Sept 16 Friday & Sept 17 Saturday

Friday was another gloomy day, people were walking around with coats on, so I decided do the same thing.  I noticed in the last few days that a lot of women don’t carry any type of purse, so I wore my purse under my coat since I’d be walking for about ½ an hour just to get to the Museo de Oro, in the old part of the city.   I was just a block away when I saw a sign advertising “El Museo de Esmeraldas” (Emeralds ! ! !   My birth stone ! ! !) so I did a quick detour to take in this museum first.  It was located on the 23^rd floor of a high rise building and it is a private museum.   Introductory film showing how they mine the emeralds, and then a walk through a recreation of a mine shaft showing how emeralds are formed within lava flows and within fault lines (Colombian mines).   The information the guide provided was very informative.  The next room had displayed of emeralds in their natural state, a whole range of qualities and colours. The third room was a show room of jewellery.  WOW !   Unfortunately, taking photos was not permitted.  I was there for about 1 ½ hours and it was well worth the detour.   (This one was taken from outside the window on the ground floor)

The Museo de Oro was simply incredible, filled with archaeological finds dating from 3000 BC to the 18^th century.   Was able to take lots of pictures during my two hours there.     

Walked around the historical district, but only for a short while.  My feet and legs were aching; those marble floors are killers.   And it was sprinkling a bit.   So I found a restaurant, had some nice fish (trout or bass) with shrimp and mushrooms, covered with cheese.  Delicious and the staff were very friendly and attentive.   I eat early and was the only customer in the restaurant.   

It was still sprinkling by the time I left the restaurant but I decided to walk back to the hotel to help digest my meal.  Good thing I did because on the walk back I met a parade of Caribbean dancers making their way to the central plaza for some type of concert.  The sidewalks and streets were filled and it took me even longer to get back to the hotel at around 5:30.

I woke up late on Saturday and was chilled.  Another dark day out there so I decided to stay in.   I was very lucky with my afternoon at Monserrate with that sunshine.   

Sept 14 Wednesday + Sept 15 Thursday

Wednesday:  Stayed in the hotel all day and relaxed now that I have financial problems resolved.
Thursday:  Had a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant;  buffet style.   And do I have to tell you how good Colombian coffee is ?   Huge mugs, you pour your own mix of coffee and hot milk.  YUM !
I then walked next door to the Museo Nacional de Colombia for a 3 hour visit.  The museum is located in a building that was a  penitentiary for 72 years !   It has three floors of exhibits.  I have visited a lot of museums in my travels, and I must say that this one rates extremely high marks.  It includes archeological displays, as well as paintings, sculptures, and gold and silver objects. 

After leaving the museum I decided to go visit the "Plaza de Toros" which is a beautiful building in Moorish style. 

Unfortunately it is closed and I found out later on that it is only open on special occasions for Corridas.  I then walked next door to the Planetorium, which was also closed.... for renovations.  Oh well.  
The day started out cloudy, but it was starting to clear up, so I decided to take the cable car up to Monserrate.  At the top of the mountain is the shrine of the Fallen Christ (church) as well as buildings which contain stores, restaurants, cafés. 

The views of the city of Bogota are spectacular from up there.  



It was past three by the time I'd finished walking around the site, so I made my way to one of the restaurants in "La Casa Santa Clara" which specializes in Colombian cuisine.  (The building used to be in downtown Bogota and was going to be demolished in order to widen the avenue.  It was completely dismanteled, brought up to the top of the mountain, and rebuilt ! )   

 I ordered Ajiaco, Bogota's signature meal, which is a huge bowl of soup/stew containing chicken, corn, potatoes & cream (Juana & Claude:  It tasted a lot like something we ate in Lima at the first restaurant you took us to).  I also treated myself to a nice cold glass of Sangria, and for dessert a chocolate cake topped with a cream mixture of dulce de leche.  (Yvette j'ai pensé à toi en le dégustant !)   And of course to finish it off, a nice 'tasa de cafe con leche'.    And I could pay for it all on my VISA card.  How very civilized after the problems encountered in Venezuela.

I asked a question of one of the ladies who worked at the restaurant and we got into a long conversation in Spanish.  Turns out she lived 6 years in Ottawa, and her son was born there.  Adriana was so impressed with my travel plans that she went to get a great book for me about all the things to do while in Bogota.
Cable car back down the mountain, taxi ride back to the hotel,  what a great day !

