Arriving in Bogota was a bit of a culture shock. It is a big busy city. We’re staying in La Candelaria area. It is the historic center of the city at foot of the Monserrate mountain. It is Halloween so the place is really jumping. It is late and we had a bit of stress getting into our airbnb so it was a late bite and to bed.
Day one we decide to get our bearings. La Candelaria is a hipster paradise, lots of street art, coffee shops and cafes. The vibe is very easy going. We walk up the hill to an area shown on google maps as a good place to walk around and see some culture. Just as we are mounting some steps to get into this area we were haled by a man in Spanish, I thought he was trying to sell us something but he then told us in perfect English to not go into this area as we will be robbed. He really saved our asses. We very gratefully turned heels and headed back to the safety of hipsterville. We visited the Museo Botero del Banco de la Republica, A great collection of paintings by Fernando Botero and his own collections. Lots of big names like Dali, Picasso, Miro.
After lunch we headed to Monserrate, you can walk it but it is 10,000 feet up so we took the cable car instead. You have stunning views out over the city. Then we headed to dinner and soak up the nightlife. We really had a great laugh on the town with the locals. I was forced to sing at one stage in a bar. Again really enjoying the people, great sense of fun and joy. There is evidence of this fun and joy, if you need to see said evidence, message my wife, she will be only too happy to share 😉
Day two we did a walking tour of the old town, getting some history and we ended with the most traditional game Tenjo, you have to try and hit some triangles that are full of gun powder. We decided after that to just take it easy for the rest of the day and rest.
very famous street art 
war machines 
street dogs, the balloons say “please give me a home” 
Tejo 
Tejo space 
fleamarket 
fleamarket 
Bogota day 3
Sundays in Bogota, a section of the city is closed off to traffic so people can run, walk and cycle around freely. Also, half the city seems to come out and treat it like one big car boot sale. There are also lots of flea markets around. People’s tat is more interesting though as most of the fleamarket stuff is all the same. Although Gabby did finally find her hat!!! That is big news!
A lovely day wandering the city, Sundays are really relaxed here. One highlight had to be the street VR we passed. It consisted of a person with VR headset on strapped into a hand truck and the “operator” tipping her up and down in time with the screen showing what she is seeing (a flight through a city). Bogota is such an interesting and vibrant city. I can recommend.
Off to a place called Armenia, it is in the “Coffee Triangle”. 9-hour overnight bus! oh Joy.