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A visit to Columbia was not part of our original travel plans so we were naturally excited (Chrissy: I´d say apprehensive) to be boarding a plane headed to Bogota! There is an obvious negative stereotype associated with Columbia due to the heavy flow of cocaine and the ruthless history of internal conflict, but we met so many travelers who claimed that Columbia was their favorite South American country... so we had to find out for ourselves. We had no idea what to expect and nothing to compare it to other than the 1980's movie, "Romancing the Stone". 😊 We knew that if things got too crazy we could always go down to Miguel Cabellero´s specialized accessories store in Bogota where he makes custom bullet proof clothing, knife proof shirts, and mine resistant boots among other things. 😊
As we boarded the plane we immediately recognized bits and pieces of Spanish being spoken, but having spent the past 5 weeks trying to understand and speak Portuguese in Brazil, it would take us some time to get back into proper ¨caveman¨ Spanish. We enjoyed a nice flight over South Eastern Columbia, occasionally spotting a lone and twisting road on the jungle floor
below. Once on the ground and through customs we immediately went to the nearby FedEx terminal to ship out gifts and photo DVDs. It literally took only 1.5 days for our package to reach Fairview, West Virginia, USA. Crazy huh? FedEx rocks.
Bogota (pop. 7.5 million) rests high in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of 8,355 feet so even though it practically sits on the equator, its average temperature ranges from only 65°F during the day to 40 °F at night year-round. We hailed a taxi from the airport to the Platypus Hostel which is located in the La Candelaria district near the city´s historic center. We quickly changed into warmer clothes and enjoyed some of the hostels free Colombian coffee. I spotted a large hardbound book, Columbia: Between the Lines by Jason P. Howe, on a nearby table and inside found very graphic black and white photos accompanied by the authors account of his experiences over the past five years on the front lines of the FARC and Paramilitary's ongoing conflict in the Colombian countryside. The author is a backpacker, turned photojournalist and his book contained raw coverage of the lawlessness in the outlying Colombian states and
told stories of families, rebels, and refugees stuck in the center of the struggle between the two parties with no way out. The book is currently being developed into a movie.
The following day Chrissy and I, a handful of Swiss, Germans & Dutch went in search of a massive church built underground, deep inside an active salt mine. It is known as the Catedral del Sal (aka Zipaquira Salt Cathedral) and is located outside of Bogota in the village of Zipaquira, Province Cundinamarca, Columbia. We took a series of local buses and a couple hours later found ourselves at the entrance of a timber supported mining tunnel. The mine is made up of 3 different levels linking multiple tunnels that carry you down thru 14 different chapels with altars all carved out of the salt mountain. Eventually the tunnel opens up to the actual cathedral, a massive structure 246ft long and 59ft high supported by enormous 30ft diameter carved salt columns. The cathedral is located over 300 feet underground and can accommodate 8,400 people! The cathedral contains the biggest cross in South America (need to google that), and carved out of salt. It measures 52.49ft (16m) high and
32.8ft (10m) across! Per Lonely Planet, the description of "hauntingly beautiful underground salt cathedral" was exact. There are still 500yrs worth of salt! (FYI WV coal miners). Also interesting was that Loreal Paris had a Fashion Show there and some of the first Zorro Movie was filmed there too.
We spent much of the next day in the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) which was an impressive collection of 34,000 pieces of gold and jewelry from Pre-Columbian cultures. One explorer in 1623 said "No indian or woman was without... jewels, ear rings, necklaces, crowns, rings for the lower lip..., fine, well-cut gems, strings of beads. All the girls had four or six gold jewels around their neck...".Many of the display rooms were actually giant vaults and armed guards could be found patrolling the exhibits throughout the 4-story building. It wasn´t until Chrissy and I were about to leave that we saw a series of bullet holes in a first floor window! ha! The museum showed videos, had interactive media, and provided instruction as to how the different styles of gold work was made. Some of my favorite pieces were of ancient tribal gods which were detailed very decoratively and
always combined human and jungle animal characteristics. Many of these pieces are priceless!
During our last day in Bogota we walked around La Candelaria´s 470 year old historic center which is surrounded by the Palacio de Justicia, French Style Alcaldia, Capitolio Nacional, and the Neoclassical Catedral Primade which is one of Bogota´s largest and most beautiful churches. Palacio de Justicia replaces the original building taken by M-19 guerrillas November 1995 where over more than 100 people died, including 11 supreme court justices. Crazy that this happened only 14yrs ago. Later that afternoon we enjoyed a really good pizza. I´m big fan of trying the local fare, including the street meat, but we saw a vendor selling slices of stuffed pigs head which was sitting out in the afternoon sun. It was a little to much even for me! ha
The last two evenings we broke out the ku-handle cards at the hostel and played with a Dutch couple and a couple from New Zealand...and Chrissy and I lost...again! haha
In our opinion Columbia will not stay off the beaten path for long. Signs of construction were everywhere. Roads being widened, high rises and cranes visible in the
horizon. It is a country rich in culture that borders both the Pacific and Carribbean seas, but while in the Capital City signs of the not so distance past were always present. We were often harassed by street people dining from the garbage bins, both day and night. There were personal accounts from other backpackers of street muggings where the machine gun armed police literally turned their heads. However, these occurrences are fewer and fewer and only remain as a sign of how far Columbia has come and a testimony to the strength of its people.
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Sarah
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Hola, seniorita bonita!
Be careful in Columbia, no pulp fiction moments....only kidding! The Salt chapel is beautiful!!!