(Some of) The Real Bogota

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Monday 23nd May 2005 : Quito to Colombia
Up early, checked out and walked to bus station ahead of schedule (07:20).

Pestered by two ladies to take their bus. We get on the one that seems to be leaving first and I get the front seat. It gets quite full, stopping anywhere there is a customer by the side of the road.

Driver uses whichever side of the road is smoothest +/or shortest distance around a corner.

Hawkers jumped on selling nuts, crisps and drinks despite the no eating/drinking signs. Went a completely different way around the back of Latacunga. Cotopaxi covered in cloud. No photos today.

Arrived at Quito Terminal Terrestre around 10:30, plenty of time to have some breakfast before taking a taxi to the airport. We try a snack bar advertising DESAYUNOS in the window. All the young man can offer is chicken, meat or ‘arrio’ or something which we cannot understand. We settle for coffee and fizzies.

The taxi quotes us 5USD, a bargain though it was quite slow up hills and received a few dirty looks as we hogged the outside lane for several km.

At the airport very early. Ate leftover peanuts, raisins, chocolate and pears. Clean toilets.



Flight on time, arrived to an overcast Bogota, loads of deep puddles. Taxi driver says it has been raining all day and will rain tomorrow. Winter has apparently begun. Bogota looks much more attractive despite the rain than either Quito or Lima. After a while we reach the grottier areas. Arrived at the hostal. Taxi driver did not have enough change and gave me too much back - that’s a first. It is about 6pm and now dark. We ring the bell of the gloomy Gothicesque (is that a word ?) hostal. Eventually a face appears at the window in the doorway, seeming reluctant to let us in. Yes we have a reservation, and we are in. As we are filling out the register a beggar’s voice sounds through the locked doorway. The place has a massive indoor courtyard full of tables, a cross between Oliver and Harry Potter. We are shown our family room but given no ‘new arrivals’ info. There is a kitchen but it is padlocked, the place seems empty. We decide it is time to go and eat, and get supplies from a supermarket. On the way out we establish there are no kitchen facilities available. Also breakfast is not included - later we wonder whether this means breakfast is available as an extra , or not at all. We’ll find out in the morning

We walk along Carrera 7. It is mainly church and grand public buildings for 3 or 4 blocks. Lots of armed guards around. Further along the buildings degenerate. Lots of cheapo fried chicken places and hawkers. Nowhere attractive to eat. Found a supermarket and an ATM. Several direct approaches by beggars. Walked further as far as the Museo de Oro terminal. Close by stumbled on the Romana Italian cafeteria. Had good pasta and wine , then back to hostal for an early night. Maybe it will all look different tomorrow.


Tuesday 24th May 2005 : Bogota - hanging around
Up lateish (0745), sat around reading, no sign of breakfast available in hostel. Dragged Deb and Owen out of bed by 0930. Went to find somewhere to have breakfast.

Most coffee places are stand-up or tables for two. Found somewhere near the gold museum. Asked for juice, coffee, chocolate, bread and jam. Bread strange, almost spherical, slightly cheesy, with a blob of strange (i.e. we could not tell what fruit it was) jam baked inside. Not a hit with the boys.

Weather fine. Carrera 7 looks very different in the daylight. Long stretches of pavement covered with goods for sale, some new, some not so. Clothes, telephones, CDs, watches, food, drink, if anything , more than Sao Paolo but without the pressure to buy.

After breakfast did a little web surfing to find somewhere to stay in Miami. Not very promising. Very expensive in general and little available at short notice

Rory had read on the plane about a children’s museum and wanted to visit. We had no idea where it was so asked at the TIC. The lady spoke English and showed me on a freebie map where it was. She also wrote down in English that we need to take a bus towards Villaluz.

I flagged down the next Villaluz bus. The conductor denied it was going anywhere near the Museo and suggested something else which I did not catch. Ok . I flagged a taxi. Museo de Los Ninos ? Yes he says as we get in. I ask how much will it be. That depends on where you want to go he says !

I repeat where we want to go and show him the map. 15 mins later he stops alongside a theme park. I show him the map again. This time he puts his glasses on. Two mins later we stop at the right place.

I approach the entrance but it is closed until 2pm. It is twenty past one. Before two the security guard comes out and tells us it is now open. We enter and a bright young thing in a yellow sweatshirt explains in Spanish that it has five zones. Two are available this pm, which do we want to visit. Rory chooses the Yellow zone. We pay and are led off to a seating area and asked to wait. On checking they mean we have to wait until 3pm. Unfortunately we had paid or I would have cut off my nose and left sharpish. Sometime before 3pm Francisco approaches and leads us off.

The first section is a pain. It is a series of pre-recorded songs and dialogues in Spanish, overamplified so we have no chance of understanding. Francisco is very helpful and we survive it, wondering at what point we say enough is enough. The next section more than makes up for it as we enter a TV studio and make our our chat show. I am the anchor-man, Rory is the special guest, and Deb and Owen are the camera crew.

After that we have some good but not particularly original sections on light, electricity, plants and sounds. All in all it was fine. Now how do we make our way back to the city centre.

