Blitzing Bogota

April 13, 2009

I was finally in Bogota! My friend Angelica Yee, the cousin of Lorena Cuervo (a Colombian girl I know from London) was very kind to have me stay over at her place with her family.

I was shown my very own room with a double bed and a TV!!! What luxury! Feeling exhausted and not very well after my long 46 hour bus joruney, I decided to take it easy my first night. The plan was to go with Angelica and her family to their holiday home in the town of Girardot in 2 days so I got an early night in and prepared to blitz Bogota the next day.

Angelica pulling some weird pose on the stairs

I woke up early and took a taxi to Andrea Cuervo´s place. She is Lorena´s sister and I had been invited for breakfast there to start my day. After a delicious meal consisting of the local Arepa corn bread and eggs, Andrea and I moved into the Bogota shopping district where I purchased a SIM card for my phone and a new pair of shoes at the local Arturo Calle store.

As I had very little time and lots to see, I moved off by myself to start at the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold). I was really impressed by this museum. It had been recently redecorated and it provided great insight into the process and development of metallurgy through the ages. The descriptions on the exhibits (in both Spanish and English) were accurate and concise. There are some excellent examples of Incan and Mayan culture. I spent a good few hours there as the content is quite absorbing... all that gold definitely went to my head!

Museo del Oro (Gold museum)

The exhibitions were very slick

A gold bat

From there I walked around and grabbed some lunch including a slice of fresh pineapple from a street vendor (yum!). Next was the Museo 20 de Julio. This museum had some great exhibits of Colombia during the Spanish occupation and a lot of information around the development of the culture that is present today. My only issue with the place was that everything was in Spanish! This meant I didn´t quite capture everything but it was still a good experience.

Museo 20 de Julio

I chilled in the main Plaza Bolivar and popped into the cathedral that faces onto it. By now it was getting late so I waited for Angelica to finish work so I could return to the apartment. As I waited I began to notice the amount of stares I attracted. I didn´t feel particularly comfortable with this and it seemed that every weird hobo in the city would single me out and come ask for money. Thankfully I didn´t have to wait too long and we went back to Angelica´s place where I met her boyfriend Javier.

Plaza Bolivar

We decided to go out for dinner at La Caldera which is a traditional Colombian area for dining. It is situated halfway up the mountain and we got great views over the city. There is a band playing latino covers and they were excellent. I was introduced to the local fare of Picada which is a platter of small bits of beef, sausage, chicken and seafood. We washed it down with the local favourite Aguadiente which is a sort of Anise flavoured liquor that you drink in small shots. It is fairly strong so after 2 bottles there was much merriment!