Vamos de Paseo (Part II)

Today we got up extremely early (ok, just 6am) to accompany Marco to Villavicencio- a city about 2 to 4 hours outside of Bogota, depending on the route you take (either through the mountains, via new tunnels, or around the mountains, via the old highways). On the drive down, we passed through the southern part of Bogota- the poor area of the city, which Julian could not remember ever even seeing. For the most part, those from the more affluent north do not venture into the south. I wanted to post a couple pictures, though, because it is quite impressive to see how incredibly different two halves of the same city can be.

Southern part of Bogota

Ciudad Bolivar: thousands of poor houses in the south of Bogota that lie on the lower part of the mountains

This entry is not going to be that long, because for the most part we were riding around in the car looking at the vistas. Which, I must say, were breathtaking. I'm not sure pictures could ever do them justice. Marco took us on the 4 hour, deluxe tour around the mountain on the way there, so that we could fully experience the Colombian landscapes.

Driving through the clouds!

Look at the waterfall in the center- so beautiful

I love this picture...

All the flat-land that you see makes up the llanos orientales - plains that are known for their Colombian cowboys, oil, and agriculture

It is also really interesting how the climate changes so drastically during the drive to Villavicencio. We left chilly, fall weather...climbed mountains into more chilly, damp mountain weather, and then started passing into humid, tropical weather. Quite a trip!

Located at the horizon of these pictures is the Amazon. Interesting, no?

Marco and his car, waiting for Julian to take his pictures

At a local restaurant for lunch... we don't have a good shot of it, but it was basically just a bunch of picnic benches under a gigantic roof of dried palm leaves. They had great food! Below is a picture of carne a la llanera: the specialty meat of the area. It is a specific cut of meat cooked on wood and coals in a certain manner...I tasted Julian's and it was quite yummy. We also had a surprisingly delicious beverage called refajo- a (potentially dangerous) mixture of Pony Malta soda, local beer, aguardiente and Colombiana soda.

As I said, not much to say for today because it was mostly a driving day. I fell asleep on the ride home, and I am now more than ready to crash in an actual bed.

Buenas noches y que descansen!