Got an early start today so I could book Gio’s room tonight, and there aren’t rooms!  Sonofa.  Well, I got him a room a block away, so crisis averted.  He should be here around 10:00 tonight!

I’m feeling ready to get going now.   Just booked a groovy place for tomorrow night in Villa de Leyva, our first stop on our voyage.  And tomorrow’s a fairly short day, which is good – that will give us time to get a late start and then arrive in time to deal with gear and electronics and all that.  I’m getting that antsy moto feeling, and I’m ready to hit the road.  Not so much the Alto de la Linea per se, but something gentler and friendlier.  Getting out of the city will be a battle, but we’re pretty far north, so we don’t have to travers the whole of Bogota like I did two days ago…

Today I worked on the route (more on that in a momento) and then jumped in an Uber for the 35 minute drive down to La Calendaria – the old historic part of the city.  When you’re a few blocks away from the main square, there are all kinds of cool cafes and restaurants, and it has a real backpacker / traveler feel – kinda like Antigua, Guatemala – but as you get closer to the Place de la Bolivar (the main square) things really degrade into the underbelly of tourism – trinket stores, crappy institutional restaurants with callers outside, and constant approaches for whatever – some money, something indecipherable, and today an offer to take a photo with dude’s lama.  Which he was out walking?  In the square?  And I SWEAR to you I made deep eye contact with that lama, but I could not tell if it liked what it saw.  I blinked and looked away.  But, there are also TONS of people of all kinds everywhere, and the university is there, so the vibe is still great as long as you’re a block or two off the square.

The hardest thing I did was try to find a road that allows cars to get an Uber – so many of the roads have been pedestrianized, which is so great to see.  And people out everywhere.  Had a funny moment as I waited for my Uber on a crowded street streaming with humanity.  Some guy walked past me and I heard “guero,” or thought I heard it, so I looked up and saw some guy walking away laughing and smiling and thumbs-upping me.  Hahaha.  So, guerdo/a means like a light skinned or blond-haired person.  I wouldn’t say it’s derogatory – it was humorous.  But then I looked around, and yup, I realized for the first time, wow.  I am literally the only person who looks like me.  It felt good to be completely away from all of touristdome.  Mission accomplished.

So not much to talk about today.  La Candelaria was a great stroll, and Gio and I have one of three routes to take.  Thankfully we’re meeting my new friend (I think he might call me his new annoyance) in Villa de Leyva tomorrow as he’s guiding a Swedish (Swiss?) guy from LA to the same city we’re going to on the same day.  Sweet.  He’ll be able to help us with the final stage of our tour and nail down a few of the roads.

So, for now, just a few photos from the stroll today.   Tomorrow we ride.

Streets of La Candelaria.

People everywhere in La Candelaria

More La Candelaria

School kids in La Candelaria

More La Candelaria

Place de la Bolivar. It’s a tad ominous actually.

Lunch.

My simple lunch spot watching people flow past.