OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

TO EVERYONE THAT HAS BEEN READING MY BLOGS, I APOLOGISE FOR THE DISTNACE BETWEEN BLOGS, I HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY AND ALSO LAZY

Well..... From Categena Harry and i made our way to Bogota (the capital of Colombia) Harry had his flight to catch over to London to surprise his family for Christmas. 
The bus was 25 hours, lucky enough we slept a lot of the way. We arrived and check into a hostel ran by an Australian guy, it was in a great location close to central Bogota, what really surprised me about Bogota was the public transportation, it was fantastic and so easy to use. The last days with Harry were a little sad, we had been travelling for the past 5 months together and what an amazing adventure it was.   

The following day we headed off to the airport for Harry's flight, i went along to wish him off. Once arriving and going to the check in we had a problem, because we were in Colombia the whole time illegally we were aloud to leave the country without paying a penalty for being there illegally, we were in panic mode because we had to find the customs office and go through the process of signing documents to agree we travelled the country illegally and pay the penalty for it, this process was going to take over one hour, Harry was panicking because he could not check into his flight until he had done this, is was going to be a close call before check in closed. He made it in the end with about 5 minutes to spare, we walked towards the security checkpoint, said our goodbyes, gave a brotherly hug and went our separate ways, it almost felt like i lost my best friend haha, i didn't know what to do with myself. I just got busses back to the hostel and chilled for that rest of the day. 

The day after i had woken early and gone for a run, after that i showered ate some breakfast and went off to look around the city for the day, it was around midday, i was just walking along the street when i was approached by a woman around 60 years old, she was talking fast in spanish and i had no idea what she was saying, i just ignored her and continued walking, she was right by my side still blabbering on, 30 seconds later when stopping at a set of lights a man about 35 said to me in english she is asking you for directions, i told them i had no idea of the city. the chatter went on for around a minute when the man pulled out a badge and asked to see both our ID's

i had a photo copy of mine and she explained to him she was from Ecuador and showed her ID card, the Police officer asked us many questions, going on to say about how young men like me come to Colombia to get cocaine, a brief while later he insisted we follow him to the station. My heart sank, missing a few beats, i was in Colombia illegally and had no idea what was going to happen, i was thinking the worse, like possible jail time or kept in a cell for day, my mind was racing thinking of ways to try and get out of it. we followed him around 4 blocks the lady was carrying on but i was just trying to follow everything he said incase i got into trouble, we arrive outside of a building were we stopped, he got both of us to write down our details on a piece of paper and away he went, it crossed my mind to run away but i thought it could make things worse, my mind was racing standing there waiting. A few minutes later he come back out keeping very serious he said he needing to search the both of us, i was so nervous i just did what ever he wanted, he took her things then i handed him what i had (phone, wallet) he said wait there and i will back in a minute!! i was panicking thinking im in big trouble. I stood there for a while just day dreaming thinking about whats going to happen, once i snapped out of it i noticed the woman wasn't standing behind me anymore, i was there alone... something strange was up, i ran to the corner and seen her down the end of the street looking back to see if i was there. 

At that point i realised i had been scammed, the guy never returned and the woman was in on it the whole time, i was furious i ran to another corner calling to the uniformed police, i explained to them everything as best i could with a young female shopkeeper helping with the translations, they called on the radio to other officers in the area, they said the think they know who it was because he does it all the time. I just felt so helpless, pissed off, sad and dumb for falling for it, i still think if i hadn't been in Colombia illegally, that wouldn't have been playing on my mind and i would have seen what was going on. the police were helpful and told me to go to the station to get a report written which i did immediately. This whole situation was worse because it was Christmas eve, i felt empty after harry going and then getting everything stolen i felt terrible. 

I decided that afternoon i would go and get another phone right away, there is no point not having a phone i use it hours everyday, i found where the Apple Store was and i went there, whilst there in the rich area of Bogota i got my new phone, i then thought to myself, i have had a shitty couple of days ill treat myself to dine somewhere really nice tonight, i ended up at one of Bogota's most famous restaurants, Know around the world. I had the best meal i have ever eaten (Fillet Mingong), some amazing Argentinean Malbec and to top it off got looked after like a king. It cost me $90 but it was amazing, making me feel a lot better about everything.  

Christmas Morning was a real drag, the hostel was quiet and boring and i felt really homesick for the first time since leaving home, nothing was open except a supermarket, so i got some tuna and avocado and had that i dry biscuits for my christmas dinner. I didn't even like Bogota really and i began to wonder what i was still doing there. I thought i would spend Christmas there waiting for it to pass by before moving on, until the day after Christmas i check out and went to the bus terminal to find thousands of people there, with lines of hundred at each bus company, every bus i needed south was full, i had really had enough a gave up on that idea went back to the same hostel checked in again and booked a flight down the Quito, Ecuador. 

I knew that i had to go through the same process Harry did with exiting Colombia so i went to the airport about 4 hours before my flight. everything went well, paid my exit penalty and arrive at 11 pm in Quito!!!