Bogotá: Day 2

Our first full day in Bogota started off a bit rough and confused.

We had a lovely breakfast on the roof terrace of the hostel, and then decided to go and visit the main plaza to get an idea of a central area with lots of sights nearby.

Plaza de Bolívar was pretty busy. There were lots of street vendors and market tents. The most bizarre thing was the amount of pigeons EVERYWHERE. They covered a large amount of the ground in the square. We tried to visit some of the buildings around the square, but couldn't get tickets and struggled to communicate. There's very little English spoken in Colombia (who knew).

After speaking with police at a barricade we managed a quick look in Museo Santa Clara before heading to La Puerta Falsa for some lunch.

We had the special soup and a tamale. Never have I had a more decked out soup. It seemed simple at face value when ordering: chicken soup with potatoes. When it arrived, it was a huge bowl filled with chicken, vegetables, and potato, but also 1/3 of a corn on the cob on a stick, a side of rice, some capers, and some cream. The $40,000 COP (£8) price made more sense after seeing it.

After our hearty lunch we headed over to Catedral Primada de Colombia. It was a beautiful church, and located right on the main plaza. It was under renovation though, so there was a strong paint smell and lots of scaffolding around. The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria was also very pretty.

In the afternoon we took a quick visit to Museo del Oro to see the largest collection of Colombian gold. We learned some history and about the significance of gold for the Colombians and indigenous peoples. There were a lot of interesting artifacts and some tiny, intricate pieces too. The piece depicting the indigenous king covered in gold on a boat paying respect to the gods by throwing gold and jewels into the lake was one of my favorites.

For sunset we intended to climb up the Cerro de Monserrate to visit the Monserrate Sanctuary, but the trail was closed, so we ended up taking the cable car instead. Probably a wise decision as it's a pretty steep climb and we were tired (and grumpy).

The views from the top were spectacular. Bogota is a huge city. We got some sunset pictures, but also stayed long enough to get some cool pictures at night.
For dinner we got some food from a wee guy on the street serving arepas. They were tasty (cheese and ham) and very good prices. Allan loves when we find good street food, but nothing beats the falafel man in Egypt.

There was a music festival on in Bogota and we decided to go and check out one of the events. Fierce Night at the BOMM at Selina Candelaria (a hostel) was a cool experience. People were really getting into the DJ and rap music. We ended our night at Bogotá Brewing Company. The honey ale and stout were delicious and the pub vibes were the homey feel I'd been missing.

Allan’s deal of the day: 70p arepas (delicious street food in generous portions right outside our hostel).

Hostal R10
9/10
Facilities: 😀
Comfort: 😀
Location: 😀
Cleanliness: 😀
Value for money: 😀
Staff: 😀

Summary: Our first hostel in South America: R10 set a high standard

Good: Our first hostel in South America. In summary: what a good hostel should be like. First, we never felt unsafe. Staff were great. They allowed us to store luggage (in a room behind/near reception) for free while we went on an overnight trip to San Jose del Guaviare. There’s also a bathroom near reception, which staff allowed us to use for free after said trip - the shower was a luxury after back-to-back night buses with a day of hiking in between! Private room with bathroom was comfortable with plenty of space for us to rearrange our bags for the above trip. Great location in La Candelaria. I’d recommend the wee arepa guy on the corner outside the hostel - probably the best taste v. value street food I had in Colombia (and I eat a lot of street food). Decent breakfast: coffee, fruit juice, bowl of fruit, eggs and bread. An added bonus was no fees for card payments (we had hostels attempting to charge up to 10% fees for card payments in other parts of Colombia).

Bad: N/aLæs mere