The blog: a shining example of our predisposition for procrastination, is one such thing.
The name: well, this may have been one of the hardest parts. We decided on learning curves y tal y tal (and this and that) becuase of a very astute piece of advice from a good friend, and fellow traveler. He said, ` dont be too hard on yourselves and allow yourselves a little learning curve, because you wont get it right away.´
Three weeks actually... it took about three weeks, a battle with diharrea, a 24 hour bus ride, 6 days of non-stop rain, lugging our backpacks full of drenched clothes and boots, throwing up from malaria meds, being eaten alive by mosquitos, cooking pasta in the dark over a fire, decending a muddy mountain on horseback, the ruins of a pre-colmbian town, gorgeous beaches and a few loving arguments to find ourselves finally begining to feel at ease with the lifestyle- and seriously having fun!!
The pictures: You have no idea how long it took to get these up. TREASURE THEM!
Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. Alright. Day One: Rain. Days Two thru Seven: More Rain. This pic right here pretty much sums up our time in Bogotá
Comida Corriente. This is how Colombians eat. It's an offering of three courses, starting with soup, a drink, a massive plate of food, and a dessert. All this for $3.50! Notice soups please: one has french fries in it, and the other has a massive Thor-style chicken hammer. Mmmm.
About a two hours outside of Bogotá, in the town of Zipaquira, there's a cathedral built entirely of salt, in a salt mine, underground. It was pretty cool. Here's a picture of Alayna asking herself if she should lick the walls, or just take the tour guides word that they're entirely salt.
After a week in Bogotá, we needed a break from the rain so we went north to warmer climes. We ended up camping for a couple days at a national park called Parque Tairona. The park was super beautiful and exactly the escape from cold city life we needed. This is a pic of Alayna on a hike we took to the ruins of a pre-Colombian settlement within the park. The hike into the town is a two-hour long climb up an ancient stone-layed pathway. And then it rained.
We rode horses! Down a narrow, muddy, mountain path! How frikkin' cool is that!?!
Our campsite.
One of many beautiful beaches in Parque Tairona.
Believe it or not this is our tent... in the middle of the night!
Lunch. Just before Nick filleted him and fried him with a lighter on a pocket knife... Bear Grylls style. This little guy, packed as he is with protein, kept me going all day;) (Dont worry Ray, he was recently dead when we found him.)
Hiking in the Park.
Tiny place called Taganga. Nice, but really popular with tourists. The best thing about this place was the free breakfasts at our hostel, and playing dominoes with one of the local kids. The views aren't bad either.
Sunset in Taganga
Taganga and Santa Marta were incredibly windy places. We had a really nice time trying to cook a meal on the rooftop kitchen of our hostel.
Ok, Jugos Naturales-this is Alayna's thing here. Almost on any street corner, and certainly in every restaurant you can get these natural juices made from ice, cold water, and a fresh fruit that they cut into only after youve ordered. All this is blended and at once (for about one dollar) you get incredible soothies made from Mora, Pineapple, Banana, Strawberry, and a bunch of exotic fruits we'd never seen before! Below are just a few of these, but there are at least half a dozen more...
After leaving Taganga we headed to Cartagena de Indias, a super nice colonial town from the old days, and probably the most famous city in Colombia.
This clock tower marked the entrance to the "Ciudad Murallada:" the oldest part of town that was completely encircled by massive walls to prevent attacks from pirates.
Deep inside the tunnels of the Castillo outside the walled city. These tunnels went so deep that water from the bay seeped through all the earth and filled some tunnels to the point where we couldn't even enter them. There were bats, creepy echoes and flickering light bulbs... but it wasn´t scary tho. Seriously guys, it wasn´t.
View from the Muralla
Typical street within the walled city. They say it's the best preserved colonial city on the continent.
Best Hommade Meal Yet! Fish tacos, mango salsa, cilantro slaw, and the biggest muther of an avocado you've ever seen! Look at that thing! It's HUGE!
In a lot of the colonial parts of Colombia you get this really awesome effect of bright colored buildings deteriorating and exposing their previous colors, giving you this vibrant mix of old and new. Homies on motorcycles wearing complementary, neon-colored muscle shirts is a separate phenomenon.
Obligatory model pose coming out of the mud volcano.
It's the weirdest feeling. It's like a mix of floating and drowning:) They say this stuff is really good for your skin. Apparently the guy groping Alayna was 90!
The mud volcano. Soooo janky!
Alayna, stuffing her face with patacones. An everyday ritual.
Walking in Mompos one day, this guy asked us to take his picture with him and his friends. He had some cool mermaid tats but with the dog in the picture you can't really see them.
What used to be the main port of Mompos, a completely unique and sleepy old town on an island in the middle of a muddy river.
STREET FOOD!
The only way to really describe Mompos is to to tell you that its the kind of place that inspired the towns in some of the books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was a much needed break from the hustle of big cities.
Cemetary in Mompos.
Kids playing at night in front of one of Mompos' seven churches.
Mompos is well known for its traditional work in Filigree, so we went to visit the school and later the workshop where established filigree artists work. I love the simplicity of the workspace...I bought earrings and a ring from them:)
View of Old Mompos from the clock tower. Very folkloric.
