Bogota Day 1

I've combined elements of Day 2 into this post.  Day 1 was basically all travel, first from Atlanta to Panama City, Panama, then to Bogota, Columbia.  The flight arrived at 11 PM on Saturday night.  I had arranged pickup by Impulse Travel together with an English-speaking guide, Raul, who kept in touch with me the whole time and met me after I cleared customs. 

I had booked a King Suite at the Radisson Bogota Metrotel for $80 a night. My first suite was nice, but I soon realized the sound of traffic was relentless. There were also multiple issues, mainly with plugs not properly affixed to the wall that caused me to request a change of room the next morning.

I was able to choose from 2 other rooms: one on the same side as the original room but on the 9th floor instead of the 6th or one on the other side of the building on the 10th floor. I choose the latter since there seemed to be little traffic noise, all plugs were properly installed, but also had a great view.

The service here is awesome and the folks are extremely friendly. Granted, I'm in a hotel where service is to be expected, but the folks were extra nice here.

Bogota Day 2

I've been taking Spanish lessons from Laura for about a year now. When a trip came up to Bogota, I decided to visit, and she agreed to hang out with me. We went shopping (my favorite first pastime in a new city) since I had a large fridge.

After that we walked around and then met up with her boyfriend Rodrigo at Escape Room Colombia. Laura had called them to see which room needed the least Spanish and it turned out to be Cientifico Loco (The Crazy Scientist.) Our game master was Alejandra and though we only asked for 2 clues, she gave us a number of clues to keep us going. So much so, we finished with 14 or 17 something minutes to spare. Lucky I had Spanish speakers with me, because the last clue was the numbers spelled out in Spanish in a really weird recording of a voice. They could understand it, but I had no clue.

This was a pretty good room, probably a 3 on the Andy Scale (1 is the best, 2 is rocking, 3 is good, 4 sucks, and 5 sucks more.) The story was a bit lame - Crazy Scientist has locked you in and will cut you up in an hour if you can't get out. Tons of locks and some really good puzzles.

I really enjoyed the GM coming through for us, though I had no clue what she said and had to constantly turn to Daniela to translate. My opinion was that the GM was sorry for us since they were obviously carrying around a useless appendage. It was only until after the room we told her I've done over 140 rooms. Experience rocks.

Afterwards, we went to a Taqueria (seriously, it is called La Taqueria) and I had Fajitas. They do NOT sizzle here. The sizzle in the US is due to the kitchen putting water on the hot plate to have it steam. Really! Then we had Nutella Crepes with banana, strawberries, and ice cream.

Bogota Day 3

I had two activities this day - the Bogota Grand Tour and a Nightclub Tour.

The day started and ended with rain with a massive overdose of sunshine during the middle. When the tour started, I was dressed in my waterproof shoes and jacket (yes, yes, other clothes too!) We drove around town looking at the old town and I was given an explanation of the colonial and republican times.

The old center is called La Candalaria. The thing that moved me the most was the statue of La Pola (which is also now the nickname of a beer.) She was executed at age 21 after inciting the folks to rise up against the Spanish colonial rule. she would go around buying folks drinks (ergo the beer named after her) and people loved her BUT did not want to rock the boat. Eventually, the Spanish caught her and executed her. This caused the country to be so outraged that they did rise up and Colombia won its independence in 1819. Unfortunately, I was so moved, that I did not take my own pic - perhaps we will go there again today and I will replace the one I have posted.

We then went to Montserrate, a huge tourist destination reached by cable car, funicular, or 1000's of stairs. I picked the cable car. There is a church up there which was built by the Spanish on a sacred native site using gold plundered from the graves there. Yeah, nice folks.

The evening was rainy again and my night club tour was a bust not only because of the rain, but because on Mondays, most places are closed (I guess party-time stops on Sunday.)

I got to see a lot of Bogota by car and walking so not a bad day, but not my favorite so far.

Bogota Day 4 - Part 1

This was my food tour day with Raul as my food tour guide. This was more of a walking tour than a food stop tour. We only had 3 food stops which was fine by me. I wanted to go by La Pola and take some pictures of her monument so we were back in Candalaria, one of the oldest parts of the city.

We started out at Perservancia, a local food market with typical Colombian dishes. The area was where immigrants from Europe and Venuzeula had come in the late 1800's and created a big melting pot.

I had the Tamale, which is something I had never tried before. It is corn flour, rice, beef, chicken, and pork in a big plantain leaf and then boiled until done - that is the version here in Bogota anyway and is typical. I will have to try it in Atlanta when I get back.

Next we went to where the first brewery was built. Germans brought beer to Colombia.

Our second food stop was at Pasteleria Florida, a restaurant in business since 1936. I am horrible at taking pictures at the right time especially when food is involved, so please enjoy a pic of half. Hot Chocolate with cheese wasn't really my thing, but the breads that came with it paired much better.

Our final food stop was a chocolate shop. It took me over 15 minutes to pick out my selection. The counter girl spoke great English and agreed to pose. I did not get her name (nor her number.)

