Month: December 2007

Sorry, Pen and Mum.  I did actually write this a week ago – and thought it had posted.  Apparently not.  And only a little bit was saved as a draft – so here goes again…

30 Nov – got up this morning, and got myself a beer.  And breakfast.  Then, some more cervezas and sitting in the sun.  Finally checked out, and walked into town.  Stupid hot sunshine and stupid big pack and stupid long walk.  Then, some internet, and watch the Black Caps thrash South Africa.  Lunch – with some decent barbequed meat.  At last.   A couple of potatoes as the vegetable side of things.  More cerveza.  Eventually get a colectivo to Tunja.  Buy a bus ticket to Santa Marta, but discover I’m low on cash.  My Quito spending habits seem to have stuck with me.  Quick taxi to the centro, get some cash, and back to bus station.  Buy bus ticket, and then drink cerveza while waiting.  Bus to Bucaramanga.

So, arrive at Bucuramanga at 3am 01 Dec.  Bus to Santa Marta leaves at 3am.  But I have to wait until 7am.  Dumb.  Try to figure out a way of sleeping at the bus station without having my stuff nicked.  Then, soon after 4 – the lady comes to find me, and tells me I can get on a bus at 4:30.  Sweet.  Dodgy arrangement of getting on a bus to somewhere else – which takes me to where a bus is waiting on the side of the street.  All to avoid the bus station taxes/fees, I think.  Anyway – got myself a bus to Santa Marta.

Arrive in aforementioned Santa Marta – and undecided on where to stay.  Research at internet cafe.  Still undecided.  Decide to go to the first place the taxi driver assumes I want to go.  Casa de Felipe, in Taganga – a small village just outside of Santa Marta proper.  With a beach which isn’t too polluted.  Book into the hostel – and walk around the village.  Which takes about 5 minutes.  Fresh seafood for dinner.  Sweet.

02 Dec starts with a swim in the Caribbean.  And then not much else.  Drinking cerveza in a hammock while reading a book, with a couple of breaks to eat seafood.

03 Dec – similar to 02 Dec.  But I also accomplish something.  Book a tour to the Lost City – Ciudad Perdida.  Go to dinner with some folks from the hostel, and return to the hostel well past a sensible bedtime for somebody starting a trek tomorrow.  And also with far too many cervezas under the belt to be sensible for the same trek.

I’ll write about the actual trek next time.  When I’ve got more energy.  But – I’m back safe and sound.  And considering another trip into places where there is no internet or other such things.  This time – for beaches.

28 Nov – Spent all day preparing to leave San Agustin.  Ate bad cold leftovers, packed bags, went into town, did the internet and lunch things.  Then – back to the hostel, and lazed in a hammock with cerveza for several hours – including a bit of a siesta in the sun.  Then, it started to rain just as it was getting near to time for me to walk down to the bus stop.  Paid my bill – over 50% of which was cerveza, and decided to walk down before the rain got heavier.  Got into a colectivo to Pitalito.  Pitalito had an actual bus station.  So, bought a ticket to Bogota, ate some dinner, and – of course – drank some cervezas while waiting for the bus.  Got onto the bus, and found amusement in how long it took people to find their seats, and the utter chaos involved – despite people having allocated seats.  Every single time, people start looking confused when they get to seat numbers 10/11 or so, despite it soon becoming obvious that their seat number is 25.  “Why isn’t 25 between 11 and 12?” their faces seem to say.  Every time there’s at least two people.  Depending on my mood, I either want to laugh out loud, or shake them.  Anyway – slept on the bus to Bogota, despite the little shit next to me assuming that his elbow had seat number 22, as well as his own ticket for 21.

So, early in the morning of 29 Nov, I arrive in Bogota.  Not wanting to spend time in Bogota again, I immediately buy a ticket for Villa de Leyva.  Which turns out to be leaving in 10 minutes.  So – off I go again.  But I discover, in Tunja, that the bus only goes as far as Tunja.  From there, I have to get another colectivo.  No problem – colectivo to Villa de Leyva.  Arrive in Villa de Leyva, and walk to the main plaza.  Find an internet cafe to do some research on places to stay.  Discover the place I was intending, has closed down.  Jot down notes on others.  Then, I run into Arizonian Matt – one of the chaps from the San Agustin jeep tour.  Sit down and have a beer with him, and some food.  Starving – I scoff down a big messy burger in about 30 seconds.  He’s staying at another tranquil place outside of town.  So, he leads me there.  Another cool place with gardens, hammocks, beer in the fridge, etc.  But not as stinking-dirty-hippie-ish as the place in San Agustin.  Have a beer to recover from the walk there.  Matt had told me it was 7 minutes, with a bit of uphill at the end.  It was actually about 15 minutes, the entire thing uphill.  Bastard.  More cerveza, and a bit of sitting in the sun, a small siesta, and then more hammock time.  With book and MP3 player.  Sweet.  Into town, dinner, a couple of cervezas while watching a Phil Collins concert on DVD, and then back to the hostel.  Chat for a while with Matt and another seppo.  More cervezas.  And a nice early night.

And that’s two fairly uneventful days.  Lots of relaxing, and lots of travelling.  I’m looking forward to getting to Santa Marta, so I can do the Lost City trek – and see something big and impressive again.  Next update should be from Santa Marta, as even though Villa de Leyva is pretty and nice and tranquil – there’s not much to do.  Nature walks.  Pah.  I got nature at home.  So, currently watching NZ thrash the yarpies.  Then, hopefully my guess on when buses leave from Tanja to Santa Marta is correct.