It was an early start the next morning and before we knew it, we were in our hotel in Bogota. The Arche Noah Boutique Hostel in the funky La Candelaria zone of the city. This was in the old part of the city which had incredible colours and graffiti everywhere. Our original room (the family room) did not have a private bathroom. It’s a function of age that you need your own toilet in the room. Anyway after some negotiations we landed a room with a toilet and an external window. Amazing what we now regard as luxury. We went for a stroll to admire the incredible graffiti that fills the place. Quite amazing. A lot of them are done by famous artists. Importantly we also found the party street which we parked for later.
We headed back to the party street after a kip. We got offered some hash ice cream which we declined. The drug scene here is interesting. It is legal to possess 1gm of cocaine and 5g of pot, however it is illegal to buy or sell. So what happens is someone will sell you a beer that comes with the substance as a gift. The beer costs more than it normally would. We then headed home for some cards, I got myself a bottle of Columbian rum called Ron Viejo de Caldas – not bad and Deryn had a vino. We got a bit enthused so headed out around 9 to party street and a few more Vodka & soda’s before getting home around midnight.
We had the Bogota Bike Tour booked for 10.15am so we could have a leisurely start which was just was well. It turned out it was a public holiday, so a perfect day for a bike tour as the city closes a whole lot of roads to cars on public holidays. It was raining for the start of our tour but as Bogota has a highland climate most days get some rain so we went with it. We headed to Bolívar Plaza first and then into Santa Fe, Bogota’s red light district. I tell you what, at 11am on a Monday morning it is a very sad place. Looked destitute. We then arrived at a local coffee shop that produces some of Bogota’s finest coffee. We got shown around the shop before we got to try the coffee. Perfect – especially after the previous nights shenanigans. It was then a decent ride – stopping to look at some of the amazing graffiti- before we arrived at a local cafe to play Tejo – the national game of Columbia. You basically lob a 1kg bit of round granite at a circle of little white triangles surrounded by clay and headboard. The idea is to hit the triangles or land in the middle of them. It was fun. Our guide was trying really hard to hit a triangle but did not manage it. I did, as did another guy and girl. Just saying. I obviously did not hit it properly as he showed afterwards what happens. It contains gunpowder and hence makes a bit of noise. I reacted more violently than everyone else to the noise. We arrived back at the shop at nearly 3.30 – much longer than the apparent 4 hours. It was a really good day and something we could really recommend. We are going to try hard to do bike tours when we are in a larger city – if not, then a walking tour. We have enjoyed every one that we have been on.
The next morning we set off on a planned tour of a few museums. We started with the highly rated Gold Museum – a historical guide on how the previous metal, as well as copper and silver, as been an integral part of Columbian history. To be honest it was a bit over-powering. After an hour of looking at some quite incredible artifacts, fatigue set in so we headed off to find the Art Museum which had a interesting exhibition on show. Unfortunately it was closed. No idea why. We did pass the Santuario Nuestra Señora del Carmen (a church) on the way to the museum so popped in for a look. The colours were incredible.
Given we now had some time up our sleeve we decided to head up Mount Monserrate gondola. It was a nice walk there through the university zone of Bogota. It was a 45 minutes wait to get on 1 of the 2 cabins operating – they pass each other mid mountain. The views on the way up were great – if you are quick or lucky enough to be near the front getting into the cabin. Up top was nice but then having to wait another 45 minutes to get back down again sort of took the fun out of it all. We ended up staying on the same side on the way down so go the same view! All in all we could have given this a miss.
We headed back to our hostel for some r&r before around 4 heading to the party zone once again to get revved up for a big night. We headed back to the hostel for some cards and booze but didn’t really get the chance to play cards as we got talking with the owner Tim (a Brit who is trying to build an empire of hostels in Columbia – walked out of a corporate job in London 18 months earlier) and a lovely English girl called Maya who was starting her adventures. We were disciplined in making sure we were in bed by 11 because of our need to travel to Salento in the morning.
Our flight departed at 1pm so we were at the airport nice and early, not being sure on the traffic in Bogota as we had arrived on a Sunday. It was a 50 minute flight, followed by a 15 minutes cab ride with a slightly mad driver to the local bus stop to grab a bus to Salento. It was a bit crazy at the bus station but we managed to get 2 tickets and be one the bus with a couple of minutes to spare – otherwise it was an hour wait until the next one.
It was a beautiful drive to Salento though very green, mountainous terrain. It was a bit of a walk to our hotel – Hotel Salento Real Eve Cafetero. The hotel was lovely and Salento had a really nice vibe. We went for a walk along a lovely colourful Main Street – the streets in Columbia are numbered Calle one way and Carrera the other – makes for easy navigation). We then grabbed a meal of the local favourite – trucha (trout) in the main square. Delicious!
