Bucaramanga

To reach Bucaramanga from Güicán I took a bus via Tunja along a beautiful mountain pass:

and on to San Gil, along along the edge of the Chicamocha canyon:

then down from 9,000 to 3,400 feet - a noticeable rise in temperature - to some random stopping point about 11 km from the hostel.  Thanks a lot, Mr. bus driver.  But help was at hand: a guy on a motorcycle offered to drive me and my backpack for about $2.50.  Wheee!  Through the crowded downtown streets of Bucaramanga (which has its own Botero sculpture)

... on to and to my hostel.  

Bucaramanga is not a tourist town, but it did have two things that interested me: steaks and football.

After a nap, I took a taxi to Mercagán, supposedly the best steak restaurant in Colombia.  there are four locations, and the meat comes from their own farms.  I chose limo fino, en bloque, poco hecho.  The  place is huge, the menu unending, the customers loud, the streets are full, there is electricity is in the air.  This is a busy city! And the steak is the best I’ve ever had (not counting Ted’s and Daniel’s, of course).  And huge - thank goodness I ordered the “smallest” size. 

OK, it is football time!  (Why do you think I came to Bucaramanga, anyway?) First, I of course, I had to have my picture taken with several of the local beauties.

Then I had to go through several checkpoints

Past the police on horseback

And into the stands:

I was happy to see that Colombian football fans practiced The Wave, just like fans elsewhere:

In the first match one team was wearing yellow, like almost all the fans in the stands - but I couldn’t figure out how both teams got roughly the same amount of crowd support - until I noticed it was Brazil vs. Uruguay (final score 1-1).  I never did figure out which team was which.

The second match: Colombia vs. Argentina.  A noticeable increase in crowd excitement, to say the least.  But first, the watering of the playing field, I kid you not:

They are showing people shots on the big screen, mostly good looking women or kissing couples.  For this match, the stands are pretty much completely full.