Bogota

Nestled at the base of Mt Monserrate, the capital city of Colombia is at an elevation of 8,500 feet. Many travelers I met skipped Bogota but I’m so glad I had a few days to explore. The city has undergone a huge transformation over the past 10 years. I liked the grittiness mixed with the newness. Streets are covered with graffiti murals that have been committed by the city and private institutions. Graffiti was decriminalized a few years ago when the city realized that by commissioning artwork in drastically cutdown on illegal tagging.

After taking the cable car to the top of Mt Monserrate, you having sweeping views of the city and you realize how large Bogota really is. The church itself isn’t overly impressive but it was a nice place to enjoy the sunset. All of the Christmas lights we still up and there was quiet the light show.

There are lots of free tours in Bogota which are a great way to see the city. There’s a city walking tour as well as a graffiti tour both starting in the historic area called Candelaria. I also did a bike tour my first day. We visited a fruit market and got to try some local produce, learned how to play tejo, drank coffee and checked out some of the graffiti murals.

A nice afternoon activity is a visit to the Botero Museum. Bolero is a famous Colombian arts who is still alive today. There’s a free museum in Bogota and his sculptures are in parks all over the country. I even saw one of his sculptures in Santiago. He’s known for distorting the proportions for the human form – I though it made all of his subjects look cherubic.

I stayed at Masaya which was a great place to meet other travelers. They had a free salsa class my first night, which was followed by a couple of the staff taking us out and introducing us to Aguardiente. The Colombians love this stuff! But beware, they order it by the bottle and everyone at the table is expected to partake. It takes similar to Ouzo or Sambuca. Funny enough, Aguardiente translates to firewater.