Mercado de Paloquemao

This morning i set out immediately after breakfast to the Mercado de Palequemao, a giant market selling fuits, vegetables, meats, fish, flowers, and other random food items. I walked from my hotel which was a fairly long walk. I stuck to the main streets so i would not get lost, which meant that the streets i walked down were busy, loud, crowded, and not particularly attractive. That being said, i really enjoyed the walk as it provided a good view of non-touristy Bogota.

Finally reaching the market i was overwhelmed by the selection of produce.

Mercado de Paloquemao

This might be the best market ever in that regard. They had everything i could imagine and things i could not have dreamed of. It was so colorful and loud and everything looked so delicous. As i had already eaten about 6 different fruits for breakfast, i ate only one thing: mangosteens. I have been wanting to try them for a wile and bought one. It is, and i am not exaggerating, the best fruit i have ever tasted. It defies description, but it is a hard purple shell with sweet white cloves of heaven inside. I went back and bought a bag and sat on the curb with some vendors and ate my through half the bag. Whatever you are doing right now, stop, find a mangosteen and eat it. You can thank me later.

vegetables at Mercado de Paloquemao

butcher at Mercado de Paloquemao

I then walked through the flower stalls and the butcher area where whole cows and emormous pigs were being freshly carved up for sale. After wandering aimlessly in delight (attracting quite a bit of attention), i sat at one of the curb side cafes on a plastic chair on the sidewalk and drank some great coffee and smoked some cigarillos with the butchers who were on their breaks, eating and drinking in their bloody smocks. It was great.

I then walked back to the hotel with my remaining mangosteen and one other unidentifiable monstrous, green fruit that i will try tomorrow. (Once i figure out what all these exotic, tropical fruits are - and have the ability to upload photos - i will probably devote a post just to them.)

I would definitetly recommend a visit to this market. It looks like it is in a sketchy area of town, but it seemed safe and offered a great look at daily life in bogota.

To the Salt Mines

Yesterday was a full day. After another modest breakfast (seriously, i love this hostel, but the breakfasts are monastic in their simplicity), i walked to the closest Transmilenio line.

Transmilenio Station

TheTransmilenio is Bogota's answer to the subway. Apparently after about 20 years of doing plans and studies on constructing a subway to link the various barrios of the sprawling city, they decided to scarp that idea and instead built the Transmilenio: a network of busses that run on dedicated lanes as set times and stop at dedicated stops. Like a subway, you buy a ticket and enter through a turnstyle to enter the platforms. Like a subway, there are maps with routes listed. It is a really good system and is cheap (about 90c), but the difficult part is i found the routes on the maps very difficult to decipher. It must have taken me 20 minutes just to figure out which one to take. Anyway, they operate on the every man for himself philosophy, which i like; at the stops people push on and off with self-interested force. I much prefer this system to the preposterous, Canadian, queues of people saying, After you. No, after you every time they board a bus.

I road the bus to the Poral del Norte station and then hopped on the firt minibus with a sign that read ZIPA on it, as i was headed to Zipaquira - a town about an hour and a half away where underground in a salt mine is carved the world's largest cathedral. That is something i had to see.

I was the last person on the bus when the driver pulled over next to a a bung of guys burning garbage next to an old shack with two horses and carts standing watch and told me to get off. I was not convinced that this was the quaint Zipaquira i had read about. There is something exhillarating about findign oneself somewhere, not knowing quite where or where to go, and not havign a map or being able to speak the language. So i started walking. Slowly the streets improved and i eventually found myself at a large square presided over by a lovely, and quite old looking church. I saw a sign: Zipaquira. I was in the right place. I walked around there for a bit and had a cigar before setting off again to find the salt mine. It is a small town and this is its biggest attraction so it did not take long.

