Mon 25th 0616 Sitting in front passenger seat of otherwise empty bus to Armenia. 6.xk.
Slept borderline OK but did keep waking up and the damn plastic mattress advertising every roll or turn (mine and other people's) was getting a bit annoying. Woke up maybe 5ish feeling tired and "oh fuck, I have to get up soon" .
Bit of a whiny git during packing etc in dark in dorm with eg cleaning teeth feeling noisy as fuck at the open sink inside dorm and at phone GPS refusing to lock.
Bag feels like it is utterly bulging despite my only new acquisitions being some tiny souvenirs, and I have about half a litre of water and ate most of the 250g packet nuts/fruit I had been lugging round since start of trip. I suspect it just needs packing "cleanly" and maybe things like having dirty trousers in dry bag instead of loose inside bag and able to fit round stuff doesn't help. There's also the general dorm thing where you can't really pack properly.
FWIW sink was just open in dorm, sep toilet and shower cubicles also in dorm and the shower cubicle was basically "all wet" - there were two hooks, and my trousers got sprinkled hanging on those as I showered, so you had to get mostly (un)dressed in dorm. Not end of world but a bit crappy and just describing situation.
I hope this *is* the first bus to Armenia. Probably is. Driver chap said unprompted (he asked where I was going) I'd easily get a bus to Bogota, so fingers crossed.
0723 On bus (luckily got aisle seat despite forgetting to ask) at Armenia, due to leave 0730. 60k. asked three companies, first said 0830 and I nearly stupidly bought without asking round. Would have been slightly nice to visit bog before getting on but no time really and tbh I don't need to go. 7h trip, so with luck will be in Bogota 1430 and even with delays or breaks should be OK with daylight. See how it goes but gut feeling is am going to try via Transmilenio, it will require three changes but still. I have my tullave card in pocket, dunno if it has credit but it's a start.
Bag fits nicely in overhead rack and I have my daypack at my feet with a few nuts and my nc headphones in.
0951 Ibague. Got off and had piss (wasn't busting) and a warmed up ham and cheese croissant (4k). Also finished off the nuts and fruit mix from home earlier.
1601 At recep in new hostel. No one here but not fussed as entering wifi pwd. Got into terminal about 1420, walked over to Transmilenio with only one guy (on footbridge right by TM) trying to talk to me but I rudely said "no gracias" and kept walking and no fuss.
Do not understand TM routing or labelling, but altho poss went round houses my route via Universidades (Venezia just playing, Hombres G) and Av Jimenez worked.
Tiny bit watched Bond film (2006ish? that was date of death of one character on a grave) with no audio (Spanish audio playing quietly but I had headphones on with music) on bus.
1852 Back at hostel. Went out for personal mexicana pizza at place right by hostel (not bad, v lush jugo de lulo en leche), then wandered up towards a possible BBC just north of here which seemed to be another bar and went over to an actual BBC a bit east of there. Bit expensive at 20k a pint (was 16k in Medellin IIRC) and maybe just cos I've drunk a bit lately the two pints I had were OK but not "wow" . Started to piss it down towards end of second pint and toyed with staying for third but it was expensive and wasn't feeling it. Got bit soaked on way back, was gonna go into supermarket for panela and maybe some snacks/soft drinks for tonight but I missed it, went into an Oxxo and got an econolitre of Colombiana for 2.8k and 185g of Takis Fuego for a shocing (no price on shelf, natch) 9.8k but I figured fuck it under the circumstances. Colombiana is in fridge, not labelled as per instructions COS THERE IS NO FUCKING PEN OR TAPE.
room is quite nice, top floor, roof terrace with french people talking out on it. bit hacked off I still need to finish writing up trek. in hindsight despite minor extra weight given I had a lot of time on my hands it would have been good to take K1 with me and do writeups during it (unlike San Blas trip where I was constantly occupied).
mildly soaked, gonna go have a shower and wash one top and one set of uw so I have enough for the next two days and can if i want maybe shower and/or change either here at say 4pm on last day (shared bathroom etc, they might let me - oh, no towel here either, grr) or at airport (can sneak into bog and change if I want even if I don't shower) as well.
Feeling vague "ought to do something special" as last day(s) but need to take it easy. Was a lang exch 20ish blocks south today, there is a more local one tomorrow and I may go but not forcing myself.
2021 Out at sole (large) table on (enclosed) roof terrace, no one else here. Got my econolitre.
Fwiw it was raining quite heavily this morning as we were on bus going into Armenia (which is quite big, and has a cool old steam train on a roundabout - no photo).
There is a nice brown-ish tabby cat here.
I am in Sierra Nevada room. And the - ffs can't remember where I was - last night hostel was called Combi, I didn't twig until I got there and saw all the murals etc - it is "themed" around what I'd call the VW camper, but on seeing the murals and combi clicking I was inevitably reminded of Men At Work's "Down Under" .
