Boggy Tah!

I stopped bothering to book hostels in advance somewhere around Argentina- it just seemed pointless when there were always free beds and booking in advance costs like a whole 1 pound 50!! I know. Shocking. And for the whole of my trip from thereon in the ethos served me well. That is until, after my epic 24 hours bus journey and a following game of taxi lies (blimming taxi dropped me a whole 3 streets away from where I was meant to be!), I got to Bogota. I was supposed to be staying at a hostel called the Cranky Croc, but when I got there I was told they were full. Luckily this was one time the weather worked to my advantage as, due to the fairly dire flooding in Bogota and the epic mission it was to get there at the moment, a group of nine hadn't shown up. With minimal looking pathetic and smelling of 24 hour bus journey I managed to persuade the receptionist they probably weren't coming and wheedled my way into a dorm bed. Exhausted I was good for nothing that night, and instead decided to make an early start the next day.
I started my exploration of Bogota by getting lost; but only because the street names on my map were totally different from the street names on the streets. However being a sensible girl with a winsome nature I was soon orientated and at the Collection Botero... an art gallery mainly housing the work of Columbia's own Fernando Botero, but also housing some Chegall (a personal favourite) and some Monet. The art gallery (pictured top) did not disappoint and I was so distracted wondering around the beautiful old building that I failed to notice the skies open and the torrential rain start again. However it wasn't easy to ignore for long as the LOUDEST thunderstorm I had ever heard started in earnest. Finished with the gallery this rather literally put the dampers on the rest of the Bogota exploration. Thankfully I had already traversed a fair amount of the city getting lost, including finding the cathedral and the public buildings (2nd down). Luckily I found a sweet shop to hide in until the storm died down a little- I had a tremendously enjoyable hour or so enjoying my book and sampling the lovely hand made sweets (GORGEOUS sweets in Bogota). Unfortunately the rain was unceasing and I was forced to return to the hostel. Luckily by about 6pm the rain abated and I was able to go out and see the Christmas lights of Bogota by night, and even explore the cathedral which I hadn't been able to get in earlier (beautiful).
All in all I enjoyed Bogota, although would prefer to g back when the city was less soggy!
I however didn't enjoy the airport the next day when the Columbian officials tried to get me to pay $300 in cash for a visa to get into America. Luckily my Spanish was good enough to explain that I knew they were lying and to decline their kind offer! Despite the hustling, I was very sad to be leaving the continent for the first time in 5 months and the journey into Miami was actually fairly emotional.