As we arrive back in Bogota, I get to Juan's place with one of the other couchsurfers staying there. He's out though, so the maid lets us in.
I am supposed to move over to my 2nd couchsurfing host, Freek, a young Dutch guy who has travelled Central and South America and got stuck in Bogota in the end, living in a shared apartment with 10 other foreigners and locals there now.
Since Juan won't be home until later that evening, I have to leave without being able to say goodbye in person again, and hit the road.
I'm glad another girl, that stayed there and is going to dinner now, is joining me because it is already dark outside and I don't know my way around yet.
She is a little late though, so I still end up next to the road by myself, trying to wave a taxi over.
But I am lucky, there is one stopping next to me almost instantly. It is an authorized one, too, which doesn't keep the driver from circling the same block for at least 5 times anyways.
I am starting to get a little a worried again as I realize I am totally dependent on that driver and where he drops me off again because I have no clue where to go to if I end up at the wrong place. Also, the money for that cab is the last one I got since my credit card still isn't working and it is too late now anywys to withdraw money, in the dark. And that driver doesn't seem to have a clue where the adress I gave him is.
Suddenly he stops in a dark side alley with some even darker looking night clubs and bars. Is this where I am supposed to get out?!?! Oh hell NO!!!
The driver is looking at me, keeping on repeating "aqui, aqui!". I am thinking yeah sure, I see we stopped here but if you think I am just getting out here all by myself, you are badly mistaken!!
I think about what to do now and come to the conclusion that this definitely qualifies as a situation where it is worth paying a ridiculous amount of money for calling a Colombian cell phone from the German phone that I still carry around with me for emergencies.
So I call Freek and ask him to come down to make sure I'm at the right place.
A minute later he picks me up from the cab, 5 minutes later all my stuff is parked next to an extra matress in his room and 10 minutes later I am already walking through the neon/lighted dark of Bogota center with him, to still get a late dinner.
And you won't believe it, but, despite the late time and the environment, I haven't felt safer since I got there! Amazing, what a difference the company of someone makes that already knows his way around really well!
Freitag, 8. März 2013
Heading out to crazy bus station --> Zipaqira - Salt Cathedral
In the morning, I was actually planning on taking care of some important things, like getting a Colombian cell phone, more money, a ticket to Barranquilla, ....
But when the other couchsurfers ask me to join them on a trip to the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira, which is just a 45-minute bus ride from Bogota, I'm thinking I still lots of time to do all that afterwards... Right!
So we're walking from Juan's place to the bus station but decide to get a cab to the big bus terminal then, because it[s not really more expensive than takinh the totally overloaded Transmilenio, the local city bus system. There I get told that the authorized taxis are only the yellow ones. Well, good to know!
When we arrive at the the bus station where the train leaves for Zipaquira, I am a little freaked out by all the people and busses that are just parked one after another at the side of the street. It's very noisy and a lot of guys are screaming different town names or something around, I have no idea. Also, each bus has several differnet signs in the front window, all saying something else. There is no ticket counter or coordination point or anything like that, so I am super-glad that I didn't come out here all by myself, I would have been lost instantly. So many noises and impressions all in one place, you don't even know where to start!
But before we get on a bus, we hit the ATMs in the shopping center right accross the street. I got told to never use one on an open street because it increases the risk of getting robbed severely.
Ok, fine, I think, already one point off my to-do list. Excepts that the ATM won't give me any money! Neither will any of the next 4 ones I'm trying out! Shit!!
Everybody's trying to help me, see if I did something wrong maybe, as my Spanish is not exactly fluent, but it just won't work.
At least I got enough money left for the bus and the trip expenses for the day, so I am thinking oh well, I'll take care of it when I'm back, not much I can do for now anyways.
We still pick up some tuna and bread for the way in a supermarket and then get into the little minivan. Paying the grossery bill with my visa card works, so it can't be that bad... I'm thinking.
The little town of Zipaquita is a really nice small town with lots of little local stores, so we take a break on the town plaza, eating bread and tuna out of the can with our hands, enjoying the sun.
On the hike up to the cathedral, I realize the alttitude of about 2000 m for the first time. It's all steps... Lots of steps, lol! And after about 10 of them, I'm totally out of breath, almost having a little heart attack, hahaha! Well, ok, maybe I'm just out of shape, too, lol!
