BOGATA AGAIN
Back in Bogata we feel at home again. We know where the markets are, we are learning how to make our way around the city, mainly by taxi, we can cook our own breakfast or buy cooked food and bring it back here to eat. We have private rooms and bathrooms. Susie can go up to the 18th floor room with exercise machines and exercise. We can do some things over again that we have done before as well as explore new place.
Today Susie had read of a section of thrift stores where all kinds of used clothing was for sale in a row of stores. So we took a taxi to that section. At first we were couldn’t find the row of stores and when we did they weren’t that exciting. But we did pass a beautiful church with we went into and photographed.
Then we took a taxi to the Usaquén area of elegant shops and outdoor stalls that we had visited on our third day here. I wanted to buy some Colombian embroidered pillow cases which I had seen then but thought that I could find cheaper somewhere else. But, in spite of looking, I haven’t seen anything as beautiful. Pillow cases and table cloths are the only things you can bring back easily in carry on luggage, they remind you of where you have been without taking up space. A second thing I have learned while traveling is that it is pointless to be tempted to buy things abroad simply because they are cheap. High quality handmade things are almost never found in local markets, they are almost always found in high end shops which are the only place where you can find them. In a sense you are paying a finder’s fee. The shops know where to find beautiful things, places that you as an outsider have no time or knowledge to discover, and you pay extra for that service. That is true in Morocco, Greece, India or Sri Lanka and it was true yesterday. So I bought 3 very expensive pillow cases that will give me delight every time I see them back home.
We took some photographs and then went to a beautiful restaurant where Susie had trout and I had one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever had, with roasted potatoes. The meal cost us $25 for two but was great fun and relaxing.
That was it for me. At 87 walking a couple of miles wears me out and I need to nap to get started again. That is the price of old age (but retirement and freedom to travel is an advantage). The Camino Real trail a few days ago which left me drained convinced me that my hiking days are over. When I travel it is a great advantage to visit countries like Sri Lanka, India or Colombia where instead of walking, taxies or rickshaws can carry me cheaply wherever I want to go, or to places like Paris or London or Berlin where public transportation is so good that I rarely have to walk very far.
So I came back to what feels like home and slept and then caught up on writing these posts.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 