Villa de Leyva, Colombia

So after finally landing in Bogota, I checked into a place called Platypus, which is considered a backpacker´s haven. Determined to try and enter the backpacker community, I put on a happy-go-lucky face (even though I had been traveling for 31 hours) and started being social.

And as it turned out, it wasn´t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I thought I would come across as some lame stalker. My Best Asian reputation obviously preceded me... :)

Anyway, I met some people from Quebec, Texas (a Longhorn!), France, Stoke, London, San Fran... and learned to play Shithead (card game) and some version of Spoof, but with dice. Next thing you know, it was 1am... and I realized how easy it´s been for Mark to get caught up in all the fun.

This morning, Sarah (a girl I met who´s from Sydney) and I took the 4+ hour journey to meet Mark in Villa de Leyva - a very cute and tranquil colonial town. Apparently, we had missed a huge, week long, debaucherous festival by a couple of days, which Mark thoroughly enjoyed... well, not THAT much.

We´re currently staying in this B&B called El Solar. The owner Martha is very sweet and very motherly. So I feel quite safe. Actually, I haven´t felt unsafe at all so far... everyone has been really nice and very helpful, even with my horrible Spanish. Next time, I must try and learn the language prior to traveling, instead of picking up Spanish for Dummies and thinking I could learn by osmosis on the plane.

Alright... I´m off to cook dinner and make my own birthday cake... I miss everyone!

Main Square in Villa de Leyva:











My Birthday Celebration (left to right: my b-day cake, with Sarah, with Host Martha and friendly kid whose name I forget)