Boisterous Bogota

We woke up at 7am determined to have a good day and see everything Bogota had to offer. We needed to have an action packed day because we were leaving Bogota the next day and were not coming back. We made our way down to the hotel breakfast. We stayed at the AC Hotel by Marriott and the breakfast buffet was stupendous. We had rice, prosciutto, croissants, fresh-squeezed juice, coffee, yogurt, and a bunch of other stuff. Did I mention it was good?

We headed out for the day with a full backpack (well, almost full, I'll explain in a bit). Google said we just had to walk a couple blocks to catch an express bus to get down to the downtown area that we wanted to be in. As happens sometimes, Google lied. We walked to the stop and our bus was not listed. We walked further down the block we still couldn't find it. We decided to just walk down as far as we could go. Eventually, Lacey got us an Uber which worked out great. 

The Uber dropped us off at a park. We decided to walk over to Monserrate, a very tall mountain that overlooks the city. We didn't have the Uber bring us straight to the mountain because we wanted to walk through part of the city on the way. The walk up to the base of the mountain was really cool. The road we walked up was a boulevard with nice trees in the middle. It was a Sunday so there were lots of people out selling things on the road and families around. The weather was gorgeous. 

As I mentioned, Monserrate is at the top of a mountain that overlooks the entire Bogota basin. Bogota is at about 8,500 elevation and Monserrate is at about 10,000 feet above sea level. So pretty high! Monserrate has a church at the top (the main attraction). But it's grown into more than that. It's one of, if not THE, biggest tourist attraction in the city. There's gift shops and food stalls and restaurants and views... It's the whole package. 

To get up to the top you have 2 options. The first option is to walk up it. It takes a little over an hour and it's straight up. This road used to be pretty unsafe because people would hide in the woods on the way up and rob people. That's not the case any more. We did not want to do this though, as it was about 85 degrees out and sunny. 

The other option is to take a funicular up to the top. A funicular is a train that is built on the side of a mountain so it climbs up quickly. There's also a cable car but we didn't want to wait for that. 

The scene at the base of the mountain was unlike anything we've seen. There were SO MANY people. Sundays are the busiest day for Monserrate because people go up to the church as a pilgrimage and for mass. It was also the day after New Year's when nothing was open so I think even more people were out than before. We tried waiting in one line but that didn't seem right. After watching what people were doing for a few minutes, we made our way over to a different area to buy tickets. 

They checked vaccine cards for every person getting in line. Then, Lacey got in a different line to buy tickets while I waited in an area for her to finish. Then we both waited in a line together to actually get on the funicular. While waiting in line, Lacey met a woman from Croatia who grew up in California. She lives in Croatia now so they had fun talking for a while in line. All told, we waited in line for maybe an hour. 

Here's the problem, it was bright sunshine and absolutely gorgeous weather. But, Bogota is at high elevation and the sun really beats down. We did not bring sunscreen. Whoops! My whole head and neck got pretty darn burned. Lacey's shoulders and chest got burned as well. It is what it is but we kept saying how we've been on so many trips and still can't remember stuff. 

Once we got off the funicular, we walked up the "stations of the cross" on the way to the church. They have little sculptures for each station as you do a short hike up to the church. The views over the city were pretty spectacular. Bogota is built on a fertile plain in a basin surrounded by mountains. It's very easy to see that when you're that high up. 

We wandered over by the church and peeked inside. It was packed with people for mass. Then we rested for a few minutes in a different area because we had been on our feet for at least a couple hours waiting in lines. We didn't know where else to go so we followed the crowd. 

The crowd led us through a market stall area and then through a huge food stall area. It's exactly the type of thing we love about South America and Southeast Asia. These markets with food and souvenirs and sounds and smells is just so fun. We had a snack of cheese with peanut butter and jelly. It was a little strange but also not bad! Lots of people were eating them. 

The path through the stalls led out to a rocky area with views of the green mountains on the other side of the mountain we were on. So pretty! A theme of the whole day was that it was really fun to be one of the only Americans (or the only) here. We felt we were getting a very authentic experience. 

There was also picnic areas and then the path circled back to the church again. We hung out for a while longer and then decided to make our way back down to the city so we could eat lunch. 

We walked from the Montserrat base down to the old city. The buildings here are beautiful. Our lunch spot was a restaurant called La Puerta Falsa. It's the oldest restaurant in Colombia and has been in business since the early 1800s. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long because we were getting a little hangry. 

We decided to each have the famous chicken soup as well as share a tamale. The soup was really good, especially with the rice and avocado in it. Lacey also ordered a shake but they didn't have Mango so she got a very strange fruit instead. She said it tasted not very good lol. 

After refueling our body, we walked through the old colonial part of the city and there was A LOT of action going on. There was festivals for the new year and people selling stuff and parades and music and it was generally chaotic and amazing. On the way walking, we stopped in a sketchy cell phone store and FINALLY got sim cards. It was wonderful to have internet again. The colors on the colonial style houses and museums were AWESOME. 

We ended the long day of walking with a rest in the large main square. That's where the parliament building is and the main cathedral. The funniest part of the day was when we were sitting there hanging out and noticed just how sun burned we had gotten. It was hilarious!

We tried to take a bus back to our hotel but it was too confusing so we just ubered back instead. This was a LONG day of exploring. We rested at the hotel and had another drink in the lounge. Then it came to the worst part of the day again: What do we eat?

We proceeded to discuss and walkaround the neighborhood for a good half hour to an hour trying to decide what to do. There's a famous steak restaurant called Andres about 30 minutes outside the city. It's almost like a carnival with how big it is and the décor they have. We didn't want to do that adventure but luckily, there's a smaller satellite restaurant about 10 mins walk from out hotel. Lacey didn't really want to do it because it's expensive but I pressured her into it. 

The décor was eclectic and the menu is (no joke) 70 pages long and looks like a magazine. Lacey couldn't decide what kind of drink to order and got a mojito. It came out in a legit soup bowl. It was the biggest drink we've ever seen. The alcohol was strong but once the ice cubes melted, it tasted pretty good actually. 

For food, we ordered empanada appetizers, a steak to share, and some roasted potatoes. The steak came out on a searing metal pan and we cooked the little slices a little more before eating at the table. Everything tasted very good!

Phew! This was our only day in Bogota and we definitely made the most of it. So fun!!