The Bob Report from Bogota

(Bob here, reporting from Bogota. Muchas gracias to Ally and Sam for allowing me some space on the blog.)

Here in La Candelaria, it´s all steep hills and cobblestone streets and plaster-covered buildings from Bogota´s colonial past. Above us loom blue-green mountains, reaching almost vertically to the clouds.

The air is brisk this morning. (We´re close to the Equator, but also close to the sky.) We walk toward El Centro, Bogota´s bustling commercial section, stopping to share breakfast along the way -- a piping hot tamale of corn meal, chicken, bacon and chickpeas; sweet hot soup with cheese; a cup of hot chocolate; limonade.

On foot again, we pass through the Plaza Bolivar, crowded with booths selling religious items on this day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, families strolling, and laughing children chasing pigeons.

In El Centro, we find a little bit of everything: street vendors loudly hawking mollasses flavored marshmallows, cell phone minutes and sparkling trinkets; costumed street performers who stand like statues until someone drops a coin into their box, at which point they come to startling life; a barefoot man who walks on a mound of broken glass bottles (and then, as if this is not good enough, jumps up and down on the shards); and more police officers and soldiers than you can shake a Spanish phrasebook at.

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What I know so far about Bogota is this:

I like its thin air. I like its friendly people. No hay muchas turistas -- I like that.

I like the street sounds. I like that I have not had a bite of food I did not love in the three days I´ve been here.

I like the way the mist swirls around the mountain tops. I like the brand names I´ve never seen before. I like the hostel I´m staying in with Ally and Sam, and the people who come and go here.

I like drinking tea and listening to the rain. I like our room in this 400-year-old building, which has not one but two courtyards filled with flowering plants. I like the way the cops and soldiers, all boys and girls in their early 20s, will smile at you.

There are a lot of things about Bogota I do not know. I know I have seen only the tip of the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. But so far, I like what I see.

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And now, just a few words about Sam and Ally. They´re great, healthy, full of smiles and still infectiously happy about their ongoing journey. They´re ideal sightseeing companions and excellent co-chefs -- and they´re a big part of what I love so much about Bogota!

Best wishes to all the cool readers of this blog, and thanks, again, to Ally and Sam for sharing their bandwidth.

Love,

Bob