Colombia, one of the most beautiful and diverse countries in the world,  suffers from an image problem. Mention Colombia and a few people may think ‘coffee’ but most will automatically conjure images of drugs and violence….thanks in part to the series Narcos. While there was  truth  to this,  rumour has it that things have changed in the last decade. Lets hope so as this is our first but long-anticipated visit to Colombia.

Our Iberian Airline  plane touched down in Bogota El Dorado International Airport at the ungodly hour of  4.30am after a cramped eleven hour flight from Madrid (preceded by  a two and a half hour flight from Dublin). Immigration was straightforward (we had filled in the compulsory  Mig-Check forms online which must be completed between 72 hours and 1 hour before arrival) and a very bored official stamped our passports for ninety days.  We intend to use those ninety days to the full.

We  trudged into a very quiet Arrivals Hall while most of our fellow passengers  waited to collect luggage…we only travel with small carry-on backpacks. Our first task was to find  an ATM to get some local currency which is the Colombian Peso(COP4,300 =€1).   Bogota is huge, a sprawling city of about 8 million with a comprehensive bus system called the TransMilenio.   We decided to brave the public transport to get to our accommodation, about 15 kilometers from the airport.  Payment on buses is only by a special rechargeable card which we needed to buy. We eventually found the kiosk selling TransMilenio cards and put some money on a card using a mixture of mangled Spanish and gestures.

Google Maps was a life saver, telling  us the  whereabouts of  the bus stop and the number of the appropriate bus. We had also bought phone SIMs at another airport kiosk (we didn’t realize until later that were seriously overcharged) so we had internet on our phones. When the bus arrived, we swiped our TransMillenio  card at the turnstile inside the bus door and we were on, feeling very pleased with ourselves until a woman on the bus warned us to beware of pickpockets.

Traversing Bogotá pre rush-hour took at least an hour and involved two buses. We travelled through quiet shopping streets with the usual international stores(like Ikea) past  skyscrapers and parks. A flower market was  just opening it’s stalls and a few homeless were stirring under blankets of cardboard. There was graffiti and wall murals everywhere we looked.  It was a bright chilly morning, about 7C,  and there was a soft light on the green  hills that surround the city….Bogota is built in a valley with buildings spawling up the steep slopes of the hills. Our phones buzzed,  Google Maps telling us where to get off and we stepped bleary-eyed and jetlagged onto the colourful streets of Candalaria, the old historic part of town with its brightly-painted, 300 year old houses, cobbled streets, cafes, churches and…. steep hills. That first morning, we struggled to a lovely apartment that we had booked for three nights((Morph, €33 a night) feeling a little woozy,  gasping from tiredness and altitude….Bogota is at 2600m. But soon we discovered the grocery/bar where the locals hung out and the beer was €0.60 a bottle🍻 There was a strong police presence in the area with officers on many street corners with big muzzled rottweilers. Despite that- or maybe because of it – the area felt calm and safe.

 Graffiti is such an integral part of Bogota that we took a Graffiti walking tour. Graffiti was decriminalized in 2011 and since then,  Bogota’s walls and buildings are an ever-evolving canvas of brush, paint, marker and stencil, most spectacularly beautiful, some political and others simply art for art’s sake. One recent mural of a injured child planting green shoots was a comment on Gaza.

Gold is also a part of Colombia, historically, symbolically and culturally. The indigenous people believed that gold was a gift from the gods and wore it to celebrate the gods, not for personal wealth. The invading Spaniards had other ideas, dazzled by the dripping gold of the natives and driven by insatiable greed, they all but destroyed the native culture.  The legends of El Dorado, the country paved with gold, originated in  Columbia. We visited the Museo del Oro( Gold Museum) four floors of the most gorgeous jewelry and artwork.

In Bogota, the weather is changeable. The clouds can descend on the hills like a veil, hiding the church at the top of Mount Monserrat, a city landmark. In the chilly breeze, we pulled on jackets but the next minute we could be blinded by the blueness of the sky and applying sunscreen.

 On our third morning in Bogota when we were no longer panting going uphill, we decided to hike Monserrat which is at 3150m. We weren’t alone. The steep path was crowded with families, couples, groups of teenage boys playing competing music on their phones and some very fit runners….a very popular activity on a Saturday morning. We required a lot of stops along the way so either we weren’t as acclimated as we thought or maybe not fit .We were greeted with surprisingly hot sunshine at the top. We rested on the steps outside the church until our ears were blasted by more loud music. We went into the church to get away from it…and then realized that it was coming from the church, telling people that Mass was about to begin. The large church was packed, standing room only.

The cable car seemed a good alternative route down for the views. Unfortunately, the cable car was sardine-tin crowded on a Saturday morning and I was squashed behind a party of German giants which gave me VERY limited views but the occasional glimpse of trees was nice.

Did you know that Colombia is famous for cycling? Even more surprising, Bogota closes 100 kms of it’s streets to motorized vehicles  on Sunday mornings,  leaving the street free for cyclists and pedestrians. Nor is this a new ‘green’ initiative, the first ciclovia happened in 1974.

 

As I’m writing this, there’s a band playing on the street outside and a trio of acrobats in the Square. We have just strolled around the Candalaria area with it’s vibrant Sunday afternoon street life, our veins fizzing from strong coffee.

Tomorrow, we will leave Bogota and head north …..not quite sure where yet. Some research needed…..🤔

 

Thanks for reading. 