It was worth the hike though. The cathedral is basically a big system of underground salt caves with several altars, all illuminated in differnt kinds of light which created a really cool atmosphere. Even though a little creepy at times because at some of the altars they are playing really loud church music in the background!
But when the other couchsurfers ask me to join them on a trip to the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira, which is just a 45-minute bus ride from Bogota, I'm thinking I still lots of time to do all that afterwards... Right!
So we're walking from Juan's place to the bus station but decide to get a cab to the big bus terminal then, because it[s not really more expensive than takinh the totally overloaded Transmilenio, the local city bus system. There I get told that the authorized taxis are only the yellow ones. Well, good to know!
When we arrive at the the bus station where the train leaves for Zipaquira, I am a little freaked out by all the people and busses that are just parked one after another at the side of the street. It's very noisy and a lot of guys are screaming different town names or something around, I have no idea. Also, each bus has several differnet signs in the front window, all saying something else. There is no ticket counter or coordination point or anything like that, so I am super-glad that I didn't come out here all by myself, I would have been lost instantly. So many noises and impressions all in one place, you don't even know where to start!
But before we get on a bus, we hit the ATMs in the shopping center right accross the street. I got told to never use one on an open street because it increases the risk of getting robbed severely.
Ok, fine, I think, already one point off my to-do list. Excepts that the ATM won't give me any money! Neither will any of the next 4 ones I'm trying out! Shit!!
Everybody's trying to help me, see if I did something wrong maybe, as my Spanish is not exactly fluent, but it just won't work.
At least I got enough money left for the bus and the trip expenses for the day, so I am thinking oh well, I'll take care of it when I'm back, not much I can do for now anyways.
We still pick up some tuna and bread for the way in a supermarket and then get into the little minivan. Paying the grossery bill with my visa card works, so it can't be that bad... I'm thinking.
The little town of Zipaquita is a really nice small town with lots of little local stores, so we take a break on the town plaza, eating bread and tuna out of the can with our hands, enjoying the sun.
On the hike up to the cathedral, I realize the alttitude of about 2000 m for the first time. It's all steps... Lots of steps, lol! And after about 10 of them, I'm totally out of breath, almost having a little heart attack, hahaha! Well, ok, maybe I'm just out of shape, too, lol!
Bogota - Staying at Juan's loft
My first couchsurfing host, Juan, lives in a very spacious, 2-etage open loft in a big secured building complex that you can't enter without passing a locked gate with two private security guards.
You could say I feel safe there, lol!
It's not that easy to get up to the apartment though because, again, the two guards don't speak a word of English. So I'm trying with hands and feet again until one of them guides me up to Juan's place and drops me off there. I'm not sure what exactly they say but they seem to laugh an oddly lot while I keep trying to explain I'm a "guesto" of Juan's.
Anyways, I'm finally there, Juan gives me a nice welcome with my first can of Colombian beer. Not even bad, for sure better than American beer. His snow-white dog Oyuki also comes running right towards me and tries to tackle me.
As Juan shows me around and shows me where everything is, I realize that this is propably the nicest place I have ever stayed at, hahaha! Open gallery, jacuzzi in the bathroom, awesome!!
Juan tells me there are three more couchsurfers staying here, which are out right now, but I will meet them tomorrow.
I'm surprised how many people he is willing to host here almost permanently, so I ask him what the background to all this is because I don't think many people would, especially not with a place as nice as his. He tells me that he traveled a lot when he was still a student, so he knows what it is like and wants to share what he has got now. Very nice!
Also he tells me that his family owns another couple of apartments in the city which they offer to underprivileged youths from poorer areas in Colombia for free, so they have a chance to get a good school education in the city. Fascinating, huh? I think so!
I just keep on chatting with Juan a little bit more and then head off to the futton that he prepared for me on the gallery because I feel really beat from the flight and everything.
Later on, I will find out that I kept all of the other three couchsurfers (two of them sleeping behind another closed door!) and Juan up all night snorring, lol! I got a cold as soon as I got of the plane in Bogota that I would keep for almost another week, waking up several other backpackers and hosts for another week, hahahah!!
But before hearing about that, I woke up in the morning with this nice little view on Bogota...
You could say I feel safe there, lol!
It's not that easy to get up to the apartment though because, again, the two guards don't speak a word of English. So I'm trying with hands and feet again until one of them guides me up to Juan's place and drops me off there. I'm not sure what exactly they say but they seem to laugh an oddly lot while I keep trying to explain I'm a "guesto" of Juan's.
