Bogota tourist guide
Colombia has never been a touristic place.
Just recently it has opened up.
I did school in Colombia 3 years only, and being born in Colombia and lived in Venezuela, still I was the only foreign I ever saw.
Richard, my husband, years ago when he was applying for a visa to go to Colombia by first time - we got married in Colombia- he was told "you don't need a visa to go to Colombia, you go at your own risk", which we still do remember because Richard loves going to Colombia since then.
Important to note, when you fly to Bogota and the plane is landing, people clap and sometimes sing the national anthem. It is not because they are amazed the pilot make it land after a long trip, it is because Colombians love Colombia and are happy to be back.
Go to Colombia with your Visa Card, and take cash pesos out in the airport cash machine.. nice comment to start; well is what everybody asks me; how to carry my money?
In Colombia most places still use cash. Also in the airport and in some shopping centers you find where to exchange dollars and euros to Colombian pesos, the exchange place is named "Casa de cambio".
Cash: In Bogota debit cards are not accepted in many places, few people has them, nobody signs them, so definitely you need to pick some cash in the airport before getting out. Also cash machines expect you to type the password very fast (for example, my mum is old and slow typing, she cannot use it). Also when in front of a cash machine, people covers the numbers with their hand and check for mirrors and people around, it is a panicky spot to be short & fast and not alone.
Politeness: Bogota people greeting & bye-bye can be very very long, always shake hands and includes kiss and hug only between known people; they are extremely polite and warm welcomers.
Look: Being well-groomed is important to Colombians, both women, and men. Although it’s not the rule, Colombians pay a lot of attention to appearance, good smell, groomed nails, and clean shoes. Remember to use deodorant; from past and history, Europeans in Colombian have the fame of never using a deodorant and getting smelly with the day course.
Punctuality: is not tight in Colombia unless it is a business meeting. For social and casual engagements, delays or lateness of up to an hour from the time stated can be normal, smile.
Visiting someone's house: people use to bring some small gift like fruit, breads or flowers.
People from Bogota wakes up early, early you find several things are already open.
Colombia population is young, the average age is 30 years old.
Taxis: Take taxis; in Colombia taxis are yellow cars and are very cheap, people takes more taxis than buses; and there is lots of traffic because of that. They use a "taximeter" machine at front which they start when the trip starts, to calculate the price.
At night if you phone a taxi they give you a "contrasena" or password to tell and the "answer" to get to verify is the person you expect.
Driving: driving is very bad and aggressive picking the gap spaces to be first. Careful when crossing the streets.
Unemployment: 40% of the population is unemployed and making up things to get money or to get busy the day. The taxi drivers can be even lawyers and doctors; many professions don't have enough jobs and there are too many professionals; so there are many taxi drivers. If someone gets a job, they don't leave it until they retire and they work well & hard.
I think it is key to understand why some people has so much time to chat and welcome and others disappear to work.
Drugs: Colombians never eat drugs, neither like to be talked of drugs, is a national pain to have this fame; drugs are not socially liked, also Colombians are extremely catholic to accept them, but a foreigner may be offered in sale all of the sudden apparently.
Beggars, there are many in streets and in busses they do sell sweets. In some areas they are so many that is better not to go there; unfortunately there is still people sleeping in cardboard boxes on the coldness of Bogota nights. I used to carry a couple of chocolate bars in my pocket for them. If you see a kid begging in the street, give them a chocolate bar, it will help them to get calories to hold on the day; no give money, their parents may take it and use it to buy glue or alcohol.
People without food, drug themselves by smelling yellow glue to forget their hungriness, there are not drugs but they may be drugged.
Coffee: Is planted by lots of small farmers and collected in the towns by the "National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia" from different people. Now there are also big coffee farms that do the production in a big scale way to produce a more standard product, in Pereira & Manizales.
"Juan Valdez" is a fictional character who has appeared in advertisements to represent the "National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia" since 1958, representing all Colombian coffee farmers.
