Not the best of starts....

My 6 hour flight to Bogota left at 01:15 on the Saturday morning, arriving 5am local time. The airport was fairly flash and easy, not at all what I had expected, and my suitcase was one of the first to arrive! 

Leon, our guide, picked me up, and before I knew it I was ensconced at the hotel, given a room, and fell fast asleep. I woke at lunchtime and decided to venture out. It was quite disturbing to note that the hotel is locked at all times, so you have to be let in and let out, but it is in one if the better areas if the city, so I managed to find an ATM, a fruit shop for supplies, and then all of the expensive shopping malls and restaurants. As the rest of the group were not arriving until later that evening I wandered around, found a restaurant for dinner and then watched the local football match with the hotel staff! Millionairios won 2-0!

Unfortunately on the flight one of my teeth had started to hurt really badly, and that night it was so painful I struggled to sleep. 

The next morning I met all of the group at breakfast, had the introductory briefing, and then had to request an emergency dental appointment, on a Sunday, in Bogota!!! They all headed off for the day and I waited for a driver to take me to the private hospital. Luis, probably the worst driver in the world, arrived and drove me two whole blocks! The hospital didn't have an orthodontist, so we headed to another private hospital. In Bogota, on a Sunday, they close half of the roads, for cyclists, and boy were there lots of them, which is great if you are not trying to find a hospital! The second hospital, no orthodontist! They sent us to a third address, by which time if you had given me some pliers I would have sorted myself out! We pitched up to this tiny office and I was told to hand over 60,000 pesoes (£24), regardless of treatment! Some prodding, one X-ray and 2 injections later and I had a root canal done - although they did stop half way through when some of the equipment stopped working! I just sat there for about 15 minutes whilst it was fixed it and then they finished the job!

Luis and I then walked two blocks to find a pharmacist for antibiotics and painkillers ( I had refused the injections in my bottom!)

I then asked Luis to take me to downtown Bogota to find the rest of the group! Bizarrely the two girls I had sat with at breakfast were a retired dentist and a pharmacist. So they both checked my treatment and medication and gave me the thumbs up!

By the time I joined the group the weather had turned and it was torrential rain. We were supposed to walk around Le Candelaria district but it was so wet we agreed to head to the Fernando Botero Museum. The roads by this point had become torrents with about a foot of water racing down. In the end I just took my shoes off to wade through, and then walked around the museum barefoot too!

We later heard on the news there had been mass flooding and a huge number of accidents because of the weather.

Whilst the thunder storm was raging we wandered around the museum looking at the art. He gifted the collection to the people of Colombia, and his style can only be described as.... "Large"! 

But he had made reference to the political history of the country, so it was all quite interesting.

As the rain eased we headed out and found a group of singers/musicians singing outside a coffee shop. They were dressed in capes, covered in badges, and were so expressive, and having such fun it seemed rude not to order a coffee and hang around! We were even treated to some cape twirling!

A quick jaunt around Place de Bolivar and we gave up and headed back to the hotel, and dry clothes!

Still numb from the anesthetic I headed out with some of the others for dinner at the Bogota Beer Company. Sat there chatting with everyone how did I manage to attract the local freak? What us it about me? He was so drunk we couldn't even work out which country he came from!