the palace. We stumbled across the Museo de Banco. A gallery displaying over a hundred works of Fernando Botero and other pieces donated by him. A fantastic gallery, free to get in and freely allowing you to take photos!

The rest of our time here has been taking advantage of shopping opportunities (I needed a cardigan and trousers for this chilly weather, and Paul ¨needed¨ trance trousers). Paul also got a new piercing in his ear and we had some great smoothies from MoraMora.