Advertisement
Published: January 31st 2010
Edit Blog Post
There are only 3 places to cross the border into Colombia, and I was originally going to use the most northerly crossing and start my exploration of Colombia on the Caribbean coast. But as Dustin, the American I met on the trip to Los Llanos, was heading to Bogotá, we both thought it would be better to travel together for a few days. The 5 hour bus ride from Mérida to the border was unpleasant at best, primarily because the roads in this part of the country are so bumpy and worn. At one point the road was blocked with rubble, and as the bus turned off the road across a grassy hill we could see a collapsed bridge at the bottom of a gorge, complete with a smashed lorry. Luckily a temporary bridge allowed us to cross though it didn’t feel too secure. About 15 minutes later, another bridge had collapsed and we had to repeat the process! The bus eventually took us to the city of San Cristóbal. From here we needed to find a bus to the actual border town of San Antonio, but immediately after having got off the bus a taxi driver offered to take us
across the border and stop at all the necessary points. As crossing the border is quite complicated, we decided this was the best option. And we shared the taxi with a friendly French backpacker we met on the bus so that per person it wasn’t that expensive. Crossing the border is somewhat over-complicated: first we had to go to the Venezuelan border office (inconveniently located a few km from the border) and pay an exit tax (Venezuela is the only country in South America where you have to pay to leave by road). We then had to go to another office across the road to have our passports stamped. Then back to the taxi, and finally across the border, stopping at the Colombian immigration office. After our passports were stamped it was then on to the nearby city of Cúcuta to find an ATM to withdraw Colombian pesos. (Luckily Colombia has a normal monetary system, unlike Venezuela, so no problems getting money out). And then the taxi at last dropped us off at the bus terminal. Our French friend was too tired to travel to Bogotá on the same day, but as the guide book recommends passing through Cúcuta as
quickly as possible (a centre for smuggling), Dustin and I bought tickets on an express bus to Bogotá. This was supposed to last 15 hours but was over an hour late arriving. We were very tired arriving in Bogotá as it was difficult to get much sleep as the roads were just too bumpy (especially near the Venezuelan border). Total journey time was about 28 hours. Hopefully won’t have to repeat this length of journey too often. As for the city of Bogotá itself, it is surprisingly warm and welcoming. Unlike Caracas, it is also really backpacker-friendly, with many cheap hostels right in the city centre. The hostel I’m in is 10 minutes from the very centre (Plaza Bolivar), which is good, given the poor transport system. The historic city centre is compact and contains all the major tourist attractions. The extensive Plaza Bolivar is surrounded by the Cathedral, the Mayor’s offices, the Courts and the Senate (which is difficult to get near to due to the shear number of armed police and soldiers guarding the area). To get down streets surrounding some of the important buildings, you have to go through a police check point and have your bag
searched etc. But because of this extra-tight security, Bogotá now feels like a safe city; consequently it is catering more and more to tourists. During the first few days in the city, Dustin and I visited the Modern Art museum, the Gold Museum and best of all the cable car to Monserrate. The Gold Museum was very interesting - it houses the largest collection of gold artefacts in the world (items the Spanish never got round to stealing). The highlight of Bogotá for me has to be Monserrate. This is a hill overlooking the city with a cable car and a funicular railway running up to it. The views from the top were absolutely spectacular - we managed to spend 2 hours including sunset taking photos and browsing the adjacent tack-filled tourist market. The photos hopefully speak for themselves. Dustin and I knew we would split in Bogotá as I want to see more of the country, whilst Dustin was keen to get to Ecuador and spend most of his time there. The final day before he left for Quito (a 30 hour bus ride!), we both headed out of Bogotá to the city of Zipaquirá, some 50km to the
north of Bogotá. It took about 2 hours to get there using the congested Bogotá bus system (there is no metro here despite the city being bigger than London, though one is planned for the near future) and then a small bus to Zip as it’s affectionately known. The reason for visiting this particular town was to see what claims to be “Colombia’s primary tourist attraction” - the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. This has to be one of the strangest places I have ever visited. Outside the city, half way up a large hill is a large salt mine, in which a giant cathedral has been constructed in the vast chambers left after the extraction. It was very surreal entering the mine, passing 12 crosses representing the life of Jesus, and then arriving in 3 immense parallel chambers that make up the main body of the cathedral. Everything, with the exception of a few sandstone statues and wooden pews, was made of salt crystal. Prior to the construction of the cathedral in 1995, there was a smaller cathedral in a mine nearer the surface which collapsed (rain water dissolved it). As the new cathedral is some 200 metres below ground,
apparently rain water is not a threat. Another thing to mention about Bogotá is the food - whilst the majority of traditional local dishes aren’t vegetarian, we saw at least 4 vegetarian restaurants in the centre, and tried two of them. Prices are so much cheaper than Venezuela - our three course lunches cost around $4, although calling it 3 courses when one of them is a banana may be exaggerating somewhat. I bought six items in a bakery, and the total came to 1700 pesos - just under a dollar. On the other hand, travelling around Colombia looks as if it is going to be more expensive than Venezuela, predominantly as petrol here is very expensive (roughly $3 a litre), whereas in Venezuela, 1 litre of petrol costs approximately £0.01 (seriously!).
Today was my last day in Bogotá and I spent a good part in the National Colombian Museum, which is home to a large collection of pre and post-Columbus artefacts and historical items. Worth visiting (as it is free on Sundays) but the Gold Museum was definitely the more remarkable. From here, I will be travelling to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, hopefully stopping off at the
small historic cities of Tunja, Villa de Leyva and San Gil. Until next time!
For more photos have a look at my picasa page:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/graemejbingham
Advertisement
Tot: 0.176s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 54; dbt: 0.117s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Marcela
non-member comment
Hola Graeme I'm so happy that you have enjoyed my country. Is always a relieve to find good reviews from some of the "brave" travellers that atempt to visit Colombia. I want to invite you to visit my blog and if you need any info on any destination in Colombia, just let me know. Here is my blog and happy travels. http://colombia-travel-marcela.blogspot.com/ Un Abrazo Marcela