Zipaquira cathedral

Me, heading into the salt mine, Zipaquira

The salt mine was a working salt mine and in the 1930s the miners carves a small church at the bottom, but it became unsafe. In the 1990s, they decided to build a larger, newer cathedral underground, and it is enormous. There is a walkway with carvings along the way to marks Jesus's walk with the cross, then there are various small chapels, and finally a huge cathedral with grand, high ceilings and an enormous cross. And it is all carved from salt. It is true. I licked the wall to check. Amazing.  I took a tour in Spanish, but i met some nice Colombians from Florida so they translated the important bits.

After the cathedral tour i took the mining tour, which was pretty great and terrifying. We were outfitted with hard hats with lights and led into one of the many tunnels. The tour guide gave a bunch of instructions in spanish (i had lost my Floridian friends, so i do not know what he said) and then he asked my name. I, being a fast walker, was at the front of the group. We were told to turn off our head lamps, put of harns on the shoulder of the person in front of us and i was to keep my left hand along the wall, as i was the leader and we walked into the pitch black darkness along rocky floors. Those who know me know i am afraid of the dark, so leading a group of people into a black mine was not easy - especially as the path twisted and the ceilings grew lower. I did not think i could do it at one point, but i did. For another part of thr journey, i was replaced as leader by a german guy and i was behind him. Again we were in the darkness, but this time as we walked, the ceiling grew lower and lower until we were crawling. It was fairly terrifying. I've seen enough mine-based horror films to know what happens underground (I'm looking at you My Bloody Valentine and  The Descent). We also got to take pick axes and chip off large chunks of salt from the walls.

It was all very interesting and frightening.

After that i had a bite to eat with the German guy and we caught a bus back to Bogota (this is easy to do as they have signs and you can just flag them down anywhere).

bus to Bogota

Colombian countryside

I returned to the hostal after 5:00, had a rest in the hammock and then went for a cigar and a stoll in the rain. During this walk i was asked to go party with a couple groups of very young guys who only seemed to know the english words for party and beautiful. I politely declined their offers. I ended up at a super charming restaurant, sitting by a roaring fire, drinking vino calliente and eating a vegetarian crepe while listening to live music. It was perfect.

On my way back to the hostel around 10pm, i was stopped by some police on motorcycles who appeared to be concerned that i was out alone. At that point i was one block from the hostel though and i assured them iw ould be alright.

That was a long post. If you are still reading, thank you.
Today, i am off to market.
later.
d

Hungry Vegetarian seeks Sustenance on Mountaintop

My first fullday in Bogota started by a walk up Calle 7 to a sunday flea market that i had read about. The walk was great, as the sun was shining, i had a cup of fresh mango and papaya slices and everyone was out on their bikes. On every Sunday, the main streets in Candelaria are closed to vehicular traffic and are taken over by cylists, joggers and roller bladers. Every Sunday! (Take that, Portland.)

I stopped in to a couple of churches on the way, both of which were mid-mass. It is a bit like Portugal here in that every time i go into a cathedral there seems to be a mass underway. Seldom are they dormant.

The flea market was full of things that were not quite antiques, but junk that was fun to browse through. Lots of military accoutrment, old telephones, books, and toys. A man had a bucket of giant snails and was selling their snail slime as a skin care remedy. There i had a glass of lulo juice - lulo being a fruit native to the area. It is quite tart, but refreshing.

fruit vendor, Bogota

After the flea market i went to the Museo del Oro (free on sundays) and strolled through the impressive collection of gold artifacts and objects from Colombia history. It is a small museum, but impressive and worth a visit.

After the museum i walked for a ways up hill past vendors of grilled meats, blood sausage, corn and religious artifacts to the cable car station to go up to the top of the mountain to visit Monserrat, mountain with a white church perched atop. The church is visible from everywhere in the city and accessible by cable car, funicular, or a steep hike. The church, although very sacred is not that special, and wuite plain. What was great was the view of the city and mountains and the stroll through the market, which was selling various crafts and souveniers. (Nothing that i wanted to buy, mind you.) At that point it started to rain, so i ducked into a hall of food sellers, all cooking up the same dishes, rice and potatos or soup with chicken, blood sausage, pig intestines, and other identifiable mean bits. I was looking to see if there was anything vegetarian i could have when i was approached by the waitress who said something incomprhensible to me in spanish. I do not know what she said but i blurted out two phrases i know, liked togther: I am a vegetarian and i am hungry. She understood and made me a plate of rice, fired plantains, avocado slices, potatoes, beans, and hot peppers. It was huge and delicious and about $3.

