Day 6- Not my best day (14/7/25)

 

I am actually writing this entry on day 7, The reason for this being twofold: firstly, by the time I got to the hotel in Pereira, it was early evening, and the room was very small. I didn’t fancy sitting on the bed to type; secondly, I was feeling very ill indeed. As this entry goes on, the details will become clear.

I woke for my last day in Villa de Leyva before the alarm went off. I had fallen asleep whilst watching a thunderstorm up in the mountains, that I could see from my bed. It was quite a display. To accompany the storm, there were many fireworks coming from the festival. There had obviously been some rain overnight, but it was now warm and still. A perfect morning.
I declined breakfast as I didn’t want to travel with a full stomach. Instead, I had my last coffee whilst waiting for the Uber to arrive. As it turns out, the Uber didn’t arrive, so I walked down to the bus station instead. I had a feeling that this might happen, with it being a small town, so I had built in enough time just in case.

I boarded the bus only to find that I was sitting next to a woman who I had spoken a few words with at the bus station at Bogota, on the way down. We had a nice chat for the first part of the journey then we both just started dozing. Her name was Brenda. I asked if that was a common name in Colombia and she told me that it was not, but her mother was German. She was telling me that I should visit her home town of Barranquilla whilst I was here.  She also told me a lot about the history of the city. I also pointed out to her that this was the birthplace of Shakira and Sofia Vergara. She seemed impressed that I knew that and also proud of the fact.

Towards the end of the journey, I started to develop a migraine and was beginning to feel a little nauseous. The bus had been hot, so I put it down to this. Also, I had only drunk a small bottle of water, so I thought that I would get to the airport as soon as possible, so that I could get some food and drink. I took an Uber for the 15 minute journey to the airport.

At El Dorado Airport, I was really starting to feel rough. I had some grilled chicken and chips in a restaurant, with a small beer. Then I went and sat in a bar that overlooked the runway and had another beer.

The plane was hot, very hot. The woman next to me was clearly struggling with the heat too. I could feel my head pounding and by now was getting abdominal pains and feeling really nauseous. About midway through the 30 minute flight, I was sweating and really thought that I would be sick! I asked the steward for a bag just in case. At one point, my eyesight was going very strange and I thought I would pass out. Thankfully, by the time we landed, I felt a little better. My blood pressure must have been very low.

As we came into land, I could instantly see how different the landscape was; it was more tropical. Palm trees, and broad leaved plants (I think they were either Banana or Plantain) were everywhere. Still there were mountains everywhere, but these were greener and heavily forested.

I took an airport taxi rather than ordering another Uber. I just wanted to get to the Hotel to lay down. The hotel was in a part of town that did not look that inviting. So, it was a good thing that I was not feeling up to going out. I got an early night. I watched the TV for a while, then slept.

I woke up after a few hours feeling sick again. I went to the toilet and vomited; the first time that I have vomited for over 10 years (I had been quite proud of that statistic).

Added to this was the stress that Lara had messaged to say that she had been in A&E because she had started bleeding. She had been seen by the Gynaecologist who had said that all looked well, but she would have to come back for a scan tomorrow, as there is not an ultrasound scan in the department. I laid in bed thinking about coming home, should the worst happen. I messaged Zoe and, as always, she talked some sense into me.