Tue 26th 1234 Back at hostel. Topping up O6 before heading down to LC to try to have lunch at La Tinaja de la Abuela and meet G/J at 3. I have signed up for the lang exch near here (and I found the place on my wanderings earlier), it starts at 4 and is free before 6 and finishes/turns into a "party" at 9, so it looks like I can more or less turn up when i like and I think it may reduce awkwardness of "saying goodbye" to G/J and not overly intruding on them if I can say I'm off to lang exch and see them for say an hour or two.
Didn't sleep too badly, tho woke up several times and was drowsing semi-comfortably in bed before 8am alarm. Actually down at breakfast by 830, cornflakes and bread and marmalade and coffee, I was only one there tho local-ish (staff/resident?) guy with walking frame came in and said hi, he asked me to tell reception the milk was "dañada" and I vaguely worry it was slightly off - the cereals tasted slightly weird but I haven't eaten cereals of *any* brand in years and they didn't taste terrible. Fingers crossed.
Water was and still is off. I shaved using water from a bottle.
Feel vaguely sweaty but I almost certainly won't have time to shower before lang exch.
I had arepa de huevo and empanada de carne and a white coffee at Parilla San Martin (they don't seem to understand "pintado" here, tho PSM staff didn't seem to understand me much at all - it is possible they use "perico" to mean white coffee, not sure) (about 12K? not sure) and wandered and found lang exch venue and got sick+mildly scared of being accosted by maybe beggars or maybe ambulant vendors round the region "SE" of BBC and then had a white coffee (4.5K, used up some change) at place didn't get name of but had "Il buen cafe..." or something sign inside which isn't far from hostel and now back here.
I think the area near hostel may be Zona Rosa or Zona T rather than Chapinero but really not sure, this is just based on some street signs.
All this is broadly fine. These beggar-ish types do make me wonder if I'm safe to walk round tomorrow post-checkout with my passport in my flip belt. But I also don't much like the idea of leaving it in my bag at the hostel, even if in a padlocked compartment, just in case my whole bag goes astray. Have to see how it goes.
No idea when is "best" to leave to head down to LC. I reckon TM could well take 30-45m and given lang exch timing I want to eat a "main" meal before I meet G/J - I hope tdla is open/not chocked, probably be OK. I can probably kill a modest amount of time wandering LC and/or drinking coffee but don't want to go nuts.
Oh, my first foray out was to Carulla nearby where I got 1kg panela and some stupidly expensive sweets for nephew/niece. I brought that back and emptied my bag out and have semi-packed. 1kg panela is perhaps a lot to carry but even with 750ishml water and the fleece in blog says bag was under 7kg when I came out and I will wear the fleece on the plane (and temporarily while passing through any checkpoints) and I think I am also allowed a personal item (my daypack, which I can put whatever in in unlikely event weiht is a concern) and the only "extra" stuff compared to when I came out are the flip flops, tiny souvenirs, some papers and today's purchases. I also expect/hope to buy a litre-ish bottle of aguardiente airside unless the price is insane, but that's only going to be about another kg so we're kind of looking at 9kg plus flip flops and a few papers and I think my limit is 10kg and this is before you factor in wearing the fleece instead of having it in bag and using daypack to offload some weight at a push.
Yes I will have to lug this weight (minus aguardiente) to airport and all of it across London, but that is hardly an epic journey and if it works properly it will be nice to bring back these consumable souvenirs.
1251 Been to bog, water might be back on.
Did see young eng guy from last night and his two mates in street earlier but as we've never spoken didn't acknowledge them.
Nothing really against him to be clear. He was saying on his phone call everything is really cheap and if he sees a beer is like £1.50 he's all "maybe I won't have that, it's expensive" and I could completely identify with this. He also said he had an hour Uber ride and it was like £3, obviously he is more comfortable with this kind of thing than I am.
Chocolate does seem expensive here, but iirc it certainly also felt expensive (even compared to generally high prices) in CR and also looking further back it does feel like in LA in general it is quite pricey, ISTR discussing this at lang exch in Santiago in maybe 2018.
