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CHAPTER THREE: ARRIVAL

(In 2024, I planned and executed a round-the-world adventure, spanning all six occupied continents in about a month. This is Chapter 3 in a blow-by-blow retelling of how it all came together, and how it all went.)

NOVEMBER 9 - BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

MILES TRAVELED: 2,214

 

After waking up from a restless sleep in the airport capsule hotel, I am comforted by the fact that I don't have far to go to check in for my flight.

 

At least there's that.

 

The whole process is fairly smooth, although I lose two items to the Bogota airport. One intentionally, one by accident. The zipper on the case to my fancy flight pillow broke off overnight, making the pillow itself an awkward pain to carry around. So, when it slipped off the counter at security and onto the floor, I decided not to bother with having someone retrieve it. The other, an ancient Chromebook I took along for shits and giggles... I accidentally left on the airport floor in the rush to board. So, I changed my Chrome password and shrugged. It wasn't getting updated anymore, and once the battery ran down it would be useless to anyone. I was too tired to care.

 

But the good news: the rebooked flight took off on time, I got an exit row seat, and there was no asshole gate agent forcing me to gate check my carryon for the hour-long flight.

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Even though the flight was only an hour long, I think I slept through most of it. No issues this time getting into Pereira.

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My hostel was kind enough to rebook my airport transfer after last night's cancellation, so after a short wait and an airport latte, I met my driver: a young Colombian woman who spoke almost no English. I have what I like to call 'un poco' Spanish skills, so the hour long drive into Salento was pretty quiet.

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"Esas montanas son bonitas," I would say.

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"Si'," she'd reply.

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And that was about it. However, I was sincere about the mountains. Almost neon green with trees, the rolling hills between Pereira and Salento were an incredible introduction to the country.

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Finally, I made it to my hostel, Viajero Salento, but it was still too early to check in. So, for a little while, I just walked around the grounds, admiring the setting (picture above) and just breathing in the air. Finally, despite my exhaustion, I decided to walk downtown for a little sightseeing and lunch. After asking for a recommendation, I make the short walk to the town's main square, Plaza de Bolivar.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

It's a Saturday, so there's a market in the plaza adding to the festive liveliness of the town, making it look even more like the setting for Encanto than it already looked.

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Even without the market, the plaza is busy, with large Jeeps (they call them 'Willys' here) carrying tourists on journeys to coffee farms and wax palms, and a local couple entertaining spectators with offbeat dances to tunes from a boombox.

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I snapped a few pictures, then headed to the recommended restaurant, Donde Laurita. Jumping right into 'discovering local cuisine' mode, I ordered the trucha makanas, a boiled trout in coconut milk with shrimp, mushrooms and grated cheese. It was quite delicious!

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In any case, lunch made me even more sleepy than I already was from yesterday's long travel day.

 

I took a few more photos of the plaza, then walked back to the hostel and was pleasantly surprised to hear that my room was ready a little early.

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So, it was check in, a long nap and then a shower, then the obligatory first clean selfie of the trip, showing off both the scenery and one of the local Colombian beers.

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Then, believe it or not, another nap.

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For dinner, I got lazy and just had a pizza and a couple of beers from the hostel's bar/restaurant. Don't judge me. But then, I decided that I really wanted to check out a uniquely Colombian game/sport called tejo.

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I'd seen it featured years ago on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's show, and decided that I had to see it for myself. So, after asking the hostel staff where the nearest tejo joint, and then meekly asking if it was safe to walk there at night, I set off for Salento's own Cancha de Tejo Los Amigos. 

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Let me answer the second question first: Salento is extremely safe to walk around at night, as long as you don't mind getting wet. As I found out, it rains a lot here.​​​​

Now, let's talk about Tejo.

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Picture, if you will, a series of cornhole courts inside a corrugated tin building. But instead of cornhole boards, it's a series of slanted blocks of damp-ish mud. Right around the center of those blocks are several triangular paper packets - filled with gunpowder. Tejo players throw large rocks toward the mud blocks, until one of them manages to hit the packets hard enough to make them explode. Like this:

In any case, it was fascinating to watch, and everyone playing it seemed to be having a great time. Of course, they were all drinking pretty heavily.

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I headed back to the hostel and changed into my Canada t-shirt (the US election had just happened the previous Tuesday), and wandered out to a common area just outside my room. The t-shirt sparked up a conversation with two Belgians and three Americans. While it started. on politics, eventually the talk turned to the next day's plans, and it turns out my fellow Americans had the same ambitious idea I had: to visit a coffee farm and the Valle de Cocora in the same day. After a few beers and more conversation, they invited me to join them.

 

All in all, a great first full day in Colombia.   

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