Day 21 - Bike tour, Museo del Oro and attempting to go shopping

We started the day with a 4-hour bike tour. In my opinion, it's the best way to get an overview of a city in a short amount of time. The tour was well-guided, except for one annoying participant from Switzerland (by the way, that Swiss lady could have used 400 hours of biking as well).

Since it was a holiday today, the traffic was minimal, which was nice. Also, some main roads were closed for cars until 2 PM. They do that every Sunday here (Rheinradeln Colombian-style) 🚲

We first went through the problem district of Santa Fe (not the only problem district). It's a combination of prostitution, drug dealing, and other crimes. My suggestion to Julia to go for a walk here tonight was rejected - and honestly, even in broad daylight, I was glad to have a bike underneath me.

After several stops and visiting a small coffee roastery, we stopped at the market to try some fruits. Most of them I already knew from Julia and because I try everything I see. But even for Julia, there were some new fruits - there is truly an incredible selection. And they don't just sell avocados 🥑, you can choose from 8 different varieties.

Then we went to a Colombian dive bar where beer was flowing even at lunchtime. In the back, there was a hall with several Tejo game fields. Tejo is a traditional Colombian game where you throw a stone from about 20 meters away to hit small bags filled with gunpowder. When you hit it, the bags explode, well, if you hit it 😂. It was of course more difficult than it looks, but the bar owner showed us how to do it - and the explosions are really loud.

I give the bike tour a grade of 1.

After that, we went to Museo del Oro, where gold craftsmanship from the last 4000 years is exhibited. Colombia used to have rich gold deposits, which the Spaniards later took. The variety and quantity were impressive, but after the 50th earring and the 100th mask, we got bored quickly. There was a room with a very well-made animation with light and sound effects. We ended up spending less than an hour there instead of the planned 2.5 hours - we are true philistines when it comes to art 😜

Nevertheless, if you ever come here, it's a must-see, especially with an entrance fee of 1.10 €. Seriously, I've spent much more on entrance fees in my life, so this was a real bargain.

Bargain is the keyword for today's last activity. We went to the biggest shopping street and unfortunately, we were disappointed 😔. Just junk, kitsch, and cheap goods (from our perspective). Shopping was canceled! Later, we went to a Centro Comercial, a classic shopping mall that could be found in any city in the world. All the stores we know from Europe, food court on the top floor, done. Nothing new... and the prices: European, sometimes even more expensive. Nevertheless, the mall was packed with people - okay, it's also the holiday shopping season in Colombia. Still, it's surprising in a country where the average income is MUCH lower than ours and you can have a lunch in the capital for less than 3 euros.

Speaking of food: Today we had Peruvian cuisine 👍.