Our first visit to Bogota was fairly fleeting so we very much looked forward to going back there. And the city really didn´t dissappoint second time round. Last time we didn't manage to see the Museo del Oro (gold museum) so that was first on the list. It is one of the best museums I have been to. Brilliantly laid out, all of the information is displayed both in Spanish and English and is well written enough to hold your attention - and what's more it's free on Sundays!
In search of a guide book (we lost our last one) we went across town by bus to a book shop stocking english books. The bus system in Bogota really is very good by the way. All the stations are enclosed with a ticket office and policeman and the busses only stop at them and not on the street.
Anyway, the only book we found was the Shoestring Lonely Planet and at 120,000 pesos (40 odd quid), it was a bit pricey, even more so considering that the new addition is out this March.
However, all was not lost. The bookstore happened to be fairly close to the Zona Rosa area, so we walked on to check that out. This part of town is seriously high class. Well, I guess its just very western, but in a nice way. It´s not covered in neon or anything (accept the Hard Rock Cafe!) and it has a good number of shiny bars and restaurants. There was a good atmosphere and many Colombians doing what us Brits do best - sitting in a pub with a cold pint in hand. Yes, they have had a stab at creating some pubs and have done a pretty good job really. They also had an Irish pub. Where doesn't?
Seeing some Colombian girls with pints of a dark cloudy liquid I went over to ask if they´d recommend it. They kindly offered a taste of this beverage and it was indeed bitter. The drink, on closer inpection was a slighgtly reddish colour with an oaky flavour, but it was quite bitter-like so I got myself a pint.
Our stay back in Bogota coincided with a bank hoilday weekend, and on the Sunday and Monday pretty much everything was closed. Cue the unsavory types. The streets in the central area then seemed to belong to the homeless, needy and desperate (not the guy above, he seemed perfectly respectable!). It really did take on an entriely different vibe. Just the day before I was thinking how nice it was to be able to walk around in a city and blend in a bit - mainly due to the fact that plenty of Colombians have white skin. But on the Sunday it was back to being stared at. We quickly made our way back to the Candelaria area we were staying, but not before being warned by a kind Israeli couple that a guy was following us with a knife. His cover blown, he ambled off accross the road. Damn these hoodies!
With not much going on in town on the Monday, we paid a visit to Zipaquira to see the salt mines. Its a slick set up there and we took a guide in to see the Cathedral inside and also a miners walking tour - all in Spanish, we gleaned what information we could. The Colombians especially liked the parts where the guide would get us all to turn off our headlamps and follow each other in the dark. Suddenly instead of walking with adults you could be forgiven for thinking you were surrounded by school kids! Though I've never been a fan of stumbling around in pitch black darkness!
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