So day 2 of hike I wasn't entirely clear where we were going but we walked up steep feeling hillside from finca and then trogged some way and came into a kind of valley where (as it turned up) we walked up to the ridge between the paramillo proper (I half wondered if we were going up there; the extra height is prob negligible but it's prob unsafe or not path or risk of falls or whatever) and quindio norte, with surprise amazing views (including Lago del Otun) in the distance (so from ridge you get cool view across in dir of LdO and also back across valley we had come up) and then up the ridge of quindio norte, which peaks at something like (have photo of height in rocks) 4750m asl. I was generally finding it hard on my legs and altitude may or may not have played a part in that but I didn't feel significantly (not saying there was nothing) headachey or anything. I *was* a bit worried as i only had 1.5l water (which guide had said was OK) and didn't want to run out, so it did perhaps mean i got a bit dehydrated.
Meeting Joanie and Garry at 3pm tomorrow BTW by the Botero museum. This works well, as it means I can prob avoid going to LC on Wed and thus will *prob* carry passport all day in hidden belt rather than leaving it in bag at hostel.
On the way down I slipped a few times (even after Nico gave me a hiking stick thing) on the very loose gravelly steep inclines but I didn't do anything worse than mildly bash up my arm and wrist.
We came back a different route and even Nico seemed intrigued/surprised by the terrain (some muddyish but almost ice texture underfoot feeling green mossy "islands" with muddy pools around). It felt a bit of a slog, tho fortunately mostly flat, walking back after we got down into the valley and through this "island" area but not too bad.
Lunch was a bit of a pisser. Served decent soup and then some decent rice and a 99% prob dressed salad and some prob chicken but genuinely not sure covered in tomatoey muck and a large potato in the same. I wasn't *ecstatic* at getting inedible-to-me food, but it clearly wasn't a serious issue. Main concern was risk of causing offence or something. In the end I scraped the muck off the potato and ate as much of the inside as I could and "hid" my plate under the bench in the raised kitchen area we were sitting in and went off at an opportune moment on pretext of cleaning teeth.
This threw me into a bit of an emotional tailspin. I felt really awkward and like I ought to keep out of the way and there were loads of new people from some big groups turning up today and it all just felt weird and shit and by the time Nico came to tell me to come in to dinner (me wondering as always if I should just go in but not wanting to shove my way in esp with so many people there today so needing to eat in relays) I felt kind of shitty and I ended up taking (I was asked) only a small portion of the bad-sounding goulash which was actually fine in order to try to head off the possibility of further offense even though it was good and more would have been nice and I think I was mostly eating with family/guides by this point and I just felt super awkward.
All very irrational but even in hindsight not sure I know what I "should" have done. I suppose if I'd been there (I was in bog when Nico called me) when dinner was being dished out I could have asked for none of the sauce stuff and headed it off. But apart from that, I don't see (given I'm not kicking up a fuss and demanding an alternative etc) that not liking the sauce makes me a terrible person. And while maybe I should just have assumed it *wouldn't* give offence and not worried about it, worrying about giving offence hardly seems like a terrible failing on my side. meh. I dunno. But rightly or wrongly this definitely made me feel shit and compared to the v cool scenery (even if I felt a smidge awkward with the group as prob already noted) of the morning and the feeling of achievement, the lunch-onwards part of day 2 was pretty shitty.
Anyway, woke up quite a bit in night (prob not cos of this) and altho iirc breakfast was supposed to be 7ish I might have got up 630. Did chat bit with Daniel and Pia and they said they had had to turn back. Chatted with Felix over breakfast (which was fine, slightly watery scrambled egg stuff but not a big deal) and he showed me his glacier photos. Paid Patricia and it was 182k, I didn't tip, dunno if I should have done. there was some minor doubt as to whether I was just paying for myself or Nico too, I (perhaps stupidly) said I wasn't sure and I'd paid Nico for his guide services, and she "luckily" said prob just me then, and given that was a (reasonableish) 182k and N had told me 200-300 total I am guessing that was right. But lesson learned: I should confirm this with guide when booking any kind of pay-as-you-go non-inclusive tour in future, to avoid problems.
Felix and his Colombian friend whose name I have sadly forgotten came with us for the walk back (maybe 25ish km, and same-ish on way out - I do have GPS logs but not looked at them). There were some cool views and some nice dogs/cats/fluffy chickens en route but I won't try to duplicate photos. Also some meanish dogs at one finca we passed through and though they were fine I'd have been freaking out if I'd been on my own.
