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I saw a lot of the historical area in my first couple of days, but only yesterday did I make it to the Museo del Oro (the Gold Museum), which is one of the most famous museums in Bogota. A relatively small entrance fee gets you in the door, and I also splashed out on an audio guide, spending the grand total of about $5US for both. The audio guide was very informative, but I must confess that after about an hour of the man droning on and on I was bored witless! It's more than just a museum about gold, it goes through much of the pre-colombian history and the different cultures and tribes that lived there, as well as their religious beliefs and the role that gold played in their society. The two seemed inextricably linked. Despite being bored by the man with the mellifluous BBC accent on my audio guide, it really was a great museum well worth the visit.
I had also been told that if you haven't been to the Cerro de Monserrate you haven't been to Bogotá, so that was this morning's mission. I had booked a tour with a local company, because although
Necklace
Looks heavy!it's not far to the base I wasn't sure how safe it would be to walk there on my own. The tour company also promised an English speaking guide and lots of information about the history of Bogotá and the monastery. It turned out to be just me on the tour, and the guide picked me up from my hotel and we walked to the funicular together. He was absolutely lovely and very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, but with absolutely terrible English! Painful to listen to. I tried to talk to him in Spanish, but as an English speaking guide he was determined to continue speaking in his terrible English. I think he wanted the practice. Anyhow, he was very sweet and nothing could really deter from the walk, the trip up the hill, and the gorgeous view.
Montserrate is 3152m high with a white church that seems to visible from almost everywhere. The views from the top are spectacular. The church is destination for pilgrims because it has an altar statue of the fallen Christ (Señor Caído). The lovely Fernando spent a lot of time talking to me about Señor Caído but I honestly have no idea what he
Another gold thing
Umm - maybe a breastplate? said. According to my guidebook, many miracles are attributed to Señor Caído. I also noticed that there were many places where you could put your offerings (ie money) to Señor Caído to help your prayers.
Following the trip up the hill, Fernando took me to a little cafe near Plaza de Bolívar called "La Puerta Falsa", supposedly Bogotá's most famous snack shop, operating since 1816. We had a typical snack from Bogotá, which was some bread with butter, country bread, a hot chocolate and cheese. A local custom is to put the cheese in the hot chocolate. Gross! However as they say, when in Rome (or Bogotá)..... so I gave it a go. Admittedly I only put a small amount in, drank my hot chocolate and then ate the cheese. It was kind of melted and quite good, once you'd gotten rid of the chocolate taste.
In the afternoon I went to the Museo Histórico Policia, which seems like an odd choice, but it was actually really interesting. It's free to enter, and you get a guided tour in English (better English than lovely Fernando too) by a policeman finishing up his compulsory military service. It helped to
Funeral mask
I think that people were buried in these masks explain the huge number of police and the wide range of sometimes unexpected roles that they play. For example, back in Cartagena when we were in the boat on our way to Playa Blanca, the police came round and gave us all a pamphlet......about being kind to our pets. However after the visit to the museum today I saw that there is a wide range of police divisions, from Community Police, to Traffic, to Special Operations and more. My favourites though had to be the Fucurs. Our policeman made a little joke about them and how an English speaker may pronounce it! The building itself was gorgeous, and there were lovely views from the roof. The museum itself was kind of strange, with a torture room, gun room, medal room, uniform room, and a room devoted to special forces and outlining the victories they have had over various drug lords.
Tomorrow I am off to the Coffee Region for five nights. My accommodation has a pool - cross fingers that this means it gets warm enough to use it!
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anonymous
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It looks cold!
Glad to see that the raincoat has had another outing... I can't remember how many merino items I brought home with me. Hopefully you are weathering the cold ok. L