Headed south tomorrow by bus to Armenia and on to Salento……takes about seven hours.  Today we enjoyed Zipaquira which is about 50km north of Bogota which was about an hour drive by taxi and two hours by bus…….we split the taxi!  Zipaquira, population approx. 100,000, is an historic town noted for its salt mines, particularly the one which follows Jesus last steps and finishes in a three-part cavernous cathedral 190m below the ground…….really quite amazing.  I’ve attached a couple of pictures of the huge cross as part of the two underground cathedrals which are carved out of salt but they certainly do not do it justice.  There is mass here on Sundays and an occasional wedding underground or baptism and it was certainly worth the visit(google for more info if you wish!)

      We returned mid afternoon and visited the art museum and enjoyed the work of Botero, a ColOmbian artist, who seems to have a great sense of humour when it comes to anything ‘chubby’ whether it be people or fruit……worth a google also to check out his art.   We decided to break lose tonight and stayed up after dark travelling outside our area, Candlelaria district, and went to a neat Italian restaurant for dinner…..excellent!  Now don’t be thinking “why are they eating Italian food in ColOmbia?” as we’ve eaten ColOmbian food for every meal and needed a break as it hasn’t been fabulous…..but we’ll keep trying.  

          Pierre you were asking about the weather.    It hasn’t been bad, lows of about ten and highs of 17-19, mixture of sun, cloud and a scattered shower, great for hiking and wandering around on foot.  And that reminds me of an incident the other day when we were in the line-up to take the cable car up to Monseratte.  There was an elderly gentleman behind me in the line up and I, of course, was in a t-shirt while the rest were in there coats, and he tapped me on the shoulder and then touched my ‘white arm’ and pretended he was shivering and then the young woman we had met with the good English said he thinks you should be cold.  When I said I was fine the conversation turned to where we were from and when they heard Canada they all smiled and a couple said “snow” and that explained it all.   So it’s not hot here in Bogota but we’re headed south tomorrow and by the time we get to Medellin in a few days it will be hot……..In short the weather is wonderful and the flowers are in full bloom!

     We’re ready too leave Bogota, which I’ve fully enjoyed, but am hopeful that in the less populated towns and cities that we visit we will lose some of the very strong police presence that we see daily.  On almost every corner in the historic district we’re in there’s a police officer with a rifle and often they look younger than my nephews who are, for the most part, in their late teens/early twenties.   If they are not sporting a rifle they can frequently be seen walking with large dogs, Rottweiler type, with large mussels (sp?) which also make you uneasy.   Only once were Jim and I stopped and had our bags searched, as was everyone in that area, and finally we realized we were in the area of the parliament buildings and guessed that might have been the reason.  All in all it’s a foreign experience but really did not take away from the overall hospitality and genuineness of the people we met.    

       Gotta run as we have an early 5:45 am start tomorrow to be on time for that 7am bus……wasn’t my idea to be on that bus……I thought this was a vacation……better get some sleep……..good night!