Bogotá: Day 3

Our second full day in Bogota started with Capital Graffiti Tours taking us around La Candelaria and showing us some amazing graffiti and street art. Bogotá is fairly well known for its street art and it is used for a variety of purposes, such as storytelling, political activism, and just because art is beautiful.

The gray and emerald street art was probably my favorite. I loved the realism and use of color. It was striking.

We made a couple of Irish friends while on the tour.

Allan and I agree, that Mr. Garek is a great street artist, and his art is all over the place in the city. We also took a special trip to visit the El Beso de los Invisibles mural on the side of a building of flats. This art has earned worldwide recognition depicting two drug addicts embracing. It has a variety of color and it was HUGE!

As a treat for me, we went to Azahar Coffee Parque 93 for some delicious coffee. We had a flight of three small cups. They weren't particularly bold, but they were each different and had their own flavor notes, a couple were especially floral. We also stumbled upon a random pop up event in the nearby Parque 93. There was a lot of pink facades and fancy stores. We could definitely tell we were in the more affluent area of town.

On our way back from El Beso de los Invisibles, we stopped by a stunning church, the Iglesia Nuestra Señora de las Nieves. It was also cool to see all the street vendors with their wares lining an entire street. I think it's nice that Bogotá supports artisans in this way.

We had our first night bus to San Jose del Guaviare to see the cave paintings at Cerro Azul. This was my first ever night bus. It was freezing 🥶, but we managed to get some sleep, albeit very broken.

Allan’s deal of the day: 70p arepas again (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).

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