Bogota, Colombia Jan 2022

Bogotá, Colombia, Jan 2022

After Tyrona and San Andrés Island, we flew directly to Bogotá, the Capital of Colombia. We had booked in the Marriott hotel and from the airport, we took an Uber to the hotel.

Bogotá was founded as Santafé (Holy Faith), the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada on 6 August 1538 by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada after a harsh expedition into the Andes conquering the Muisca, the indigenous inhabitants of the Altiplano. Santafé became the seat of the government of the Spanish Royal Audiencia of the New Kingdom of Granada, and then after 1717 it was the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. After the Battle of Boyacá led by Simón Bolívar (him again) against the Spaniards aided by the Venezuelans and the British on 7 August 1819, Bogotá became the capital of the independent nation of Gran Colombia. It was Simón Bolívar who rebaptized the city with the name of Bogotá, as a way of honoring the Muisca people. At the formation of present-day Republic of Colombia in 1886, Bogotá has remained the capital.

Bogotá is located in the center of Colombia, on a high plateau on the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains at an altitude of 8660ft, so the climate is always cool here, barely hitting 22C in the summer months. Population is well over 8 million.

We spent several days checking out the old historic town and took a Walking Tour of the historic City. Some views below of the old town as we explored, starting with the Plaza de Bolívar, the huge main central square of the historic part of Bogotá.

360 degree view of the Plaza de Bolívar, Bogotá, Colombia

The Palacio de Justicia in this image above has some bloody history in 1985 , when the M19 Guerilla group seized the building on Nov 6, 1985 and held 350 hostages, including magistrates, councilors of state, judicial servants, employees and visitors to the Palace of Justice. The Police and Army surrounded the building and took it back by force 28hrs later on Nov 7 1965, leaving 101 dead including 11 magistrates, and leaving the buildings in shambles that had to be completely rebuilt. In the process of the retake, the Police & Army took a lot of liberties to arrest and detain a lot of intellectuals/politicians/activists under emergency powers and a lot of human rights abuses took place including a lot of disappearances. The M19 group finally reached a peace agreement with the Colombian government in March 1990 to lay down their arms and become a political movement.

We continued exploring the historic part of the old city La Candeleria historic neighborhood; below are more images

Original center of Bogotá́

We then took a funicular up to Mount Monserrate (Cerro Monserrate) and the church up on the mountain (Sanctuary of Monserrate) to check out the view from there

Views of Bogota from Cerro Monserrate

No visit is complete without a visit to the local mercado 😊. We went to the Paloquemao mercado which turned out to be a large well stocked market

We spent the day on Sunday visiting the Usaquén Flea Market (Mercado de Las Pulgas en Usaquén); which was much more than a flea market, very alive with people, cafes, restaurants, music etc. Nice and lively. Some scenes below from Usaquén

Lively, colorful and musical Usaquén market

One day, we rented a car to do a day trip to Zipaquirá, a city about 30 miles north of Bogota, famous for its Salt Cathedral built underground in a former salt mine. We rented the car near the airport, and since we were only renting for the day, we were informed that we needed to return the vehicle before midnight the same day. This begged the question; why could I not return it 24hrs later since my payment was for 1 full day? Turns out, Bogota city restricts cars on the roads on each day based on the last number digit on the number plate (odd, even). Only taxi’s and buses were exempted. So cars can only be driven on alternate days. I can imagine the trade in number plates daily to keep cars on the road daily 😊. And I wonder how people rent cars for multiple days in Bogota?

Anyhow, we drove off to Zipaquirá and drove straight to the Plaza del Minero at the Parque de la Sal; the entrance to the Catedral de Sal. Historically, miners prayed in a small sanctuary built inside the caverns to the Virgin of the Rosary of Guasá, the patron saint of miners, to protect them from toxic gases, explosions and other accidents. That first sanctuary was built in the 1930s. In 1954 the first underground church at Zipaquira was opened to the public and became an instant hit. However, it proved too unstable and potentially dangerous and was closed in 1992. A second much larger church was opened in 1995 and named the Catedral de Sal, even though it has no bishop and thus is technically not a cathedral. Regardless, the Catedral de Sal is a real church and many of the people visiting are pious pilgrims.
The Salt Cathedral is located about 600 feet underground, and is an architectural wonder, built in the massive caverns and tunnels left behind by miners, who extracted millions of tons of rock salt starting two centuries ago. The tunnel leading to Colombia’s most famous church felt more like a byway into the bowels of the earth. It was dark and dank, with a faint smell of wet salt in the air. After a few hundred yards, the shaft gradually widened to reveal Roman Catholic icons, like the Stations of the Cross and Archangel Gabriel. And they were all carved out of salt.
Some scenes below

Entrance to the salt mine

At the bottom, in huge cavernous dugouts of the salt mine, there are 3 Naves representing the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ

We finished touring this very impressive Salt Cathedral, a first for us; and went into the town square of Zipaquirá for lunch before heading back to Bogotá and returned the rental car before midnight

Thoughts on Bogotá, Zipaquirá etc.
Bogota pleasantly surprised me as to how progressive it was; with maintaining the old city historic charm versus the modern city buildout outside. Transportation was quite good, and with the odd/even restrictions on cars on the roads and good public transportation, it was relatively un-polluted. We felt safe in the historic old town as well as the modern city; though there were some neighborhoods in-between that looked dicey; so we avoided those. Ubers were easy to get around in and relatively cheap. People were nice and helpful everywhere. For the senses, the eyes had a feast on the charms of the historic city and panoramic views from the hilltops; the food was very good everywhere, so great for the tastebuds.

The Salt Cathedral in the underground salt mine at Zipaquirá was a first for us, and it was awe inspiring. A great experience to see and visit on this trip through Colombia

Our trip through Colombia had been extensive and very eye-opening; with great experiences from Cartagena, the Coffee growing region, Cocora, Santa Marta, Tyrona National Park, San Andrés island, and finally Bogota, we traversed a lot of Colombia and thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of scenery, landscapes, foods, architecture, cultures, peoples, and historic sites, like we had on our 3 previous visits to Colombia. I would highly recommend visiting Colombia to everyone.

This entry was posted in Bogota, Colombia, Colombia Dec 2021, Jan 2022, South America

• 2022
• Bogota
• Colombia