Arriving mid morning in the huge city (10.5 million population) of Bogota, Colombia, we were met by a friend of our home exchange partner who delivered us to the apartment. An upscale neighbourhood, the embassy section of town with obvious wealth... for example a Maserati dealership along the street.
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| A sense of space.... bigger than a hotel room! |
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| Rolling in the big bucks, 80,000 Pesos (equivalent $42 NZD) |
We spent the first day doing said laundry and exploring the area. A large, very westernised shopping mall with top end stores.... Caro debated a Gucci bag but couldn't find the matching shoes... and the whole area packed with appealing restaurants.
First impressions... wow!
To the market we shall go...
We walked (1 hour) to the suburb of Usaquen, a nice area of old colonial buildings with lots of craft market stalls. Apart from a rain shower, and being repeatedly approached by umbrella salesmen (with reducing prices as the sky cleared!), this was a great way to fill in the afternoon.
Immediately we have noticed how friendly and approachable most of the locals are.... A couple of different occasions when English speaking Bogotarian's heard us struggling with the language they stepped in to assist.
For our evening meal we hit the town and selected a pizza restaurant.. the laughing waitress immediately swapping the menu for an English one as soon as we said Buenos Tardes.... We get the words out but the Kiwi accent blows it. Although few of the locals in this area, and we discovered Colombia in general, speak English they good natureably join in the pointing and gestulating we do to portray our desperate pleas!
Get on ya bike...
Our first taxi expedition armed with our various written notes to show drivers on where we wanted to go, and our homeward address ,we set off with a bit of trepidation. Various stories/reports exist of Colombian taxi drivers. The small, mainly Hyundai, taxis are everywhere amongst the highly congested traffic... (laws are in place for alternate days of allowed car use based on odd/even number plates but not sure if it helps..). and we just would flag down an empty one. Over some 6 trips the price evened out very well, although a couple tried to charge independent of the meter... one of which we bailed out of before he moved/locked doors. If you can pick a clean, newer, vehicle (similarly the driver... younger and tidy) it seemed to help.
We had researched and booked a space on a Bogòta Bike tour, and what a great choice it turned out to be. Although the bikes were showing the effects of much use the tour was very well run, a friendly and knowledgeable guide, and because of the large (18) group, 2 bike mechanics and a graffiti expert accompanied to marshall the group and stop traffic etc (to resultant honking at times).
Starting in the historic precinct, covering basic Colombian history (old and recent) the tour moved through the modern financial district (A minefield full of recent history including a Narcos TV series site) , the red light district (an eye full) and stopped at both a coffee factory and the large local fruit and veg market (a tummy full). We were given tastings of a huge range of fruits... many never seen before... and the opportunity of "real Colombian coffee".
Returning back to central city a sample of some of the impressive street art (more about that later) and a final stop to sample the national sport of Tejo... involving beer and throwing a heavy metal disc at gunpowder... the more beer the better the aim and explosions apparently.!!!
Ironically we had met an ex pat New Zealander beside the start point of the tour, and then saw him again as we finished the day. The ex Howick, Auckland, chap was all on for a yarn and cracking up at our phrases as he is obviously missing home a little... has an ex wife of Bolivian descent and a couple of sons, so although they had lived in NZ for a period he now owns his own cafe. Since he wasn't open he pointed us in the direction of a good local restaurant for dinner.
A night at the museum (well, a couple of hours in the afternoon)
A wet morning, we were told the temperatures are constant but the amount of rain is the variant. High altitude and surrounded by forest it is not surprising. We spent part of the morning catching up on a bit of forward planning then into the city centre once the rain cleared.
First up a visit to the Museo de Oro (The Gold Museum) which gave a very good insight into the evolution of precious metals but also a lot on the areas history pre Spanish domination. This proved to be relevant to us over the next day, especially the rituals and value placed on gold and it's manufacture in precious jewellery. An extremely well presented display and modern museum.
After a bite to eat it was a walk to the bottom terminal of a cable car which lifted us up to the summit of Montserrat, overlooking part of the huge city. A large Spanish Roman Catholic church is here, built over top of what was a sacred site to local indigenous people. This practice of the Spanish was to impose their domination and we have seen this historical action everywhere in South America. A rather sad part of world history really. But stunning views before heading down... and back to the apartment, TAXI !!!!
A day in the country
After debating a number of options, and sadly deciding we really couldn't justify a 2 day trip to a renowned village of Villa de Leyva which we really wanted to do, we headed out of the city for the day. Another friend of our home exchange partner is a travel agent/guide and had offered her services. Monica was very good, has just relocated back to Bogòta, and was keen to take us on what we think was a bit of a training run for her (but this in no way detracted from the trip).
First up a trip up and over the mountains neighbouring the city. A visually stunning area and surprisingly full of very flash houses. Explained to us that a lot of these are weekend retreats for wealthy Bogotarian's and are scattered throughout still quite traditional, and poor, rural communities in many cases. A country of contrasts.
First visit was to Guatavita Lagoon, a crater lake 60 km north east of Bogota, sacred to the indigenous Muisca people. This is the centre of what evolved as the legend of El Dorado (the Gold man or after that the lost city of gold).
Whenever a new king was inaugurated (a fascinating story in itself of the selection to ensure correct bloodlines... not the son of the deceased king, but his nephew by a sister, to ensure no playing around had occurred that risked a non direct descendent🙄) a ceremony occurred on the lake.
