Battleground Bogota

I spend 5 days in Bogota and I think I got a pretty comprehensive picture of the city. Many people know Columbia and Bogota in particular for its crime rates and cocaine trade (further popularized by the Netflix series Narcos). Against this bad reputations, many claim that Columbia has changed and is now a save travel destination.

 

DANGERS

My experience was that neither one is true. For European, North American, or Asian traveler the crime rate here is still beyond comfort level. It is not some kind of statistics, you actually see the gangs lurking though the streets also around the “save” tourist neighborhood La Candelaria. After 5pm most streets get very empty and shouldn't be entered under any circumstances. Other parts of the city are no go areas all day.

There are masses of police and guards on the streets, mostly in groups of 5-7. Though you shouldn´t trust them too much either. A mate from the hostel got actually mugged by two police officers (Being drunk at 3am in some remote area, common sense “hello!”).

The military committed atrocities on the public that I had never thought possible. The state put a bounty for killed guerilla warriors, so military officers had some more incentives to actually target them. Well, some officers had the clever idea to let thousands of civilians disappear, kill them and dress the copses as guerillas to get the money. That I would call a lot of criminal energy. I learned a lot about the history of the country from Columbians giving city tours. Many things that happened the last 100 years were so violent and atrocious that it was hard to believe that it actually happened.

Homeless people and drug addicts are also very common in the city center. At night everybody stays at the hostel bars (which are therefore really cool places to hang out and there is party all night.) However there are so many people so many first hand reports from mugging that the problems of the city become very real to you. Almost everybody who stayed here longer as witnessed some kind of crime.

Surprisingly, when you meet Columbians (like the one in the bus on my arrival), they are just the most positive, friendly and helpful people.It seems like good and evil living side by side.

 

SAFETY RULES:

At the same time it is true that you can travel Columbia quite safely as long as you stick to the rules of common sense. However, unlike other countries you really HAVE TO stick to them 100%. All recent muggings I heard of were of people who did something stupid. 

• You stay out of all no go areas (there are quite a lot). The police often guards them during daytime to stop nosy tourists.
• Never walk on empty streets outside the touristy core of old town. Not even at daytime.
• If you realize that you entered a street where nobody is walking, go back to a more busy street. After sunset that is essential.
• If you want to explore the city, go for the weekend. There are more people on the street making the whole city a much saver place. 
• Don´t use busses through the city (there is only one save line) but always take a registered taxi. Don’t hail a taxi from the street. You have to ask your hostel / restaurant to do so. Many people nowadays use Uber and its local competitors. With them there is no cash involved and every driver, car and transport is registered and recorded.
• If you get unlucky and mugged, don’t even make the impression to resist. Some gangsters here have not the slightest hesitation to kill anyone and they will whenever they find that its more convenient.
  

All recent muggings I heard of were of people who did not follow these rules actually did something stupid. So though you are very aware of the problems of the city, you can visit it without worrying to much. Just pay attention. That is what every Colombian tells you here as well.

 

NIGHT LIFE

Many tourists only leave the hostel at day time and only to do one of the guided tours or to go up the mountain. Most people never went to any bars or clubs in the city. Instead they party until 4am at the hostel bar. The hostel is actually awesome so it is not that you wouldn't have fun, but you kinda miss a lot of the life here in Bogota. Colombians have to follow the same safety rules as we gringos and for them Bogota is a party town. So there is no reason to miss the night life ;).

I left the cozy enclosure of our hostel last Saturday night and convinced a room mate to jumped with me into the night life of Bogota. I can definitively confirm, this city rocks. There streets that are designated for nightlife are stuffed with people (and thus save). Every third building a little bar. Some really upscale, some heavy metal. All of them are pretty cheap but expensive for Colombian standards (normal cheap German beer prices). TripAdvisor recommends that every tourist visiting Bogota should visit South Americas biggest “gay” club. Actually everybody in the city and in the hostels has at least heard of the place. It is also the biggest and most popular club in Bogota in general (so most people there are actually not gay).

I have never seen such a club. It is more something like a citadel of bars and dancefloors. On the 3rd level there is huge open air area that featured a punk rock concert that day! Once you paid the entrance (12USD) all drinks will be free until 2am (afterwards they are still cheap). I came home around 6am to get my 3h of sleep before checking out. I will sleep very well on the bus today :D

Ah, you don´t know yet. I am on my way to Medellin. For the ones of you who are worried by my previous description of safety in Bogota. Medellin is really save also during the night. I heard only positive things about the city. Most Columbians I met (mainly tour guides) said that it is their favorite city. So I am very excited :D

Fry-Food

The food that I encountered here in Bogota was in some ways similar but also  quite different from the southern part of South America. Most travelers here believe that all food in Bogota is fried. The street food for sure is (and usually of the oily greasy type). However, at lunchtime you can find some pretty decent food in local cantinas. They look a bit dodgy but I trusted the many Columbian costumers that came here for their lunch break :D

 

Empanadas

Empanadas are again common, but here usually deep fried and so particularly great here. Most of them ones I tried also had barely any seasoning. They still fill your stomach though.

 

Grilled Bananas

Another local street food I had on Monserrate: grilled bananas. They are filled with cheese and jam. Make a good dessert.

