We arrived in Bogotá on a gruá - first stop VW Auto Blitz. Once the van was in safe hands, the quote obtained, the parts ordered from the UK we could relax and enjoy the city.
It was great to see Ray, who flew in from Baltimore and to meet Paula and Carol. We started to tick off the tourist list: Museo Nacional, La Candelaria with its Plaza Bolivar, Iglesia de San Francisco, Museo Historico Policia, Museo d'Oro, a bike tour around the city which included the market and a game of Tejo - a mad past-time where you throw an extremely heavy lead disk, which looks a bit like a land mine, across the room to hit a triangle of dynamite!
We also ventured out of town. First to the underground cathedral in Zipaquirá, built into the caverns left behind in an old salt mine. Then to Suesca to enjoy the countryside and watch the climbers. We caught up with Lidda and Guillermo in Madrid and then, thanks to Steven and Pablo, a trip out to Esmeralda Gorge for the weekend for some kite-surfing.
It was good to get back on the road, the van problems had delayed us by two weeks. Little did we know....