Somewhat arbitrarily gonna head out at 1pm.
2057 Just got back from lang exch.
Went into LC (about 30 mins on TM plus modest waiting time). Went to TdlA and saw messages from Mum and called and got "possibly bad" news about Jaffa but won't discuss that here. Felt a bit upset but things may be OK and of course me eg going back to hotel to feel crap would not help anyone.
Met G/J no problem, I found corner 12 near Botero museum. Good to see them and have a chat. I left about 6 as I wanted to be on TM before dark, they very generously said they'd pick up the bill. Had three bers with them, first a fancy mora stout at 6% and the other two more basic Poker. Corner 12 seems a nice enough place and has a reasonable selection of beers and I suspect it's not super pricey (tho not sure) and I could see myself going again.
Got back to hostel about 1845ish and had a piss and called Mum and then walked on to Vintrash for lang exch. Queue to get in, 10k cover as after 6pm, it was maybe 1930-1945 when got there. Inside lots of tables but no obvious space and also no obvious Spanish group except a basic one and even then it wasn't clear I could (there may not have been a seat) or should sit down and just join them. Maybe if I'd been there at 4-5pm it would have been different, not that I regret meeting actual proto-friends like G/J instead of going to that.
Couldn't see any prices for beer, they only had Stella and Corona in fridge so I asked for a Corona and it was fucking 17k! For the usual 330ml bottle. I was mildly hacked off but made an effort to remain smileyish and I loitered around (by an advanced spanish and basic korean pair of signs at an empty table) and more by luck than judgment ended up speaking English with a couple of locals - one spoke better English than the other and I am not sure they understood me perfectly but it was nice to have a chat. They turn the volume up around 830-9pm and by 830ish there was just one of the locals talking to me and he was going to leave so we left together and tho I think it was in his direction he very kindly walked home with me (tho from a safety POV I half wonder if this was bad as solo I'm not advertising my foreigner status by speaking English). One (apparently they are mostly Venezuelan) guy fist-bumped me and asked for money but I said no without it being a big deal.
I nursed the one beer both on price and "not getting too drunk esp when it didn't feel that fun" grounds and that was fine.
I am actually yawning now.
I think given I want to be up for breakfast and that is 8-10 and checkout is 11 I will probably go to bed now. I'll clean my teeth but not shower and then I can shower after breakfast and be as "fresh as possible" for the longish day+night until I get home and can shower again. It will also be easier to pack tomorrow when I have showeed etc. I will set alarms on both phones to reduce risk of oversleeping but given I've had like four beers since 3pm and I am going to bed not much after 9pm I don't think there's a huge risk of oversleeping and having to pack in a mad rush.
Still not entirely sure what I will do with passport tomorrow but either option (leave it in bag at hostel vs keep it on me in flip belt) is probably not terrible and it just comes down to which particular (fingers crossed) unlikely event ("deep-ish" mugging vs bag loss at hostel) could happen.
Yawning again, so yes, I think let's move towards bed. Vaguely tempted to snack on the mani garapinado I have but I will resist, I am not really hungry and they will be a good reserve for flight (tho I plan to eat a lot tomorrow during day and prob two "main" meals) and if I don't need them a bonus treat (tho I am sure you can buy them in UK) back home. Let's go do teeth.
Kudos for at least going to LE and making an effort and despite it feeling socially unpromising (lots of people seemed to be in groups and maybe I could/should have boldly introduced myself to a stranger but it didn't quite feel that kind of place) not just necking my beer and walking out and not utterly flipping out about the crappy pricing and the queue (which really made no sense, it wasn't that busy inside tho it was busy, and even the reservados/vip line hardly seemed to move) and the cover charge. I could prob have done better (thrown caution to the wind and spoken to random people) but I could have done worse and with it being last night and so forth I didn't do too badly.
But let's go do my teeth and go to bed.
2140 Copied photos off O6 onto USB thumb drive and onto K1 (so tho it may run battery down overnight some may get backed up).
