I had a lousy sleep last night, was very restless for some reason, not sure why. Got up at 7:00, had a shower and we went for breakfast around 8:00 o'clock. Then we packed up our gear, checked out of the hotel (but stored our gear at the hotel) and walked for about 15 minutes to the tram that would take us up to Monserrate Mountain which overlooks Bogota and offers some spectacular views. We took the tram up the mountain and after we disembarked, we had to do a little more hiking to get to a good viewpoint. I was struggling a bit when we hiked to the top of the mountain as we're up over 10,000 feet above sea level and the air is pretty thin. We made it to the lookout and got some great pictures. There was also a nice garden area with trees and flowers, and a church. We actually had a choice between taking the tram or the gondola; however, the gondola doesn't start operating till 12:00 o'clock so we opted for the tram. Today was a holiday so the ticket price was one-half the regular price which was a great surprise for us.
We took the tram back down the mountain and then headed for the Gold Museum in downtown Bogota. However, when we got there, the museum was closed because of the holiday so we were a little disappointed. We decided to head back to the Casa Platypus but on the way we stopped at a traditional Colombian restaurant and had a traditional Colombian meal which was very good and very filling. When we got back to the Casa Platypus, we picked up our luggage and hired a taxi to take us to the bus depot as we are on our way now to a place called Medellin where we plan on doing some paragliding.
After arriving at the bus depot and picking up our tickets, we departed from Bogota at 3:00 p.m.. It is about a nine to 10-hour drive to Medellin. After a couple of hours of driving we got into a fairly steep mountain range. Our driver was doing about 30 kilometers an hour up these steep and narrow winding roads (Juanita would have been freaking out). The roads are in good shape, but steep and narrow. It started to rain and it absolutely poured. In places, it was like a river crossing the highway and in other places, the water falling down from the cliffs onto the highway was just like great waterfalls. At one point the road was blocked by a tree that was obviously washed down from one of the cliffs and the driver had to stop the bus and wait for the oncoming traffic to break and then scooted around the tree and carried on.
We stopped at an open-air restaurant about 9:00 p.m. for a bite to eat and then carried on to Medellin, arriving about 2:00 o'clock in the morning. We then got a taxi to the hostel. The boys hit the sack pretty much right away but I stayed up longer to finish up my trading desktop for the day, check my emails, etc., etc. For the first two hours of the bus ride it was still daylight so I was able to get some spectacular pictures. All in all, it proved to be an interesting day.
We took the tram back down the mountain and then headed for the Gold Museum in downtown Bogota. However, when we got there, the museum was closed because of the holiday so we were a little disappointed. We decided to head back to the Casa Platypus but on the way we stopped at a traditional Colombian restaurant and had a traditional Colombian meal which was very good and very filling. When we got back to the Casa Platypus, we picked up our luggage and hired a taxi to take us to the bus depot as we are on our way now to a place called Medellin where we plan on doing some paragliding.
After arriving at the bus depot and picking up our tickets, we departed from Bogota at 3:00 p.m.. It is about a nine to 10-hour drive to Medellin. After a couple of hours of driving we got into a fairly steep mountain range. Our driver was doing about 30 kilometers an hour up these steep and narrow winding roads (Juanita would have been freaking out). The roads are in good shape, but steep and narrow. It started to rain and it absolutely poured. In places, it was like a river crossing the highway and in other places, the water falling down from the cliffs onto the highway was just like great waterfalls. At one point the road was blocked by a tree that was obviously washed down from one of the cliffs and the driver had to stop the bus and wait for the oncoming traffic to break and then scooted around the tree and carried on.
We stopped at an open-air restaurant about 9:00 p.m. for a bite to eat and then carried on to Medellin, arriving about 2:00 o'clock in the morning. We then got a taxi to the hostel. The boys hit the sack pretty much right away but I stayed up longer to finish up my trading desktop for the day, check my emails, etc., etc. For the first two hours of the bus ride it was still daylight so I was able to get some spectacular pictures. All in all, it proved to be an interesting day.
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| Bogota Bus Depot |
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| View from Monserrate Mountain |
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| The drive from Bogota to Medellin |
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| Atop Monserrate Mountain |
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