Colombia has quite a reputation, especially in the US where we are spoon fed fear of the world outside our borders. Riddled with drug runners high on cocaine and brandishing machine guns to protect their crops and don't forget all those rebels at every street corner, in every town waiting to kidnap every tourist. Ok, yes there is cocaine and the country's economy may in fact be dependent on it. (Colombia currently controls 80% of the worlds' cocaine market - but who do you think
consumes most of this ....) And yes the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) still exists - BUT, and its a very big BUT - these situations are not rampant in every part of the country. So far we have had no concerns about either the drug lords or rebels. In fact, just as other travelers had talked about, we found the people of Colombia to be very friendly and truly hopeful that we were enjoying our visit to their country. Of course, you need to stay on your toes, be aware of your surroundings, and have a bit of suspicion of even the police (who in some areas have allegedly planted cocaine on tourists to get a bribe). But this sounds fairly routine for most third world countries. And don't get me wrong, its not like we are about to go strolling around in the jungles, or even in some of the more remote national parks which now may be the "farm" for cocaine growing since in the late 1990s, funded by the US, the Colombian government started spraying poison on known fields of coca (a practice that is sure to have other environmental and social ramifications, like the adverse effects on the health of the inhabitants - but what to do ... a topic for another day.) National parks are exempt and thus many "farmers" moved their crops within the park boundaries.
We have been pleasantly surprised with our travels in Colombia, the people are warm and friendly and the areas we have visited have been fantastic. Now, however we are arriving in the Big Bad Bogota. The reports are varied for this capital city. Some people still seem to find it crime ridden and very unsafe. After the long bus ride we catch a taxi from the bus terminal. A taxidriver approached us in the terminal and was directing us to his car when I noticed a line of official taxis outside the door. When I asked him why his car was not in the line, he was non-responsive. After asking another security guard where to get the taxi, who pointed to the booth to buy a ticket, we ditched this soliciting driver and headed for the line of official cars. Who knows what the other driver was up to, maybe just trying to get a little extra fare, maybe something more sinister, but better safe than sorry - we'll wait in line. The taxi booth was actually the most organized we have seen They put in your destination and tell you what the far will be. You give it to the cab, and your on your way. As we drive through the city it looks like most major latin american cities. Although it is a sprawling and big city, we head for the old downtown area. After a bit of circular driving and backing down a one-way street we arrive at Hostel Fatima. Notwithstanding the official invoice from the terminal, our cab driver asks for more money - pointing to the meter. As the meter is a bit higher we succumb knowing fully that the fare should have only been what was on the invoice. But it just wasn't worth the discussion.
We check in to what is the smallest, and shortest, room we have had to date. I can't even stand up straight! Unfortunately this is the last room so we need to get use to sitting on the floor or bed, but no standing up. I feel like I am Alice in Wonderland and have fallen down the rabbit hole!
La Candelaria is a 470 year old historic city center full of the standard fare of amazing churches, cafes, hostels, historic sites and a museum of two. For added spice you have the amazing graffitti walls that adorn parts of the city and a bordering mountain range. Bogota is at 2600 meters (sorry but I have started adjusting to this metric thing as it seems to be everywhere but the US - roughly that's 3.25 times 2600) In other words, we are higher up and my puffy has finally been able to come out of the bottom of my backpack When we made our pit stop in Los Angeles back in April I bought a Patagonia down sweater. Even though it was on sale it was a splurge, which I justified by letting John cut my hair rather than getting it done professionally. I love my down sweater!
We roam the streets of our area in search of a good coffee. We end up in Parque Santander at a huge Cafe - which only serves beer and coffee - no snacks. Ok, we grab a coffee and people watch for a while. The parque is jammed with people mulling about. Interestingly, there is a wide mix of business people, college students, a few tourists and the random police officer. Later we find out that this park is also the Emerald Market. We saw what seemed like some shady transactions occurring, someone pulling something out of his pocket in a piece of paper, the other examining it closely, money changes hands... we of course had no idea that this was the place to go for a good deal on Emeralds -- that is if you knew what you were looking for; otherwise it was also a good place to get scammed.
