Bogota 2/3 - 2/6

Bogota was our first stop in Colombia, as well as the first place where we did not come by ourselves.  Irin and Andrey joined us.

We took a cab to our hostel only to realize that the hostel had 2 locations, and we were to be staying at the other one.  Luckily though it was just a couple of blocks away. An English-speaking girl came from the other location to lead us there.  She led us down the street which was full of young people; she explained that a university was nearby, and that every Friday night this neighborhood comes to life.  The neighborhood, as we later noted, was also home to multiple hostels.

After settling in we decided to check out what food options are there around us.  I forgot my camera in the room, and when I went back to get it the lady at the front desk advised me against it.  She spoke Spanish, but from what I gathered her advise was not to take the camera when it was dark.  The neighborhood did not look all that shady, but just in case I complied.

First thing we noted was the multitude of police officers.  Practically every corner had one or two policemen.  The entrance to the bank was guarded by an armed man with a mean looking dog.  On one hand that could mean that the "bad" people were all around us, on the other that we were safe with such police presence.  

The next morning we set out to see Monserrate, a mountain nearby with some history, a funicular running up there, and great views of the city.  On the way we noticed a lot of awesome graffity; in fact we even learned that there was a tour of Bogota's graffity offered by our hostel, which unfortunately we missed.

To make sure we were walking in the right direction we consulted (on two occasions) with two policemen, and both told us to watch our cameras and bags.

We assended Monserrate by funicular, but only bought a one way ticket.  We wanted to come down using the staircase, that boasted around 1500 steps.  Monserrate turned out to be high enough for both Julie and I feel a bit light-headed, but the view was indeed nice.

There was a church, and a small market on top, as well as the little climb with monuments depicting scenes from Jesus's last day.  We spent about half an hour exploring the mountain top, and headed down.

In the evening we took a cab to a fancy neighborhood of Bogota (I can't remember the name.) It turned out to be something similar to Santana Row - full with expensive shops, restaurants, and bars.  We walked around, had dinner, then stopped by a noisy pub for some beer and dancing. It took the inspiration of our friends to get us out at night and dancing!

The next day we walked some more around town visiting the local flee market, the museum of gold, and the street that was turned to a walking/bicycling street for the day. What impressed me is that a lot of streets in Bogota become walking/ bicycling on Sundays. This is to promote healthy lifestyle and to improve the air quality. We heard that some 3 million people get on a bike every Sunday!

The next day we were off to Villa de Leyva, a place we did not plan on visiting initially, but that came highly recommended.

2012.02.03 Bogota