Drug cartels, bloody wars, assassinations, torture?
Modern Colombia is desperate to shed its dark image. Sun kissed beaches, vibrant carnivals, passionate soccer/football supporters, water sports, colonial architecture and fresh food. That’s what they want to be known for. But what would I find?
Coming here though was never part of the plan. I was aiming on a return to Bolivia. Just needed the business visa, which was why I’d returned to London. But through various mishaps I hadn’t got it. Some of my friends in Bolivia said to risk a return (I was way over my tourist visa already).
But I asked in the airport if I could get to Bogota instead of La Paz. After a lot of arm waving, rapid speech, annoyed looks all of which you come accustom to in South America, one of the Latin check in staff stepped forward and said it was possible. Ticket to Colombia. After a small fee.
Coming into land the city was no more than a speckling of lights. Darkness hide the rest. It was however warm and muggy. Enough for you to wonder why you were still wearing a jumper.
The city is laid out into zones. The hostel was located in the historical quarter, called La Candelaria. Arguable the safest and most interesting part.
This was where the senate met, the President has his house and other important buildings were located. As such military personal patrol the streets like red ants in search of food. While this gave the impression that the city was under siege, strangely it felt safer.
Interesting? Grand colonial buildings, exotic foods, museums full of gold, night life, mountains that erupt up around the city, Colombia’s rich past and potential future. Not taking anything away from the other zones. But you wouldn’t go far wrong with this one.
The town can be explored on foot. The main square, Bolivar square houses some impressive Neo-Classical buildings. It is steeped in history. Being built initially by the Spanish Colonials it had not avoided the impacts of the infamous Pablo Escobar.
Monserrate is the mountain that towers over the city and offers beautiful views from it. You can walk up it. It usually takes about an hour and a half. But the advice is to be down by 4pm, as the route can get dangerous around sunset. I though took the cable car. There is a church and a market to explore. And a restaurant to have a beer in afterwards.
Alcoholic Drinks
Beer – There is a reasonable variety of beers here. Reasonable. The commercial beers Argullia and Colombian Club are lighter larger beers. Perfect for the intense heat along the coastal regions. Heavier red and dark beers are produced by the Bogota Beer Company (BBC). Some regions, towns or villages produce their own artisan beer. Prices range from 2000-3500 pesos ($0.60-0.90, €0.55-0.80 or £0.40-0.60).
Agua Dinentes- If you like aniseed drinks, this is a must try! If you don’t avoid it. Colourless liquid normally served as a shot.
Buses-
Many will say that it gets very cold on the buses. But personally I’ve been on very cold buses. Throughout Asia for example. Colombia though presented me with a bit of a mix. Some cool buses. And some which simply lacked a/c and you were happy with the fast (manic) driving for the air that rushed through the cabin. Different from other countries some of the buses had charging points for your cell, mp3, camera, etc.
Even for Long journeys (over 5 hours) the buses don’t tend to stop. Instead people are invited on in villages that the bus rumbles through to sell their wears. Sandwiches, crisps, juice, dried shrimps. Depending on how well they do they sometimes get off in the following village. Then board a bus heading in the opposite direction.
Public Holidays
Apparently Colombia has more public holidays than anywhere else in the world. Reason to stay?
National Flag
A hero of the independence Simón Bolívar had a vision to unite present day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia as one. Calling it Gran Colombia. But it didn’t last. Although the legacy is that the flags of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador are very similar.
The flag is: Yellow for the gold, Red for the blood and Blue as Colombia faces two oceans: Atlantic and Pacific.
Food
The food is a mix of rice, beans/lentils, fried plantain, sweet bread, arepas, bollos (maize ground together and boiled wrapped in a banana leaf) and a fried/bbq meat, chicken or chorizo.
Fish is popular in coastal regions. Or trout more inland.
Aguapanela is basically sugar cane water. Often drunk hot. Same colour as mildly brewed tea, but very sweet
Lulo- is a fruit, which in appearance resembles an orange. Although it’s texture is more like a bitter kiwi fruit. Always add sugar when eating one of these.
Interestingly we went to a fast food chicken outlet. Instead of giving us a plastic folk to eat our food they gave us a plastic glove….
Triposo
A useful application for downloading information about countries. It does take a little time to download the documents but then the information is available off line.
Not related
I enjoyed a story off a British guy I met. He told me about a friend he had who went off to Australia. On arriving the guy was asked if he had a criminal record. He said he wasn’t aware he needed one to get into Australia any more. The immigration office obviously lacked a sense of humour and the guy was interviewed for the next 3 hours.
justindvblog 