The Big Smoke!

---

Bogota is one big city! Set strangely at 2600m it was much colder than we had expected. Our hostel was a bit of an ice-box which meant most free time was spent in the bed trying to stay warm! Our two days in Bogota were very relaxed, being a Sunday and then a holiday on the Monday we probably didn´t see it at full speed. We stayed in the historic area of La Candaleria and went for a bit of a walk, looking at all the shops, plenty of fast food (rapido comida), took in a view from a very tall building. On one side mountains and the other 180 degrees was buildings as far as the eye could see! There were plenty of street performers and a crazy Guinea pig game in the square. Plaza Bolivar was nice and on Sundays and holidays the main road is closed to allow cyclists and walkers which makes for a nice wander. There was some bullfighting on, but Deb was against it and I couldn´t change her mind. The Gold musuem was quite impressive, with plenty of gold on display from all parts of Colombia. Bogota seemed to be full of museums but being a bit museumed out we only took in the Gold Museum and another Botero museum which we just can´t get enough of.
The Monday we caught the impressive Transmileno buse (I think Bogota just released the worlds longest bus) up to the Zona Rosa. One of the main nightlife areas and shopping. Now this part of Bogota was very modern and the people looked very smart or try to look smart (think Kings Road in London), things here were as expensive if not more expensive than in Londo, being a holiday it was very relaxed and calm. On leaving Bogota I feel that although we didn´t have the greatest time there, it isn´t somewhere I would rule out. It has all the amentities of a big city and given time I´m sure you´d find what you´re looking for here.

---