Colombia is proud of keeping the 1st place on producing coffee of quality (Brazil has the 1st place on quantity) and Colombia is also the winner of barista world wide competitions.
In school all kids learn about coffee and cocoa, and many Colombians has picked, dried, separated good and bad coffee beans by themselves from the plant to make a coffee or to take it to the "National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia" for sale collection.
The single family that owns most the coffee business owns also most of Colombia: media, channels, political seats, etc. They have build most of Colombia really, and should be proud. However Colombia has tradition in believing poor people are the good guys and will go to heaven easier and rich people who are bad and shouldn't exist .. I truly believe is the reason why prosperity gets always put away and it helps the poor keep poor for ever and feel well about it.
Currently there is a left wind president, who all of the sudden has become rich with no much work, and have these rich people on down for being "corrupt"; so I should probably not mention it and start to talk bad about being too rich and raise the poor and having to distribute money better... to his good cause.. but really Colombia is a country with too many people and a low budget so there is no much to distribute; and poverty can justify thieving.
In resume, don't talk about politics or about the president or left & right in Colombia; it takes too much energy and stress and there are very separated opinions and nobody really knows what is happening on politics further than their own home.
Colombian people is the work force any country would dream to have; they work like ants since very early you see people moving around and cleaning, cooking, etc .. goverment doesn't do much maintenance work but its people.
Also, recently Colombia -under the previous government- had to get a massive amount of debt to be able to vaccinate against the CORONA virus their people and maintain the "right to health services to be public".. Colombia bought vaccines to China & USA at a high dollar price. Plus had their economy in close down as it has happened all over the world; they are in deep recession.
Colombia has "generic medicines" production; it is medicines made locally like aspirin, paracetamol, diabetes medicines, .. it has been a way to afford health on pesos and not on dollars.
I think also has been trying to produce their own computers as again paying in foreign currencies makes the exchange price expensive. In general, if you see something expensive in Colombia, check, may be is not made in Colombia yet. Things like a shampoo Pantene, a Gillete shaver foam, a Kellogs cereal, chemotherapies, many pharmaceuticals, etc., are very expensive foreign things.
For example, my mum showed me that her neighbor had a fridge made in Colombia and had round compartments, like the eggs ones to put fruits separate at not too cold temperature.. "made in Colombia" things has been a solution to many budget problems.
Repairs: Colombians repair everything, a car, a juice blender, a radio; things get used forever. If you put something in the bin someone picks it immediately, fix it, covers the holes, paints it and makes use of it. That is why there are "Chivas" buses and lots of "old radios" around and still working.
For example my cousin is now driving the car of my grandfather which was totally redone by her father; the break is a twined thick cord you pull; but metal parts like the pedals are still made of a metal. My grandfather told me he bought this, his first and only ever car in 1975; now it is in the third generation of hands. And the car still runs well and has rarely been taken to a formal garage for repairs; my cousin, she has also learned from her dad on how to repair it and keep it working.
Recycling: Sometimes I wonder if repairing is the most environmentally friendly thing ever though, .. not to bin things.
Colombia don't do recycling.
There are some beggars that collect for example coke & fanta tins from streets and bins and sell them to collection points; they do the recycling task.
I think Colombian rubbish collection is still much more organic than ours, even when they are bagging more now than they used to; people buy directly to farmer markets that set on specific street days, and for example carrots are bough with soil and leaves. Also the food is so local that transport to sell it is minimum.
Mountains: "Los Andes" is a big and long mountain that starts in Argentina and ends in Colombia. Colombia has 3 row branches of the "Andes" mountains crossing by the middle of the country, so road trips are very like going by the "Alpes" mountains, up & down in zig-zag narrow roads aside the mountain; also roads are hard to maintain so they pay toll "peaje" every trip. Peaje is paid to private companies that built the roads, not to the government.
