Saturday January 30, 2016

We have had a few fun and interesting days in Bogota, Colombia. We are high in the Andes Mountains at 2,640 meters (8,661 feet). The walking tours are wonderful to explore all the cathedrals/churches and the very talented artistic graffiti that this huge city is famous for. Our district of Candelaria, Bogota is considered the old part of Bogota and is very cool. The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has Spanish Colonial, Baroque and art deco styles. It houses several universities, libraries and museums. The people are very friendly and the food delicious. We are sticking to a traditional Colombian diet.

Today we met a new friend, Juan, who guided us through the numerous bicycle shops which are located on one street like in Mexico City. Juan is a cousin of one of Jocelyn’s friends in Florida. Jocelyn’s headset has become loose many times so we were looking for a thin spanner wrench to tighten it occasionally. None of the bike shops had that size so we ended up buying a very heavy adjustable wrench. It will work fine although the weight is not wanted. We also lost one of our cable locks that seemed to have dropped out of my bike box on the flight here. When my bike arrived the entire bottom was open even though it was sufficiently taped closed when it arrived onboard. Everything else was zip tied on taped onto the box and the cable lock thrown inside. Well, the cable lock fell out. Today we bought a new one. I also made a few electrical repairs to the electrical wiring on our dynometer hubs. Finding parts is always a challenge but fun. Since my fairly new rear tire failed due to sharp rocks on the sidewall I bought a replacement today. It was very difficult explaining to the sales girl that I wanted a thick tire. So I drew a picture and she understood and brought out an excellent spare for only $10. Speaking of dollars it is so nice to have our expenses drop considerably. I don’t know why Costa Rica charges so much (must be all the Americans that live there) for everything (we’ll never go back) and Panama wasn’t much lower. Colombia is back to great prices with their Peso.

Tomorrow we start riding again and now through the beautiful Andes Mountains. The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world. They are a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, about 200 to 700 km (120 to 430 mi) wide (widest between 18° south and 20° south latitude), and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.