Doug's Travel Blog

Good Morning! Major travel day today! I had to wake up early to meet my Uber to the airport scheduled for 5 am. So the people that came back from night of drinking at close to 4 am didn't wake me up, much. Even so, I reprimanded them for talking so loud, most the others in the hostel were still trying to sleep. The Uber was right on time and I got to the airport in plenty of time for my 7:50 flight to Mexico City.  I would like to say my flight was nice, but that would be a lie. Volaris being a budget carrier, the seats don't recline, and I had a middle seat between a large man and a smaller lady with a huge coat. Because of my baggage restrictions, I was layered. 2 pairs of slacks, 2 shirts and my hoody. This hasn't been a problem because for most flights they keep the cabin temperature relatively cool. Not on this one. The cabin was toasty for the whole trip and I was so squished in, I couldn't take off my hoody. They didn't finally crank up the air conditioning a...

 Good Morning! Today will not be a repeat do nothing day. Today is a big biking day in Bogota, so this morning I will be collecting a bike and join the masses biking. Here is a little information about Sunday biking in Bogota. There’s a cycling revolution happening in the streets of the Colombian capital every week. More than 100km of roads are closed to motor vehicles during the event called Ciclovía and are flooded by people of all ages on all kinds of bikes. Little girls on barbie-coloured trikes share the road with stylish teens on urban bikes, handicapped people on handbikes or laughing moms with prams. Everybody moves in an orderly fashion and just enjoys the moment. The weekly event takes place every Sunday from 7 AM to 2 PM and is now a firm part of Colombia’s culture. My plan is to get a  bike and join the masses riding this morning. Later in the day, I will go to see if I can get a ride on the cable car up Monserrat where there is a panoramic view of the city. I am n...

Good Morning! I got fully caught up on m journalling yesterday, so this morning I didn't have to do much writing. Traveling at this level, staying in hostels, you meet a whole cast of characters. Some really interesting and others not so. The talkers and the anti-social that just grunt when greeted. The experienced and newie travelers. The leisure travelers and the digital nomads. The sane and crazies.  The best ones are the ones that not only share their travel experiences and recommendations for places to stay and things to do, but are also interested to hear other peoples stories to.  These are the people and conversations that you don't  experience when staying in private rooms and hotels.  Yes, the downside is you have to deal with a few crazies, unpredictable accomodations, cold showers (occasionally), lack of privacy and sometimes kitchens that stretch the meaning of the word. But, for dealing with these things you are rewarded by meeting some really interesti...

 Good Morning. I woke up early as usual.  My first task was to book a flight from Bogoto to Mexico. I have a Volaris Annual Pass and can only reserve flights 3 days in advance. Today was the first day that I could reserve a flight for my planned departure on Monday. I was able to make my reservation. I will be leaving Bogota on Monday morning at around 8 am arriving in Mexico City around noon. Only slightly risky, I also booked my flight out of Mexico City to Oakland, California later that day at about 5 pm. I just got back from breakfast. It is a 2 block walk  to the "included with the hostel booking" breakfast is served. It is always nice to be greated by smell of flowers returning to the hostel. My main activity for today will be to my laundry. I will go to a self service laundry and just wait while my cloths are being washed. I pay too much for self service because I am traveling with so few cloths, my load is small,  but still pay for a full load. Going the self...

 Good Morning! What am I doing today? I have no idea. Something will come to me after breakfast and coffee. Stay tuned. OK, I have a plan. I am going to head back to the Candelaria area. There are a couple churches I want to see and whatever else I can see on the way there and back. After spoiling myself yesterday with the electric bike,  I couldn't bring myself not to use one again today. Maybe I mentioned before that Bogota has an extensive network of bike paths. They are either one the road seprated by curbs or on painted pathways on the wider sidewalks. The first bike station I stopped at was across the street from some of the University of Columbia buildings. This is a very typical look for many ofthe buildings around Bogota. It was also across the street from the Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera. I had seen this park 2 years ago when on a bike tour of the city then.  A large part of the park is occupied by the Emberá indiginous people. Refugees from their home...

 Good morning! Last night while deciding on an itineray for today. I noticed that on Wednesdays from 3 to 5 pm there is free admission to the National Museum of Columbia. So that will be my afternoon destination. I just have to figure out what to do this morning. I do know it will include bike riding. I extended my stay here at the hostel until Monday. This is a bit flexible because I will be flying out of Bogota to Mexico City on my Volaris Annual Pass. Being an internation flight, I can only book 3 days in advance on a space available basis. Like standby.  But with my annual pass that will expire on Aug 4, I only pay the taxes on my Volaris flights. The annual pass is what made this whole adventure possible. Starting Thursday this week, I will start monitoring flights, but it looks pretty good  that I will be able to fly on Monday. I will also be flying out of Mexico City to Oakland California and the return flight back to Mexico City with the Annual Pass before it expi...

I woke up early as usual. The good thing about that is it gives me time to write. I was trying to make some updates last night, but that was too much chatter and distraction.  I did finally talk to friends in Sonoma, California to re-confirm may travel plans there. I will be in San Francisco, Sonoma area for close to 2 weeks at the end of this month. My flight will be into Oakland. That will be a first for me.  My plan for the day is similar to yesterday. Pick up a bike and ride aimlessly around the city. I am out of peso, so visiting and ATM is first on the list. On my walk searching for an ATM. The locations shown on google maps for  ATMs, aren't always reliable. I did a bit of  walking, backtracking, and walking in he opposite direction before I found one. It wasn't all wasted energy, I did see some unique buildings on the way. There is quite a variety of architecture here in  Bogota. One reocccuring type are these buildings with dormer type windows. I  ...

I was afraid that I was going to be cold last night. I did wake up one time to put on socks. (I have habitual cold feet). After that I slept comfortably all night. The bed came with a sheet and comforter. I am really looking forward to the cooler temperatures and bike riding here in Bogota. Already this morning I have updated my Tembici public bike acccount and bought a plan to last for the whole time I am here. It  is now about 8 am. Breakfast is included with the daily rate here. It opens at 8:30 at a restaurant next door. I'm interested to see what it includes.  There is a small kitchen  and I have instant coffee with me, so in future days I may make myself some pre-breakfast coffee. I seems they really done incourage cooking though. The kitchen has a apartment size refrigerator, 1 coffee cup, 2 or 3 pans and a total of about 10 assorted knives, spoons and other cooking utensils. I need to do updates and amendments for the blog for the last few days. I will try to do t...

I woke at my regular time, fan still running in my room trying to stay comfortable. I still needed to take a shower to freshen up, even though I also took a shower last night. I bought a cake on the street yesterday, so that along with a half of a papaya and coffee, was my breakfast. I didn't buy a ticket to go to Bogota yet, but I knew from checking the internet that there were many options and many buses. There was a washing machine available to use. Last night I did a load of laundry and hung them to dry. I hate traveling with a bag full of dirty laundry. All that was left to do was pack up and catch a taxi to the bus station. Arriving at the bus station, I bought a ticket with Bolivariano. I didn't know when I bought the ticket that it was for a 20 passenger Sprinter van and not a full size luxury bus. That van however was configured for 16 passengers with large comfortable seats. For close to 3/4 of the ride, we were traveling through beautiful mountain terrain. The downsi...