Agriculture: Planting on mountain terrain is hard because no machinery can run, all work is done manually and they work hard; all the land possible to work is used. The best helpers are cows rotation to remove grass and to compost (do pu) the soil by parcels; not having seasons makes cow farming quite easy, and nobody makes houses for cows, they live outdoors and feed and drink by themselves.
The "llanos" flat area is recently found to be easier to plant, but the richness of dark compost matter of most of the "Andes" soil is very productive and also gives different climates for different products.
Bogota land: Bogota is an "altiplano", is a flat table top mountain, but is very big, you forget you are on a mountain until you drive drown.
Bogota is divided in South (poor) & North (rich) and has 2 main exits: the South exit goes to "salto the Tequendama" the biggest waterfall in the country and then goes down to warmer places where Colombians go on family weekends for leisure like "Melgar" or "Girardot".
The North exit goes to "Boyacá" which is a potato farming county area.
Directions: they tell you in the directions if it is North or South and then areas are matrix numbered in coordinates calle: X, carrera: Y. But recently the perfect coordinates numbering has been broken by few re-constructions. Calle 0 Carrera 0 is the middle of the middle of Bogota.
Bogota weather: It is cold in the night ~10 degrees but at mid day the sun warms up ~15-17 degrees and may rain but not more than 1 hour daily.
The Bogota river: is extremely polluted due chemicals used in Spanish clothes factories that have never been regulated (they said people can loose jobs if the government force those factories to stop the chemicals going to the river), and there is a beautiful waterfall "Salto de Tequendama" driving out of Bogota, but the experience is ruined by the smell of the exit of this river; still this waterfall seems to be the end of the smell, it clears the air and the waters.
The north exit of Bogota has many "invernaderos" (plastic houses) for Roses grow, produced for exporting; you see them when driving along. Also, has many nice spots to stop to eat.
City centre (old city) : Barrio "La Candelaria" to walk, has several museums; I do remember these:
-Gold museum: Colombia had lots of gold and emeralds that is why was the 2nd most important colony of Spain after Mexico. Spaniards use to exchange mirrors for Gold to indigenous people.
-Botero museum: Botero is the best know Colombian painter & sculptor, he does fat people and is easy to recognize his style https://www.galeries-bartoux.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/botero-portrait-galeries-bartoux-scaled.jpg
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez: is the best known writer, his most famous book "100 years of solitude" is hard to follow/read because it has a huge amount family stories interlaced and many names and times, but you may want to have a go and read it.
-Plaza de Bolivar: every city has one "Plaza de Bolivar" with the statue of Bolivar in the horse and pigeons. Bolivar is the national hero in the independency war with Spain.
-Casa museo quinta Bolivar: Bolivar is a national hero. Bolivar lived few years in this house after he did independent Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador & Peru.. he made himself president , until the local liders through him away to make themselves "presidente". Bolivar was Venezuelan, but he wanted to make a "Great Colombia" joining the 5 countries he liberated from Spain.
If you want to know the history of Bolivar there is a nice drama on Netflix in Spanish & Portuguese, but he lived most years in Venezuela; only at the end of his life he moved to Colombia and there is a bit of a Soup Opera part on his history because there are famous women and lovers who followed, admired and protected him; even when he was not handsome at all, just good with words.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80220422
-Shakira & Carlos Vives are most famous singers, these guys https://youtu.be/-UV0QGLmYys
but there are lots of different singers that are quite interesting.
Out of Bogota, towards Boyaca county: if you have a car you can go from town too town stopping.
-Guatavita: small white colonial town and the round lake; "lake Guatavita" is a place where "el dorado" legend started. Is a extremely round lake, people believes was made by a meteorite because of that. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g11874221-d590503-Reviews-Laguna_de_Guatavita-Tierra_Negra_Cundinamarca_Department.html.