Found e-mail from Avianca in spam from Sat about bidding on a business class upgrade. No e-mails about checking in, I might expect one to turn up 2355ish tonight.
Just checked *again* and flight is 27th March at 2335. Paranoia kicking in. Anyway, let's send this and finally get into bed.
Didn't sleep too badly, tho woke up several times and was drowsing semi-comfortably in bed before 8am alarm. Actually down at breakfast by 830, cornflakes and bread and marmalade and coffee, I was only one there tho local-ish (staff/resident?) guy with walking frame came in and said hi, he asked me to tell reception the milk was "dañada" and I vaguely worry it was slightly off - the cereals tasted slightly weird but I haven't eaten cereals of *any* brand in years and they didn't taste terrible. Fingers crossed.
Water was and still is off. I shaved using water from a bottle.
Feel vaguely sweaty but I almost certainly won't have time to shower before lang exch.
I had arepa de huevo and empanada de carne and a white coffee at Parilla San Martin (they don't seem to understand "pintado" here, tho PSM staff didn't seem to understand me much at all - it is possible they use "perico" to mean white coffee, not sure) (about 12K? not sure) and wandered and found lang exch venue and got sick+mildly scared of being accosted by maybe beggars or maybe ambulant vendors round the region "SE" of BBC and then had a white coffee (4.5K, used up some change) at place didn't get name of but had "Il buen cafe..." or something sign inside which isn't far from hostel and now back here.
I think the area near hostel may be Zona Rosa or Zona T rather than Chapinero but really not sure, this is just based on some street signs.
All this is broadly fine. These beggar-ish types do make me wonder if I'm safe to walk round tomorrow post-checkout with my passport in my flip belt. But I also don't much like the idea of leaving it in my bag at the hostel, even if in a padlocked compartment, just in case my whole bag goes astray. Have to see how it goes.
No idea when is "best" to leave to head down to LC. I reckon TM could well take 30-45m and given lang exch timing I want to eat a "main" meal before I meet G/J - I hope tdla is open/not chocked, probably be OK. I can probably kill a modest amount of time wandering LC and/or drinking coffee but don't want to go nuts.
Oh, my first foray out was to Carulla nearby where I got 1kg panela and some stupidly expensive sweets for nephew/niece. I brought that back and emptied my bag out and have semi-packed. 1kg panela is perhaps a lot to carry but even with 750ishml water and the fleece in blog says bag was under 7kg when I came out and I will wear the fleece on the plane (and temporarily while passing through any checkpoints) and I think I am also allowed a personal item (my daypack, which I can put whatever in in unlikely event weiht is a concern) and the only "extra" stuff compared to when I came out are the flip flops, tiny souvenirs, some papers and today's purchases. I also expect/hope to buy a litre-ish bottle of aguardiente airside unless the price is insane, but that's only going to be about another kg so we're kind of looking at 9kg plus flip flops and a few papers and I think my limit is 10kg and this is before you factor in wearing the fleece instead of having it in bag and using daypack to offload some weight at a push.
Yes I will have to lug this weight (minus aguardiente) to airport and all of it across London, but that is hardly an epic journey and if it works properly it will be nice to bring back these consumable souvenirs.
1251 Been to bog, water might be back on.
Did see young eng guy from last night and his two mates in street earlier but as we've never spoken didn't acknowledge them.
Nothing really against him to be clear. He was saying on his phone call everything is really cheap and if he sees a beer is like £1.50 he's all "maybe I won't have that, it's expensive" and I could completely identify with this. He also said he had an hour Uber ride and it was like £3, obviously he is more comfortable with this kind of thing than I am.
Chocolate does seem expensive here, but iirc it certainly also felt expensive (even compared to generally high prices) in CR and also looking further back it does feel like in LA in general it is quite pricey, ISTR discussing this at lang exch in Santiago in maybe 2018.
Somewhat arbitrarily gonna head out at 1pm.