Anyways, I'm finally there, Juan gives me a nice welcome with my first can of Colombian beer. Not even bad, for sure better than American beer. His snow-white dog Oyuki also comes running right towards me and tries to tackle me.
As Juan shows me around and shows me where everything is, I realize that this is propably the nicest place I have ever stayed at, hahaha! Open gallery, jacuzzi in the bathroom, awesome!!
Juan tells me there are three more couchsurfers staying here, which are out right now, but I will meet them tomorrow.
I'm surprised how many people he is willing to host here almost permanently, so I ask him what the background to all this is because I don't think many people would, especially not with a place as nice as his. He tells me that he traveled a lot when he was still a student, so he knows what it is like and wants to share what he has got now. Very nice!
Also he tells me that his family owns another couple of apartments in the city which they offer to underprivileged youths from poorer areas in Colombia for free, so they have a chance to get a good school education in the city. Fascinating, huh? I think so!
I just keep on chatting with Juan a little bit more and then head off to the futton that he prepared for me on the gallery because I feel really beat from the flight and everything.
Later on, I will find out that I kept all of the other three couchsurfers (two of them sleeping behind another closed door!) and Juan up all night snorring, lol! I got a cold as soon as I got of the plane in Bogota that I would keep for almost another week, waking up several other backpackers and hosts for another week, hahahah!!
Montag, 4. März 2013
Bogota - Stereotypes in the back of your mind
As I arrive at Bogota Airport at 8:30 p.m. (even later than expected because the plane was broken and needed to be fixed before we even departed from Frankfurt Airport), I am hectically trying to think about everything I am supposed to watch out for, especially concerning security issues.
Waiting for my luggage, I am asking another German backpacker, that has been in Colombia before, about the counter for getting an authorized taxi because I read that it is important to do it that way, so you don't end up in a private one, getting ripped over or robbed. She tells me that system with the counter doesn't exist anymore since they opened the new airport and that I just have to get one myself now, no problem... Great!!
Alright, so I am thinking to first get the couple of dollars I brought for the taxi exchanged into Colombian Pesos and use that as an opportunity to ask the woman behind the counter about how to see the difference about an authorized taxi and a private one. Guess what? "Lo siento senora, no hablo ingles." she says. She doesn't speak English. Great! Since the little basics of Spanish I have really suck, I just try it the good old way and add an "-o" or "-a" to every English or German word that I don't know in Spanish. Seems to work... kind of... Problem though: I don't understand what she is answering! Dammit!
I must look really lost after that because a concerned-looking middle-aged man asks me in Spanish if everything is ok and if he can help me somehow before I even walk out of the Airport. He points in a direction where I see a crowd of people standing more or less in different lines around a lot of yellow taxis, all lined up on the sides of the streets. I feel relieved, as I follow a guy in a suit that asked me where I needed to go. He also doesn't speak any English. Of course, lol!
So I'm walking behind the nice helpful guy in the suit, who meets up with another guy, also in a suit, telling him about where I need to go, I guess. After a couple of hundred meters, I realize, that we are not walking towards the lines of yellow taxis in front of the exit but away from them, to a big dark parking lot. Hm, I'm getting king of concerned and keep on repeating "Es una taxi autorisado, si?!". The guys always nod and keep waving me to follow them. The car we arrive at, kind of looks like a taxi, only that it is not yellow but white and parked in the middle of just regular private cars. I'm really not sure what to think about all that, so the thought of turning around quickly and trying to run back to the airport exit crosses my mind for a second, lol. But I don't actually feel in danger, there is a couple with a baby getting out of the car next to me and I see police patrolling in the parking lot, a few meters away. So I get in the taxi, still a little nervous though and hope for the best.
Inside of the taxi, I don't see a price list as described in the travelers guide but what can I do about it? The driver of course also doesn't speak English! Despite of that, he seems to try to start a conversation during the whole ride, as a wave of rapid Spanish hits me from the front seat, while he keeps on smiling in the little mirror back to me. I only understand about a quarter of it, where I am from, why I came to Colombia and how long I am staying. At least I can answer these few things, even though I have no idea what he comments back on that, so I just nod and smile a lot! :)
After a couple of minutes he hits the button the locks all doors and I'm almost getting a little panic attack there in the back. I suddenly recognize that the areas we passed so far, don't exactly look trustworthy, actually more like a stereotype out of some gangster movie: dirty little houses with graffitis all over them, nobody on the streets, excepts some shady looking guys hanging out in front of bars with neon lights, smoking and drinking or slowly cruising on by in old muscle cars.