-Villa de Leiva: is another colonial small town where the Spanish kings used to go when on holidays. All the plaza floor was stoned by slaves - I liked to see the sky in that plaza at night seating on the floor, when there is noneone around, has a strange feeling the rocks and the solitude -. https://caracoltv.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/672d31c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x716+0+0/resize/1000x716!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaracol-brightspot.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fassets%2Fbluradio%2Fblu_radio_villa_de_leyva_municipio_.jpg
-Raquira: is a pottery & hammocks town https://nomadicniko.com/2018/03/29/raquira/
-Catedral de sal de Zipaquira, is extremelly busy religious pilgrimate place. It was a small mine of salt they built a subterranous church in it, now there is huge church built inside the mine. It has the "Virgen del Rosario" the patron of the minery workers
https://www.catedraldesal.gov.co/Paginas/default.aspx
Aguardiente: is the local alcoholic drink, it is anise flavour and is 25% alcohol, is served in small cups and to be drink in 1 go quick because it tastes horrible and is quite strong. 2 aguardientes and you are on, be careful.
https://elcorreodelanoche.com.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/nectar-rojo-375.png
Thieves & pocket pickers : don't carry jewelry, fine watches or fine hand bags in the street, it attracts thieves; neither huge backpacks because they are used only by foreigners.. you want to look local.
Women in Bogota carries/hide the money in their bra in a fabric bag or in their panties.
Machismo: is a common idea that Colombia has lots of machos and that they are a bad person. I think there is a lot of flirting, infidelity and separations going on there; Colombians have a very rich social life since very young and it brings up a big variety of life situations you will see.
Also, statistically, Colombia use to have a bigger amount of women than male, but it seems has leveled. By true, most stablished families are solid rock relations, and family life is rich and fun.
A macho is the description of what defines a male; and it has 2 main branches one is dominant, bossy and in charge; the another is protective, gentleman and galante.
Not sure what is that bad or good of the whole stereotype, but if you find a macho, let him be; is hard enough to be male. I am sure he will let you be feme too. I mean, don't self discriminate your role and your capacity of choosing.
What to do in Bogota:
- rent a local friend in Bogota https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g294074-d17646961-Rent_a_local_friend_in_Bogota-Bogota.html
- go in a "Chiva" is a very old bus, that is very colorful & has removed doors & windows and has loudy music, and they show you the city with stops, and in the night also with aguardiente, it use to go up to a "la Calera, mirador" and come back down.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g294074-d3514732-Reviews-Chivas_Tours_De_Colombia-Bogota.html
- go to a bakery "panaderia"
- go to a market like "paloquemado" fruit market and flower market Paloquemado market
- go to the stadium to a futbol match, futball is quite all gender inclusive and family oriented, for example "Estadio Nemésio Camacho El Campín"
- walk or cycle in the "ciclovia": "From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday, the Colombian capital of Bogotá shuts down 75 miles of streets and highways, handing them over to cyclists, runners and walkers."
- music, not sure where to go but the musical variety of Colombia you need to listen it: each region has different types of folk music. Bogota folk music is "pasillos", "guavinas" & "guitar string trios" mostly and there quite alot of mariachi places too. "ballenato" (accordion is from the cost), "cumbias", "bambucos", "san juaneros". "joropos" & arpas are from "los llanos" the flat hot area at the south-east.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0p0pplV9UxpBvR5akVc9Lm?si=daa7c8ba3ff545d4.
Salsa is not from Colombia, but Medellin city is famous for salsa dancing.
Currently Reggaetón is everywhere.
- if you go to any "finca" (house with a bit of farm land), horse ride is nice and also now they use to have swimming pools. People from Bogota goes to family fincas on the weekends.
- parties: are good everywhere if you are invited, go; and people is good at dancing; men do always invite you, as always you chose who to dance with or say "no gracias" and is no problem.
- go to "la zona rosa", also named "zona T" to have a beer (cerveza), is the place they seem to go out at night now.
- go to "la zona G" gourmet area.
- go to a "salon de belleza", beauty salon and do hair, nails, pedicure, highlights, eye browns, .. is extremely cheap and well done most places, but because of that I find it can take me a whole day.
