After a two hour delay in Toronto, a 6 hour flight, and nearly 6,500 km of total travel, Ryan and I made it to Bogota. We were fairly nervous getting into Bogota, and spent the last half hour of our flight practicing what to say in Spanish to the customs officers. Fortunately, everything went off without a hitch; our hostel picked us up and the only real challenge we had was finding a meal. After walking around in search of a much needed dinner for over half an hour, we finally found a restaurant. It was much too fancy for us, and a little expensive in terms of Colombia, but it did the trick. I was so hungry that I have no regrets about the money spent. Both of us were exhausted so we spent the rest of the night just hanging out and then went to bed early. I began playing Candy Crush, and I’m officially addicted!
Today has been a fairly relaxed day. We made a trip to the bank, had another epic search for food, and visited the Museo de Oro, or Gold Museum. We spent some time learning about the traditional uses of gold, including sacrifices, jewelry, and where the story of El Dorado came from.
We are slowly starting to adjust to the city, and we are trying to work on our Spanish as much as possible. The exchange rate, combined with the difficulty of understanding large numbers is making paying much more difficult than paying should be. Hopefully this will become much less difficult in the coming weeks. Ryan and I are staying at a hostel in La Candalaria area of Bogota called Lima Limon. The hostel has a cool and quaint vibe and is full of friendly people who are willing to help us “noobs” out! It’s pretty strange feeling so out of place after having traveled for so long; I think I’m just a little rusty though. Hopefully the adjustment to hostel life, tiny towels, and dirty clothes will happen sooner than later.
Colombia is the second most populated country in South America, and Bogota has a population of over 8 million. Considering the large population, I had expected the city to be overwhelmingly busy. I had prepared myself for the chaotic nature of South East Asia, and so far, Colombia has proved to be far less hectic. Perhaps we need to leave La Candalaria, which is the oldest and colonial area of the city, before we see the real hustle and bustle of Bogota. La Candalaria is an adorable area full of colorful houses, graffiti and cobblestone walls. As the oldest area of Bogota, the architecture is colonial, and when you look up the streets, you can see the lush green mountains that surround the city. Despite feeling quite safe in this area of the city, we’ve been quite cautious with our belongings; for the most part, people simply ignore us. There are not very many 
tourists here, which is nice because there aren’t people trying to sell stuff every which way. On the other hand, not very many tourists means that it is harder to do tourist type stuff.
On Friday’s at 5pm, the streets near La Candalaria close down and there are food vendors, street performers and magic shows for a festival called Septima. We’re planning to check that out in a few hours, and hopefully we can try some traditional Colombian goodies!