Then I remember reading, that you should do that before stopping at a traffic light, so nobody can rob you while you wait for the light to turn green. And of course, there comes the first red traffic light already! Uff!! The driver must have recognized me turning pale while there on the back seat for a moment because he smiles in the mirror with an amused look, asking "Todo es bueno, senorita?", "Everything ok?" I feel a little silly now, "Si senor, todo bueno!" :)
A couple of minutes later, we arrive at the adress I handed over before. The driver gets out and carries my totally overloaded backpack to the secured entrance of a huge building complex. After I give him the amount he told me before at the airport, 35.000 COP, he still asks for a tip. So I give him another 3.000 because he was so nice to carry my stuff all the way. At the airport, the guy who brought me to the taxi already asked me for a tip, so I pay 40.000 COP in total for the trip, which is about 18 EUR or so. Quite a lot for Colombia, I think.
Later on, I will find out that the maximum should have been 25.000 COP and I totally got ripped over as I obviously didn't ride in an authorized taxi, those would have been the yellow ones, but in a private one. I also found out later that regular taxi drivers don't wear suits! ;) Oh well, I guess you could call that learning by doing, now I know how it works and what to watch out for but I didn't learn that out of my smart traveler's guide.
And in the end, I was just happy that I got there in pieces and that only a very common, worldwide stereotype got fulfilled here, that tourists who don't have a clue get ripped over, especially when they are already looking like they are about to pee their pants! ;)
Waiting for my luggage, I am asking another German backpacker, that has been in Colombia before, about the counter for getting an authorized taxi because I read that it is important to do it that way, so you don't end up in a private one, getting ripped over or robbed. She tells me that system with the counter doesn't exist anymore since they opened the new airport and that I just have to get one myself now, no problem... Great!!
Alright, so I am thinking to first get the couple of dollars I brought for the taxi exchanged into Colombian Pesos and use that as an opportunity to ask the woman behind the counter about how to see the difference about an authorized taxi and a private one. Guess what? "Lo siento senora, no hablo ingles." she says. She doesn't speak English. Great! Since the little basics of Spanish I have really suck, I just try it the good old way and add an "-o" or "-a" to every English or German word that I don't know in Spanish. Seems to work... kind of... Problem though: I don't understand what she is answering! Dammit!
I must look really lost after that because a concerned-looking middle-aged man asks me in Spanish if everything is ok and if he can help me somehow before I even walk out of the Airport. He points in a direction where I see a crowd of people standing more or less in different lines around a lot of yellow taxis, all lined up on the sides of the streets. I feel relieved, as I follow a guy in a suit that asked me where I needed to go. He also doesn't speak any English. Of course, lol!
So I'm walking behind the nice helpful guy in the suit, who meets up with another guy, also in a suit, telling him about where I need to go, I guess. After a couple of hundred meters, I realize, that we are not walking towards the lines of yellow taxis in front of the exit but away from them, to a big dark parking lot. Hm, I'm getting king of concerned and keep on repeating "Es una taxi autorisado, si?!". The guys always nod and keep waving me to follow them. The car we arrive at, kind of looks like a taxi, only that it is not yellow but white and parked in the middle of just regular private cars. I'm really not sure what to think about all that, so the thought of turning around quickly and trying to run back to the airport exit crosses my mind for a second, lol. But I don't actually feel in danger, there is a couple with a baby getting out of the car next to me and I see police patrolling in the parking lot, a few meters away. So I get in the taxi, still a little nervous though and hope for the best.
Inside of the taxi, I don't see a price list as described in the travelers guide but what can I do about it? The driver of course also doesn't speak English! Despite of that, he seems to try to start a conversation during the whole ride, as a wave of rapid Spanish hits me from the front seat, while he keeps on smiling in the little mirror back to me. I only understand about a quarter of it, where I am from, why I came to Colombia and how long I am staying. At least I can answer these few things, even though I have no idea what he comments back on that, so I just nod and smile a lot! :)
After a couple of minutes he hits the button the locks all doors and I'm almost getting a little panic attack there in the back. I suddenly recognize that the areas we passed so far, don't exactly look trustworthy, actually more like a stereotype out of some gangster movie: dirty little houses with graffitis all over them, nobody on the streets, excepts some shady looking guys hanging out in front of bars with neon lights, smoking and drinking or slowly cruising on by in old muscle cars.