- Eat "bandeja paisa" typical lunch meal from Medellin.
- Eat "sobrebarriga" (flank steak) with "papas chorreadas" potatoes with sauce https://www.sweetysalado.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DSC_00388N.jpg
- Go to "Monserrate" .. I liked to go walking up that mountain to do exercise ~4 hours walk, but now is not safe depending on the hour, so there is a funicular. Apart of the walk, on the top there is no much, is only 1 church and the view of the city and go down -but the priest was my mum's cousin.
Shopping:
- leather "cuero": jackets, bags, shoes: Cuero
- gold: to buy a ring or a chain, they do them bespoke in the jewelries on a specific area of the city centre -not to go alone to buy gold.
- art: as a foreigner, you can go to an art gallery and you can buy a proper oleo art picture from good local artists at a good price (£150+) and nicely framed on fine wood. You need to keep the receipt for the airport, they check noneone is stealing a Botero paint.
May be difficult to carry on hand not to damage, but I have done it before.
- clothes: in many places, when you buy clothes, you try the clothes and they make the folding of the length and adjustments to your size waits directly in the shop.
Colombia is an exported of clothes without label to top brands, there are now some good designers and has its own production of cotton fabrics, for example they made the jeans without sowing line, they can be quite creative. Local people has knowledge of fabrics & sowing, if you will stay several days on a same place, you can buy for example a trouser made to measure, from any tailor (pay on collection) https://www.utadeo.edu.co/sites/tadeo/files/node/wysiwyg/sastreria_vecinos_utadeo_20170607_004.jpg
- artesanias: hamocks, ceramic, door hanging bells, etc.
Breakfast: In Colombia the main meal is the breakfast, then lunch; ask for a "desayuno tipico" (typical breakfast) and you will get a tray full of different things, it always include a "caldo" (runny soup) like "changua" (milk caldo) or "caldo de costilla" (beef bone soup), café (coffee) or chocolate, eggs, fruit & breads or arepa.
Food: Each region has a complete different typical dish, because people eats very local production and each area has a different weather/food production.
Bogota typical food is a soup made with 8 different types of potatoes & "guascas" herb, the dish is named "Ajiaco con pollo", they use to serve it with avocado, rice and corn (avocados & corns are tasty in Colombia); and Colombians like dipping; they dip: bread, bananas, avocado, cheese, poach egg, etc., in their soups.
Potatoes: https://www.papaunc.com/sites/default/files/foto_art1.jpg
Pasteleria: go to a bakery ask for "3 leches" cake or pick any cake and a coffee, they are very colourful/fruit-top decorated. https://www.eltiempo.com/files/image_1200_680/uploads/2020/12/28/5fea66fc148ce.jpeg
Panaderia tradicional: pan de yuca, pan de bono, pan de sagu, empanaditas, almohabanas, arepas .. there is a big variety of indigenous flours and bakeries do the traditional local bread aside of the Spanish-like-bread: https://mascolombia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Amasijos.-4.-C.jpg
Fermented drinks: I do avoid the homemade fermented drinks like: "masato" (fermented carrots or pineaples), "chicha", "kumis" (homemade yogurt), but you may like them.
Coffee places: the coffee is good everywhere, everybody knows how to do a good coffee, they call it "negrito" (black coffe) o "con leche" (coffee with milk), no fancy names, and the coffee they buy in the local supermarket is the best bag you can buy. A good coffee is made with proportional measuring.
People saids the coffee from the Volcanic mountain areas is the best flavoured; well, farming of that area is all nice flavoured; the biggest lettuce and tomatoes I have ever seen were from close to a volcano land in Pasto at the south west of Colombia.
The best known place to have a coffee is "cafeteria Juan Valdez" (again from the association of Coffee growers), all they sell is made of coffee, even moose and coffee cakes and coffee beans covered in chocolate.