my $3 lunch

view of mountains from Montserrat

After descending from Monserrat i continued to wander, through squares, and down a street of vendors aggressively selling (almost exclusively) pinata fillings, past particularly run down streets where the amount of garbage, dog feces and delapitated buildings increased, to an area called the Macarena. It is a quasi-bohemian, trendy neighborhood, about 25 blocks or so north, with lots of international eateries and pubs. More upscale by far than Candalaria. I had a cigar on a patio and then hailed a taxi to take me another 50 or so blocks north to the area called Zona Rosa.

graffiti in the Macarena area, Bogota

Zona Rosa is a fancy neighborhood. The streets are lined with large trees, it is clean and the sidewalks are not filled with dangerous holes. Here i found stores like Zara, Ferrigamo, and Hugo Boss, a movie theatre, a mall, a Hard Rock Cafe, and many fancy looking restaurants, bars and hotels. It feels a hundred years away from Caldelaria. It was pleasant to stroll around and has a couple of streets (Zona T) that are pedestrian and only lined with eateries. It was a little upsacle for my liking, but i sat down on the patio of a middle eastern restaurant and smoked a hookah and had hummus and turish coffee until it got too cold to sit outside at which point i hailed a taxi and went back to my hostel, where the kitchen was filled with guests cooking dinner. I was fairly tired after all my walking, so after a good lie down in the hammock i went to bed.

And let me take this opportunity too dispell another stupid warning i received from people and books before coming here. I was told to only take taxis after dark (which i have established as nonsense, as walking is fine), AND i was told never to hail them on the street but only to call for them. This posed a problem as i do not have a phone. But as it turns out everyone hails taxis on the street. They are yellow and licensed and use meters and have gps and are quite safe. So there, fear mongerers!

Ok, i am off for another day of exploring. Thanks for checking on me.
d

View from my Anandamayi Hostel, Candelaria, Bogota

Candelaria by Night

Last night after my post, i met a couple of guys here at the hostel and went our for dinner.  We walked several blocks through streets that were fairly quiet and then stumbled into areas that were filled with people - young people and families and children seemingly out on their own. It hardly seemed dangerous. I'm sure that at a certain point the crowds thin out and perhaps it then gets sketchy, but Calandaria after dark is not the threatening enclave that i had been wanred about.  Plus, there are police and private security guards on most corners, wearing uniforms and carrying machine guns, so it doesn't feel unsafe. And it was so beautiful out; cool and breezy and quite pleasant.

I slept well in my bed. It is quite chilly at night, but i was cozy.  It does feel a bit like camping as one must go outside and through the courtyard to reach the toilets and showers, but when the courtyards are so lovely, it seems ok.

I awoke this morning to a pounding headache - most likely a result of the altitude, but it is only temporary. Anyway, i had just had the rather modest breakfast provided at the hostel and i will be soon off exploring.

So far so good. I am exceedingly happy.
d

soldier in Candelaria, Bogota

Bogota dogs

Bogota - first impressions

I have arrived! I landed in Bogota this afternoon and made my way into the city by taxi. I am staying at the Anandamayi Hostel which is ridiculously beautiful.  It is an old colonial house surrounding three courtyards filled with hammocks, little ponds, flowering trees, and hummingbird likd creatures.  My room is whitewashed with rustic wood beams. There are shared bathrooms and a rustic kitchen for guests to cook and take breakfast.  It appears to be run by young women who are very helpful but do not speak English.  This is all very charming and i can't wait to end the day in a hammock looking at the stars.

Anandamayai Hostel Yard

After settling in i went for a wander thorugh the Caldalaria district (where my hostel is), which is the historic part of town.

