Making saddles in a foreign country is no easy thing. Just buying supplies by itself is an adventure. I booard a bus for the big city Bogota. It's a two hour ride. Once I get off the bus I walk three blocks to the transmileno station, which is a cross between a bus and a train. It's three buses conected like a train
Here you're packed like sardines. My stop is the last stop about 45 minutes. Here I get off at bicentenario park in the heart of central. Central is like the old downtown. This part of bogota is like San Francisco full off bums, drug addicts and thieves. Walking around here you need to be aware of your surroundings.
It's a about 15 blocks to the wholesaler that sells all the saddle hardware. Once I buy everything I need I grab a taxi and head tto resstrepo, another part of the city where I buy my leather. It takes 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic. In restrepo I buy my leather, glue, dye, etc.
Restrepo is like ten blocks of leather and leather supplies, the selection of chromed leather is better and cheaper than the states. Veg tan not that big of selection and quality not as good as the states, but cheaper a lot cheaper. A hide that cost me $200 in the states probably cost me $30 bucks here.
After I finish my buying I grab a taxi and head for the bus station. From the station it's a 2 hour ride back to the shop. The bus leaves me about 5 blocks from the shop where I then lug everything to the shop. I have to do this once or twice a month depending on my production
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