Agua panela: is hot water with a melted block piece of cane sugar cooked, all Colombians drink it daily.
Chocolate: same than agua panela, hot chocolate is served with bread or arepa and white fresh cheese; is very easy to find for tea time "onces" they call the tea time.
Arequipe ("dulce de leche"): is the national sweet, is made with milk, sugar & cloves cook at pression cooker; the homemade one is nicer; but is very very sweet.
Arequipe in "obleas" is the church communion flat bread, when filled with a thin layer of arequipe https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUZeiAlptNcitfL4fHlmcSyOWGzVZEdrnyUw&usqp=CAU .
"arequipe con queso" (sweet and salty together to neutralice the sweet) https://i.pinimg.com/736x/db/01/c7/db01c7eb33fe96eae11e2fbb84982154--queso-caramel.jpg
"Alpina" is the most known local brand for arequipe, yogurts and milky products. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61xs3L5SW3L.jpg
Bocadillo: is similar to the Spanish one, again very very sweet, is made of "Guayaba" and wrapped in leaves: https://www.elcolombiano.com/documents/10157/0/843x562/0c0/0d0/none/11101/FPHP/image_content_36062831_20200720133429.jpg
Cheese: there is not a big variety of cheeses: queso blanco y queso de mano (different texture). My mum used to buy it from the farmers freshly done and wrapped in plantain leaves: https://portalechero.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Queso-campesino-colombiano.jpg
As I already mentioned, people buy food in farm markets or in street farm markets, more than in supermarkets, food is very fresh and locally produced.
My mother thinks we eat old food because our food comes in a sealed bag.
Milk: cow farmers van deliver the milk in the mornings, they have a bell (like ice cream vans), people has a sized aluminum pan-bottles to buy it every morning on their street and then they boil it.
Water: they sale water in bags, also pasteurized milk in bags. Water in Bogota comes from a very clean lake, is cleaner than in England in composites, but is not treated for drinking. Buy "bolsita de agua" and check every juice you buy is made with pasteurised water https://live.staticflickr.com/3006/2972851241_98b2c8aa32_b.jpg
Juice: Colombia has a wide range of fruits not known here, they don't drink prepacked juices, but everybody buys fruit and has a blender & a colander.
Buy a juice, in a establishment or if you do it in the street, look to see them doing it clean and with bagged water https://res.cloudinary.com/civico/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,fl_lossy,h_1200,q_auto:low,w_1200/v1433270744/entity/image/file/00f/000/556df9b3b9dd5de7e200000f.jpg.
My favourite fruits citrics: lulo, maracuya (passion flower), mora (blackberries).
Oranges are not that sweet (if you compare with Spain) and local apples and grapes also are not that good, they come from seasonal countries like Peru, so are not fresh.
In the non-citric range I like from Colombia these fruits: papaya, mango, guayava, guanavana, mini bananas, mamoncillos, etc.
Wine: I tell you because Richard always tries to find wine everywhere he goes .. Colombia has bad grapes (grapes need long summer days, and Colombia has no seasons), so no good wine, but they have now been doing fruit wines apparently https://www.exito.com/vino-durazno-melocoton-461724/p
Potatoes: each area has a different type of potato, I recommend you to eat "papa criolla" the yellow round little ones, they are unique from Colombia; the smaller ones are the nicer https://cdn.tasteatlas.com/images/ingredients/53f92a8ee41d4131b5501c8e52c986d0.jpg
You can also have a fruit salad for lunch, with 6-8 fruits, they are good at knowing what fruits do combine flavours well, and they use to put white cheese and ice cream on top https://pidee.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WhatsApp-Image-2020-12-11-at-6.02.53-PM-848x566.jpeg
Because of the amount of juice and fruit you get in Bogota (everywhere someone offers you a juice) you get to do pipi a lot, and in few days your skin & hair get nicer.
This woman Katie James (Irish parents) has made a song that is a good brief for this tourist guide:
https://youtu.be/8RZeHO7gBJk
