We survived our first flight with Viva Colombia – our 19th flight I think since we started the trip – where the rows of seats are so close together that I have to sit sideways to fit my legs in and the seats have to be the most uncomfortable in the entire world. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers and when you’re looking at around US $30-60 from A to B, you certainly can’t complain!
We had two nights in the La Candelaria district of central Bogotá and arrived at the hotel late at night, only to find that they had stuffed up our booking completely. After swapping with another hotel guest who arrived at the same time and also had his booking stuffed up, we didn’t have the energy to go out and look for food The area seemed seriously dodgy with lots of mad, mumbling homeless people staggering around and not a lot open, it being a Sunday night. My dinner was a packet of crisps and a Kit-kat. Jolly good for the budget, not so good for the love handles.
We had had so many warnings about Bogotá being a really dangerous city with lots of knife-point muggings in broad daylight, so we went out the next day armed with the insect spray in one hand and a machete in the other. Okay I’m lying about the machete.
The one thing we really wanted to achieve above all else in Bogota was to visit the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), reputedly “one of the best museums in the whole of South America”. Well guess what? We only had one full day in Bogotá – Monday – and discovered when we got there that the museum is closed on Mondays. Damn!
Instead we went up by Funicular railway to the Cerro de Monserrate, where you get the best views over the whole of Bogotá having been put off walking up due to (a) time and (b) Lonely Planet’s warning about doing it before 10am “because after that you won’t have the strength in numbers for personal safety” (due to so many muggings). Good grief! It was actually really nice up there and we chatted for ages to a German couple we had met at the hotel and then we wandered around the cobbled streets and colourful façades of La Candelaria.
There are lots of beautiful and different churches and historic buildings around the historic centre. Having puffed our way up to the top of the hill, a few blocks further than the normal tourist trail, we got to what looked like a perfectly normal busy main street and decided to carry on along it and maybe catch a taxi back to the hotel from there. Within seconds, two local women barred our way and warned us about continuing that way, made the cut-throat hand sign and told us it was far too dangerous for us to walk along that road (since we don’t exactly blend in). They then told us the safe route to get back to the hotel. It was one of those many moments when we were extremely glad that at least one of us speaks and understands Spanish. Although Bill (from the tour) and I did teach Steve one or two useful phrases in Spanish for use with someone in authority, such as customs officers or the police: “I don’t understand” = “Besa me culo”. It actually means “Kiss my ass”. Ah the fun you can have with a non linguist…
Anyway, after the warning we ended up walking back to the hotel from there the safe way, stopping for a pizza on the way. I think we walked at least 11 or 12 kms all up.
Considering we’re not fans of big cities, we actually did really enjoy our short stay in Bogotá and met some very friendly people. Plus we were lucky enough to get good weather and a hotel that was actually really well-positioned and safe – it just LOOKED like a really dodgy area late on a Sunday night.
So, next stop is VERY rural – we are flying to the town of Pereira in the tropical region of Colombia called the “Zona Cafetera” (Coffee Plantation zone) to the west of Bogotá and catching a bus to the little village of Salento on the edge of the Cocora National Park. Three nights of rural living is just what the doctor ordered – really looking forward to it.
2 Frosty Tops Do South America 