I have died and gone to heaven! After a flawless flight I
landed in Bogotá around 3 pm. I have never been here, so I did my usual
reconnaissance of the arrivals area, got 200,000 Colombian pesos from the ATM
(only about US$ 75 since the exchange rate is 2,700 pesos for one dollar), and
asked about taking the bus to the city. “No problem”, I was told, “take that
bus to the depot, and from there you can go anywhere in town.” But to board the
bus you need a travel card, which you load with say 10,000 pesos and then can
pay for several 2,100 pesos rides. Now, where to buy the card? A kind lady
waved at me and displaying her card motion me to get on the bus. Yes, rather
nicely she payed for my fare, guided me through the depot, and set me in the
right bus for my destination, with specific instructions on where to get down
from the bus. Colombians now are way up in my list of nice people 😊
Bogotá is beautiful. A bit like Monterrey, it is nestled
among limestone folds that soar up into the air, but rather than being dry, the
climate here is cool and rainy, so the mountains are all green, as is the city
in general. It is a modern city, with parks, big boulevards, and modern
architecture. The bus was in a special lane, so it works like a metro and
covered the 20 km from the airport to the city in less than half hour. Once in
the city it turned into a regular bus,
so I also got to see quite a bit of the downtown area.
My boutique hotel, La Casona del Patio, is absolutely
perfect. It is in a quiet residential street north of downtown and close to the
university. Perfectly comfortable, with a good Wi-Fi (eat you heart out,
Xcaret), and a very friendly front desk. In 5 minutes I was out, intent with
taking care of business; I needed to buy a cell phone that I can use in South
America, an umbrella, and a poncho (my contact in Venezuela tells me that it
has been raining 2 out of every 3 days). Things appear to be very expensive
because they are in thousands of pesos, but by spending US$ 25 I got a good
cell phone with sim card and US$5 of air time, and I splurged another US$ 30 in
a good umbrella and a two-piece rainsuit. I am ready to tackle the Venezuelan
jungle!
For dinner I chose a Spanish Restaurant, where I had a
pretty good paella. Afterward I went for a stroll, soaking in the color and
music of the early evening coming and going of people. Colombian guys seem to
be very image conscious, and everyone of the five barbershops I saw was packed
with four to six guys getting a haircut, while a dozen more were waiting for
their turn. There were, of course, lots of places to get something to eat,
coffee houses, and every clothing store imaginable. Overall I got the
impression of a happy, lively night scene, and on that note I walked back to my
hotel to wash clothes and work on my blog.
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