The new king was taken onto the lake adorned in gold jewellery, gold headpiece, gold body shields and covered in gold flake. He then submerged in the lake to arise free of all the gold i.e. it had been removed to fall into the lake as an offering.
Successive generations of this occurred, then the Spanish invaders heard and obviously wanted the gold (hence the Dorado legend)...
The lagoon was then attempted to be drained... A huge undertaking but appeared to partially work. The cutting is obvious and deep. Estimates are the lagoon was lowered some 10 metres. The Gold in the Museum of Gold in Bogòta includes some of the salvaged pieces, although it is thought the 37000 pieces in the Museum are only some 10% of what would have been looted by the Spanish!
The lagoon site is still very much sacred to the local tribal descendants. We were fortunate to have a Muisca guide, translated by our guide, who gave great information.
A lunch stop ensured, traditional Colombian fare called Bandela Palsa but not completely to our liking... not great fans of blood sausage. Our lunch restaurant was opposite a large theme park type complex Parque Jaime Duque, looking similar to a cross between a huge mosque and a Moscow replica. A legacy of one of Colombias early aviation leader's.
The afternoon visit was to the mining town of Zipaquira and the Salt Cathedral, Catedeal de Salt de Zipaquira. Carved into the now disused section of a huge underground salt mine it was quite incredible. After passing the stations of the cross on the 200m descent you emerge in the huge underground space. Acoustics are quite stunning, it is regularly used for services, weddings etc... although we were left unsure as to how the bride would toddle down on high heels.
One of the most tourist and religious sites in Colombia, the history is long. Salt mining has been happening in the area for centuries. Around 1932 the miners carved a salt sanctuary in the mine so they could worship and ask for protection daily. During the 1950's a new area was created but was subsequently closed for safety reasons in the early 90's, but then reopened in 1995 after extensive renovation and extension. The underground cathedral has 3 naves; birth, death and creation. A dome roof has also been carved on one section.
Although we are not religious types it was still a stunning space, and simply amazing.
There's no such thing as a free lunch
Our final full day involved a double whammy of free walking tours. Heading into the historic centre of Bogòta first up was simply called Bogota tour ... one of 3 options offered by the company. Hugely popular it is apparent this form of tourism is growing in popularity. This is the 3rd one we have done in South America and they are in many major cities of the world. A tip at the end is strongly suggested, we have been happy to do so as they are great, for the enthusiastic guides.
Covering a compact portion of the inner city this tour covered history, both from pre Spanish, through the turbulent Escobar years including terrorist uprisings, up to current and explained how this has influenced the country/culture. Architecture, street art, street trading (including the emerald black market), art museum (Botero collection) and recommendations for dining, along with a free local drink sample were included/shown to us.
After that tour finished we had just enough time to get to the start point for our afternoon free tour with a different company, this time a Bogòta Graffiti Tour. We had been impressed by the large, and various, amount of street art seen on our other tours so this was an opportunity to find out more. The group was very large....100 people turned up so they split it into 2. Pretty sure quite a few don't give anything at the end but still a good earner for companies.
Our knowledgeable guide, between an admirable job of shepherding the group across traffic and around hazards, gave a fantastic commentary. The history of street art, the various artists, the meaning behind the pieces and the current move by the city to remove much of it.
As quite a bit is in the historic area the city hopes to paint over it (for obvious reasons of restoring the colonial buildings) but at this stage the freshly cleaned, prepared and smoothly painted surfaces are just attracting taggers!... which the street art people suggest will eventually be painted over by street art again, as it is preferable to tags.
An interesting, and sad, part of the more recent surge an acceptance of the art revolves around police brutality. A young artist was shot dead a few years ago when caught doing art work. Very shortly after Justin Bieber had a concert in Bogòta and on his way back to the airport asked if he could paint some art on a wall. This was allowed under police protection, with the police chief justifying it as freedom of expression. Obviously this resulted in a huge backlash against the city, and a more open acceptance.
Our final evening meal was a lovely meal just near our apartment. A really funky, obviously hugely popular, and fun place. It had been recommended to us twice so pleased we went (We were lucky to get a table).
Adios con buenas impresiones
Another early start, about the last one for trip hopefully, up at 4.45 for our 5.20am pickup. A jovial farewell from the non English speaking security guard at the apartment block and we were off...
Colombia has been fantastic. A huge history of turmoil but currently tourism is growing rapidly, if they can keep everything stable then there is huge gains to be made. The small area we have seen is stunning, and most people very friendly and welcoming, even if few are multi lingual.
The political scene is far from stable by reports, a new president is about to be inaugurated however many suggest he is just a puppet of the current president... who has some unpopular motives. Alongside that a couple of our guides reported that in rural areas terrorists, often linked to the government, control local thinking.... some 100+ local politicians/community leaders mysteriously dying this year alone!?
All the guides stated, correctly, that they knew all the tourists present had been asked "you are going where?!!!" when people found out their travel plans included Colombia. They acknowledged the reasons, including a certain Pablo Escobar and drug cartels, but asked everyone to look beyond that. One suggesting that everyone should stop watching the Netflix series "Narcos" as it is not helping the image.
Our impression is the country has a lot to offer, and once again we only saw a tiny portion. Many historical towns exist, the coast sounds stunning and the Amazon regions worthy of exploring.
And trip continues well, with no wrong turns into the wrong street....