After the initial bit the walk wasn't *massively* uphil but of course descending is not trivial and (tho nothing like day 2) I did fall over once or twice, despite having hiking stick. TBH while I tried to be positive and wasn't *too* whiny even internally and don't think I did whine or ask questions externally, esp as we were setting a fair pace and I didn't always like to stop and ask for a water break, I did frankly get to feel fucking sick of walking on the way back and was telling myself stuff like it has to be over within an hour or two and every step is a step closer. It wasn't physically terrible but I think my legs were getting slightly wobbly/uncertain towards the end, dunno if that was just today's walk or the cumulative effects of the three days.
I was also a bit "annoyed" we clearly weren't gonna be back by midday or even 2-3. We hadn't set off til somewhere between 8 and 9 and in the end we got into the tourist park bit of valle de corocora about 1445 (approx time of arrival at finca la playa on days 1 and 2, by coincidence) but still had a fair walk to the jeep place (I paid 10k for two, Nico decently gave me 5k for his share - not a lot but shows decent principle so to speak) and by the time I had gone back to atardecer de salento with Nico, given him a 100k tip, squashed contents of plastic bag into main bag and walked round to Combi it was about 1600.
I'll be honest - perhaps low blood sugar, not sure - I was a whiny git while unpacking/repacking at Combi. I just wanted to go out and have food but I was faffing with a seemingly endless quantity of plastic bags and general crap and I had a shower in the small facility etc.
I was gonna go to Rincon de Lucy but their menu del dia board wasn't out. I went to Ewhatsit in hope of curry but again they were shut afaict. So - and to be fair this had been one of my "fantasy" options during day 3 hike anyway - I went to supermarket and got some bread and mortadela and gorged on sandwiches back at hostel.
I then went out and had two craft draught beers at Callejon (pricey but nice), 2 pintados (8k plus 1k tip for elderly-ish waiter who seemed v friendly and reminded me of Alf from the Swan in City years back) and then went to kafe del alma where I'd been first night in Salento and listened to OK live music. Despite being served a drink for someone else on arrival, I then seemed to be invisible and while I wasn't waving and flailing arms no staff seemed to want to deal with me for about 20 mins and I vaguely wondered if I was somehow persona non grata, tho in the end they did serve me and I had 3 club colombia roja, gave musician 5k tip and went back to hostel and cleaned teeth and went to bed.
Random note: sign at FdlP showing various prices (eg beer at 8k, not insane but didn't have any) showed "brandy with milk" at COP70k. This feels insanely expensive, I have no idea why or why this would be so desirable or whatever, but mentioning it fwiw.
Oh yeah, on day 2 walking back through valley I suddenly thought "I haven't seen a coconut for weeks" . :-)
I'm just gonna shove in these rough notes I made during the hike on o6, they are prob duplicates but I don't think they're harmful and might as well keep them:
trek
day 1
5k Jeep
6k sendero finca el porton
met bloke from villa de leyva hostel
lost Vaseline
lunch at finca la playa pretty good
watched video and nearly fell asleep
mooching, invited into kitchen where met vdl guuly
left as was warmer and felt bit awkward w "family", asked about using sockets to chafg ephone and said yes so I took phone off Charing on power bank it had reached 88pc ish and put power bank on to top back up
3700m at finca according to GPS
not seen nico all afternoon tho no actively sought out
overcast at finca, light rain last part of hike, put rain jacket on - it is drying on line outside now
got to fimca maybe bit before. 3pm
German couple Daniel and pia
day 2
up at 520 tho breakfast not 530
natty and maybe ash??prob alon
"amor para dos"? song
sudden thought on walking back that hadn't seen a coconut for ages
up to 4760mish
back for lunch r 1445ish sim to day 1
sauce
showered but didn't change any clothes as didn't sweat that much and wanted to conserve non musty clothes for salento/bogota
day 3
finca la playa both nights
walked back with Felix? Spanish guy and his Colombian friend whose name i forget - plus my guide nico of course
cop182k finca la playa food and accom (mine only)
got back to touristy park bit maybe 1445 v approx but still some walking from there, jdep ride on back butbsyarted to rainvsovwe squeezed in, prob got to new hostel about 1600ish maybe a hair before, was internally rather whiny aboutbsortinf out all crap in bag and showering when just wanted to go out, also bit internally whiny but not too bad during seemingly endless walk
5k Jeep
89k hostel 2 nights
100k tip
14k approx supermarket bread and mortadela 250g
37k inc tip 2x330ml craft beers at callejon first wheat second between red and black 10pc
2 pintado 8k+1k recuerdo
3 330ml club Colombia roja 4.7pc kafe del Alma
<20k inc tip beers kafe DeL alma
5k tip for live music
hostel combi didn't realise meaning til arrived and saw artwork etc then had down under stuck in head
brandy and milk was 70kbat finca la playa, no idea why
*Slightly* annoying youngish English guy on a phone call telling how good his trip is and asking about a friend's life. I'm probably just a touch jealous of what he's doing here, it sounds like he is travelling with a group, and he also seems to have way more friends back home than I do. But notwithstanding the fact things could always have gone better and some end-of-trip blues etc, on the whole I can't say it's been a bad trip for me either.
