I didn't realise that Bogota had a main airport but had seperate terminals for domestic flights, and this was something that I wish I had known before I booked a flight leaving at 07:25 in the morning.
Waking up extra early to finish getting packed was something that I did not relish, and the fact that I had to check out and grab a taxi to the airport for 06:00 in order to catch a flight that I had booked while on the road so had no paperwork to back up meant that I was in no mans land when I arrived at the airport.
I was shocked when I checked out to see that I was charged 60,000 pesos for having my laundry done, which is around £15 and so is by far the most expensivest laundry cost I have ever experienced and had I known I would have preferred to do it myself by hand.
On the way to the airport I noticed that there were a number of large and newly build hotels towards the outskirts of the city, all expensive looking and I guess that the reason why they are so far away for the city centre is that there is no room in the centre to have such large buildings built, or else they would have to make a few roads into dead ends.
Looking up at the board showing leaving flights I was confused and dismayed to see that I could not spot any going to Santa Marta, so in the middle of the main terminal I had to get out my laptop and open up the email to get the directions and the take a photo with my camera to store it as proof of purchase.
Once I had this I went to the Avianca check in desk, only to be told that Avianca have another, smaller, terminal outside that was a ten minute walk or a taxi ride away.
I headed outside to grab a taxi but the first one I tried had no idea of another airport nearby and so I had to get out again and return to the check in desk to get them to write out the full details for me. This time they sent me around the corner where after a wait of half an hour I was able to check in but only enough to get a boarding ticket where she wrote the name of the other terminal across the top and then again suggested I take a taxi.
This time the taxi driver understood better my directions, and took me to the other terminal that was just up the road, but due to illogical roads and one ways I felt that I travelled half way back to Bogota before I reached a round about and managed to head back toward the airport but on a slightly different angle and took a siding just before the main entrance.
I feel a tiny bit angry that I told the first taxi driver that I was going to Santa Marta and he still took me to the main terminal, despite Avianca not flying to Santa Marta from that terminal, but then maybe I didn't tell him I was flying Aviance or maybe he didn't know that they didn't, but a 20 mil pesos ride followed by a 6 mil pesos ride all mounts up and I can see that too many innocent mistakes her ein Bogota could end up as expensive as anywhere else in the world.
Arriving at the other terminal I managed to check in my bag and as the time was ticking by I had no delay or time wasted in the departure lounge as my flight was boarding before I reached it, so I just had to clear security, and then get right on the plane.
For the second time this epic voyage I was asked to switch seats to one next to an emergency exit, so either it is random luck hitting me twice or the fact that maybe I have a trusting and safe face! The flight was almost over before it had begun as I was still tired from the early wake up and so I slept most of it and didnt even need to get out my ear plugs or face mask I was that close to sleep.
Arriving in Santa Marta I felt the heat and humidity the second the doors opened and I was already dripping before I got my bags. Looking our the window of the airport I could see the Caribbean ocean, and it looked clear, blue and peaceful.
Much like the outskirts of Bogota, the road from the airport to the city centre was littered with a sprinkling of very pricey hotels all on their own, and I was glad in a way that I was in the city centre as that way the prices should not be too much.
The taxi driver didn't know my hostel, but as its entrance was on a small backstreet I am not surprised, and the look of the hostel was the sterotypical image of a cheap south american hotel, with the flaking paint, the 50's wooden furniture, flies lazily buzzing around and fans the size of trash can lids everywhere trying to beat the breeze.
My room was up a circular creaking stairway, just past the ill lit kitchen, and although I was there slightly later than planned I still had to help the porter make my bed in order for me to crash.
Unpacking my laptop I contact my friend here, who was online yet for some reason despite it being a weekend and her having no work or children to look after she made her excused and apologised for not being able to meet me today, which was just not what I wanted to hear.
Logging off I decided to dose up on anti sun cream and then take a walk around the city centre, in the hope of finding a post office and be able to send home the much reduced, smaller and lighter package home, yet the hostel did not have a map ( other than showing me am old and heavily creased one that stuck to a wall with aging sellotape ) so the walk was largely fruitless. In random luck I went in the opposite direction from the beach, but I did get to walk past a few bars and the nearby Cathedral.
The heat was so hot that even with shorts and sandals I was roasted in no time at all, my suncream dripping off me in buckets and I could tell that I was getting a headache even before my eyes started stinging with the cream running into my eyes.
Unable to find anything to do and no escape from the heat, so I headed back to my hostel where I grabbed a bottle of local pop juice before retreating to my fan assisted bedroom and did my best to sleep and catch up on emails as well as book another hostel in Cartagena for tomorrow morning as already I could tell that this place was not for me.
After a sleep I found a restaruant that was nearby, where for 18 mil pesos I was given a couple more pretend bananas, a pepsi with ice and the largest plate of rice and chicken I have ever seen, it even made the one in Piura seem small by comparison, which is a scary thought in itself.
As it ws the only thing I had to eat all day I devoured a large chunk of it, but it was a little too salty and too had an aftertaste that meant I needed to drown every other mouthful with a glug of pepsi, and the plate was much larger than the glass so before too long I could not take another mouthful without washing away the taste of the last, so gave up and went back to my hotel.
I tried to watch a bit of television as by now the sun had gone down, the rain had started and this in turn increased to a tropcal storm where the thunder was so frequent that I could not tell when one ended and the other began and where so much lightening was flashing that I was lit up like a firework party. I watched a few things, but the reception got worse and soon each flash of lightening was knocking out the signal for a few seconds and before too long I was missing more than I was watching, so despite it being very early I grabbed my ear plugs, switched on the fan to blow the mosquitos away and dove under a thin sheet to try and get some sleep.
The last thing that I remember watching was a program about the American film instutitude saying that the top ten films were of each category and was shocked that although I think of myself as a bit of an amateur film buff I had not even seen half of the sci-fi films and when it came to comedies or epics I was down to 3 in 10.
TomorrowI will try to get up early, to get myself all up to date and then swing by the beack before I check out and head on off to the bus terminal and go to Cartagena.
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