Day 2- Finding my feet in Bogota (10/7/25)

 

After a good night’s sleep, I had a couple of coffees in the Hostel and a shower, then headed out to see Bogotá in the day light. Not much seems to be happening in the morning apart from street sellers setting up for the day and café’s putting out tables and chairs. So, I took advantage of the mostly empty streets.

I wandered around looking at the brightly coloured houses that line the cobblestoned streets. This is a touristy area, so there are plenty of little shops selling hand crafted items and the usual tourist merchandise.

I walked down to the small square that I had seen in so many travel videos. Then I headed towards the Museo del Oro (the Gold Museum). This was fascinating. There were displays of the crude stone tools that were used by the indigenous people to craft amazingly intricate artifacts that were used in various ceremonies. The security around the museum was incredible; armed guards, vaulted doors and cordoned off areas around the museum. The items here are clearly worth a lot of money.

Feeling a little light-headed and generally weak, I decided to buy an arepa con queso from a small street stall. With that weighing heavily in my stomach I decide to return to the Hostel to chill for a while. I took some time to book my Uber for the morning and double-checked my bus ticket for Villa de Leyva tomorrow.

Mid-afternoon I walked down to Plaza Bolivar, an enormous square surrounded by stunning colonial buildings. By now, all the streets were full of vendors and, of course, tourists. There were several men standing around with Alpacas, charging people to have their photos taken with them. I don’t really subscribe to this type of tourism, so I didn’t partake in facilitating it by photographing them. But, in fairness, they animals did look very well cared for and they were being handled with respect.
Other stalls sold fruit juice, empanadas, T-shirts and hats, and of course umbrellas (a sound business plan in a city where it rains so much).

Heading back to the Hostel again, I stopped for a beer in a small bar. The weather has been flitting between rain and hot sun, and I was really starting to feel drained.
I had a good long chat with the 2 young men who worked there. With my rudimentary Spanish and their complete lack of English, we managed to talk about our respective countries and what my plans were for my time in Colombia. They even gave me a taste of a craft beer that they seemed very proud of. Apparently, it is made from a fruit called Mora, which I have subsequently found out to be their word for Blackberries.
It was a pleasurable time spent chatting and laughing. Then back to the Hostel.

I had a nice sleep but woken by the sound of Reggaeton coming from the bar that is right next to my room.
Went to a restaurant just around the corner and had Ajaico and a beer.  This a dish that was on my must try list. It is a potato, corn and chicken stew that comes with rice and avocado. I was going to order a pizza as well, thinking that Ajiaco is just a kind of starter. Thankfully, the waiter pointed out that it would be sufficient on its own. I’m glad he did, it was very filling.
The walk back (probably about 100 yards) demonstrated to me what Julio, the taxi driver had said, it’s probably not a good idea to be out alone after dark. There were some sketchy looking characters hanging around, no other people in sight. It was a reminder to me that I am in a country that still has its social issues. Throughout the day I have seen people going around and looking in rubbish bags for any recyclable materials that they can sell at the recycling sites. This apparently is a common occupation for the homeless and drug addicts. It is a sad reminder of what social inequality ultimately does to a country.

Early night tonight, another travelling day tomorrow.