I think that's me caught up. I prob packed a bit better than for SBA but a) having stuff inside plastic bags is still a fucking nightmare for packing and getting stuff out etc b) I still found myself wondering where the fuck item X was that I knew I'd brought but wasn't sure which compartment of bag or whether I'd buried it at bottom or hidden it in some plastic bag full of misc junk was still a bugger.
I am not going to "run away" from this English guy but my plan always kind of was to have my takis fuego in my room and I have nearly finished this econolitre and was mainly sitting out here in order to grind out the trek report, so I will hang on here a bit - some chap has come up with a comically large armful of food and appears to be about to sit in hammock, maybe he is just waiting for Eng guy, loads of people coming up now and think they know him - anyway, I don't want to run away but I was planning to go back to room soonish anyway so will probably hang on here reading and then go back to room in a bit.
2112 OK, he is still on phone and I think his mates are gonna play cards. I am probably going to go in a minute, sick of sitting here. I wouldn't mind going to bed etc but will snack first.
I asked and tap water is supposedly potable here. I may slog down to kitchen and fill my bottles there just in case bathroom water is not the same somehow.
2118 In room, did go down to kitchen, brief pip-pip with hostel staff cleaning out fridge.
In some ways I find it hard to believe I am in Bogota/a big city, despite the terrible traffic last half hour of bus ride in and approx 1h30 fucking round on TM to get here. Maybe it just feels different here in Chapinero (or wherever it really is, I wonder if hostel flatters itself by saying it is in Chapinero) or it's just because it isn't quite the same as when I first arrived and was in LC or it's because I have been in smallish towns.
Not actually that bothered but a thought to maybe analyse: wrt mild "jealousy" of youngish Eng guy maybe having a better time than me, even putting age aside, it is perhaps easier if you're travelling with friends as it is less intimidating to eg go out at night to bars/clubs etc. I shouldn't make excuses, and I haven't done *too* badly overall, but I also maybe shouldn't beat myself up over an apples to oranges comparison. Of course (age aside) in principle I could meet people to travel with/go out with in hostels etc but again quite often it has felt like the hostels I've been in just weren't that lively/friendly, rather than it seeming like their was a lively social scene I just wasn't invited/able/confident enough to join in with. Meh. Just an observation.
2204 I feel a bit bloated. Vaguely down, prob end of trip blues and some reflections on my social situation etc. I maybe will make an effort to attend the near-ish lang exchange tomorrow - it slightly "clashes" with seeing G/J at 3pm, but I think it *starts* at 5 but runs fairly late and is not something you have to attend the whole of.
Going to go clean teeth and go to toilet and then to bed I think. I plan to be up for the (apparently meagre, but whatever) free breakfast tomorrow and I will try to get to a supermarket and buy some panela and ideally some novel-ish sweets for nephew and niece and then that's sorted. I will also try to eat before meeting G/J so if I want I can go on to lang exch without eating. I just double checked and my flight is 23xx on 27th, I prob need to do online checkin at some point but given I paid for a seat this isn't critical and it's something I could likely do (I don't know when it will open, I rather suspect Avianca will e-mail me) on Wednesday and then go (even tho I don't need a printout) to a net cafe type place to get it printed.
No harm in doing a "social" post-mortem on trip once I'm back home (as I also will do - this is nothing fancy, just musing and writing - on the more practical/technical aspects of packing and tools and techniques and so forth) but no point getting hung up on it now, when my mind is naturally a bit clouded by end of trip blues and the minor stresses of getting back home etc.
I will make the observation - sadly I have no system for "remembering" these later - that in terms of improving my Spanish, it may be that the kind of travel I'm doing is not "optimal" , as I am mostly speaking tourist kind of stuff with the odd "flourish" and interacting mostly with non-Spanish-speaking tourists. I am sure it does some good and there is the hearing it being spoken in colloquial form a bit aspect, but if I really wanted to push higher some combination of an actual Spanish school or something immersive with more contact with native speakers would probably be better. This is not my only goal with travelling, of course.
2229 FWIW the shower here (earlier, not just now), against my initial expectations, was genuinely hot. Maybe wussy but after getting mildly soaked it was nice. To be fair Combi also had hot-ish water in moderation. In some ways Combi was a nice hostel - they had curtains on the bunks, for a start - but the super-crinkly plastic mattresses and the lack of anywhere to *chain* my bag to (given you were supposed to store it in a kind of wooden frame) and the super low privacy dorm shower etc situation spoiled it. (They were also super unhelpful re my request for a lower bunk, even though I asked days ahead it was all "depends on availability" rather than saying "yes, we have reserved one for you" - I did get one FWIW anyway.)
