Sunday, March 24, 2019

Bogota Pt. 2

Kris and I are safely back at home now, where I'm at a much more comfortable place to blog about the remainder of our trip! I thoroughly enjoyed Bogota, although I will admit, leaving America always instills in me a sense of homesickness, as I always acutely remember everything that I love about my country when I have other places to compare it to. That certainly doesn't lessen my love for traveling, though.

Wednesday brought us some fantastic new adventures. Kris and I ventured out to Zipaquira (long ago inhabitants, the Chibcha, named the village for its abundance of salt), a small village about an hour north of Bogota known for its salt mines. Within a mountain within minutes of the village, there is an underground salt cathedral (Catedral de sal) that is quite unlike anything I've ever seen in my life, or am likely to ever see again. Driving out was an adventure in and of itself. We decided to go with a tour company because we were unsure of the likelihood of getting an Uber back to Bogota following our trip. And, the bus to Zipaquira only goes out on Saturdays. Our tire busted on the way out, but likely we were able to get the spare changed and stop for snacks at the gas station, selecting a number of different junk foods to try just for the sake of trying them. 


 Zipaquira itself is amazing. The tunnel in is coated in layer upon layer of salt crystals, and there are dozens of sculptures of crosses, angels, and Jesus carved into the salt. There is an actual cathedral there where churchgoers attend Sunday mass, a cavernous room containing a representation of one of Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine chapel carved from marble, and larger than life crosses. It's incredibly difficult to describe, but I've included pictures here!




I fell asleep on the ride back, try as I might throughout my life to be an early riser (and always failing). When I awoke it was raining, and Kris and I decided to jump off the van at one of the stops north of our hotel last minute. The proceeding next few minutes in the pouring rain attempting to figure out the bus schedule in a foreign part of the city were somewhat stressful. Then, as the bus arrived, we realized that we would have had to buy a loadable card to get through the barrier - we hung back, unsure of what to do, when a woman pulled out her card and scanned us both in. "Muchas gracias", we told her, as she smiled and sat in the back of the bus. I was really touched by her kindness to two foreigners who clearly didn't understand the system. We hopped off at the Botanical Gardens with an hour left before close, wandering the lush landscape and labyrinths of trees, cacti, and flowers. The weather in Bogota is odd - it was 48 degrees and we could see our breath, but it was the balmiest 48 I've ever felt in my life, as the humidity was also 89%. It hardly felt cold at all, but my hair curled wildly regardless.
We were incredibly hangry, having skipped lunch in our rush to get to the botanical gardens in time, and grabbed dinner at a hole in the wall place called La Cuchinita, which boasted what the locals said was the best Ajiaco soup in Bogota. 



Our last day in Bogota, we hiked it back to Candalaria, and ate breakfast at a place near Bolivar square called La Puerta Falsa. I realized I'd ordered WAY too much food when my cafe con leche came with a piece of bread, an english muffin, and cheese, followed by the tamale I'd ordered that was the size of my head. Altogether though, all of THAT was about $6 USD. We wandered Bolivar square, paid $3 to take photos with a pair or llamas, fed the pigeons our leftover bread, and I haggled for some earrings at one of the local markets, before making it back to our hotel for checkout.

All in all, I'd still say Bogota is definitely worth seeing. I do wish I'd planned this trip with more than 3 weeks preparation, in order to better practice Spanish and lay out a better itinerary, as there was a lot of the city that we didn't have the time to see. But for a whirlwind 5 day spring break trip to South America? It was stellar, and Kris and I learned so much more about the world, new cultures, and how much we (still) adore free water.

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