A night at the circus.

So here I am, in Bogota, on a Friday night. What do I do?

I started off looking for a place to have dinner. I walked around the commercial area and couldn't find anything and so I headed over to the bull fight arena where I was sure there would be some restaurants. I found myself walking down a dark street and suddenly no one was around. I knew it was time to get out of there so I headed to where I heard some loud music. It was a bar, so I figured it sounded friendly enough and walked in.

A man greeted me at the door and offered me a beer which I gladly accepted. I walked into the bar to find that there was no one in it. The man who offered me the beer remained outside and it was a little weird. It was the kind of place I would expect to see a Colombian mobster hang out. This was way worse than the dark street so I drank my beer as fast as comfortable and left.

Learning from my mistake, I quickly headed to where I heard the most noise. I found myself on a crowded street which was closed to traffic. The first thing I came across was a volleyball/soccer match. Someone had put a tennis net across the street and people were playing volleyball without using their hands. It looked like anyone could join but I stayed on the sidelines as they were insanely competitive.

I found a pizza place on this street and had a beer and pizza while watching the festivities. The next stop I came to had some really good jugglers. These guys (and girl) had a ton of makeup on and were completely in the clown costume. They juggled knives while on unicycles and balancing glowing orbs on their heads. I was mesmerized by these guys for about 20 minutes. Now I know where Cirq du Solei originated from.

A few feet later I met a mime. This is the first person I have met in Colombia who actually speaks my language. He gave me a sticker and so I gave him a couple of coins.

The next thing I came across was a jump-rope competition. There was a rope for adults and a rope for kids. Anyone could jump in whenever a round started, then whoever messed up had to leave the rope and the rest remained. Some of these guys were really good!

I eventually started heading back and on my way back I met a guy with a leather jacket and a really cool mohawk. He said something in Spanish which I think had the word 'coca' in it. I said "no hable espanole" and he replied "wanna smoke something?". I said no thanks and walked on. I guess I should expect to be propositioned for stuff like that while in Colombia.

My last stop was when a guy with dreadlocks in a ponytail, a handlebar mustache, and oversized clownboots grabbed my arm and wanted to teach me how to ride a unicycle. I politely refused as I have no idea what he is saying.

It was a fun and cheap few hours. It would be great if I found more streets like that in Canada. Man, I'd be there everynight!