' (un)certainties: March 2014

Monday 31 March 2014

Shattered: Hitchhiking from Ecuador to Bogota

 We are shattered. Exhausted, often finding ourselves apologising because we're too tired to speak Spanish or sometimes even English.

We arrived in Bogota nigh on two weeks ago, as highly illegal cargo hiding on the open-air bed of another giant Kenworth truck. Due to fairly strict regulations, hitchhiking is fairly difficult in Colombia. I needn't highlight what these regulations are because in practice they don't matter. Not even the law will stop Colombians from helping people. People from all walks of life have broken the law to help us here: professors, farmers, eldery gentlemen, police officers, musicians and truck drivers alike. The road was tough, with a lot of waiting and a lot of doubt. We even discussed the possibility of catching a bus at one point (funded by my dad, who was in Bogota and was willing to transfer ticket money). Sat under the eaves of a petrol station watching the rain pour down after that offer, we came pretty close to giving in. But that is not what this trip is about, and in the end we decided to get back out there. Immediately we were rewarded with a huge bunch of bananas from a driver who didn't have space for us but wanted to help.