THE PROPOSED "Round-the-World TRAVEL ROUTE

Continent	Country	Places
South America	Venezuela	Caracas
	Columbia	San Augustin = Archeological Park
		Bogota
		Cartagena
		Barranquilla & Santa Marta
	Peru	Lima
		Nasca
		Cusco
		Machu Pichu
		Arequipa
	Bolivia	Copacabana
		La Paz
		Sucre
	Chile	Santiago
	Argentina	Cordoba
		Buenos Aires
	Uruguay	Montevideo
	Brazil	Iguassu Falls
		Sao Paulo
		Rio de Janeiro
		Iguassu Falls
Africa	South Africa	Cape Town
		Port Elizabeth
		Durban
		Johannesburg
		Kruger Park
	Botswana	Kalahari Desert (S), Victoria Falls (N)
	Zambia/Zimbabwe	Border to Botswana = Victoria falls
	Tanzania	Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar
		Serengeti Safari
		Kilimanjaro
	Kenya	Nairobi  & possible Safari
	Sudan	Khartoum
	Egypt	Abu Simbel, Lake Nasser
		Aswan
		Luxor & Thebes
		Abydos,
		Mallawi, Hermopolis, Al-Amarnah
		Cairo
		Alexandria
		Port Said, Port Suez
Middle East		Sinai
	Jordan	Aqaba, Petra
	Israel	Masada, Hebron
		Jerusalem, Nazareth, Tel Aviv, Haifa,
	Syria	Damascus
	Turkey   ? Later trip?	Anatolia, Capadochia
	Kuwait
	Bahrain
	Qatar	Suk de Doha
	United Arab Emirates	Dubai
	Iran	Tabriz, Tehran
Asia	India	Mumbai (Bombay)
		Delhi
		Agra
		Jaipur
		Udaipur
		Orchha
		Khajuraho
	Nepal	Katmandu
	Tibet	Lhasa
	China	Chengdu
		Dunhuang
		Beijing
		Luoyang
		Pingyao
		Xi'an
		Nanjing
		Suzhou
		Shanghai
		Hangzou
	Japan	Tokyo   (Travel by bullet train)
		Excursions from Tokyo
		Kyoto
		Excursions from Kyoto
		Osaka
		Hiroshima
		Nagasaki
	Taiwan	Taipei
	China (south)	Hong Kong     & Macao
		Xiamen, Quanzhou, Yongding
South East Asia	Vietnam	Hanoi  (North)
		Danang:  Hue, Hoi An,   (Fly to Hue from Hanoi)
		Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City)  South
		(3 to 4 days by boat from Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh)
	Cambodia	Phnom Penh
		(5 hour boat ride from PP to Siem Reap)
		Siem Reap   Stay in Guest House (La Noria)
	Laos	Luang Prabang ***
		Ventiane
		(By boat from Laos to Northern Thailand)
Indonesia	Thailand	Northern   (cool, mountainous)
		Bangkok
		(fly Thai or Bangkok Airways from Bangkok)
		Phuket Island   or
		Krabi (on mainland)
	Malaysia (North)	Penang Island
		Kuala Lumpur
		Melaka / Malacca
		Taman Negara National Park
	Singapore	Singapore   (Island 42 x 23 km)
	Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan  (Flight from Singapore)
	Malaysia (South)	Borneo:  Sarawak: Kuching
	Borneo	Kalimantan
	Java	Jakarta
	Bali	Denpasar (Capital & Airport)
		Ubud  (Visit island from this home base: Alam Sari Hotel or Tjampuhan Hotel)
		Tenganan, Penestanan, Lovina
		Lombok (off coast of Bali)
Australasia	Australia	Darwin
		Outback
		Adelaide
		Melbourne
		Sydney
		Brisbane
		Cairns (vegas like)
		Fly back to Sydney
	New Zealand	Christchurch
		on the south island
		Queenstown
		Ferry across Cook Strait to north island
		Wellington
		Rotorua
		Aukland
South Pacific
	Fiji	Beach, REST,
		Nandi  (main arrival for tourists)
	Tonga, Samoa
	Tahiti	Papeete
	Easter Islands
South America	Galapagos	Cruise through the islands
	Ecuador	Quito
DEPENDING ON TIME OF YEAR   =	HOME   OR
Central America	Panama	Canal
	Costa Rica
	Guatemala	Antigua (Hotel Casa Santo Domingo)
		La Reunion, Tikal
North America	Mexico
	USA	Mesa
	Canada	Ottawa

Sept 13 – Tuesday

Got an early start.  Bags were packed by 7:30 and I was checked out by 8:00.   Thank God I had pre-paid for the room with my VISA when I booked it in Canada.   Used up $150 bolivares to pay for the drinks in the mini-bar because my own hotel would not take a VISA payment !   Used $210 bolivares for the taxi to the airport.   Used the last bolivares for breakfast at the airport.  Didn’t even have enough left for a bottle of water.   Time to get to a friendlier banking country.  

I don’t want you to think it was all bad however.  The people I met were friendly and helpful (except for most of the people who work in the banks, who were often quite rude).      The coffee is incredibly good. I can’t really comment on the quality of the food, since I didn’t have enough money to spend on it.  I used small places that the locals use to eat:  pork, chicken, empanadas.   I had a “Venezuelan chocolate frappe” which was also delicious.   Not crazy about their beer, but then I’m not really a beer drinker, but it was filling.    My belt buckle is now in the third hole, instead of the first, so I must have lost some weight;  I consider that a bonus to offset the lack of bolivares !

