Hi Gents
I am in Quito Ecuador visiting my wife for her birthday and used air miles to get the ticket. I could not get a direct flight to Quito on the days i could go, but could get a ticket to Bogota, so i decided to take that and then catch an Avianca flight the next day to Quito. It has been 3 years since i was last in Bogota and a lot has changed and the first thing that jumps out at me is how frigen expensive Bogota has become. I am not talking about the exchange rate with the dollar, i am talking about the costs in pesos. Man, went to Carulla to get some things and did a sweep through the place and to tell you the truth, things are as expensive as in the grocery stores here in the US. Taxis, well they must have gone to take a class on NYC prices because 20mil is like a minimum to go anywhere. an apartment in a strata 4 barrio of 58Meters is going for about 90K US , and the costs go up from there. For those of you that do not know meters, 58M is really small.A decent hotel is 100 bucks and if you want a sheraton, Intercontinental type, expect to pay 200-300 a night US Dollars. On the plus side the city is very nice, well organized and I must say the women looked incredible. I went into the Zona Rosa and for my tastes, they looked better then any I have seen in Colombia, very elegant and that is the look i like.Went to a dance club to check things out and it is most def. Colombia, I felt like a Rock Star with all the women coming on to me to dance , ect, but I showed them my wedding band and they were cool with that, but still wanted to dance. All in all, my 24 hour layover was a very nice experience and if i were not married i think Bogota is a great bet to meet some really elegant, professional and beautiful women, but a bit expensive compared to what i am used to. Left for Quito yesterday afternoon and Avianca messed up my reservation, so for the inconvience, they put me in first class and that was a nice one hour flight to Quito with all the perks. I like Avianca more now then ever.
KB