The capital of Colombia is Bogota. It's much bigger than I expected. And traffic is HORRIBLE! But it has everything you could want. Friendly people, decent public transportation, tons of parks and any and every type of food you could want. One thing I didn't know was how many steep hills there are. But it's in the Andes Mountains, so I should have realized that there aren't that many flat streets. About an hour out of town there's the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquirá, and Guatavita Lagoon in Guatavita, which has a huge lake and botanical gardens. There's also the upside down house-strictly a tourist attraction. That was a good day trip. I also explored downtown and La Candelaria neighborhood. Enjoy the pictures!
Above are pictures from downtown. I met the lady that created a famous drink( Chicha)- she's holding it up in the picture(top right). I didn't like it, but it's very popular among the locals. It's a fermented corn beer. It was banned at one point, but it's legal now. I found 2 murals of her around town. Below, La Candelaria.
Below is from the Salt Cathedral. A church carved out of rock salt.
They have different stations and each one is their interpretation of scriptures. It's underground so it's dark. There was light by each display. Below is Guatavita.
We had to hike up through the garden to get to the lake. These were taken from various distances and finally from the top. Below are pics from the town.
And as usual, I took a food tour. Below are some of the traditional foods. Soup(Sudado- which is a broth based soup with shredded chicken and potatoes. You can add hot sauce, avocado and fried plantain which are served on the side). This soup is usually served on holidays. Fruit, fried plantains(Patacones-which vary regionally as to how they are served), pork and rice, and pork and potatoes. Also a little bun with cheese inside(Pandebono), it was really good(Bottom left). There's a popular game that is played at bars(bottom right). Like a pinball machine, except you throw balls at the holes and score points by how many you get in.
Overall, I really enjoyed Bogota. I barely scratched the surface-it really is a huge city. I'll definitely be back!
