into columbia...

i have now arrived in Bogota, the capital of Columbia- its amazing. After slowly (and embarassingly) negoiating my way through customs, airport security and finding a hostel with some room room i went out to explore. i spent my first night dancing into the wee small hours with a guy from the hostel and loads of locals in a salsa bar. We seemed to be the only 'gringos' and as such were something of a novelty, i didn't stop dancing or talking all night long!! the following morning, feeling somewhat worse for wear i only managed to watch the england match (which here began at 10am) and then go back to bed for several hours; don't worry, and by the evening however i was feeling alot more like going out and so there was a repeat of the previous night, a little tamer however. Bogota seems alot more like a european city, there are clean tree lined streets, which are blocked from traffic om sundays so the population can cycle through the streets; there are far fewer beggars than anywhere else i've been; the people are incredibly friendly not to mention tall and beautiful!; the city has many pretty buildings and large plazas where people just seem to hang out.
today i have been to perhaps my strangest place yet. i visited a cathedral 30km north of the city, not so strange yet but...................it was entirely carved from salt.....................and 150m underground inside a mine!! despite being a bit of an odd location it was totally beautiful and really peaceful. We had a brilliant guide who explained everything very interestingly and there were no other travellers there just a school trip so we virtually had the place to our selves! i've put my photos on here- i know they are dark, i was having a brain storm whilst using my camera but you get the idea- i know, i'm a spaz. and yes i did lick the wall just to make sure it was actually salty- it was, very.