ALMOST lost luggage, Bogota, and San Gil

We´re here safe and sound! After an amazingly pleasant train ride from San Diego to LA we spent the night at a friend´s place in Hermosa Beach and woke up at the asscrack of dawn to catch our lovely flight on AeroMexico. Kim´s gigantic backpack was too big to carry on, so we were forced to check it...unfortunately we forgot to mention that we would be getting off the plane in Colombia instead of Venezuela, so an interesting Spanglish, hour and a half long debate with the airlines employees ensued in Mexico City. Kim finally paid off one of the guys in order for him to go get her bag off the plane and redirect it to Bogota. All turned out well and we hopped in a cab to find our hostel. Along the way the cab driver was kind enough to point out the various "locos callejeros" (crazy bums) and "prostitutas" (I´ll let you figure that one out).

We enjoyed several ice cold Colombian beers of which I´ve already forgotten the names and also a jolting shot of aguardiente--the very popular local licor which is a bit like sambuca. Our first morning brought with it plenty of unfamiliar noises, smells, and sights. Whenever we took out our cameras to take a photo of something there was a Bogotano taking a picture of US. I don´t think we saw a single other blonde in the city all day.

The Police Museum gave us a glimpse into the big Pablo Escobar story, with his bloody jacket and desk with secret drug holding compartments to boot! We then hopped on a bus with two new friends, Morgan and Mike, up to San Gil, in the north-central part of Colombia where we are now. Despite the roosters and church bells sounding off at varying intervals throughout the night we slept well in our room and woke up this morning to set out for an AMAZING hike and repell down a large waterfall in the jungle nearby. Truly one of the most thrilling and beautiful experiences of my life...and its only our third day here!

Oct 7, 2009

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