Bogota Day 4 - Part 2

In addition to eating food, Raul took me around to see and re-see sights, for example, The monument to La Pola, the girl who tried to get the Colombians to rise up against the Spanish by buying them drinks so they would listen to her (her family was rich.) The Colombians, though they liked the free drinks, did not want to rock the boat, because a previous attempt at independence in 1810 was violently stopped by the Spanish. The Spanish captured and executed her by firing squad with her sitting in a chair. Her death in 1817 riled up the Colombians so much that it led to the revolution of 1819 and Colombian Independence. The nickname for beer in Bogota is La Pola in her honor. This is all from Raul’s explanation (did not look it up.)

We passed by the largest building in Bogota, Bacata Tower, which ran out of funds for interior completion and from what I could see, inside maintenance. It seems that neglect is a huge issue in Bogota. Streets AND sidewalks have enormous potholes and ditches. I proposed that the shock, struts, and springs manufacturers were paying off the government not to fix the roads. Shhh keep it to yourself until I leave the country. Posting this from the plane on the runway but will still be over Colombian airspace for the next hour.

Bogota Day 4 - Part 3

I had explained the basics of bowling to Laura and she was eager to try a 5-step approach and use the arrows and dots to target the pins. She recommended a mall called Centro Comercial CAFAM Floresta and I headed there. I was a bit early so I walked around looking at the enormous food court, restaurants, many shops, and a bowling alley. I also got into trouble because I thought it was funny that there was a Juan Valdez Coffee place and a Subway next to each other. I didn't even notice the security guards and I was warned not to take any more pictures (I pulled the tourist card.)

When Laura got there, I explained the approach first and had her practice on the carpet like I used to do when I coached kids. You can see by her video that she was nailing it. During that learning session, we were told to get bowling because the lanes auto-turn off. We also worked on her marks and she got the concept though couldn't always execute well.

Nevertheless, she did fantastic because she is a natural athlete (cross-fit). Her boyfriend Rodrigo and twin brother Philipe joined us and Rodrigo beat us all. I am still favoring my torn rotator cuff (from my fall in Madrid) but I had almost no pain throwing with my right hand though I didn’t follow through like I usually do. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit my mark for the life of me until I realized I needed to push my shoulder back, then it improved some.

Laura also taught me some dirty words - viewer discretion advised.

Afterwards we had dinner and Laura finally managed to get me to have a shot of Aguardiente. It is anise flavored like ouzo, a drink of my childhood. Not my fave but I prefer it to whiskey. Watch the video. It is hysterical!

Bogota Day 5 - Part 1

I was really excited about the seed to cup coffee tour and the actual 3 hour activity was great but the 2.5 hour ride there and 3.5 hour ride back was miserable. For some reason, this Wednesday was traffic jam heaven and the roads into the mountains was scary and extremely uncomfortable. Jaime the driver was extremely skilled both in city AND mountain road driving. The attached video shows the smooth mountain road. I stopped when we got to the bumpy part since I couldn't hold the phone steady.

The location of the coffee farm was at the La Palma y el Tucan Hotels. These 2 hotels are owned by the same folks who own the farm. They each have 10 individual buildings called cabanas and I thought it would be a great place to write without distractions but I felt the prices were too high. $160 off peak and $220 peak a night.

This farm is completely organic, breaking down the byproducts (coffee seed shells) by adding donkey poop. I got to give the donkeys leafy treats.

I got to see the entire process. The coffee grows for nine months, starting with flowers, then progressing to different colored beans until they turn red.

I got to smell and taste 3 different coffees, then there was lunch and the horrible drive back.

Bogota Day 5 - Part 2 and Final Thoughts

My final evening was going to dinner with Laura and she gave me a couple of presents. Laura used a local app to call a ride-hailing bike.

Bogota is a city of contrasts. You have poverty and wealth right next door to each other. The minimum wage is about a dollar an hour so some things are cheap (dinner for 4 with 2 rounds of alcohol was $60) but imported items are the same price like we have, so out of reach for many.

Spanish is required for interaction with most Colombians but then there are some who speak English very well. I got to speak a lot but still can’t understand well.

I would like to return to Bogota, maybe getting an AirBnB for a couple of weeks. There is so much I didn’t get to see. Plus it's very cheap.

I tried to calculate the "real" value of money by dividing the US min Hourly rate by the min hourly Colombia rate. 50,000 pesos is like $11 but in actual value, but using this makes it equivalent to earning $90. Not quite right. Our Escape Room was 150k pesos which is $35 but is NOT $270 in real value (compared to the States where it would normally cost about $90.) Laura said she had heard of the Big Mac index, but I think I would have to try it with milk and bread or maybe several staples and average all ratios to get a "real" number.

One of the major things I noticed was neglect. The streets have a lot of trash. When the city tried to clean it up by implementing large trash dumpsters, homeless people emptied the trash and slept in the dumpster. Sidewalks and roads are in terrible condition. When walking, there are sometimes loose paving blocks that are on top of water and you can get drenched by stepping on them shooting up a fountain on your legs. There are literal holes in the sidewalks. My hotel had simple issues that someone with a screwdriver could fix (I reported the issues - whiner!)

I would like to return to Bogota though. It is a fascinating city and I barely scratched the surface.

Bogota Itinerary - Saturday June 3 - Thursday June 8, 2023