 

Chicha

The old traditional alcoholic beverage here was Chicha. It is some kind of fermented corn and manioc syrup. It is very sweet and a bit fruity, costs almost nothing and gives you pretty bad headaches. A hundred years ago, advertisements like “Chicha makes you stupid”  “Chicha creates crime” or “Don't drink fermented beverages” made it once illegal to sell. When politicians figured out that the beer industry (mainly German migrants) was behind the anti-Chicha campaign it was already too late and since then “beer” is what people mostly drink here at nights (which is fermented as well, isn't it :D). And they drink that a lot here!

 

Chuculla

Chuculla is another typical drink here. Many poor people could not afford proper hot chocolate. A popular drink here along with coffee. Ah, I probably didn't mention this, but coffee here tastes just amazing, everywhere, even at the hostel breakfast. Anyways, a hundred years ago, poorer people used roasted grains from wheat, peas, chickpeas, corn, lentils, and mixed them with sugar, chocolate and spices to form small brown balls. These are then dissolved in hot milk to yield a hot chocolate-oatmeal like drink. It is actually really good.

 

Banana chips

You get these on every corner. Crunchy like potato chips but without any flavor (not even salt). I liked it as a snack

 

Bunuelos and Arepa

The first is a simple fried ball of dough without any significant taste. Arepas (left) are more unique. They are usually made with corn flower, fried on both sides and stuffed with cheese. They are much heavier than they look. One of them actually fills you up! I heard that they are better in other areas of Colombia. Lets see :D

 

Columbian Lunch

Food in Bogota has a very bad reputation among tourists for being basically just fried stuff. But if you dare to go into some of the local cantinas you can discover some really nice food. Though things here often are not what they seem to be. I expected something like pork in a meaty gravy and some white salty soup (maybe chicken or vegetable. The juice looked insanely artificial and sweet in its plastic container.

In the end, the pork turned out to be a slice of fish (with the backbone in the middle), seasoned like we would prepare a roast at home. The white soup is made of corn and tastes quite sweet. The red juice on the other hand tastes really fresh (with fruit flesh) and was not sweet at all, but rather refreshing. Pretty good deal for about 4UDS

 

Fruit Juice?

Unfortunately I could not remember the name of the fruit. Columbia has a huge variety of exotic local fruits. Most of them are used to produce juices. Many people go on exotic fruit tours to explore them. I just a a cup of this delicious white juice when I was on a bike tour. This one was a bit like Mango lassie but with a hint of coconut. It was very delicious (though it made my Israeli travel companion very sick!)

 

Obleas Columbiana

Pretty much two giant thin wafers filled with some Columbian kind of Dulce de Leche, fruit jam and cheese! They are very nice as a quick snack.

 

Ajiaco, a Colombian Specialty

 

That was pretty much what I ate when I was in Bogota. I heart that there are huge differences between regional cooking, just as the climate is very different across the country.

Keep you updated

Bogota's Beauties

 

Open Air Gallery

I lived in a hostel in the conserved old town neighborhood of La Candelaria which is adjacent to the CBD and political center Columbia's. Most old prestigious building were destroyed during the riots of 1948 and the rebuild buildings from 50-70ies are not so nice to look at. That encouraged graffiti artistes to use the abundant grey concreate for their creativity and political messages. Today it practical legal (tolerated) to work on every wall in the city. That made Bogota a worldwide Mecca for street art. Several companies offer graffiti bike tours to have a look at the paintings.

There is so much to tell about every single piece of art. Many of them have amazing stories behind them (a dead teenager, protests against Justin Bieber, freedom of love, animal rights and children dreaming). But that you should discover yourself (or ask me).

 

Botero Museum

Apart from street art, there are also more than a 100 Museums in the city of which most are free (or almost free). The Botero Museum, donated by Columbia's most famous and richest artist is free to the public and harbors Picasso, Degas, Matisse, Monet, Beckmann, und Chagall. It is a really small museum and there are not many visitors. It is though weird to see all these super expensive and popular artists so private, close and for free.

 

Gold Museum

Another must do museum is the gold museum, that harbors artefacts from the pre-colonial cultures. Gold, silver, platinum and emeralds are very common in this region and early European reports claim that there were no men or women here that didn´t wear some kind of gold jewelry. Their artwork is really impressive, but you also learn a lot about their cultures and shamanic belief systems. Gold artifacts and amulets were made to aid the priests transforming into animals like jaguars or birds.

 

hasta mañana

High Up

Most of Bogota's old town is build long the side of mount Monserrate. The top was once sacred to the local tribes. So the church destroyed all cultural remnants and build a church there. The catholic religion is very important for Columbians pilgrims would bind teeth around their knees and crawl up the mountain seeking repentance for their sins. Today most people take the cable car (also because the path up the mountain is not considered save anymore). Here you get a very nice view across the city and its more than 8 million inhabitants. You can clearly feel the height up here at 3100 m. I already felt it down in the city but on the mountain many people had some problems breathing, especially while climbing stairs. It is an interesting sensation. You feel ok when you just stand but every movement makes you breathing stronger.

Bogota's location on the Andes Ranges (the black plateau)

some decoration while waiting for the cable car

The Top of Monserrate, 3152m

The Swiss couple I am currently traveling with