Last 3 days (day 30-32) I flew to Bogota to explore the city and see some people! I didn’t end up seeing a lot of the people I had hoped to see while in Bogota, however I know I’ll see them again somewhere 🙂
Day 30
I arrived in Bogota at 7am…it was freezing. I thought it was just cold because it was early in the morning. When I was in the taxi on the way to Hector’s, I saw so many people wearing big puffy jackets, hats, mittens, boots, etc; it felt like I was back in Canada. I was also extremely unprepared for the weather.
Hector was very nice and made me breakfast that morning, regardless of how early it was. I got to try a different arepa, which is a lot sweeter and is yellow in colour instead of what I am used to in Armenia. It was still very delicious! It was a very slow, long morning after that. Hector was supposed to go in for work that day, however it got cancelled. I took a quick little nap while he finished up some work, and I think it might have been the best nap I’ve had in Colombia.
We walked around the neighbourhood trying some juices and pastries, got to see what was in the area. It is an amazing neighbourhood because everything is so close together! There were little ‘shops’ on the street, all the way down the street, malls, a lot of food places, very close to a main street with a lot more things on it.
Side note, Hector does this thing with his friend that lives in the same area but a different tower, and it’s just a loud noise. It was actually so cool to see that his friend responded and then they had a quick chat. I’ve never seen anyone do it in person, it was always on TV. I was maybe a little too amazed.
Then there was lunch with his mom and grandparents. They are all so adorable, the family is so wonderful! After the lunch we went to the grandparent’s house where we watched Brazil vs. Paraguay. The grandpa kept laughing at me because I was a bigger fan of Brazil than Paraguay, however I had a lot of fun hanging out with them 🙂
Day 31
Hector had to go to work in the morning, so I bussed my way to centro…which was a lot more difficult than I had thought. It was a really interesting experience though with such a big bus terminal and having to figure out all the Spanish!
When I got to Centro, it was raining…a lot.I walked around some streets in the area, tried Dunkin’ Donuts for the first time… yes ever in my life, and it was in Colombia, walked to Plaza Bolivar and then went to my brother’s hostel to wait for him and his friend to arrive! It was the first time I had seen my brother since he moved to Mexico in November, so about 8 months, it was nice 🙂 We went out for food nearby Plaza Bolivar and explored the area a little more before deciding to walk to Monserrate!
Monserrate was about a 25 minute walk from where we were, so by the time we got to the bottom of the mountain, it was around 4pm. We got to the top around 4:45pm so the church was closed which was quite upsetting, but the view was absolutely amazing! Worst part about Monserrate was the temperature…it felt like it was about 5-7 degrees up there, wind was picking up a lot, and it was about to rain when we were trying to leave. I literally couldn’t feel my hands or feet up there and it felt like a Canadian end of Fall/beginning of Winter weather.
At night we went to Parque 93 to eat and just explore this nice little area. They had a massive screen where people were playing Fifa on it, and it was the first time I saw a Carl’s Jr and Starbucks in Colombia! We went to drink a beer at BBC and burgers at this other place I cannot remember, however they were both so good!
Day 32
We went to the Salt Cathedral in the morning. Man is it dark but beautiful there! It’s amazing how the crosses are carved out and how big some of the tunnels are. It was absolutely stunning to see and feel the hard work that went into created these. The lights they put in there definitely made it more spectacular 🙂
The cost of our tour included lunch, which was one of the most amazing meals I’ve had in Colombia! The way the meat is cooked, it tasted so delicious! I believe it’s slowly cooked/smoked by a fire, where the outside of the meat is so perfectly caramelized and the inside is just soft and tender! They also decided to decorate our table with the Canadian flag, UK flag and the Colombian flag 😛
After the tour, I didn’t have much time left before I had to fly home 😦 However when we got back to Centro, we ran into a graffiti tour and decided to join it! It was actually so amazing going on the tour because there are some back stories to the artwork that you would have never guessed, or some of it has been covered so you cannot see the true meaning behind it until it is explained. I have a new appreciation for graffiti now :3
Passport&airports 