After an overnight flight, we arrived bright and early, around 6:30am, in the tiny airport in Bogota, Colombia. We had a veritable adventure getting out of there...our Spanish is (to put it nicely) questionable. We finally found the money exchange office and got on the road to La Candelaria--the historic section of Bogota--around 7am.
Well, we were surprised to find out that this is the "busy season" for travelers in Bogota. It wasn't until visiting three hostels that we found a room--third time's a charm! We finally put our bags down, agreed on a very cheap price for the room (30,000 pesos, or ~$7 each, per night), and took off exploring.
After picking up arepas rellenas con queso on the street, we found our way into an old square, only to find out later in a guidebook that it is thought to be the very first site of the city of Bogota, dating back to around 1538. It was early--At 7:30 in the morning, there were very few people to be found. But some people were up and about, mostly students (we quickly realized that there are about 10 universities just in La Candelaria!)
We were so happy to be here in Colombia, we just had to take a few pictures!
After letting the fact that we were actually here sink in, we continued our exploration. We found a hostel that looked interesting, and out of curiosity, we popped in. It turns out that the person who owns the hostel spoke perfect English, and he helped us to find the most exciting and interesting places in the city. We kept along walking to find some of them and stopped at a fresh fruit stand and got the yummiest pineapple we have ever had!
Mmmmmm.After walking for a bit we found our way to the main square, Plaza de Bolivar. All of the types of architecture in Colombia (neo-classical, colonial, pre-colonial) are repesented in the buildings surrounding the square, but the highlight is definitely the cathedral with the mountains shooting up behind it:
After visiting the tourist office and getting some more info, we visited the National Police Museum, which has a collection of artifacts from Pablo Escobar. The Colombian National Police were responsible for capturing and killing him in Medellin, after a very long hunt. The museum had a collection of the most graphic pictures of him and his accomplices, some of them mugshots but some of them taken after they were shot with pools of blood around them and everything. Eek! It was clearly an attempt to prove the strength and superiority of the National Police. Such propaganda.
The freshly murdered Pablo Escobar is in the middle; some of his accomplices are around him, including a 14-year-old boy!
Whoa, creepy. We definitely got the chills looking at that.
Afterwards, we found our way back to the square, where protests were taking place. The day before we got there was a really important one in Colombia--4 political figures who had been held hostage in the jungle for almost 8 years by the guerrilla soldiers were released after negotiations with the government. However, there are still more hostages, and the protests were mostly centered around getting the others released as well. Some of them have been held in the jungle for over 10 years! So, naturally, today was one of the most important days in recent history for Colombia. However, interestingly enough, this news barely made a briefing in the New York Times, while Al Jazeera and BBC are the only places I could find full articles about it. It goes to show that most of South America is off the radar in US news media....even in an international newspaper such as the Times.
One of the interesting things about the gathering was that the National Police were completely monopolizing the protest, with tents and everything set up. I guess they really wanted to make their presence known. Weird. You could tell from the museum that they are really making an effort to be an important, respected, well-liked force in Colombian society. Which all seems a little off-color to me, but it was definitely interesting to see. Especially with the history of Colombian violence...I guess they want to restore order by becoming a police state? Hmm.
Our next big stop was the Museo del Oro, one of the most important sites in the city. It has the most impressive collection in the world of gold artifacts from ancient cultures, all found in Colombia. The indigenous peoples who inhabited Colombia before the Spanish conquests had many rituals that involved gold, and they made the most unbelievable, intricate gold pieces. The museum has something like 40,000 gold artifacts!
One thing that is common in Colombia is free tours. We got a free tour in English with our admission, which was amazing because we were able to understand the context of the artifacts. Everything in the tribal cultures revolved around their spiritual beliefs. They worshipped and revered the jaguar, which was the ultimate symbol of power and strength, and it is represented in a great deal of the art. Also, they believed in transcendental states of being, and the reincarnation of humans into other species. The important people in the tribe, such as the chieftans, would perform ceremonies that included all kinds of mind-altering drugs, including cocaine, to transcend their bodies and enter into the realm of animals and nature. Nature, humans, and animals were all on the same level, and the indigenous peoples' respect for nature was extremely central to their practices and beliefs. The duality of things in the universe (man/woman, human/animal, heaven/earth) was also very central to their ideology, as represented in pieces such as the gold masks below:
These earrings were just so amazing, I had to take a picture of them. Wow, it puts Alexander Calder to shame.