2057 Just got back from lang exch.
Went into LC (about 30 mins on TM plus modest waiting time). Went to TdlA and saw messages from Mum and called and got "possibly bad" news about Jaffa but won't discuss that here. Felt a bit upset but things may be OK and of course me eg going back to hotel to feel crap would not help anyone.
Met G/J no problem, I found corner 12 near Botero museum. Good to see them and have a chat. I left about 6 as I wanted to be on TM before dark, they very generously said they'd pick up the bill. Had three bers with them, first a fancy mora stout at 6% and the other two more basic Poker. Corner 12 seems a nice enough place and has a reasonable selection of beers and I suspect it's not super pricey (tho not sure) and I could see myself going again.
Got back to hostel about 1845ish and had a piss and called Mum and then walked on to Vintrash for lang exch. Queue to get in, 10k cover as after 6pm, it was maybe 1930-1945 when got there. Inside lots of tables but no obvious space and also no obvious Spanish group except a basic one and even then it wasn't clear I could (there may not have been a seat) or should sit down and just join them. Maybe if I'd been there at 4-5pm it would have been different, not that I regret meeting actual proto-friends like G/J instead of going to that.
Couldn't see any prices for beer, they only had Stella and Corona in fridge so I asked for a Corona and it was fucking 17k! For the usual 330ml bottle. I was mildly hacked off but made an effort to remain smileyish and I loitered around (by an advanced spanish and basic korean pair of signs at an empty table) and more by luck than judgment ended up speaking English with a couple of locals - one spoke better English than the other and I am not sure they understood me perfectly but it was nice to have a chat. They turn the volume up around 830-9pm and by 830ish there was just one of the locals talking to me and he was going to leave so we left together and tho I think it was in his direction he very kindly walked home with me (tho from a safety POV I half wonder if this was bad as solo I'm not advertising my foreigner status by speaking English). One (apparently they are mostly Venezuelan) guy fist-bumped me and asked for money but I said no without it being a big deal.
I nursed the one beer both on price and "not getting too drunk esp when it didn't feel that fun" grounds and that was fine.
I am actually yawning now.
I think given I want to be up for breakfast and that is 8-10 and checkout is 11 I will probably go to bed now. I'll clean my teeth but not shower and then I can shower after breakfast and be as "fresh as possible" for the longish day+night until I get home and can shower again. It will also be easier to pack tomorrow when I have showeed etc. I will set alarms on both phones to reduce risk of oversleeping but given I've had like four beers since 3pm and I am going to bed not much after 9pm I don't think there's a huge risk of oversleeping and having to pack in a mad rush.
Still not entirely sure what I will do with passport tomorrow but either option (leave it in bag at hostel vs keep it on me in flip belt) is probably not terrible and it just comes down to which particular (fingers crossed) unlikely event ("deep-ish" mugging vs bag loss at hostel) could happen.
Yawning again, so yes, I think let's move towards bed. Vaguely tempted to snack on the mani garapinado I have but I will resist, I am not really hungry and they will be a good reserve for flight (tho I plan to eat a lot tomorrow during day and prob two "main" meals) and if I don't need them a bonus treat (tho I am sure you can buy them in UK) back home. Let's go do teeth.
Kudos for at least going to LE and making an effort and despite it feeling socially unpromising (lots of people seemed to be in groups and maybe I could/should have boldly introduced myself to a stranger but it didn't quite feel that kind of place) not just necking my beer and walking out and not utterly flipping out about the crappy pricing and the queue (which really made no sense, it wasn't that busy inside tho it was busy, and even the reservados/vip line hardly seemed to move) and the cover charge. I could prob have done better (thrown caution to the wind and spoken to random people) but I could have done worse and with it being last night and so forth I didn't do too badly.
But let's go do my teeth and go to bed.
2140 Copied photos off O6 onto USB thumb drive and onto K1 (so tho it may run battery down overnight some may get backed up).
Found e-mail from Avianca in spam from Sat about bidding on a business class upgrade. No e-mails about checking in, I might expect one to turn up 2355ish tonight.
Just checked *again* and flight is 27th March at 2335. Paranoia kicking in. Anyway, let's send this and finally get into bed.
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