Author Archives: Erick Redcloud
Mmm Bogatá Beer Company’s porter
Mmm Bogatá Beer Company’s porter
Day 1 - Bogatá
So I arrived. The flight was not easy. I could not sleep a wink on the plane and that was the plan for taking the
late night “red-eye” flight. The seats on the overcrowded 757 to Miami was just ceased and uncomfortable.
I would like to admit that I rather enjoyed my connecting flight to Bogatá on LAN who was amazing in their customer service.
So what did I do today after arriving dead tired in Bogatá? Well after trying going to the bank we went to look for vegetarian safe food to eat. Miguel our guide bent over backwords to help us. We ended in place around Parque 93 and ate some amazing fish and chicken.
After walking around Parque 93, which is like any other park, we stumbled upon a Bogatá Beer Company, a place I read about and had to try out. There we had one of the best porters I have had. Nice and thick with lots of head.
Afterwards we fight traffic to our hotel. What a tiring day. Can not wait too look forward to what tomorrow will bring. We are to meet up tomorrow with a friend.
4-5 More days: Colombia
In 4 more days I will be catching my flight to Colombia. In 5 more days I will be landing in the city of Bogotá. What I am really looking forward to is all the food there is to try. Colombia is not known for lots of flavors, but it does not stop me from wanting to try out some amazing foods.
One of the foods to start with are buñuelos. Buñuelos are deep fried corn dough filled with cheese in the shape of a ball. Sometimes coated with sugar, I know that these things may put me in a diabetic coma. I am still willing to risk my life to try them in Colombia.
Arepas which is a rather thick like tortilla sometimes filled with cheese and served with breakfast and buttered, are another meal I want to try. I can not wait to sit down one morning to fill my mouth with an Arepa.
The one thing there is about Colombia is the fruits. There are fruits in Colombia that can not be found anywhere in the world. I am looking forward to try fruits that can not be tasted anywhere else in the world. The best place to get all these is at the farmer’s market.
I can not wait for all the flavors that I will put to my tastes buds.
22 More Days: Colombia - Bogota
So in 22 more days I will be landing in Bogotá, Colombia. Bogotá is known for being a magnificently large city, rivaling San Francisco and others like it.
Bogota is known for it’s new city skyscrapers as well as it’s old colonial style areas. There are amazing places to go visit; including: Plaza Bolivar, La Candelaria, La Catedral, Torre Colpatria, Parque & Museo El Chiquo and others. Those are just some of the great sites one can visit while traveling in Bogotá.
Now it is nice to see all the great these great places, but in my last travel I did something different. My trip to Jammu/Kashmir was different than my other travels because I spent a lot of time with people and their families, learning more about the people and culture there. What really makes a place is the people who live there and how they live their lives.
When in Bogotá, it will be amazing to see all these wonderful sites, but what I would like to learn is the people, the culture and just how people conduct their lives.
Now the best way to do this is to try to avoid as much of the touristy areas as possible and try to keep to the small local areas. But how do I do this? Good question, and the answer is that I do not know. Granted I will be meeting a friend in Bogotá, perhaps she can introduce me to some interesting and amazing people.
How would go about trying to meet new people in a different country? Would love to hear your ideas.
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This travel blog photo’s source is TravelPod page: Olga (Lucia) Tenjo…London 98
To Colombia
In January I will be traveling to Colombia, a country once known for it’s rocky past. It is funny, when I mention to people that I will be heading out to Colombia they look at me as if I have a “death wish”. Colombia is no longer the place that it used to be, at least of what I hear.
So why Colombia? Well I for sure wanted to go to South America, but I was not sure where. When a old co-worker came back from his trip through South America I asked him where I should go. He said to me, “Colombia, you have to go see Colombia!” so I took him up on his advice.
For the past 2 months I have been planning my trip to Colombia, and have been finding that it does not seem like a bad plan at all. Colombia provides everything a person can find. From the big cities of Bogotá and Medellin; old colonial towns like Villa De Leyva; the mountainous Andes; gorgeous beaches of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts; and nearly 50 National Parks. It is no wonder why he told me to go to such a place. I the trip will be great.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr to find out my adventures of my trip.
