La Candelaria
by call_me_rhia
La Candelaria is in central Bogota and it's the historical centre, with many colonial buildings, museums and old charming churches. its heart is in the large Plaza Bolivar, where you can find, among others, the cathedral, the parliament building and (slightly hidden) palace Nariño, the home of the president of Colombia.
Rumours want it that it's a dangerous place to vist, but I did not find it so, at least during the day... there's plenty of police around and you'll see lots of local women walking about with their handbag AND not really holding on to it, which is a clear sign that criminality is not as high as people want you to believe.
At night it's a different story.. until 10 PM it felt very safe, with plenty of people strolling about - then suddenly everyone disappeared and the area started to look scary: hardly any visible police around, and some dodgy faces. needless to say, we took a taxi to return to our hotel. My fondest memory of Bogota, and the main reason why we went there, were two excellent museums: the gold museum (museo de oro) which hosts the richest collection of pre-columbian gold artefacts, and the Donacion Botero where you can admire a large number of statues and paintings of the world-reknown Medellin-born artist.
Both museums are located in the historical Candelaria area.
the statues of Jorge Oglave
by richiecdisc
One of La Candelaria's more charming aspects are the sculptures of local artist Jorge Olave. This sizable depictions of ordinary people are made of recycled materials and sit like sentinels atop the buildings looking down at those passing by. These relatively recent additions (since the late 1990s) are a nice addition to an area very much in transition and readying itself for a tourist influx it very much deserves.
Zipaquira & Salt Cathedral
by morgr
Zipaquira is a charming little colonial style town about 50km north of Bogota. However, the reason to visit Zipaquira is for what is in the hills above town, well, that should be UNDER the hills above town.
The hills around the city are rich in salt and have been mined and/or exploited for hundreds of years. More recently carved into the mountain, in 1954, is an underground church. This original church was closed in 1992, but a new one was carved out 60m below the original one. The new one was opened to the public in 1995. It is 75m long and 18m high.
As you enter you will go around in a hallway with the 14 stations of the cross, represented by various crosses and such carved out of the salt. The hallway goes in a sort of semi circle, often you are able to see the main chamber of the church below. Once you have gone through the 14 stages, you go down a set of stairs and into the main church area. There is one big room as well as a few small adjoining rooms on either side.
You are only able to go in with a guided tour and they do have english speaking guides.
Tue-Sun, 9am-4:30pm.
There is also a 'Salt Museum' at the same site as the church, which has displays on the history of the mining of salt here. Same hours as church.
Check out my Zipaquira page for more
Hop on the Transmilenio (from any station on Jimenez take B74) going north up Caracas (Carrera 14) up to Portal de Norte station. Get of there and on the other side of the platform hop on the bus labelled 'Zipaquira'.
Andrés Carne de Res
by Ossi.P
For probably the best "rumba" you have to leave Bogotá for Chía and go to "Andrés Carne de Res"
This place is just incredible and impossible to describe. It's a disco an restaurant in one and the house and it's decoration are unique.
Watch out as there might be private rumbas you need a ticket to. This is more a highsociety place, but there are also a lot of students amd like almost everywhere in Colombia you might dress just like you want.
To Bogota from San Gil
by MalenaN
Many buses are passing by San Gil on there way to Bogota. I arrived to the terminal in San Gil just after 7am. There were two companies next to each other offering tickets for a bus leaving 7.30. One was Omega that had a small bus and one was Copatran which had a big bus. Both cost 30 000 pesos (July 2008). I bought a ticket with Copatran. The bus didn't arrive until just before 8am (coming from Bucaramanga). The chairs were very comfortable and could be leaned back a lot, with support for the legs. There was still enough space between the rows of chairs. And there were two toilets on the bus. But it was too cold. I don't like air condition and can't understand why it must be so cold on the buses. After 1,5 hours we stopped for a 30 minutes break to eat (I had been at the same place the previous year). After that they showed the film Too fast, too furious - Tokyo Drive.
At 14.15 we stopped at Portal Norte, but I thought it would be more convenient to continue to the terminal and take a taxi from there, instead of the Transmillenio from Portal Norte. I had forgotten that it took as long as another hour to go to the terminal.
At the terminal I stood in line for one of the secure taxis. I gave the address to where I was going and got a paper with the car number and the cost of the journey. To Platapus it was 7400 pesos.
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Nativity scenes are the rage - Christmas2010
keep your eyes open, they are scattered around
one last Bandeja Paisa for the road
Hospedaje Cacique Sugamuxi
