Bogota and our conclusion about Colombia

13./14.11.23

Today we will continue exploring Bogota. Breakfast is served at a large table that is beautifully set.

There are 3 Brazilians and 2 Germans from Allgäu sitting at the table.

Strengthened, we begin a tour of the city, which first takes us to a district where there are only fake goods and there is one shop next to the other.

A Colombian speaks to us on Calle Real and gives us a few tips. Today is another holiday in Colombia, one of 21 days and life begins on Calle Real. We'll still find what we're looking for souvenirs at a market.

At lunchtime we go back to the hotel and clear the room. Unfortunately Camilo tells us that he won't be there in the afternoon and unfortunately we can't leave the luggage there. After a while he offers us that we can take the key from the front door with us and leave our luggage there until the evening.

That's really so kind of him. Our guide tour through La Candelaria begins at 2 p.m. We'll strengthen ourselves beforehand.

The meeting point is the popular Plazoleta Chorro de Quevedo.

In a group with Canadians and Aussis we go to Mercado La Concordia, where Louis tells us something about Colombian fruit and we try chicha.

Chicha is a beer from the entire Andean region of South America that was drunk by the Incas and is generally obtained by fermenting various plants using saliva, hence the occasional name “spit beer”. You can buy it on every corner and in different colors. The taste takes some getting used to.

We continue through the old town.

La Candelaria is the beating heart of Bogotá, with landmarks such as the colonial-era cathedral and the neoclassical National Capitol of Colombia in Plaza de Bolívar. Narrow streets lined with shops selling emeralds and handicrafts lead to cultural attractions such as the Museo del Oro, with pre-Columbian artifacts, and the Museo Botero, which displays international art in a colonial-era mansion. Meanwhile the bear is dancing in every street and it's hard to follow Luis, there's so much going on here because of the holiday.

In between we have the view of the Cerro de Monserrate, a 3,152 meter high mountain in the Santa Fe district. Together with the Cerro de Guadalupe (3,317 meters), approximately 1,600 meters further south, it shapes the panorama of the capital and is visible from almost everywhere and is therefore the trademark from Bogota. The Monserrate is located in the territory of the Enrique Olaya Herrera National Park . You can get up on foot or by cog railway. However, this is not a good plan on holidays or weekends.

In the Plaza de Botera, Luis finds it difficult to be heard due to the noise from singers etc.

Finally, we go for a coffee tasting in a coffee shop, where the tour ends. Here, too, the coffee tastes rather sour and not that good for our standards. In any case, we wouldn't buy coffee in Colombia.

We say goodbye to the nice group and go to pick up our luggage at the hotel. A young French couple is also just coming back so we can give you Camilo's key.

The taxi is super punctual and we have to give him a secret code, for whatever reason. (La Clave is Nuevo uno) Camilo had already ordered the taxi for us this morning. The taxi driver takes 30,000 pesos to the airport.

When we arrived at El Dorado International Airport, the problems started 🫣

By the way

The Legend of Eldorado

The myth goes back to a ceremony of the Muisca, an indigenous people in South America, in which the leader was rubbed with gold dust. The Gilded Man (Spanish: "El Dorado") then sailed out onto the lake in a raft and sank gold and precious stones into the middle of it as offerings to the gods.

The Spanish explorers concluded from the wasteful act that there must be an abundance of gold on this continent. Since the 16th century, this assumption has been followed by numerous other conquerors and adventurers who, by discovering Eldorado, wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Inca and Aztec explorers Francisco Pizarro and Hernán Cortés.

But further today😂 when we checked in, they couldn't issue us boarding cards for the connecting flight from London to Cologne because Eurowings is not a member of the Staralliance.

It doesn't work online either and we are told that we have to get the boarding tickets in London. All very strange. The whole thing takes care of itself because our plane is at least an hour late and we won't be able to catch the connecting flight anyway.

When we arrive in London, Eurowings sends us to Avianca and from Abianca to Lufthansa. We fly from London to Munich and from Munich to Cologne with a delay of approximately 5 hours.

The landing approach in Munich is quite turbulent and the steward lies on his nose twice in the hallway.

So, one last flight to Cologne, then after almost 24 hours we are back in Cologne. The weather is all over Germany again. 🌧️☔️

And for once our luggage is there too.

Our conclusion about our trip to Colombia:

The Colombians are friendly, helpful, loud and cheerful people with whom you can quickly start a conversation, even if communication sometimes requires hands and feet or even a translation app, as not many people actually speak English.

Loud because Spanish music is always playing everywhere and there is a lot of laughter.

With one or two exceptions, we never had the feeling of being ripped off. On the contrary, we felt everything was honest and fair.

In terms of feeling safe, Colombia is really not a problem, we felt much less safe in Brazil and if you follow the recommendations nothing can actually happen, despite the drug and prostitution tourism. You can find Kanabis on every corner here, even though it is strictly forbidden here.

Colombia itself is a dream. The nature and landscapes are so diverse and lush. Caribbean beaches, colorful cities, the rainforest and the mountain regions with so much greenery and colorful birds.

The food was usually really good, especially in the accommodation. Lots of vegetables, lots of fruit, avocado, coconut rice etc. We ate some very tasty meals for the equivalent of €20 for two.

The cities are also great and Bogota really surprised us,

With the beautiful old town.

So if you like cold showers and want to see something completely different, Colombia is highly recommended. We can well imagine traveling here again.

Colombia the country with a lot of Corona❤️❤️❤️