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Back at altitude with attitude again but I must be getting acclimatised. Great Bogota. Home to Bolivar’s greatest and lowest moments and still alive with a sense of history, passionate, proud and over populated with beggars.
A little scene setting, this morning I took off the damaged panier, you might remember from the dog crash ep, I took it over the road to a small ferreteria (hardware) and told them I needed to fix it….did they have drill, hinges, rivets etc, within 5 mins the boy, the boss and 2 passing bike riders had accumulated tools, bits and pieces, sent the boy off to buy bits, pushed me, gently, aside, after 3 hours, all panel beaten, new hinge and back on bike…we chatted for a while about the bike, the trip, life, the universe and everything…then I asked how much and they all backed off saying nada nada, I couldn’t even buy them a 6 pack and I’m still wondering how to repay this extraordinary generosity…and it’s everywhere in Colombia, people go out of their way to ask if I need help or directions just walking down the street, amazing…however, not far from my friendly ferreteria a few months ago, one
Fred and Sandy's Appartmentof the teachers caught a cab home from the shopping centre, the cab stops out on the road and 2 guys get in, stick a gun in his guts, work him over and he sits like this for a couple of hours as one takes his card and cleans out his bank account, then he’s dumped out on the autopista….others have been robbed, assaulted and etc, public and private security everywhere, armoured cars pull up and serious guys with pump action shotties, side arms, RPGs probably, dash into even very small stores to take the daily or weekly cash to the bank…all serves to remind that in this over friendly, sophisticated, modern city, really bad things are …how close?..just a shot away?

BOGOTA, BLOGOTA, BLOG TA TA

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:19:29

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is a cute idea!

My hotel is in the old centro district, La Candelaria, once scary but now cops/military on every corner plus more....sort of reassuring despite the tender age of some, I think conscription is at 11 years old, but they have big sticks and guns. The major roads are lined with old buildings, lots of churches and museums with beautiful architecture. The mornings tend to be clear and warm, then in the afternoon the storms roll in, fantastic thunder and lightning, torrential rain that turns the narrow streets into veritable rivers, today it rained early, I was in the barber shop, nothing much to report there except a woman next to me was having a fantastic foot job, soaking, massage, nail clip, maybe next week, I’m reluctant to force anyone to deal with my plates!, anyway, it bucketed down and this narrow little street was about a foot deep,
I kid you not, raging river, the little taxis almost swept away, I stayed and made small talk with the staff until it cleared a bit.

The BMW people were fantastic and took the bike in straightaway, a 50,000 kms service and a few little bits and pieces, they had a new handlebar (but for 400 bucks) so I’m going to live with the bent one a bit longer! And a rear tyre for another 400, I don’t think so. But, they’ll fix the rear drive seal under warranty, something I’ve been trying to get fixed since Caracas. Come back at 10am manana, perfecto, and they got me a cab home. This morning I went back and hung around, luckily they had a freebie internet for me to cool my heels at for a couple of hours, then they told me they had struck a problem, and as everything shuts down at noon for the Easter break, yes, it starts Wednesday here!, and since I’m happy to stay here for a while, and saving on parking, and so they do it right, I’ll pick it up on Monday.

Last night I found the Café de Buenos Aires, all
tango, steak and red wine, crikey, I’d forgotten ...