Well it’s been about a month since this happened but here’s a fun tale about my unexpected visit to Bogota that turned into a 5 night stay. I wrote most of this awhile back but it’s just taken time to write the last few sections and add the photos/videos.
When Life Gives You Lemons Make Lemonade
After 10 days in the Magdalena region it was time for me to move on from the North of Colombia and head toward the center. My next destination was San Gil, the extreme sports paradise of the country and a popular backpacker destination. Rather than taking a bus I found a cheap flight that went from Santa Marta to Bucaramanga with a connection through Bogota. I was going to spend the night in Bucaramanga then take the couple hour bus the next day to San Gil. In hindsight I shouldn’t have flown at all and should have just taken the 15 hour bus to San Gil all the way from Santa Marta but everything happens for a reason.
It was almost time for my flight to board from Santa Marta to Bogota when all of the sudden the departures board said delayed for an hour and a half. Uhhhh what the fuck, I could see the plane just sitting at the gate. A slight panic took over me because my connecting flight to Bucaramanga was just over an hour after my original arrival time in Bogota. Great, now I need to figure out how to handle this situation using my limited Spanish. I went to the gate showing the worker my connecting flight to Bucaramanga to convey that I would be missing it and she said some things I didn’t understand, but I did get that she needed 5 minutes to figure it out. For the next 45 minutes I would periodically go up to the counter and was always given the 5 more minute sign. I knew I was in for an interesting night ahead. While I was worried at first I started relaxing and thought fuck it, what can I really do. It’s not like I’m actually in a rush or have anywhere to be. My flight out of Colombia was in 4 weeks so I’ll be fine with whatever happens. At this point the most important thing was that I could at least be with my bag that I checked at the end of the night.
We finally began boarding over an hour after the original take off time and I knew I had no chance of making my connection. I asked one last time and she smiled and said well at least you can have a fun night dancing in Bogota. Good point. The airline did at least upgrade my ticket to economy plus and put me in the second row where I had more legroom and got served food and a drink for the 50 minutes flight. Okay better than nothing.
As expected I landed in Bogota past the time of my flight take off for Bucaramanga. Well the good thing about that is I know my bag is here. I asked someone at LatAm what to do and they said go to the additional services counter. Well low and behold my flight was just one of many that had been delayed going to Bogota so there was a massive crowd of people waiting at additional services fighting their way to the front. Well this should be fun. I spent over an hour waiting trying to get some attention but it seemed like each person at the counter was taking over 20 minutes and the line was going nowhere.
I decided to go down and get my bag but since I had to exit security to try and figure out my flight situation I couldn’t get to baggage claim. Once again me and a bunch of people had the same issue and everyone is trying to hand their ticket stub to the baggage people to get help. Meanwhile they’re taking tickets then just standing there doing nothing. What a shit show. I could even see my bag going around the carousel. But this took another 10-15 minutes. I went back upstairs to try one more time to see what I could do about my flight/at least get some sort of hotel voucher but after another 20 minutes of waiting and going nowhere I said fuck it I’ll just take matters into my own hands. I had landed at 9:30 and it was almost midnight at this point and I was tired. I was just going to get a hotel and take the bus to San Gil the next day since it was only 6-7 hours from Bogota. I’m done dealing with LatAm. My Wi-Fi wasn’t working great in the airport but I was able to get it to work long enough to get me a hotel so I had a destination to tell a taxi. When I got in the guy said it wasn’t in a great location but I really didn’t care at this point I just needed somewhere to sleep. It was a bit ghetto on the outside but the room was actually nice.
I checked my email and saw that I had one from LatAm saying my new flight to Bucaramanga was at 7:15 the next morning. Well shit. This was a time when having cell service would have been handy. Had I known that I would have gotten a hotel right by the airport. Whatever it wasn’t meant to be. I was in no mood to wake up in a few hours, taxi to the airport, fly to Bucaramanga, then take a multiple hour bus to San Gil. So I decided that I was still going to skip it and just take the bus from Bogota to San Gil. Plus I had my friends from La Ciudad Perdida trek in the area so maybe I’d grab lunch with them.
I woke up more refreshed the next morning and after FaceTiming with the parents for the first time I hit up Moni and Caro to see what they had going on. I wasn’t originally going to even go to Bogota but after really connecting with both of them on the trek I was thinking about spending my last few days in Colombia in Bogota since all international flights go through here anyways. But the wheels started turning in my brain, I’m in Bogota right now and it was already Thursday so if my friends are free this weekend then why not just stay here now rather than wait. Both of them were thrilled when I texted saying I was in Bogota due to missing my connection and that they would be happy to show me around this weekend. Problem solved. My missed connection to Bucaramanga was the universe’s way of reconnecting me with the friends that I had just made and given me the opportunity for them to show me the local Bogota experience.
