Bogotá was liberated from the Spanish in 1819 by Simón Bolívar. Afterwards, Panama became part of Colombia in 1821 but seceded in 1903 after which the US built the Panama Canal. The loss of Panama; the devastation of the One Thousand Days War (1899 to 1902) - the civil war between the Liberals and the Conservatives; and the violent period of political unrest La Violencia triggered by the assassination of Gaitán that lasted 10 years and which saw the rise of the guerrilla movements (particularly FARC) have all contributed to much economic and political unrest with the armed conflict resulting in 220,000 deaths, mostly civilian, between 1958 and 2013.
Consequently, it has really only been in the last 7 or so years, with the winding down of the insurgency, that Bogotá has been open to tourists. Nevertheless, there are areas tourists are warned not to wander into and we were warned of this several times today by various people - all locals. Muggings are common and it is particularly a problem walking around after dark; but even during the day in some of the poorer areas and in areas where there is no security, like the hiking trails in the nearby hills. In the downtown area and the old central area (La Candelaria) there are police everywhere, including on bicycles and on horses. There is still violence: in 2012, there was a bombing involving a Government minister in which 39 people were killed.
- Read http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/travel/a-tourist-revival-in-the-heart-of-bogota.html?_r=0
We trailed along roads: sometimes in the wrong direction against the traffic and at one intersection there were some guys doing neat tricks with their bicycles (a change from washing windscreens like we see at home); we weaved along footpaths around pedestrians and vendors with their wares laid out neatly on the pavement; past the huddles of emerald traders on street corners in the downtown area of the city; stopped here and there at various monuments and parks for bits of history, including the prison La Modelo which is renown for its violence; cycled past the main bull ring (which has been closed by the Mayor) and through the main University where we had a lunch of local foods; we tried different fruits at a market; there was heaps of street art to view; watched a couple of young rap artists do a performance; cycled through the red-light district where the girls are on show on the sidewalk; visited a coffee-processing "factory" followed by a yummy coffee and finally ended up in a big "hall" where we played a local game called tejo which involves throwing a rocklike object at a mud slide and if you hit the bulls-eye (a triangle piece of paper filled with gun powder), a huge explosion goes off. "Aided" (?) by some local beers, we all had many goes and many laughs, with most of us missing until at the end, I in fact got a bulls-eye on rebound when my rock hit the top of the slide and bounced down to hit the explosive, causing much mirth all round.
All in all, I think we ticked many boxes on a list that wouldn't pass any sort of Occupational Health and Safety set of standards in Australia - and had a fun time.
At the end, we topped up the Colombian pesos we'd ordered in Australia with another tranche from a money exchange shop recommended by Mike (there is counterfeit here to be avoided) and then walked off into the sunset (almost) to visit the Museo Botero nearby. In 2000 the Colombian artist Fernando Botero donated 208 art pieces, 123 of his own making and 85 of other international artists including Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. It is a wonderful exhibition.
Our adventures for the day were not over yet. It was almost 5:30 p.m. and I was keen to get to the main square, Plaza Bolívar. The light was beautiful even though a light rain had started. Across the opposite side of the square (where Galán was executed), after passing the statue of Simón Bolívar (who visited here in 1819 when he liberated the country), we reached the tourist office and a lovely girl there who spoke excellent English helped us with some questions including about taxis. I had read one shouldn't order one off the street and she confirmed this and offered to order one for us but all the lines were busy so she offered to walk us to the bus station as she was about to finish work.
This was wonderful as it was getting darker now and as we walked she told us the streets (not far from us) where we should not go - even in the main Seventh Avenue (Carrera 7) in the busy downtown precinct as we walked with Melissa, we were hassled by beggars as we wound our way through the crowds of shoppers, musicians playing in the street, and police in long lines on horseback towering above us as they clip-clopped past. Melissa needed to go to the supermarket so I went too to buy some water and she showed me which brand to buy and suggested a yoghurt that she said was yummy.
Eventually we reached the TransMilenio bus station. The buses here have their own traffic lane making this a fast and efficient way to travel - and much cheaper than taxis which in the peak-hour traffic would be slower anyway. Melissa helped us buy the tickets, walked us to the correct bus line and then, on seeing a friend of hers waiting, delivered us to him as his stop was the one before ours.
The only stuff-up was when we got off as we couldn't find our street so, after asking at a pizza place and still being lost, we went into a Starbucks where we purchased one coffee to share (6,000 pesos compared to the 2,500 pesos for the one we'd had earlier on our bike tour) and used the free wi-fi to get a Google map going to show us the rest of the way back to our hotel. It wasn't far away in fact, but the street numbering is a little difficult to grasp.
We decided not to go out for dinner. We'd had sufficient to eat during the day and I still had a half sandwich left over from lunch so, along with the yoghurt from the supermarket (which was indeed yummy), we were happy to call it a day.
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