We arrived in Bogota at 6am from Cusco (with an 8 hour layover in Lima). After dropping our stuff off at our AirBNB, despite being totally exhausted, we set out for the walking tour we had booked at 10AM.
The walking tour was excellent – a total opposite of the one we had in Lima. Our guide was animated and charismatic – he was excited to be there and excited to share his city’s history.
We wandered through the famous Candelaria district, learned some key moments in the city’s history, and even got to try some Chicha!
After the tour we went to one of the places our guide recommended for lunch and tried the comida tipica, which were two different hardy soups. We realized quickly after with bellies full that we were both so exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap before dinner. Except that little nap ended up lasting the rest of that day and all through the night.
16 hours later we woke up and planned the next day of activities. We had planned to go on an exotic fruits walking tour where we’d be able to taste all the unusual fruits that they have here in Colombia, many that we’ve never heard of. The tour was meant to start at 2pm, so we headed into downtown, had some lunch, and were on our way to the starting point when at 1:45 it started to rain. Rain isn’t the word for it – torrential downpour would be more accurate. We were stranded in the entranceway of a shop using their awning as cover, much like the rest of the city. There were rivers of water flowing down the streets, thunder, lightning, you name it. It wasn’t small rain drops either. Determined not to miss the tour we both bought cheap umbrellas from an enterprising gentleman who picked his moment perfectly and tried to step out into the rain – but it was so strong that it beat down on the umbrellas and seemed to come from every which way. Even with umbrellas we were getting soaked, after only walking about 5 meters. We gave up hope of making it for our fruit tour and took shelter under another awning. At about 2:30 it stopped raining – but by then it was too late, we’d already missed the tour. We spent the rest of that day just wandering through Bogota, as I was looking for a new carry-on bag.
We had originally planned to head to Villa de Veleya the next day, stopping quickly at the Salt Cathedral on the way. But after stopping at the bus terminal to inquire times we realized that we wouldn’t be able to visit the Salt Cathedral enroute, and that by the time we got to Villa de Veleya we’d essentially have to go to bed, and leave the next morning to catch our flights to Salento. So we cancelled our stay at the Villa and decided just to go to the Salt Cathedral; hoping we’d stop by Villa Veleya on our next pass through Bogota (we figured we’d likely have to go through again just for flights).
For more photos be sure to check out our Bogota Photo Gallery!