2233 Right, bed. Have set an alarm for 8 and we'll see what happens.
Slept borderline OK but did keep waking up and the damn plastic mattress advertising every roll or turn (mine and other people's) was getting a bit annoying. Woke up maybe 5ish feeling tired and "oh fuck, I have to get up soon" .
Bit of a whiny git during packing etc in dark in dorm with eg cleaning teeth feeling noisy as fuck at the open sink inside dorm and at phone GPS refusing to lock.
Bag feels like it is utterly bulging despite my only new acquisitions being some tiny souvenirs, and I have about half a litre of water and ate most of the 250g packet nuts/fruit I had been lugging round since start of trip. I suspect it just needs packing "cleanly" and maybe things like having dirty trousers in dry bag instead of loose inside bag and able to fit round stuff doesn't help. There's also the general dorm thing where you can't really pack properly.
FWIW sink was just open in dorm, sep toilet and shower cubicles also in dorm and the shower cubicle was basically "all wet" - there were two hooks, and my trousers got sprinkled hanging on those as I showered, so you had to get mostly (un)dressed in dorm. Not end of world but a bit crappy and just describing situation.
I hope this *is* the first bus to Armenia. Probably is. Driver chap said unprompted (he asked where I was going) I'd easily get a bus to Bogota, so fingers crossed.
0723 On bus (luckily got aisle seat despite forgetting to ask) at Armenia, due to leave 0730. 60k. asked three companies, first said 0830 and I nearly stupidly bought without asking round. Would have been slightly nice to visit bog before getting on but no time really and tbh I don't need to go. 7h trip, so with luck will be in Bogota 1430 and even with delays or breaks should be OK with daylight. See how it goes but gut feeling is am going to try via Transmilenio, it will require three changes but still. I have my tullave card in pocket, dunno if it has credit but it's a start.
Bag fits nicely in overhead rack and I have my daypack at my feet with a few nuts and my nc headphones in.
0951 Ibague. Got off and had piss (wasn't busting) and a warmed up ham and cheese croissant (4k). Also finished off the nuts and fruit mix from home earlier.
1601 At recep in new hostel. No one here but not fussed as entering wifi pwd. Got into terminal about 1420, walked over to Transmilenio with only one guy (on footbridge right by TM) trying to talk to me but I rudely said "no gracias" and kept walking and no fuss.
Do not understand TM routing or labelling, but altho poss went round houses my route via Universidades (Venezia just playing, Hombres G) and Av Jimenez worked.
Tiny bit watched Bond film (2006ish? that was date of death of one character on a grave) with no audio (Spanish audio playing quietly but I had headphones on with music) on bus.
1852 Back at hostel. Went out for personal mexicana pizza at place right by hostel (not bad, v lush jugo de lulo en leche), then wandered up towards a possible BBC just north of here which seemed to be another bar and went over to an actual BBC a bit east of there. Bit expensive at 20k a pint (was 16k in Medellin IIRC) and maybe just cos I've drunk a bit lately the two pints I had were OK but not "wow" . Started to piss it down towards end of second pint and toyed with staying for third but it was expensive and wasn't feeling it. Got bit soaked on way back, was gonna go into supermarket for panela and maybe some snacks/soft drinks for tonight but I missed it, went into an Oxxo and got an econolitre of Colombiana for 2.8k and 185g of Takis Fuego for a shocing (no price on shelf, natch) 9.8k but I figured fuck it under the circumstances. Colombiana is in fridge, not labelled as per instructions COS THERE IS NO FUCKING PEN OR TAPE.
room is quite nice, top floor, roof terrace with french people talking out on it. bit hacked off I still need to finish writing up trek. in hindsight despite minor extra weight given I had a lot of time on my hands it would have been good to take K1 with me and do writeups during it (unlike San Blas trip where I was constantly occupied).
mildly soaked, gonna go have a shower and wash one top and one set of uw so I have enough for the next two days and can if i want maybe shower and/or change either here at say 4pm on last day (shared bathroom etc, they might let me - oh, no towel here either, grr) or at airport (can sneak into bog and change if I want even if I don't shower) as well.
Feeling vague "ought to do something special" as last day(s) but need to take it easy. Was a lang exch 20ish blocks south today, there is a more local one tomorrow and I may go but not forcing myself.
2021 Out at sole (large) table on (enclosed) roof terrace, no one else here. Got my econolitre.
Fwiw it was raining quite heavily this morning as we were on bus going into Armenia (which is quite big, and has a cool old steam train on a roundabout - no photo).
There is a nice brown-ish tabby cat here.
I am in Sierra Nevada room. And the - ffs can't remember where I was - last night hostel was called Combi, I didn't twig until I got there and saw all the murals etc - it is "themed" around what I'd call the VW camper, but on seeing the murals and combi clicking I was inevitably reminded of Men At Work's "Down Under" .