My flight left at noon and 1 ½ hours later we landed in Bogota, Columbia.   I got some money (Columbian Pesos) from the ATM machine at the airport (YEAH ! ! !)   took a taxi into the city and headed for “Hotel IBIS Museo” located in the “International Zone” of Bogota.  Turns out I’m smack dab in the right area with museums, planetarium, Plaza de Toros, as well as the old historical district within walking distance, and Monserrate Sanctuary on the mountain behind the hotel.   Lots of road construction going on the main boulevards.   Hotel is clean and comfortable !   LIFE IS GOOD;   I get to eat again.

Sept 12 – Monday

At 9:30 I was at the travel agency and since I was the only client there, I had the full attention of the manager.  He was quite nice and understood the problems I was having obtaining Bolivars;  unfortunately he can’t help me with that.    I first asked about a trip to Angel Falls and was told that I could probably book it and pay with my Visa, but it would not be all inclusive  (Flight, boat, hotel covered, but not meals or tips, or anything else that might have to be paid)   Not only is it expensive, but I would end up paying twice the actual rate because of the Bolivar exchange.   So that part of my dream  will have to wait until a different government is in place in Venezuela and a more open policy is used for their banking system.    I did book a flight to Bogota Columbia for tomorrow;  leaving one day earlier than planned.    I guess I might as well get used to changing my plans, it’s bound to happen again at some point for various reasons.

It’s a sunny day so I decided to take the Metro back to Zona Catedral and take some pictures.  I also walked to Parque Ezequiel Zamora, located on a mountain top with views of the surrounding city.  There were a lot of school groups around, so even though some areas seemed isolated, I felt safe.  There were also guards throughout the park.  

Now that I think of it, there is a  police / security presence everywhere:  streets, parks, metro, shopping areas, etc.   I did not count how many steps I climbed to get to the top, but it was a long haul !   Coming back down was a lot easier.   It sprinkled off and on once I got downtown, but the reason I was wet by the time I got back to the hotel was more from sweat than anything else.   It is very humid and hot for me.  Some Venezuelans are walking around with coats, others with short sleeves.   I seem to blend in fairly well in the crowds however, because I was asked for directions a number of times while I walked around.   “Dispensame, no estoy de aqui !”   (Sorry, I’m not from here!)

Sept 11 – Sunday

It rained most of the night and is still raining this morning.  Good day to go to the Museum.  Took the Metro  to Zona La Candelaria to visit the Museo de Bellas Artes and the Zoologico next door which had a lot of stuffed animals.   I walked through Parque Los Caobos after  and it was nice to see all the families out for a Sunday walk.     Took the Metro back to the hotel and went to see Parque Boyaca which is just behind The Hotel.   I sat and rested for a while and took in some sunshine.  It is a very small secluded park, but I felt fairly safe since there was another lady there to whom I said hello.   She came back to see me (I think she was a nun) and reminded me that God loved me.   What a nice way to end the day.

The trip to Angel Falls is a 3 day excursion, part of it by boat on a river. With all this rain, I'm not sure I'm up for 3 days of being wet all day; plus the top of the falls may be cloudy so that I can't even see them. Can you tell I'm trying to make it OK for me to skip seeing Angel Falls if I can’t manage to book some kind of “all inclusive tour” with my Visa Card ?

Sept 10 – Saturday

Tried to get $ exchanged for Bolivars at the hotel, no luck, but the clerk told me I might want to check out a shopping mall close by at Centro Sambil, which is located in the Zona Estado Leal.   It turned out to be a HUGE mall with 4 stories of shops and many banks.  Unfortunately ALL  their ATMs would not accept either by debit card, or my credit card and none of them could exchange hard currency because it was Saturday !  and I still would only get half the true value, but I was getting desperate.   I even tried going into some stores to see if they would exchange hard currency (since some of them  will let you pay for items with US $;  but no luck there either.  I spotted a travel agency and went in to either purchase an airline ticket to Columbia, or see if I could book a tour to Angel Falls.   There were already people waiting in line and  two of them were Americans and we started chatting about the difficulties of obtaining Bolivars.  Turns out they have been working in Venezuela for a number of months.  When I explained my dilemma, they both offered to  exchange some money for me and pulled out a wad of cash from their pockets ! ! !   So nice of them to exchange my last $100 US  for  $800 Bolivars.  They also said that Venezuelans get a 10 to 1 exchange when they convert it back.  So why the reluctance for Venezuelans to exchange funds ?   Because it is against the law for them to do so.    Bottom line is that I now have enough money to eat !  

Presidente Chavez is one weird character.    In the news before leaving Canada I had heard that Chavez was undergoing cancer treatments.  News Flash:   Everyone I have spoken to about this (Venezuelans) do not believe that he is really sick.  They think it’s a political ploy to get pity votes at the next elections.

It was taking the travel agent ages to get anything done, there were 2 other clients ahead of me, so I decided to go get something to eat instead.  Ended up walking back to the area near my hotel and called it a day.  I spotted a travel agency closer to my hotel, so I’ll go there on Monday to book a flight to Colombia and try again to see if there is any possibility of going to Angel Falls (Will have to be all inclusive paid with my Visa card).