ok. I am going to try to give this a go for the fourth time. The internet here is not much to talk about, but then again I will be grateful for what I have. It is midnight and I am in Cartegana, twenty hours north (by bus) from Bogota. The temperature is a comfortable 8 million point six degrees.
This morning I awoke in Bogota to fairly comfortable temps with a light fog layering the city. I headed out early with a few other back packers biking through the city with our tour guide, Mike, who is actually from California. I am not much for tours, but I have to say it was pretty awesome. We treked through the various boroughs of Bogota the are as ecclectic as they come. Areas that were stunning in architecture to peddling a few blocks where kids were begging on street corners for pesos and others searching for scrap food in corner trash bins.
In the States, or anywhere else for that matter, when you hear Colombia one quickly thinks drug cartel, poverty, blood shed and corruption. There is still a drug issue in Colombia, but mostly concentrated near the Colombia-Venezuela border. The FARC, as they are so aptly known, are the force behind a great deal of unrest, but not nearly what it was ten years ago.
Colombia is struggling to recreate its image and prove to the world it is more than Pablo Escabor, cocaine rings and oozies. I will say in a mere 2.5 days it has exceeded my expectations and is so much more than I was prepared for. Colombia is a country rich in tradition, pride and character. I have experienced a very small fragment of what it holds, but already I am embracing the people and their culture. From the old ladies who whipped up a wicked batch of empanadas this morning for me to the college students I chatted with in the town square this evening;Colombia is a myriad of color, faces and richness that jumps out at you.
Looking forward to tomorrow, but enjoying the moment.
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