So day 2 of hike I wasn't entirely clear where we were going but we walked up steep feeling hillside from finca and then trogged some way and came into a kind of valley where (as it turned up) we walked up to the ridge between the paramillo proper (I half wondered if we were going up there; the extra height is prob negligible but it's prob unsafe or not path or risk of falls or whatever) and quindio norte, with surprise amazing views (including Lago del Otun) in the distance (so from ridge you get cool view across in dir of LdO and also back across valley we had come up) and then up the ridge of quindio norte, which peaks at something like (have photo of height in rocks) 4750m asl. I was generally finding it hard on my legs and altitude may or may not have played a part in that but I didn't feel significantly (not saying there was nothing) headachey or anything. I *was* a bit worried as i only had 1.5l water (which guide had said was OK) and didn't want to run out, so it did perhaps mean i got a bit dehydrated.
Meeting Joanie and Garry at 3pm tomorrow BTW by the Botero museum. This works well, as it means I can prob avoid going to LC on Wed and thus will *prob* carry passport all day in hidden belt rather than leaving it in bag at hostel.
On the way down I slipped a few times (even after Nico gave me a hiking stick thing) on the very loose gravelly steep inclines but I didn't do anything worse than mildly bash up my arm and wrist.
We came back a different route and even Nico seemed intrigued/surprised by the terrain (some muddyish but almost ice texture underfoot feeling green mossy "islands" with muddy pools around). It felt a bit of a slog, tho fortunately mostly flat, walking back after we got down into the valley and through this "island" area but not too bad.
Lunch was a bit of a pisser. Served decent soup and then some decent rice and a 99% prob dressed salad and some prob chicken but genuinely not sure covered in tomatoey muck and a large potato in the same. I wasn't *ecstatic* at getting inedible-to-me food, but it clearly wasn't a serious issue. Main concern was risk of causing offence or something. In the end I scraped the muck off the potato and ate as much of the inside as I could and "hid" my plate under the bench in the raised kitchen area we were sitting in and went off at an opportune moment on pretext of cleaning teeth.
This threw me into a bit of an emotional tailspin. I felt really awkward and like I ought to keep out of the way and there were loads of new people from some big groups turning up today and it all just felt weird and shit and by the time Nico came to tell me to come in to dinner (me wondering as always if I should just go in but not wanting to shove my way in esp with so many people there today so needing to eat in relays) I felt kind of shitty and I ended up taking (I was asked) only a small portion of the bad-sounding goulash which was actually fine in order to try to head off the possibility of further offense even though it was good and more would have been nice and I think I was mostly eating with family/guides by this point and I just felt super awkward.
All very irrational but even in hindsight not sure I know what I "should" have done. I suppose if I'd been there (I was in bog when Nico called me) when dinner was being dished out I could have asked for none of the sauce stuff and headed it off. But apart from that, I don't see (given I'm not kicking up a fuss and demanding an alternative etc) that not liking the sauce makes me a terrible person. And while maybe I should just have assumed it *wouldn't* give offence and not worried about it, worrying about giving offence hardly seems like a terrible failing on my side. meh. I dunno. But rightly or wrongly this definitely made me feel shit and compared to the v cool scenery (even if I felt a smidge awkward with the group as prob already noted) of the morning and the feeling of achievement, the lunch-onwards part of day 2 was pretty shitty.
Anyway, woke up quite a bit in night (prob not cos of this) and altho iirc breakfast was supposed to be 7ish I might have got up 630. Did chat bit with Daniel and Pia and they said they had had to turn back. Chatted with Felix over breakfast (which was fine, slightly watery scrambled egg stuff but not a big deal) and he showed me his glacier photos. Paid Patricia and it was 182k, I didn't tip, dunno if I should have done. there was some minor doubt as to whether I was just paying for myself or Nico too, I (perhaps stupidly) said I wasn't sure and I'd paid Nico for his guide services, and she "luckily" said prob just me then, and given that was a (reasonableish) 182k and N had told me 200-300 total I am guessing that was right. But lesson learned: I should confirm this with guide when booking any kind of pay-as-you-go non-inclusive tour in future, to avoid problems.
Felix and his Colombian friend whose name I have sadly forgotten came with us for the walk back (maybe 25ish km, and same-ish on way out - I do have GPS logs but not looked at them). There were some cool views and some nice dogs/cats/fluffy chickens en route but I won't try to duplicate photos. Also some meanish dogs at one finca we passed through and though they were fine I'd have been freaking out if I'd been on my own.
After the initial bit the walk wasn't *massively* uphil but of course descending is not trivial and (tho nothing like day 2) I did fall over once or twice, despite having hiking stick. TBH while I tried to be positive and wasn't *too* whiny even internally and don't think I did whine or ask questions externally, esp as we were setting a fair pace and I didn't always like to stop and ask for a water break, I did frankly get to feel fucking sick of walking on the way back and was telling myself stuff like it has to be over within an hour or two and every step is a step closer. It wasn't physically terrible but I think my legs were getting slightly wobbly/uncertain towards the end, dunno if that was just today's walk or the cumulative effects of the three days.