Bogota The Local Way
I spent my first and last night sleeping at Moni’s place (well she lives with her aunt so actually her aunt’s place) and then I got a hotel nearby for the two nights in between because I didn’t want her aunt to feel like I was encroaching on her space. Although I really should have just stayed there the whole time because I was always with there and barely used my hotel.
I really liked Moni’s neighborhood it reminded me of the Heights or Montrose in Houston or Lo-Hi in Denver. It was north of the center and had a much more residential and safe feel to it. Very chill vibe with lots of beautiful trees and plants; nice restaurants and coffee shops; and boutique shops. Multiple times a day we would walk her aunt’s dog Aurelio around the neighborhood so I really got a good feel for the area. Most backpackers just hangout in La Candaleria area so this wasn’t the typical Bogota experience which I was glad to get.
The People
I only hung out with people I already knew spending the entire time with Moni (besides when she had to work on Friday so I explored the center by myself), Thursday night and all day Saturday with Caro, and all day Saturday with Gorka and Leira as they had just arrived from Barichara. It was amazing to see all my friends from La Ciudad Perdida trek and re-connect so soon after that experience to solidify our lifelong friendships. Moni and Caro did a great job showing me the local lifestyle in Bogota and I came away from the experience loving the city thanks to them. They are also both such amazing people that are super fun to be around and I am grateful to have met them on the trek. I’m also so happy that I got to spend another day with Gorka and Leira in a city environment rather than on the trail. They are also great people to be around and I hope some day to visit them in Basque Country. The all day Saturday hangs with the group was such a fun and memorable day and solidified my love for Bogota.
I’m also starting to really love the Colombian people. Now that I’m at least slightly better and more confident at Spanish I have had some very happy go lucky interactions with vendors and people on the street (more on that below). Even though I speak slowly and poorly people are so much more receptive when you are at least trying.
The City
Bogota is the capital of the country and a huge city with a population of around 8 million in the capital district and 11 million in surrounding metro. It has an elevation of around 8600 feet which is even higher than Denver and was a huge change of pace coming from coastal Santa Marta. The traffic was terrible and the drivers were crazy. It felt like many big cities where it’d be easy to get overwhelmed as a tourist so I was glad to have the help of two locals showing me around or at least telling me where to go. The buildings are kind of run down looking and not very pretty and there wasn’t really much of a skyline; the city had a grittiness to it. But there were some nice plazas and the mountains are right nearby to the east which provides a beautiful backdrop when looking that way. There is also a lot of green space and beautiful trees especially in the north as I mentioned above. And of course no big city would be complete without some solid museum options for art, history, and culture.
Food
All the meals I ate out were delicious and there are so many options for every type of food. The day I wandered around by myself I went to La Puerta Falsa (per Moni’s recommendation) for ajiaco. I knew it was going to be good when there was a line out the door. This traditional Colombian dish, especially in Bogota, is a soup with shredded chicken, onion, garlic, spices, and a half ear of corn. I had to ask the women next to me to learn this but you also pour in the capers and cream that they give you on the side for added flavor. It was delicious and one of my favorite Colombian meals that I’ve had!
Another traditional meal I had was cerdo de costillas which is a rib soup in a very light broth. The taste was pretty plain but Moni told me it was good for hangovers so it was necessary on Sunday morning. It was also super cheap. I got that and a bottle of water for 10,000 pesos which is roughly $2.50.
On Saturday night the whole crew: me, Moni, Caro, Gorka, and Leira went out for a nice dinner at this trendy spot Chichería Demente that had a live band playing toward the end of our meal. We did family style sharing fried pig intestines, empeñadas, steak, pork, potatoes, and salad. Caro promised me they cleaned the pig intestines thoroughly…well that’s comforting. It was actually pretty good thanks to the fried part. Reminded me a bit of the rubbery taste of calamari.
Drink
Aguardiente (fire water) is the national drink of Colombia and it kinda tastes like Jaeger. I didn’t love it but also didn’t hate it. Caro was a big fan so we took multiple shots of it every night I went out with her. The first night I was pretty drunk since I hadn’t really been drinking much on the trip and went from sea level the day before to high altitude. Throughout the weekend I also had a few shots at Moni’s aunt’s house of different types of aguardiente they had lying around the house.
I had some nice interactions with locals on my day exploring alone. I was walking to Choreo de Quevedo which is the main plaza for drinking chiche (a corn based alcohol) when I discovered this cool little alleyway with vendors that I decided to walk through. I started chatting it up with a few of the vendors and everyone was so friendly and enjoyed speaking to me in my broken Spanish. I was telling them about all the aguardiente shots I took the night before and they were laughing. They ended up offering me a sample of bicce *look up* which was pretty tasty. Then I continued along to try a few samples of chiche in the plaza. I’m glad I tried it but wasn’t really my favorite.