So how who has some great ideas of where I should go and do in Colombia? I am willing to hear you ideas and suggestions.
Photos: Jammu/Kashmir
Me being tired on Trikuta Mountain
It took me a few weeks but I have edited down and sorted my photos from my trip. Took 2200 photos, but I know you don’t want to look at all 2200. They have been edited down to 50. Check them out:
Day 14 - Delhi
A such needed nap that I just had after coming back from a hot day visiting some sites in Delhi. One of the sites I saw was Jama Masjid, a Muslim gigantic mosque. I got off at the metro exit I was to be at and caught a rickshaw to the Jama Masjid. Not know I happen to get arrive at prayer time, so I had to kill some time. I killed some time by getting lost in Chawri Bazar. Luckily I was able to find my way back. Afterwards I paid my ticket and entered the massive mosque, the largest of all of India.
After burning my bare feet on the clay tiles I made my way back to the metro and headed off to another metro stop to catch a rickshaw to Kahn Market. Kahn Market is a bit more upscale market then the usual markets I had been visiting (other than Connaught Place and Ansal Plaza). I kind of liked it though. It had a lot of crafted items. Lots of paper stores, and I have a passion for hand made paper, as I have made some myself. I then ate a pizza restaurant where there seemed to be nothing but rich Indians there. I didn’t mind, as it was a different experience of India I have not experienced yet.
I then made myself back to the place I was staying via Metro and on my way a pretty Indian girl standing next to me was staring at me. I smiled at her and she smiled back with a giggle. I should have hi but i didn’t. Instead made my way back to my room and took a nap.
I now realize that I packed 1 less pair of socks and underwear than I needed. Good thing I am in a center of a clothing market. I will go out later and make sure I get some socks and underwear. Tomorrow morning I start my flight back home.
Day 11-13
So my last day of Srinagar… I did nothing. I sat in my boat house and just sat. It was kind of easy to do since most of Srinagar was shut down due to the Prime Minister’s visit to Kashmir. After around 3 pm the streets were open again and that allowed for the noisy new guests to arrive to the boat. One kid really did not know how to walk and made the whole boat just shake with the thump of his heel, so I decided to go for a walk in Lal Chowk and used the internet. I came back and left the next morning via Sumo to Jammu.
The Sumo driver was not quite the best. Despite having a very modern SUV, I got sick most of the way. I was not the only one. After 10 hour drive, I had finally arrived Jammu where Vijay, Pooja’s father, arrived to pick me up. We went back to their house were I spent the night. The next day I had a flight to Delhi.
One thing I have completely forgotten about India is it’s security measures. If you thought the security you have to go through in the US is bad, wait until you have to go through an airport in India. I went through 6 different security checks at least. I had to verify my luggage. In the process of all the security checks, I must have lost my power supply to my Macbook Pro in all the pulling out of stuff from constant bag checks.
I arrived in Delhi on got a prepaid taxi to take me to my place, but he was a bit lazy and didn’t want to fight the traffic so he dropped me off in the area and i had to walk the way. It is a good thing I know myself around Karol Bagh, since it is the same area I stayed in last time.
After reaching my place of stay, i had then realized that I have lost my power supply so I went to Connaught Place to see if I could find a replacement. I knew I wouldn’t, so I tried to see if I could get myself to Ansel Plaza. I was hooked up with a very kind Sikh auto rickshaw driver who took me to Ansel Plaza and showed me a huge Sikh Temple.
The Sikh temple was rather amazing with a lot going on as well as. The dome was all gold and had amazing architecture. It looked a lot like the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It reminded me of a Buddhist Monastary where everything inside is free, food, sleep, books. There was so much praying and chanting going on. It really got me intrigued in Sikh religion.
I then went back to Karol Bagh via the metro rail and then proceeded to walk through Karol Bagh’s intense market. I proceeded to have something to eat then went back to my room.
Today I will eventually head to Chandni Chawk to get to the Jama Masjid. I may or may not hit up Khan Market, since it is a bit out of the way. Then get back and sleep so I can get used to Pacific Time Zone all over again.