Ahhh, The Lizard Is Stirring…
January 5, 2009 by rtwsenior · Leave a Comment
This post is written a few hours after the last one was. Since there was no hot coffeepot inviting me to have a cuppa at the hostel, I decided to head down the hill to the most expensive hotel in town, the Hotel de la Opera, next to La Scala Opera House. I went in, made friends with the man at the desk by inquiring about their rates: $168 per night. Then, I decided to settle for breakfast in their bright yellow garden cafe, making friends with the two waiters while eating a fabulous omelet and toast, plus coffee for $5. `(I´m afraid I left my fine sunglasses there. At least, I hope so, because I haven´t found them since, though they could be lost in this backpack. )
From there, I set out on a walking tour of downtown Bogota….I have landed in the nicest part….finding a place to change my money and now a very modern internet cafe where I can, at last, luxuriate on the computer. There is only one machine at the hostel, so one must be quick.
Everyone is very nice at my Alegria´s Hostel here, but it´s cold at night and hard to sleep. I thought I was reserving a bed in a ¨three-bed dorm room¨ but I actually have four roommates, all guys, because the hostel counts the bunks as one bed. Mattresses are rawther hard and lumpy too. Doesn´t make for sound sleep, tho my roomies are very quiet.
Anyway, tomorrow, Ill catch a bus to Medellin where I have a private room already reserved in the Casa Kiwi Hostel, which sounds very good. Medellin is said to be very beautiful and it´s nine hours by bus north of Bogota. I am heading, by stages, up to Cartegena and then Santa Marta, both on the Caribbean Sea. Those cities should be warm and I can pack up all these winter clothes that I´m so very glad to have had here in Bogota. Today, however, while walking around town in my many, many layers, I was ready to strip down, as it´s now in the 70´s and sunny.
Little by little, I´m picking up the swing of travel once more…getting the familiar feel of walking interesting streets in an interesting country; struggling with my lack of language; overcoming the inertia of just wanting to curl up and roost somewhere, anywhere; and figuring out how to find the bus station and make plans to move on. My brain hasn´t quite caught up with my body yet. That takes a few days to work through the sluggishness of slow-thinking that produces. But, it will probably happen in my new town. One can hope, anyway.
Now I Know Why I Travel Alone!
January 5, 2009 by rtwsenior · Leave a Comment
It´s all coming clear to me now as to why I prefer to go it alone on these trips. I´M SO SLOW. Naturally, it always takes awhile to get into the groove and even figure out where everything is packed in my new stuff-sack-type of backpack. Then, there is the acclimating to a new country and culture and to get into the traveling habit again. I´m still in a bit of a zombie state and so glad that no one is calling to me to come and start the excursion - NOW. Forgive me, but it´s going to take time for these blogs to start making sense. Here are the conditions I am working under:
Haven´t had my coffee yet, so I´m off to find some. Soon, I´ll be in better shape to describe the good and gorgeous stuff around here.
This hostel is at an elevation of about 9,000 feet, so there´s an altitude adjustment to be made.
The average daytime temperature is 57 degrees. Much lower at night. So I am bundled up in all of my cold weather clothes. Good thing I brought them, instead of being so smart to have avoided winter this year altogether. It´s sunny and lovely, weatherwise. This is just the reality of Bogota and the beginning of the Andes. Today, I hope to go higher on the mountain, taking a funicular to the top. Better dress warmly for that.
But, it´s good to do it at my own speed which is mighty close to the sluggish cold-blooded creatures who can´t move until the sun shines on them. More soon.
