Colombia at last!

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I have finally arrived to Colombia! I landed in Bogota Wednesday afternoon after an uneventful flight from Brazil.

Wednesday was spent walking around the center of Bogota and becoming oriented with the city. Thursday I took a bus out to the suburb of Zipaquira(40km away) to see the Catedral de Sal. This is a cathedral that was built underground in a salt mine. The cathedral is 25 meters high, has a floor area of 8550 square meters, and can hold up to 10,000 people.

Along the passageway to the cathedral and past several caverns where the salt had been removed are the fourteen Stations Of The Cross. Each station has different religous symbols carved into the salt mine walls and each depicts a different point in the life of Jesus Christ.

It was quite an impressive site and I had an english speaking guide who shared his extensive knowledge of the cathedral but I won't bore you with the details. For more information and professional pictures you can visit the following website:
http://www.catedraldesal.gov.co/

After a long traffic filled bus ride back to Bogota, I casually walked around the city some more and tried to get a feeling for the city. I can't seem to form an opinion quite yet. I will be enjoying a great coffee in a friendly cafe one moment and then actively pursued by beggars another moment. Or coming across huge beautiful plazas and then almost run over by 5 different taxis and busses wildly roaming the streets. The one constant seems to be pollution which is quite heavy.

Today I am heading north to the city of Medellin known for being the industrial capital of Colombia, it's eternal spring climate, and of course being the home and base of assasinated druglord Pablo Escobar.

Included are pictures of my last few days in Rio as well as the new Colombia pictures.

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Photos

Zipaquira
The main plaza and church of Zipaquira, about 40km outside of Bogota.

street busker
This guy was doing some kind of crazy raquet juggling all for the love of busking.

Football
Colombians love them some football(soccer).

Plaza
A plaza in La Candelaria

tunnel
the tunnel into the Catedral de Sal

a station
This cross is carved into the wall of the salt mine and then illuminated.

the cathedral
it looks much smaller from this view

sculpture
in the ground of the cathedral

cathedral from above
The cross is 25m tall and carved out of the salt mine

Jesus and me
just hangin' out with ole J.C. in Rio de Janeiro

Rio
to the right

Rio
to the left

Maracana Stadium
the soccer stadium in Rio

Maracana crowd
the fans tend to get pretty rowdy