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Published: December 19th 2009
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La Candelaria
The streets in the old town So here I am in Bogota, an unbelievably huge city surrounded by mountains in the heart of Colombia. I am staying in the North at Nicholas' home with his mother and sister Carolina, who have made me feel very welcome and comfortable. Nic's mum has fed me loads of home made Colombian dishes and treats which has been amazing, although she cannot speak English and my Spanish is pretty poor so we mostly communicate with smiles.
The weather is good, really warm and clear but cooler at night, when the sun is out it feels so good to bask in the warmth and forget the shitty winter weather back home.
On my first day Carolina took me on the bus Downtown where the old part of the city is, Bogota is very congested and smoggy due to amount of cars and buses bombing around but I really enjoyed wandering through the chaos taking in all the sights, smells and sounds of the different neighbourhoods. There is a really festive feel everywhere, all the houses and shops have their Christmas decorations and lights up. It's quite odd to see all this here! Lots of fake snow and santas.
Carolina showed me the
Bogota from Monseratte
The view from the top of the mountain, you can see only half of the city. Universities, the town square and marketplace, then we headed to La Candelaria, the old town, which I absolutely loved. The colonial buildings are beautiful, brightly coloured and unique, they sprawl up towards the mountain in twists and turns, with small squares between them where old features and street art combine. There is a lot of political graffitti around too, mixed with stencil art and paintings on each wall you pass.
I did see a pretty disturbing sight at one point in the old town, I looked up at one of the houses on a corner and saw what looked like a decomposing body on top a sort of balcony near the roof. I pointed this out to Carolina and her friend who nodded and told me to take a picture but didn't tell me any more. I read that many criminals, political mostly, are killed and then their bodies publicly displayed to humiliate them.
Later I went on a walk with Nicholas around his local area and up to Usaquen, a once small town that has been swallowed up by the expanding city. Really nice here, there was a christmas market and the best living statues I have ever seen!
Went to the 'pub' for some beers, the Colombian beer is pretty good- served in bottles and is really cheap, about 70p 😊
Nic then took me to his friend's studio, a beautiful big house which has been converted into a 6 room practise studio for bands, with a small courtyard out front where we chilled having a beer and a doob. They call it the House of Rhythm. Met some really good people there, many of them Nic's old school friends, very friendly and interesting to talk to and all talented musicians with a passion for what they do.
The next day we went to Monseratte, a church which stands on top of the mountain by the city. The view from there was absolutely amazing, you could see for miles, one one side the beautiful green mountains and on the other the city. I couldn't believe just how huge the city is, it sprawls right to the horizon and beyond. The smog and noise from the traffic is bad too, there are 8 million people in Bogota apparently. Insane.
After descending the mountain in a cable car we went to Mambo, the museum of modern Colombian art then home
for lunch- Chicken and coconut rice with plantains and avocados. Really good food and very filling, I just stuff my face until I am ready to burst haha. I have tried lots of new fruits as well, my fave is a small orange berry type fruit which is slightly sour but really tasty.
That evening we chilled with a few of Nic's mates, he has been really great at introducing me to people and showing me his life here. All the Colombians I have met have been really warm, friendly, good people, very western in their attitudes and style but have a distinct 'latin' edge that is really nice.
On Thursday it was time to get out the city so we got in the car and went to the Guatavita lagoon up North. Nic's friends Marie-Paula and Cesar came with us for the road trip, it was a gorgeous sunny day and really good fun being in the car watching the world go past. I got to see the countryside which is really lush and green, with mountains rolling around everywhere, very beautiful. The roadsides are filled with shacks and small buildings with cafes, workshops and restaurants in them.
Salt Cathedral
Inside the salt cathedral in one of the big underground chambers. When we arrived we had to walk up a path through the mountain to get to the lagoon, a big crater-type hole in the middle. The lagoon has been surrounded with the mystery of el dorado, the Spanish believed that the deep, sulphuric lagoon was filled with gold so tried to drain it many times without success. From here the views were incredible so we stayed for a while just gazing around, I felt like I was in a dream world sometimes when I stopped and looked at where I was... a beautiful, awe-inspiring country.
After a quick visit to the the town of Guatavita, which has beautiful tiled buildings and it's own lake, we went to see the Catedral de Sal in Zipaquira, a huge underground cathedral mined and carved into the salt stone underneath a mountain. An amazing place, which has to be seen to be believed.
On the road back we stopped by one of the bbq places and got the biggest plate of meat I have ever seen- pork, lamb, chorizo sausage, intestines (which was really good) plantain, yukka and potatoes, washed down with beer. Delicious!
That night we went for a walk to the
'T-Zone' an area filled with bars and clubs, really busy and loud lots of people and things going on. We chanced upon a free gig inside a hairdressers shop, which we could hear playing from outside so went in to see what was going on. The band was amazing, the instruments they used were made from rubbish- plastic bottles, tubes, bins, metal boxes and string but the sound was excellent and the whole place had a really good vibe. They were called 'Remayor7' and they played a few reggae covers, their own songs, and a version of jingle bells in Spanish in which Nic told me they swapped the words to sing about the commercial nonsense of Christmas. I was buzzing after seeing that 😊 Afterwards we headed to a bar for a few beers, was a really nice place with a reggae vibe and good dj's that played a set that you Herbal lot would have been proud of. Was really good to have a dance, Nic knew the owner so got to speak with them, recommended a few tunes I thought they would like and gave them a 158 card. A really good night and ended up being
quite drunk drinking Aguaardiente, the local spirit, bit like a cross between sambuca and tequila. Yummy.
Off camping at Villa de Lleva on Saturday so il update sometime next week!
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