I was also a bit "annoyed" we clearly weren't gonna be back by midday or even 2-3. We hadn't set off til somewhere between 8 and 9 and in the end we got into the tourist park bit of valle de corocora about 1445 (approx time of arrival at finca la playa on days 1 and 2, by coincidence) but still had a fair walk to the jeep place (I paid 10k for two, Nico decently gave me 5k for his share - not a lot but shows decent principle so to speak) and by the time I had gone back to atardecer de salento with Nico, given him a 100k tip, squashed contents of plastic bag into main bag and walked round to Combi it was about 1600.
I'll be honest - perhaps low blood sugar, not sure - I was a whiny git while unpacking/repacking at Combi. I just wanted to go out and have food but I was faffing with a seemingly endless quantity of plastic bags and general crap and I had a shower in the small facility etc.
I was gonna go to Rincon de Lucy but their menu del dia board wasn't out. I went to Ewhatsit in hope of curry but again they were shut afaict. So - and to be fair this had been one of my "fantasy" options during day 3 hike anyway - I went to supermarket and got some bread and mortadela and gorged on sandwiches back at hostel.
I then went out and had two craft draught beers at Callejon (pricey but nice), 2 pintados (8k plus 1k tip for elderly-ish waiter who seemed v friendly and reminded me of Alf from the Swan in City years back) and then went to kafe del alma where I'd been first night in Salento and listened to OK live music. Despite being served a drink for someone else on arrival, I then seemed to be invisible and while I wasn't waving and flailing arms no staff seemed to want to deal with me for about 20 mins and I vaguely wondered if I was somehow persona non grata, tho in the end they did serve me and I had 3 club colombia roja, gave musician 5k tip and went back to hostel and cleaned teeth and went to bed.
Random note: sign at FdlP showing various prices (eg beer at 8k, not insane but didn't have any) showed "brandy with milk" at COP70k. This feels insanely expensive, I have no idea why or why this would be so desirable or whatever, but mentioning it fwiw.
Oh yeah, on day 2 walking back through valley I suddenly thought "I haven't seen a coconut for weeks" . :-)
I'm just gonna shove in these rough notes I made during the hike on o6, they are prob duplicates but I don't think they're harmful and might as well keep them:
trek
day 1
5k Jeep
6k sendero finca el porton
met bloke from villa de leyva hostel
lost Vaseline
lunch at finca la playa pretty good
watched video and nearly fell asleep
mooching, invited into kitchen where met vdl guuly
left as was warmer and felt bit awkward w "family", asked about using sockets to chafg ephone and said yes so I took phone off Charing on power bank it had reached 88pc ish and put power bank on to top back up
3700m at finca according to GPS
not seen nico all afternoon tho no actively sought out
overcast at finca, light rain last part of hike, put rain jacket on - it is drying on line outside now
got to fimca maybe bit before. 3pm
German couple Daniel and pia
day 2
up at 520 tho breakfast not 530
natty and maybe ash??prob alon
"amor para dos"? song
sudden thought on walking back that hadn't seen a coconut for ages
up to 4760mish
back for lunch r 1445ish sim to day 1
sauce
showered but didn't change any clothes as didn't sweat that much and wanted to conserve non musty clothes for salento/bogota
day 3
finca la playa both nights
walked back with Felix? Spanish guy and his Colombian friend whose name i forget - plus my guide nico of course
cop182k finca la playa food and accom (mine only)
got back to touristy park bit maybe 1445 v approx but still some walking from there, jdep ride on back butbsyarted to rainvsovwe squeezed in, prob got to new hostel about 1600ish maybe a hair before, was internally rather whiny aboutbsortinf out all crap in bag and showering when just wanted to go out, also bit internally whiny but not too bad during seemingly endless walk
5k Jeep
89k hostel 2 nights
100k tip
14k approx supermarket bread and mortadela 250g
37k inc tip 2x330ml craft beers at callejon first wheat second between red and black 10pc
2 pintado 8k+1k recuerdo
3 330ml club Colombia roja 4.7pc kafe del Alma
<20k inc tip beers kafe DeL alma
5k tip for live music
hostel combi didn't realise meaning til arrived and saw artwork etc then had down under stuck in head
brandy and milk was 70kbat finca la playa, no idea why
*Slightly* annoying youngish English guy on a phone call telling how good his trip is and asking about a friend's life. I'm probably just a touch jealous of what he's doing here, it sounds like he is travelling with a group, and he also seems to have way more friends back home than I do. But notwithstanding the fact things could always have gone better and some end-of-trip blues etc, on the whole I can't say it's been a bad trip for me either.