All around Bogota there are BBCs (Bogota Brewing Company). It was a great place to make an afternoon stop or to pregame for your evening. I think I ended up at 3 different ones over the course of the weekend.
The Nightlife
I thoroughly enjoyed the nightlife in Bogota, the streets were always bustling with people and the clubs were packed with good times. On Friday night Moni and I went to a multi story club that had reggaeton on the second floor and house music on the rooftop with lounge style seating. It was nice to bounce back and forth between the two depending on the mood. I left this night with a new found appreciation for reggaeton – I love looking around the club and everyone is getting down so hard to the music and singing every single lyric to every song. You can just see and feel the passion and joy in the crowd. It’s such a fun energy.
On Saturday, Caro took our 5 person Ciudad Perdida crew to the Ghetto Project which is one of the biggest clubs in South America and has 7 different rooms of music. Felt like being at a music festival where each room had a totally different vibe. We ended up spending nearly 4 hours here dancing in the different rooms. I hadn’t partied much on the trip up to this point and this was the perfect big night out in Bogota. Amazing crew of people with great music options in a huge club. Can’t beat that on a Saturday night.
Tejo
Tejo is the national sport of Colombia that would also be very popular in America; it’s very similar to cornhole but with explosions. You take your tejo, a metal disc shaped stone, and toss it onto a board made out of mud trying to get as close to the center as possible. Then surrounding the center is packets of gun powder, 2 or 4 depending your rules, and if the tejo lands on one then it explodes (called a mecha). Obviously the explosions are always super fun and followed with lots of cheers and hugs. Each player gets 1 toss per round then you score based on a few different scenarios (these rules changed by city): (1) no explosions or center then closest player gets 1 point, (2) explosion then 3 points, (3) center then 6 points, (4) explosion and center then 9 points. Then the highest score total for that round gets the points. We actually played slightly different rules in bogota but those are more similar to my other experiences.
Anyways my first time playing was the afternoon me, Moni, Caro, Gorka, and Leira all hung out. It was the perfect Saturday daytime drinking game. None of us were great but we were having the best time. We were in no rush just drinking beers and slowly playing the game. I ended up doing pretty well and got 5 explosions. I was 1 point away from winning and ended the game by getting it smack in the center. The competitor in me was pumped to win my first Tejo game especially against two Colombians. I’m considering opening a Tejo bar in Denver, I think it’d be a hit. Just not sure what kind of regulations America would have on a bar game with gun powder involved.
The Center
My only alone time was on Friday when I went to the center by myself while Moni worked. I really enjoyed walking along Carrera 7 where there are street performers, people playing chess, and vendors selling leather products, artisan goods, crystals, hats, backpacks, etc. Lots of street activity going on. It started to rain so I popped into the Gold Museum which turned out to be incredible.
Museo del Oro (Gold Museum)
The museum has such an incredible collection of gold figurines and other artifacts from indigenous tribes all across Colombia. It was a very fascinating museum but an overload of information especially since I supplemented the tour with an audio guide. During La Ciudad Perdida, Jose told us that there were some domborros here so it was cool to see them and have a greater understanding of what they mean to the indigenous people.
I also really enjoyed learning more about the cosmology and spiritual aspects that the pieces had for the different communities and getting a better understanding of how the shamans interacted with the world. When a shaman is in a trance he feels he gets transformed into a bird and enters other dimensions in the cosmos communicating with spirits, consulting about illnesses and the future, learning chants and dances; and then bringing all this knowledge back to his people. I knew that jaguars were symbolic in these cultures but didn’t realize how important bats were as well. I ended up spending 1.5 hours there, which is a long time for me to be at a museum, and even that was moving through it pretty quickly.
Museo de Botero
After filling up on ajiaco I made my way over to Museo de Botero to get my art on. Francisco Botero is the most famous Colombian painter who is know for his very distinctive style where everything is rotund – people, fruits, animals. I really enjoyed some of his works and grew a greater appreciation for him after making my way through a couple rooms. He was also a brilliant sculpture.
The museum also had some works from other famous painters (Picasso, Dali, etc) but a majority was dedicated to Botero.
La Candaleria
This is typically where backpackers stay. Lots of colorful buildings with mountain backdrop. The Choreo de Quevedo with the chiche shots that I talked about earlier is in this area. Nice to walk around for a bit but I was so glad to be staying further north in the city.
Lazy Sunday
I was planning to leave for San Gil on Sunday but after the crazy Saturday day and night I decided against taking a 7 hour bus. Will I ever make it to San Gil???? Yes but just needed a lazy Sunday first. Moni and I spent the whole day watching movies and shows on Netflix. It was so needed. My life has been so on the go since leaving Sarasota and it was incredible to just do nothing. We only left the house to walk Aurelia and get a quick dinner and ice cream. Then after 5 nights in Bogota, I finally left on Monday morning for my first Colombian bus experience.