Planning? What's that?

South America never fails to surprise me , most of the time it is in a goodway and in this instince I would say that what looked like a curse was actually a blessing in disguise. 

I was unable to board the plane to Bolivia due to the fact that I did not have an exit flight from Bolivia and so therefore could be stealing the Bolivians jobs and causing havoc. Colombia didn't want me to leave, and to be honest neither did I, I've had so many crazy memories and made so many friends there but I needed to start another chapter so I rebooked flights to Lima and then hoped on a bus to Arequipa.

 The second largest city in Peru and one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. It feels, as I sit here in the coolish air, like a desert oasis. As when driving into the city all you see is these sand dunes but then as you drive into the centre the city turns into something that feels alive and vibrant. And I can say that I am so glad that I cam back to Peru to visit Arequipa, because even though I loved Cusco and really enjoyed Peru, it didn't quite leave a mark. Maybe because I was in a group and so wasn't completely immersed and talking to the local people, but whatever it was I had felt a distance to the country. 

But now having come back to it I feel welcomed and comfortable in this beautiful city. So as the time to catch the bus across the border to Bolivia approaches I just wanted to leave this note, sometimes you have to view places twice to realise the depth of the gifts they share but once you do, the places never disappear and always leave a mark on your being. Sometimes stressful situations really are blessings in disguise. 

Peru, I will be back at some point in my life to explore even more of your abundant and cultural country.

 

Surprise tassels :p

Oops

One fell off :0 need to replace the tit tape I guess :)) 

Colombia!

Colombia is a country that leaves a lasting impression. The people I've met along the way both Colombian and travellers have been amazing. Words that first come to mind when I think of Colombia now are colourful, friendly and filled with history and a vibrancy for life. 

Crossing the border from Ecuador to Colombia was lengthy due to miscommunication but when we finally made it to the other side we visited the beautiful church of Las Lajas. Which is built across a valley and looks as though it is suspended in between the tall green hills on either side of it. 

Cat from AC met me in Quito so we travelling up through Colombia together, and our first stop was Popayan which is a really sweet little city known as the white city as it got really hot during the day so all the buildings were painted white to keep it cool. After some bank trouble of not being able to get any money out of the ATMs, we explored the city and observed the people in their daily lives. In Popayan we met an Irish and jersey girl who tagged along with us as we made our way through Cali to Medellin. 

Exploring popayan 

Off we go to Cali

In Cali, the salsa capital of the South America, we chilled by the pool, explored the crazy hot city, were joined by my friend from Quito and met some really interesting and fun people while we were there. The night of my 19th was pretty crazy and the whole hostel joined Cat, Gabs, Rishi and me to celebrate. Consuming copious amounts of alcohol and dancing to crazy music, we danced all night on a rooftop club and then went and chilled in the park till the sun rose and we fell asleep exhausted at 7am in the morning. Only to then get on a bus and head up to Medellin, the home of Pablo Escobar and the party place of Colombia. 

Birthday night out :) 

We arrived ahead of Rishi and two other guys who had joined our pack. Turned out that the hostel that we had booked was really far from anything so as I wanted to stay longer in Medellin, I moved hostels to be closer to the guys and Cat and Gabs headed up for a quick trip to Cartagena before joining me in Bogota where we went to the biggest club (Theatron) in South America supposedly, with 13 dance floors with all different types of music and an open roof that had a live band playing. It was so fun and the next morning we moved again to the nicest hostel, so bright and colourful and immediately got roped into getting pizza which was amazing and since that first night in La Candelaria I've pretty much tried all the different flavours of pizza, so far my favourite is Mexicana, because it's a bit spicy but filled with veggies and loads of flavour. Anyway the following day we did the graffiti tour which was amazing! So much history in the art that explodes all over the city in different colours, all with meaning of what's going on around them in Bogota or an expression of what they are feeling on the inside. I found it so fascinating and kinda makes me want to learn the art of 

graffiti-ing, although maybe I should learn how to properly draw a stick figure before turning to a more complex median, or maybe I should just stick to dance. 

A few days into Bogota, Cat left :( to go to Uruguay and I joined Rishi and Nelson (another friend from Quito) in a different hostel where we chilled and got to know the nightlife of Bogota pretty well. We went to a freakin awesome club that had a tree inside and great rave music, which was a nice change from the usual reggaton, although dancing to reggaton with a full dance floor also dancing properly rather than just bobbing up and down which is the usual in England.

I found a dog to cuddle!!!

Anyway enough of my rambling :) I am still in Bogota and I leave on Friday morning to Bolivia but I'll be coming back to Colombia in June to see a bit of the Caribbean coast before flying back to London to pack for uni!

Besitos

Xx