We arrived in Bogota early in the morning and got a taxi to our hostel in La Candeleria which is the old part of town. On the way there we saw a naked lady in the street standing outside a hostel, which was very odd for 6.30am on a Sunday morning.

At the hostel we had to wait until midday to check in so we wasted some time chatting and drinking coffee until 10am when we had signed up for the bike tour around the city. Just after 10am we were led to the bike store and given our steeds for the day. There was us 3 and 2 others in the group and the guide was really interesting, enthusiastic and fun which made for a good tour.

We looked at some of the graffiti in the city which is everywhere as well as visiting the main square. It was in this main square during the drug days of the 80´s where paramilitaries took over the Palace of Justice and kept everyone hostage on the first floor. The army responded by shooting at the building and even parking tanks in front and firing at it, right in the middle of the city. We saw some photos of what it looked like at the time and then continued on the tour around the city. We also saw the Presidents house, and again opposite this was a building peppered in bullet holes which was return fire from the army after 3 rockets were fired at the building trying to kill the President.

Further on we went to the bull ring in the middle of town and had private access inside the building. It was closed for 10 months due to animal rights campaigners and a dwindling popularity, but it is popular amongst the rich and powerful and their influence has managed to reopen the arena again.

In the afternoon we visited the old English part of town, designed by English architects and also the parks where there were huge public dance classes being held. You could see why everyone was good dancers if this is how they spend their weekends. We stopped for lunch at a small shack, and after cycled back to the hostel.

From here it was time to say goodbye to Harriet again as she was off to the airport for her flight home. Once again it was good fun to travel with her and we had a great time checking out Colombia.

That evening Luke and I went out for some food nearby. The neighbourhood seemed very dodgy though and only the night before 2 boys had been robbed just outside the hostel.

Next morning we were up early and along with Dmitri (Russian). We walked through town to the start of the cable car and enquired into how safe it was to walk up to the top, with the intention of then taking the cable car down. The response was a resounding DONT DO IT as it is not safe, thus we took the train up to the top instead.

Once up there the view over Bogota was impressive and you could appreciate the scale of the city, even though some was lost in the distance to the clouds. We walked around the church located on the top of the hill and through some of the botanic garden before descending via the cable car back to street level. Once back in town we went for another menu of the day for food, but as Luke had almost no funds he was now on a fast and didnt eat, which meant he had only one meal in 2 days by this point.

In the afternoon we stopped off at a bar for a beer or two before heading to the Botero museum to check out the art. The artist is famous for painting fat things. His sculptures can be found across the streets of Medellin but in the museum it was his paintings that the focus was on. Along with his works though there was also lots by Picasso and other famous artists (blah blah blah)...

In the evening we were back at the hostel and started drinking, we had arranged to meet David and Diana - the Colombians I had partied with at New Year as they were on holiday in Bogota the same time that I was there. Along with their friend Sebastian, who was living in Bogota still we went out to a couple of bars until the early hours. However, we were not content that the evening was finished so stocked up on beer from the last bar and drank outside our hostel instead.

At 5.30am we ran out of alcohol but the solution rather than to call it a night was simply to get a takeaway delivery of rum and beers to us from a chap on a moped. We kept talking the night away until the sun had rose and it was now 7.30am when things took a strange twist.

All of a sudden 4 police motorbikes with 2 policemen on each, 2 police vans both full of officers, one police car and a truck with a news crew turned up. The policemen stood in a circle around us for a couple of minutes without saying a word to us, whilst the news crew filmed in the background. None of us had any idea what was happening and after a very surreal couple of minutes we thought it was probably time to call it a night. Luke, Dmitri and I sneaked into our hostel whilst the 3 Colombians headed off around the corner.

When I woke up a few hours later I felt awful and was suffering with the worst hangover I have had on the trip (although I am convinced it was sleep deprivation rather thank drink). We went to a fast food restaurant for some fried chicken for lunch and after I tried to stumble around the gold museum but people were taking photos of me rather than the artifacts as I was such a state. Once this torment was finally over I headed back to the hostel for a siesta in a chair, as I had checked out. Diana came over to return the jumpers I lent her and David the night before and we went for a drink in town before it was time to leave for the airport with Luke.

Luke and I left it late again and there was doubt for a while whether we would catch our flight or not though. Fortunately, despite the rush there was no problems though and we could pass out on the plane until we landed in Santa Maria.

We were certainly glad to be out of Bogota anyway, it did not feel safe in any way after dark!