Then I remember reading, that you should do that before stopping at a traffic light, so nobody can rob you while you wait for the light to turn green. And of course, there comes the first red traffic light already! Uff!! The driver must have recognized me turning pale while there on the back seat for a moment because he smiles in the mirror with an amused look, asking "Todo es bueno, senorita?", "Everything ok?" I feel a little silly now, "Si senor, todo bueno!" :)
A couple of minutes later, we arrive at the adress I handed over before. The driver gets out and carries my totally overloaded backpack to the secured entrance of a huge building complex. After I give him the amount he told me before at the airport, 35.000 COP, he still asks for a tip. So I give him another 3.000 because he was so nice to carry my stuff all the way. At the airport, the guy who brought me to the taxi already asked me for a tip, so I pay 40.000 COP in total for the trip, which is about 18 EUR or so. Quite a lot for Colombia, I think.
Later on, I will find out that the maximum should have been 25.000 COP and I totally got ripped over as I obviously didn't ride in an authorized taxi, those would have been the yellow ones, but in a private one. I also found out later that regular taxi drivers don't wear suits! ;) Oh well, I guess you could call that learning by doing, now I know how it works and what to watch out for but I didn't learn that out of my smart traveler's guide.
And in the end, I was just happy that I got there in pieces and that only a very common, worldwide stereotype got fulfilled here, that tourists who don't have a clue get ripped over, especially when they are already looking like they are about to pee their pants! ;)
Samstag, 2. März 2013
Bogota - Quick Update
So I am in Bogota right now, already at couchsurfing host #2, everything's good :)
Unfortunately, I couldn't take my laptop, so I am writing this from host #2's notebook with my eyes already half way closed. I don't know wheater it is the chadlack or the hight but after only a minimum of physical activity today, taking a little hike, I suddenly feel like a 90-year-old, half way dead! ;)
Therefore, I will probably pass out as soon as I put this notebook down, so sorry, but details will follow next time I will get a chance to! Oma's off to sleep now! ;)
Samstag, 29. Dezember 2012
Introduction
Hola Amigos!
Welcome to Tanja's Blog about going to Colombia! For me this is going to be two first times: creating a blog and going to Colombia! I don´t have any experience with either, so I hope for the best with both! :)
For those who don't know: I successfully applied for an internship in Colombia via AIESEC and will stay in Barranquilla at the Caribbean coast from 03/11/2013-04/26/2013 to teach English workshops at a local university. I´m absolutely excited about it!!! :)
So excited that I decided to fly to Colombia 10 days earlier, right after my last exam in Germany, to travel the country a bit on my own!
I will arrive in Bogota, the capital, on 01.03.2013 in the late evening and probably stay there for a night. In the morning, I plan to fly to Medellin to stay there for a couple of days and do some roundtrips. Afterwards, I want to travel to the island San Andres in the Carribean sea, to depart to Barranquilla on the Carribean coast from there.
I will be travelling as a backpacker for the first time, on a very low budget and I only have 10 days for all this before I have to start my internship in Barranquilla... So let´s see if I can make all of it happen! :)
Welcome to Tanja's Blog about going to Colombia! For me this is going to be two first times: creating a blog and going to Colombia! I don´t have any experience with either, so I hope for the best with both! :)
For those who don't know: I successfully applied for an internship in Colombia via AIESEC and will stay in Barranquilla at the Caribbean coast from 03/11/2013-04/26/2013 to teach English workshops at a local university. I´m absolutely excited about it!!! :)
So excited that I decided to fly to Colombia 10 days earlier, right after my last exam in Germany, to travel the country a bit on my own!
I will arrive in Bogota, the capital, on 01.03.2013 in the late evening and probably stay there for a night. In the morning, I plan to fly to Medellin to stay there for a couple of days and do some roundtrips. Afterwards, I want to travel to the island San Andres in the Carribean sea, to depart to Barranquilla on the Carribean coast from there.
I will be travelling as a backpacker for the first time, on a very low budget and I only have 10 days for all this before I have to start my internship in Barranquilla... So let´s see if I can make all of it happen! :)
Abonnieren
Posts (Atom)