How bizarre — I’m in Bogotá, Columbia! I had a 7 hour layover between the inbound flight from Sao Paulo and the outbound flight to Lima, so I decided to have a quick look around the city rather than just hang out at the airport.

After having a quick look around Plaza de Bólivar, I took the cable car 600m up to the top of Cerro de Monserrate, a mountain at the edge of town where there is a little church and nice views across the city. After I’m done online, I’m following my guidebook’s recommendation and going in search of ajiaco de pollo, a traditional chicken stew made with avocado and capers. Then it’ll probably be time to head back to the airport.

Apparently Columbia is still listed as one of the ten most dangerous places in the World due to the activities of various guerilla factions, although many parts (such as Bogotá, where I am), are as safe as anywhere else in South American. Having said that, there are soldiers with automatic weapons everywhere!

The trip here was long and fairly gruelling as I anticipated (8 hours flying already, and another 3 hours to Lima later), although much of the journey passed in a narcoleptic haze — I went out to say goodbye to a few folks in Rio last night and eventually decided it wasn’t worth going to bed for a couple of hours, so I ended up drinking in a nightclub until 5am before checking out of the hotel and heading out to the airport.