Some background, if you are interested--these gold artifacts were mostly found in and around Lake Guatavita, the site of the legend of El Dorado. When Gonzala Jiminez de Quesada, a major Spanish conquistador, first entered the region, the Muiscas (the most prevalent indigenous culture) inhabited the area. They performed this incredible ceremony where the chieftan covered himself entirely in gold and chanted while the members of the tribe would throw gold artifacts, mostly in containers (which is why they are preserved) into the lake as an offering to the Gods. Some of the remaining tribal peoples still perform this ritual.
The last, most captivating part of the tour was the simulation of this ceremony. We walked into a dark circular room with a lake-like circle in the center, complete with gold artifacts on different levels of glass platforms below the surface. Then, the audio began, and a chieftan performed the chants as light slowly illuminated what must have been thousands of pieces of gold found in the lake. The chieftan who recorded the chant is one of the chieftans of the surviving tribes. It was a truly jaw-dropping experience. Below is more gold artifacts, in this case jewelry, that the Muiscas wore.
After this amazing experience, we took a walk around the city and explored some more. It was fun to just come across buildings like the one below. While a lot of the buildings in the city are pretty run-down, some of them are painted with really bright colors, with ornate balconies and cupolas.
Finally, we ended a great day with an incredible meal at a local eatery, which cost us about $3 for 2 full plates of arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and a huge bowl of homemade chicken soup. To add to the experience, there was a blackout in the restaurant. At one point I had to shine my flashlight on the kitchen in the back so they could light candles--it was pitch black! But wow, so delicious.
Day 2 of our adventure in Bogota was another full one. We left our hostel (pictured below--it was so great!) at around 9am for a walk to the funicular, which took us up the mountain to Monserrate.
Once up on top, we could see the whole city below. It was a beautiful day.
Our hostel is in there somewhere...
Posing atop Monserrate!
On the path leading up to the church, there was one statue for each Station of the Cross. This has clearly proven itself to be the most important story in the Bible to the Colombians. The suffering of Christ is depicted everywhere, and almost every church has some painting or statue of the fallen Christ. When he is made to carry the cross to his site of crucifixion, he falls a few times in his state of suffering, and this powerful story is the one that is most represented in Colombia. In this church at Monserrate, the Fallen Christ is the centerpiece of the altar.
The views from the church were amazing...mountains and the city and forests...it was really beautiful.
The church at Monserrate
Along the path to the church, views of the mountains and gardens
Going STRAIGHT down the mountain in the cable car...yikes.
Our next stop was the home of Simon Bolivar, one of the most important liberators of South America from the Spanish colonizers. He is essentially equivalent to our George Washington, and is universally revered in South America. He lived in Bogota and was the first president of the newly liberated state.
Bust of Simon Bolivar surrounded by flags of the freed nations
Next, we ate lunch in a 400-year-old restaurant in La Candelaria, Fulanitos. To us, the food was definitely interesting...I wouldn't call it very appetizing or delicious but it was an experience. The Colombians in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying it, though. One of the things we tried was a fruit that is unique to the region, a lulo. They make a smoothie-like drink out of it by coarsely mashing the fruit and adding water and sugar to it. Everyone else in the restaurant was drinking and so of c0urse we had to try it. Being that we had never tasted such a thing before, it was a little bizarre to us. But intriguing.
Mom tried the fruit and quickly realized how sour it is!We tried to see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace, but after a long time trying to find out if it was happening, we finally concluded that it was not happening. We read that it was on Wednesdays at 5, but then the tourist office told us 4. Then we went to the palace and the guards told us 5, but they weren't really sure. Then they said it wasn't happening at all, but was happening on Thursday instead. After asking about 5 people, we finally concluded that it probably wasn't going to happen... but nobody seemed to know for sure, not even the guards themselves! Our communication barrier definitely contributed, but it seemed like everyone had a different story (and this has happened in more than just in this instance--everyone has a different idea of what is going on!) Things here are clearly much more laid-back, and not so rigidly scheduled as they are in the states.
So, we took a local bus instead to the Museo Nacional, and saw some cool mummies and learned a little bit about the history of the Spanish conquest and the pre-Colombian society. Then we walked to the most beautiful church, Iglesia San Francisco. Churches in Colombia are almost all really ornate (clearly following from the Spanish tradition, something we noticed in Spain last year). But this one takes the cake--the entire altar is a gold-covered carving, with Saints, Jesus, the Madonna, and all other sorts of religious symbols represented. It was mind-boggling!
After another very long day, we went to bed early and got ready to visit the Catedral de Sal in Zipaquira the next day.
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