We have very little cash left so need to find a bus. The security guard at the gate points us in the general direction of the buses. I have noticed some have ‘Centro’ amongst their destinations, but is there more than one ?

I stop a bus and we pile on. What I do not notice immediately is that it has no conductor, only a driver isolated in a box. We sit down and he gives me funny looks in his mirror. I walk up to the front just behind him and he puts 4 fingers in the air. I push 4000 pesos through a hole into his box and return to my seat.

Now I have to concentrate on the map to follow where we are going. My fears are unwarranted. We get to exactly where we want.

Now it is time to find somewhere to eat, pronto. Not so simple. We try one place, yes they are still serving food, set meals with soup followed by a choice of gobbledegook. We tried to explain that we did not understand some of the options (including Frijols which I now know means kidney beans) but the watress could do nothing other than repeat the same phrases, more slowly and loudly. We made our excuses and left.

Finally we opted for Italian style in a setting not unlike that of a sit-down chippy. It was OK but I don’t think the waitress was too happy when I did not leave a tip.

We were just in time to get some drinks from the supermarket. My first Colombian wine. A mistake. It tastes like sherry mixed with home-brew. I am still struggling to finish it a day later as I type this.


Wednesday 25th May 2005 : Bogota - hanging around again
Successful breakfast today. Stumbled on a deli-cum-café with real coffee the Café Lis further along Carrera 7 beyond Jimenez. A little confusing as it is one of those places where you pay the cash desk then take your receipt to the various counters for your goods. Not so easy to look and point when what you are pointing at is nowhere near the cash desk. I chose two types of rolls at random to go with the drinks. One was an almojabana (v good) , the other was an arepa (not so unanimously good). The coffee was so good we had two cups. I noticed they have a separate cafeteria upstairs so that’s probably where we will start tomorrow.

That done we had another fruitless internet session trying to find somewhere to stay in Miami.

Our luck changed when we came upon a pizza place offering a large slice of pizza plus a drink for only 2000 pesos. They made veggy pizza just for us. It was the best since we have been in South America.

That done we returned to the hostel for the boys to do some lessons.

This hostel is strange. There are loads of staff but they do not communicate with the guests, not that we have seen many guests. Some of the staff spend a lot of time preparing food but we do not know who or what for. There is a stream of men in suits that come and have meetings with the manager. Are we in the middle of a money-laundering scam ? Or something more sinister ?

Late afternoon I tried the internet again and we have good news from Florida. A place I emailed this am has replied confirming spaces, and that they will charge half-price for the boys . Great, I confirmed the reservation … now how do we get there ? …….Stay tuned for Miami Rice - Veggies in Florida.

Banana butties and chocolate for tea tonight.


Thursday 26th May 2005 : Bogota - hanging around again
To the ‘Lys’ cafeteria for breakfast. Deb chooses pancakes for the boys but they turn out to be cheesy somethings. My eggs ‘perico’ were super. Strangely the coffee was not as good as it had been at the downstairs takeaway yesterday.

Bought some chloroquine anti-malaria tablets reasonably cheaply - around 4USD for two and a half months. Enquired about vitamin B1 tablets as natural insect repellent - declined when they wanted 17USD for less than a month’s worth.

Found the American Airlines office in Bogota and confirmed:
We had to check in three hours before takeoff to the US.
There is no veggy meal option
Departure tax is 28USD but he could not tell whether we would have to pay.

Rory pushed the glass door almost off its hinges on the way out.

Back on Carrera 7 there was a protest moving slowly along, lots of whistles and police in ninja-turtle armor but nothing untoward happened. Even so we decided not to tag along and headed along parallel streets through the electronics area of town. Bought yet another phone charger, 5USD. How do all these shops survive ? How many deejays are there that need light ropes, or young bloods who want a boot full of speakers ?

Intended visiting the Gold Museum (the Bogota ‘must visit’) but first I need to feed Rory. Deb and Owen (I need a drink) hang around while Rory and I zoom round the corner. He wants a burger, we sit down in a 12 x 7 foot snack bar, including the food prep area.

I order a ‘hamburguesa combo’ for Rory and enquire what is available for veggies. Salad and chips.

Back round the corner we deliver Owen’s drink and enter the museum. I’m disappointed. It certainly has attractive lighting, smooth displays and lots of gold but the info is minimal, even if you can read Spanish. I much prefer the ‘Archaeology’ museum we went into in Quito.

The final exhibit on the top floor was impressive. It is a darkened room with a central well of suspended gold objects and surrounded by 270 degrees of curved wall displays holding a couple of thousand gold objects grouped by type.

If you appreciate gold workmanship maybe it is for you.

Coffee and cake to follow.

Back at the hostel we are invaded by a coachload of schoolchildren, 9 or 10 years old. They are fed and put their jamas on.

Owen gains a circle of admirers as he plays on the portable PC.

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Photos

Unknown church
One of several shots early evening with very mixed lighting

Kepler Statue
Next to the planetarium

Cathedral
Sorry I chopped the top off

Comments

[alonso]

are you a dj? where are you playing? it seems that you are hangin out in the city center thats very boring come on up north. you got to visit museo nacional.