Bogota, Cyclovia not at all what I thought
I am really impressed with Bogota. Not only does the city have 300km of bicycle paths, but on Sundays and holidays they close down an additional 120 or so km of roads for cycling use only. Cyclovia! Tomorrow is a holiday so I will be able to ride around with throngs of other cyclists again. There is of course a bike route going to and from the airport to make things easy. How civilized. AND IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR 35 YEARS!!
the valley below is 2800m, I climbed more before descending into Bogota
Yeah, I am digging Bogota. After our morning ride Sebastian and I went .. where else .. to the mall. It was large, and packed. Nothing like hanging out shoulder to shoulder with 50 000 other people. Up on the the second level we are looking at the crowds and I am thinking about how much different it is here to bike touring through the
At the top of one of the 3 popular Bogota climbs (7km long)
country when I realize that I am the ONLY person here with non-black hair. It was almost a scary feeling, like claustrophobia (not that I know what that is), even though I have not at any time felt threatened in any way.
Standard breakfast: eggs, cornmeal cake, bread, coffee (already drunk) and hot chocolate = $1.50-$2.00
In taking some smaller roads into town I came through an area populated by natives. They were not as openly social (ie. they did not hold up traffic to drive beside me and chat about my trip). No one would look at me, even when buying food, little eye contact, and almost no interaction. But turn around quickly and guess where all eyes are?
I did try three different fruits which I have never seen before in my life. All were good (of course local knowledge goes a long way – I was told to avoid one as it was not as good).
Lunch: Soup (this one had 4 different types of meat), drink (sugar cane with lime), pototo, yucca, platano, rice, piece of meat. $3.50-4.50
Roadside snack of the day: Charred corn. background: who needs a pickup truck when you have a motorbike and some rope?
2 Comments
Andy Z on October 23rd, 2010
I’m enjoying your photos. A great way to share what’s happening on your trip.
Andy
Barrie on October 18th, 2010
If you remember correctly, when we were cycling through Central America, all three of the cyclist we met who were riding North after having gone through South America, had fallen in love with the Andes and her peoples. All three intended to return home, raise money and go back to start a school somewhere in the Andes.
From your blog entries, even this short into your trip, I have the feeling that you are starting to come under the same “spell”.
Enjoy!