Decisions made, Safety first!

After another glorious sleep in this morning, I got and and decided I needed to make some decsions. (That was the first one.) Basically, I needed to get a plan and probably figure out my next few days. So while I was rolling around in my bunk, I decided that I was getting out of Bogota tomorrow, spending the weekend in some beautiful colonial villages. Sounds great. I got up, bought my bus tickets and ordered a taxi; it is going to be a beautiful day.

Next decision, what to do with my day in the city. I decided to think this over at a new restaurant I found called "Waffles and Crepes". Why don´t they have these in the US? They would make a fortune. Basically you can get a crepe as a meal or a dessert, the same with the waffles. They also sell coffee, ice cream, and a variety of other things. I was so happy! A crepe with Queso, Jamon, and Huevos. Yum. It put me in the mood to decide what to do. I decided to go to the top of Cerro de Monserrate. At the top of this mountain which dominates the sky line is (what else) but a church.

I had originally planned to hike to the top on the path used by pilgrims. It is 1500 steps. This of course is the dangerous route where muggings at knife point are regularly reported during the week. This being a Friday I thought "well maybe". Even to get to the start, there are warnings about muggings. hmmmm what to do. So I decided on two things: one, I would walk to the base of the path, and two decide when I get there. Knife point, I laugh in the face of knife points! I am tough, I can do it.

So I hike up to the beginning of the path. Once there I realize that there are tons of signs reminding people of danger. You don´t need to read a lot of Spanish to know what they are saying. Then I realize that the cable car station is right there, so I decided to take the cable car...I figure this would be the smarter and safer route. For seven bucks, it is probably worth it.

The top of the mountain affords you amazing views over the city of Bogota and it is really an amazing place to be. As you walk around there are a bunch of paths that take you around on the top of the mountain. They also have speakers playing some Gregorian chants on the top. It is a quiet and peaceful place. One path has the Station of th Cross made in some beautiful sculpture. It was really great. AFter a while of wandering and thinking, Mass started in the Church. I took advantage of this and while it was all in Spanish, I did get some praying on.

Super peaceful, amazing views, what more could you ask for.

I came down the mountain and hit a couple of different cafes to sample some of Colombia´s finest coffee. They make is strong here, just the way I like it. It was quite good. Tomorrow, I leave Bogota and head to Tunja and Villa de Leyva for a couple of days.