La Candelaria and Monserrate

Our early morning began with a bus a trip to the Candelaria, the charming colonial section of Bogota. Chepe and his brother seriously debated whether taking me on the bus was a good idea. This may have been in part because buses are know to be somewhat unsafe mode of transportation (I  believe this is more for long distance travel). Our bus ride, however, ended up being no big deal. It was nice to be able to see the city as we traveled from the north of Bogota where Chepe's family lives to the center of the city. First, we took a brief enjoyable look in the gold museum. Did you know that the El Dorado legend originates from Colombia, just outside of Bogota? The natives used to throw gold and other precious gems into the lake and rivers. This very legend drew several explorers to search for this mythical city in search of its riches.

Colombia is also famous for it's emeralds. There's a corner in the center of town where a bunch of middle-aged men stand around with handfuls of emeralds, selling and trading right on the street all day. This is legal and Chepe attests that they are all authentic. I challenged this asking how he knows they are all real. They are trust me, he says. Must be some unspoken Colombian code of honor. In general, the Colombians do seem to treat one another very respectfully. They are so warm to one another it feels like they all know each other! I've heard rumors about this Colombian friendlieness....

Next we made our way to La Candelaria passing the President Uribe's palace. He is an extremely popular president credited with making happen most of the Colombia's transformation in the past decade. On this note, the US has been Colombia's single biggest ally for the past two decades. They came up with a sort of Marshall Plan for Colombia, named Plan Colombia, back in 1998 to fight drug trafficking. Since then they have given several billions of dollars in aid to Colombia to help eradicat the cocaine trade. As a result of this substantial aid the Colombians share very positive sentiments towards Americans. It's refreshing to be visiting a country where the people really like you. Actually, I think this is the only country I have EVER been to that does not express some sore or negative anti-American sentiment.

I digress. As we meandered past the formidable palace we began winding through the intimate and beautifully perserved streets of the Candelaria. La Candelaria is derived, I'm sure, from Candelabra but it basically means the old city. I happen to find the asthetic of colonial architecture very romantic. Perhaps it's a semi-concious appeal for an architectural style that characterizes the history of my own country. In any event, the old houses, shops and restaurants are beautiful and might I add colorful. And just in case you forgot you were at an elevation of almost 9000 ft., just look east at the breathtaking backdrop of the Andes mountains. It's pretty awe inspiring to be in a huge metropolitan city (population est. 8 million) on a high plateau in the Andes Mountains. Bogota is actually the third highest metropolis after La Paz and Quito.

Next we hailed a taxi to journey up to the peak of this mountain, Monserrate. We inched up a shockingly steep funicular reaching the summit at 10,341 ft. Atop Monserrate is a stunning church built back in the 17th century. Standing on the church steps looking out across the city it sort of feels like the church is floating on top of the mountain. I hope my pictures do some justice to this phenomenon.

At the top of Monserrate is when I realized Bogota is huge. Chepe happily participates in answering all my questions, he is a consumate host/tour guide. He says that it could take well over 2 hours to cross the entire city from north to south. He also admits he's never even been to the very south in his entire life. From what I've read the south is home to several shantytowns and Bogota's poorest residents. We definitely are removed from this poverty element up in the more affluent north Bogota. In fact, Bogota may have more like 12 million residents (officially they are 8m) meaning that almost 4 million are so poor they are not counted in the census.

We finished up lunch at Restaurant Santa Clara enjoying panoramic views of the city over a tasty bowl of Aijaco (chicken, corn, potatoes) and returned home to prepare for a big night out at Andre Carne de Res.