Bogotá, Colombia
It is very possible that your entry point into this amazing country is Bogotá, the capital of Colombia with roughly 8 million inhabitants. From here the adventures await, this is the starting point for a lot of trips and if you scroll endlessly through endless blogs you might get the impression that there´s not much to miss out, if you just stay one or two nights here. And it´s true, Bogotá doesn´t strike you with a "love at first sight" energy but there´s definitely something about this city (and I´m not talking about the bat shit crazy weather here).
Sooo, my story began Christmas 2022 when I flew to Bogotá to visit my friend Damian and to wait for my other friend who was going to travel with me for a few weeks through the country. I had one week to kill before my friend from Germany would arrive and I thought I´d make the best out of it and explore the hell out of Bogotá.
First thing I noticed was due to the high altitude of the city (2.640m above sea level) the temperatures are generally on the lower end, AND as it is a very mountainous area the weather changes can be quite drastical.
Sooooo, this means it is completely normal in Bogotá to wake up with sunny but cold 8°C, so you go out dressed like a penguin of course.... then midday comes and you start undressing as it gets to niceish 22°C.... followed by sudden rainfall, hailstorm, sun again, wind, chilly 10°C and rain in the evening.
Which means: Prepare for EVERYTHING !! This city doesn´t play around. I don´t know how many times I got tricked (I just didn´t want to learn my lesson apparently) and I froze to death or got soaking wet.... ;-)
I spent my first day walking almost 25km through the city, just exploring. Please note, there is no metro system in Bogotá, just crazy traffic and the public transport is buses, the company is called Transmilenio. I frankly haven´t used it. Either I walked or took an uber or drove with my friend Damian, so I missed out on public transport completely.
Sooo, Bogotá is huge, Bogotá is loud, Bogotá has looots of graffiti and unfortunately also some areas where you better not walk alone (as a woman and especially not in the night). Things I was tought and told here:
- Don´t walk around after it gets dark - take an uber
- Don´t give papaya (No des papaya) which means, don´t give anyone a good reason to rob you or take advantage of you. So don´t run around with your cellphone in your hand. Just don´t do it.
Things you definitely should do in Bogotá:
- Go on one or more free walking tour (I prefer Beyond Colombia - they´re great)
- Take every chance to try their amazing fruits. It´s very popular to buy fresh fruit juices and they have soooo much variety, it´s crazyy!!!! My absolute forever favorite is LULO - looks a little bit like a khaki married a tomato but the taste is citric and fresh and yummie (my brother says otherwise but what does he know ;-) Another yummyumm is guanábana. This one looks like a dinosaur but it´s sweet and flowery and amazing as a juice - although slightly slimey. Other fruits you might have never heard of: Feijoa, corozo, arazá, and so on. But never forget to eat as much mango as you can, because it will blow you away! NOM! If you go buy a juice they will ask you: "en agua o en leche?" which means: "in water or in milk?" My preference is in water but hey, each to their own :-=
- Go have breakfast at my favorite fruit and veggie market: Plaza de Mercado 7 de agosto - this one is an insider, I have never seen a tourist here. And once you´re there and in fruit and veggie heaven, go to the little restaurant section where you can find Patricia - a little food stand where you can order coffee, fruit juices, hot soup, huevos pericos con arepa (scrambled eggs with tomato, onion and arepa)... the kitchen looks like pure anarchy but the ladies working there are gorgeous, fast and kind. (It´s a safe 20 minute walk from the Chapinero area)
- Go to the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro) - it´s huge and impressive!
- After that, walk around in that area to see Plaza Bolívar, La Candelaria (nice area to walk around, lots of hostels there, too. A museum dedicated to artist Fernando Botero is also there, aaaaand: go have the best coffee in town at: Arte y Pasión Café.
- If you want to check out another nice option to have a good view over the city, go to Torre Colpatria - you can buy a ticket, go to the top floor and walk around, it´s actually really nice.
- Check out the areas Chapinero (they call it Chapi), Zona G - This is foodie paradise and the number of fine dining restaurants is freaking high. And they are LIT !! I have been to Salvo Patria and Mesa Franca and I was in heaven!!
- A yummy food store can be found here: Mercado Lourdes. They sell my mostest most favorite chocolate from Cacao Disidente. If you don´t try their chocolate you will seriously miss out on something.
- Also go check out the Usaquén neighborhood. It´s more to the north and quite far away from the bustling city centre but it´s really nice, a little more fancy and also foodwise yumms.
- Cerro Monserrate - you can either walk up or take the cable car. You´ll have a gorgeous view over the city.
- If you have time for a day trip, go to Zipaquirá to the Salt Cathedral (Catedral de Sal) - this is an impressive underground cathedral carved in salt. They say it´s the 1st wonder of Colombia and the place that gave birth to El Dorado.
Any Questions? Drop me a line :-)
