Colombians Are Nice & Happy (But Some Bite)

The 70-year-old German who invited himself to sit with me at a orange-and-green restaurant near my guesthouse had bite marks on his finger, his arm and -- he indicated with a point -- his lower leg.

Bogota doesn't always have the best reputation for being a safe place. A couple years ago when I was here, a Juan Carlos (I met more than one) stopped a conversation mid-sentence in a central business office when a loud boom could be heard. 'Oh, you're lucky. It's a bomb!,' he said excitedly. Then after a moment, 'Oh, it was just a blown tire.' Outside a car driver stood by his stranded vehicle, hands on hips.

The German is travelling for half a year around South America, which I managed to understand despite his not being able to understand any English ('how are you?' 'I'm 70!' 'uh, no how are you? are you doing OK?' 'yes, I am 70'). Yesterday, his first day in Bogota, he went on a hike to a nearby mountain through one of the sketchiest areas of the city, and one everyone tells you to avoid. But the German went anyway and when two guys '50 years younger' than him approached he fought them off, and then they BIT him. Eventually he let go of 80 euro and a camera. On the way back, he got robbed again.

This is not the sort of experience I've had so far in this city of the world's third-happiest country. Sticking with busier areas with better reputations, Bogota to me has been a place that when you ender a grocery, museum or cafe, you're pretty much expected to give a smiling 'buenas dias' to whomever you see. People have been patient with my stumbling Spanish, laughing and urging me to continue. I met someone the other day who, when I mentioned I was interested in tejo (a traditional game involving throwing weights at gunpowder in warehouses with free entrance as long as you buy a 'box of beer' and use the urinal with a full view of the games), he immediately drove me -- past the red-light district, where locals and skimpily-clad woman exchanged words on street corners -- to a tejo place where a dignified group of gray hairs in suits stumbled out and warmly shook my hand. 'Ah, you like tejo too?'

It seems Bogota, like all places, is a little bit of everything.

Sofia Likes to Dance

Bulgaria's famed for its yoghurt, its ski slopes, its beaches and its lovely little head bob which you never know means 'yes,' 'no,' 'as you wish,' 'I'm glad you're happy' or 'kindly leave my sight.'

On my last night recently, some Sofia friends Assen and Ira took me to a classic: a traditional restaurant outside the centre lined with portraits of 47 Bulgarian heroes and 11 flags. A traditional band -- guy with big drum, a clarinet, an accordion and a guy with a Strat -- played as the tables emptied and a long line of locals danced in a frenzy around the small area between tables.

Enjoy.

Veteran Tours in Vietnam

NEW TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Vietnam's peak season is nearly here. One new fun hurdle to consider is that Vietnam has gone and added a digit to its telephone numbers across much of the country! I've not been able to correct the numbers on the site because I don't know what they are yet -- for instance, in Hanoi and Saigon, the seven-digit numbers remain the same, but are preface with a new digit based on their local telephone provider. Not something I thought much about asking when going around Vietnam to research this guide... I hope to have corrections made by late November. Sorry for the inconvenience.



'VIETNAM WAR' SITES
I've been getting a fair share of questions about 'veteran tours' in Vietnam, and I'd love to hear from anyone who has gone on such trips to Vietnam. There are some tour groups that specialize in this, but it's possible to revisit several sites in Vietnam on your own.

Here are a few things to consider:

* The most famous 'Vietnam war' site is at the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of re-made, claustrophobic tunnels north of Saigon. It's easily visited on a half-day trip from Saigon.

* Tunnel fans can also see another tunnel network that seems -- in my estimation -- even a bit more interesting, north of Hue, at the Vinh Moc Tunnels. It's only a part of the DMZ tours offered from Hue. Most travelers go on bus tours but I found hopping on the back of a bike of a South Vietnamese vet was far more educational and got me to places the bus tours don't reach. See here for info on how to do that.

* One of the war's more infamous sites is at My Lai, where there's a somber memorial dedicated to the locals killed there in 1968. You can go on a DIY day trip -- with a little effort -- from Hoi An, or stay in nearby, way off-the-radar Quang Ngai and venture out by taxi or rented motorcycle.

* In the Mekong Delta, Toc Dup Hill is also called the 'US$2 million hill' for the money spent to try to claim the rocky, cave-filled mountain you can explore on your own.

* Such sites aren't limited to the south. In Hanoi, you can see the lake where John McCain crashed into and drop by the exhibits where he stayed at the 'Hanoi Hilton.' And on Cat Ba Island, off Halong Bay, you can hear a 'Ho Chi Minh' song sung by a sweet ex-north Vietnamese vet in a hospital cave. (The guy practically tackled me with hugs when we posed for a photo.)