Bogota to Neiva 18 to 38 in 200

October 17th Bogota to Neiva
Well let's explain the ambiguous header - it's simple really, I left Bogota in 18 degrees celsius and within approximately 200 miles, the temperature had increased by 20 degrees. They say that Columbia has four distinct climates, with Bogota being the most temperate. The altitude of Bogota at 2600 metres above sea level would explain its mild climate, whilst Neiva is only 461 metres above sea level and just a few hundred miles from the equator. What is staggering is the effect of altitude on temperature.

I hadn't realised that Bogota was part of the Andes chain and descending from Bogota I was treated to some beautiful scenery and breath taking views. It was a delight riding these gently twisting roads with a relatively good road surface. Columbia is a dream place for motorcyclist and cyclist as both are extremely popular with the locals. I've seen more big motorcycles than anywhere else, since I left the US. Most riders acknowledge one another and more importantly the police and military, whom are numerous, are extremely respectful, at least to foreign bikers. This was illustrated perfectly to me when I entered my first toll booth this morning. A number of officials ran over and informed me that Motorcyclist don't pay and that they have a special slip road to go down,  they helped turn me around and held up the traffic while I did so. A few miles further down the road  a group of soldiers gave me the thumbs up and this was repeated a number of times on my journey today. I believe that because of its bad reputation, officials are keen to change tourists perception of their country. I felt like royalty on leaving Bogota as numerous cars drove up alongside me to look at the bike and give me a wave. The only exception to this warm welcome was that of the bus and taxi drivers who insist on cutting you up. However, I have seen no other foreign motorcyclist or tourist so far on my journey, which is a shame as the people are great and the landscape is stunning. Bogota is a cosmopolitan city and has much to see and do. I didn't do it justice, but coming from a large city , cities hold little attraction and I am more interested in the landscape and the people. I wrote that before I went and had tea and I did find some buildings of interest (see below) and the town was more lively than I thought. The interesting fact was that there is a preponderance of casinos, I counted 7 in my little wander. I was really looking for somewhere to eat, but every place was closed and the place seemed dead. I managed to find one place open, which was a Chinese (see below). It looked sleazy from the outside, but inside it was clean but basic. No air conditioning here, just an array of fans with only two working. It was like like a scene from 'The African Queen' all hot and sultry. I had a beer and ordered a Chop Suey. It was absolutely awesome and there was so much I couldn't eat it all. It was jam packed with prawns and chicken and a selection of mixed veg (see photo). All for the princely sum of £6 and that included the tip!!!

Neiva Cathedral

A rather grand public building 

 A lovely meal without the kick!

This was the small plate, glad they dissuaded me from the medio selection

Talking of Landscape you may have noticed that my blog has ads, currently showing Machu Pichu. This is maybe because I booked my tour to Machu for next week with this company. Apparently I get paid  for this, you might want to click on the link as I think I am paid by the number of hits on their site. You will also get to see what treats I'm in for next week. Neiva is a very run down town and what little I have seen of it has little to recommend it. I shall be off first thing tomorrow to slowly creep up to the Ecuadorian border the following day. I have to be in Cusco by a week on Wednesday which is approximately 2,300 miles south. This will mean some very long days in the saddle, but it was always my intention to devout my time to Peru, Chile and Argentina.

Anyway I am jumping the gun as there are many more things to see and do before then and readers of this blog will have come to realise that things never quite go to plan.