The corridors at the airport are remarkably empty just before passing through Colombian customs control. Customs officers sit visibly bored in their small booths. Above them, a banner reads 'Bienvenidos a colombia'.
The pretty customs officer asks us how long we plan to stay in Colombia. That was the last question before we officially stepped foot in Colombia without any hindrance.
The friendly driver in the yellow taxi instructed us to close the doors for our safety. Ummm ok...
He likes Bogotá; he has two sons from one wife and two others from his second wife. It's normal here. Is it the same for us? Well...it's somewhat similar for us too...
The 30-minute drive through skyscrapers, passing by the estimated thousand taxis, finally ended with the question of whether Swiss people are really so rich.
TV store in Colombian
How can one like a city that most people have nothing good to say about?
As we get out in front of the hostel entrance, my eyes dart left and right, up and down the street, always cautious that our luggage doesn't disappear into a dark alley, and once again, I feel that strange pressure in my head.
Our hostel Candelos, in the la Candelaria neighborhood. Well-preserved old building, like most houses in Bogotá's oldest neighborhood. The altitude! How could I forget. The 50 meters after the hostel to the Monserrate cable car turned out to be a perceived ascent to Mount Everest for my body.Well, 2600 meters make themselves felt, and quite a lot at that. I slowly crawl up the small hill, sweat dripping from my forehead. Always with the feeling that I will collapse from a cardiovascular breakdown and my pulse pounds diligently at 220.While I see myself dead on the paved neighborhood road, the first clouds disperse and suddenly the grayness of the city doesn't seem so gray anymore.View from Candelaria to the Monserrate. The city's 3100-meter high mountain View from Monserrate to the city. And the prompt proof that I definitely didn't walk up there. In front is the financial district. Back left are the Barrios sur. In 2016, a major raid here confiscated a ton of cocaine and rescued over 50 women and girls from forced prostitution. Only police officers from other cities were used for the raid to prevent corrupt officers from tipping off the mafia. The view seems to be unique not only for tourists. Although it's difficult for me to pass as a local with a camera next to all the smartphones. In the small bakery down the street, we drink our coffee for 60 Rappen while students, market women, street workers, police officers, musicians, beggars, hipsters, gangsta rappers, and dark figures in leather jackets and tattoos walk by. It smells like a big city, it's loud, cold, and the sound of music comes from somewhere, softly and quietly. My head no longer hurts. We are both still tired from yesterday's festival. It was free and huge. 20,000 Colombians and tourists from all over the world peacefully rocked Parque Bolivar at the largest rock and metal festival in South America. I still have the music in my ears and the speeches of a lead singer for a joint standing for war-torn Venezuela.Lives at the expense of North American oil companies. Bogotá's graffiti scene expresses politics through art.Make love, not war. The peace agreement with Colombia's oldest guerrilla organization raises hopes for long-awaited peace in the country.Our north is the south. An allusion to Monsanto, the largest agribusiness company in North America, which sells genetically modified beans cheaply to farmers in South America. However, the land is so contaminated that farmers are forced to always plant Monsanto beans and pay prices that constantly increase.Colorful Bogotá. Graffiti spraying has been decriminalized since 2016 in Bogotá after riots when Justin Bieber, yes personally, was allowed to spray a cannabis leaf in Bogotá under heavy police protection while locals went to jail for it.The color in the grayness. La Candelaria!Sometimes it's the little details that make the big difference. A 3D graffiti masterpiece. Bogotá summarized, word for word from a wonderful article in FAZ:'But the liveliness of the Colombian capital, it must be said, is of a special kind. It is not a dignified allotment garden joy or southern passion. Rather, it is a rough vitality that arises more from an excess of disparate forces than from inner peace. Hyperactive, always under pressure, short-tempered - Bogotá'