I think that's me caught up. I prob packed a bit better than for SBA but a) having stuff inside plastic bags is still a fucking nightmare for packing and getting stuff out etc b) I still found myself wondering where the fuck item X was that I knew I'd brought but wasn't sure which compartment of bag or whether I'd buried it at bottom or hidden it in some plastic bag full of misc junk was still a bugger.
I am not going to "run away" from this English guy but my plan always kind of was to have my takis fuego in my room and I have nearly finished this econolitre and was mainly sitting out here in order to grind out the trek report, so I will hang on here a bit - some chap has come up with a comically large armful of food and appears to be about to sit in hammock, maybe he is just waiting for Eng guy, loads of people coming up now and think they know him - anyway, I don't want to run away but I was planning to go back to room soonish anyway so will probably hang on here reading and then go back to room in a bit.
2112 OK, he is still on phone and I think his mates are gonna play cards. I am probably going to go in a minute, sick of sitting here. I wouldn't mind going to bed etc but will snack first.
I asked and tap water is supposedly potable here. I may slog down to kitchen and fill my bottles there just in case bathroom water is not the same somehow.
2118 In room, did go down to kitchen, brief pip-pip with hostel staff cleaning out fridge.
In some ways I find it hard to believe I am in Bogota/a big city, despite the terrible traffic last half hour of bus ride in and approx 1h30 fucking round on TM to get here. Maybe it just feels different here in Chapinero (or wherever it really is, I wonder if hostel flatters itself by saying it is in Chapinero) or it's just because it isn't quite the same as when I first arrived and was in LC or it's because I have been in smallish towns.
Not actually that bothered but a thought to maybe analyse: wrt mild "jealousy" of youngish Eng guy maybe having a better time than me, even putting age aside, it is perhaps easier if you're travelling with friends as it is less intimidating to eg go out at night to bars/clubs etc. I shouldn't make excuses, and I haven't done *too* badly overall, but I also maybe shouldn't beat myself up over an apples to oranges comparison. Of course (age aside) in principle I could meet people to travel with/go out with in hostels etc but again quite often it has felt like the hostels I've been in just weren't that lively/friendly, rather than it seeming like their was a lively social scene I just wasn't invited/able/confident enough to join in with. Meh. Just an observation.
2204 I feel a bit bloated. Vaguely down, prob end of trip blues and some reflections on my social situation etc. I maybe will make an effort to attend the near-ish lang exchange tomorrow - it slightly "clashes" with seeing G/J at 3pm, but I think it *starts* at 5 but runs fairly late and is not something you have to attend the whole of.
Going to go clean teeth and go to toilet and then to bed I think. I plan to be up for the (apparently meagre, but whatever) free breakfast tomorrow and I will try to get to a supermarket and buy some panela and ideally some novel-ish sweets for nephew and niece and then that's sorted. I will also try to eat before meeting G/J so if I want I can go on to lang exch without eating. I just double checked and my flight is 23xx on 27th, I prob need to do online checkin at some point but given I paid for a seat this isn't critical and it's something I could likely do (I don't know when it will open, I rather suspect Avianca will e-mail me) on Wednesday and then go (even tho I don't need a printout) to a net cafe type place to get it printed.
No harm in doing a "social" post-mortem on trip once I'm back home (as I also will do - this is nothing fancy, just musing and writing - on the more practical/technical aspects of packing and tools and techniques and so forth) but no point getting hung up on it now, when my mind is naturally a bit clouded by end of trip blues and the minor stresses of getting back home etc.
I will make the observation - sadly I have no system for "remembering" these later - that in terms of improving my Spanish, it may be that the kind of travel I'm doing is not "optimal" , as I am mostly speaking tourist kind of stuff with the odd "flourish" and interacting mostly with non-Spanish-speaking tourists. I am sure it does some good and there is the hearing it being spoken in colloquial form a bit aspect, but if I really wanted to push higher some combination of an actual Spanish school or something immersive with more contact with native speakers would probably be better. This is not my only goal with travelling, of course.
2229 FWIW the shower here (earlier, not just now), against my initial expectations, was genuinely hot. Maybe wussy but after getting mildly soaked it was nice. To be fair Combi also had hot-ish water in moderation. In some ways Combi was a nice hostel - they had curtains on the bunks, for a start - but the super-crinkly plastic mattresses and the lack of anywhere to *chain* my bag to (given you were supposed to store it in a kind of wooden frame) and the super low privacy dorm shower etc situation spoiled it. (They were also super unhelpful re my request for a lower bunk, even though I asked days ahead it was all "depends on availability" rather than saying "yes, we have reserved one for you" - I did get one FWIW anyway.)
2233 Right, bed. Have set an alarm for 8 and we'll see what happens.
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