I walked through the Bolivar plaza, which is surrounded by statley government buildings and filled with buskers, protesters, fruit sellers, and llamas. Llamas everywhere! They are probably just brough in for tourists to take photos of, but still: llamas! Not surpisingly i walked all afternoon through the streets of this neighborhood.  The streets are rough, shabby, dirty and filled with dangerous holes, but they are also lined with beautifully colored colonial-style buildings with balconies and flowers; many of these buildings housing tiny cafes and bodeags.  There are vendors everywhere selling candy, cigarettes, fruit, corn, and fresh juice.  I have seen numerous groups of buskers playing what i can old call colombian style salsa.  It is terrific. One of the groups attracted a group of old men in suits who were salsa dancing solo for almost an hour for a crowd of onlookers.  It was very entertaining.

horse in Bolivar Plaza

Bolivar Plaza

I tried a few Colombian treats today.  I went to a famous cafe called La Puerta Falsa and had Chocolate Completo, which is dark hot chocolate served with bread and butter and white cheese. You tear off pieces of the cheeese and put it in the hot chocolate until it gets all melty and then you eat it with a spoon and dunk in the bread and butter. Marvellous. I can't believe i have never had this before.  I also tried some new fruit. No idea what it was but it was hard and fibrous and orange and served with honey. I didn't care for it. For dinner i bought an arepa con queso from a street vendor cooking them over coals and had a chicha, which is a type of corn based beer. I don't like beer, but this is quite different and i thoguht i should try it. It doesn´t taste anything like beer, but more like a thick fermented bready grog.  It wasn´t bad, but i don´t think i would have it again.  I smoked a lovely partagas torpedo on a street called the Funnel, which is a narrow, colorful street, filled with bars and cafes and young kids drinking beer and smoking in the street.

The city has so much amazing graffiti. Certainly some of it is just sloppy but much of it is amazing and ranges from whimsical to political. On the note of art, i visited the Botero museum today, which features, Botero's bright, obese figures but also a good collection of art by picasso, ernst, etc. It was small but very impressive.

graffiti

calle del embudo graffiti

So far i have not encountered anyone who speaks ensligh, including the women who run the hostel, so i am relying on my rudimentary spanish, complemented by lots of smiling and nodding.

Ok, that is sort of a jumbled introduction, but i have only been here a half a day and am suffering from a combination of mild jet lag and mild altitude sickness, which has manifested itself in a headache. I think i might go out and see if the area is a dangerous as everyone suggested.

I will write again tomorrow. Sorry for the typos. i am not proof reading and it is a weird keybaord.
That is all for now.
Adios.
d

street in Candelaria, Bogota

Choosing Colombia

Recently realizing that i had some cash and some time - but not a lot of either - i decided to go somewhere. Having only 10 days from Vancouver rules out a lot of places, like Africa. There just isn't enough time. And right now i'm not keen to go to Europe. It's all starting to feel similar and my sense of wonder has faded, so it's time to take a break. So i decided to look south.  I had good luck with a quick jaunt to Ecuador a few years ago, so i thought why not go to Colombia?

I don't really know why i picked it, except that I had done some reading on Colombia a while ago, exploring it as a possible destination. (The fact that i recently watched Romancing the Stone is probably just a coincidence.) I've never known much about Colombia aside from the usual: coffee, jungles, cocaine, FARC, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Botero. Not knowing a lot about a country is always a good reason to visit: you're guaranteed to learn something and unlikely to be disappointed. Colombia looks awesome with everything from beaches to mountains, picturesque rural areas and modern cities. Only having a limited amount of time, i decided on Bogota and Cartagena. Typical, i know, but there must be reasons that people flock to these cities. They both look dynamic and lively, and filled with history, architecture, music, and markets, and of course, Cartagena also has tropical beaches with hammocks - perfect for lazy cigar smoking.

The thing that most people seem to associate with Colombia, aside from coffee and cocaine, seems to be violence. It is not a reputation that is undeserved, but apparently the levels of murder and kidnapping have been in decline. I'm not concerned about this at all, but everyone around me seems to be, telling me that i'm sure to be a victim of violent crime. (Thanks, well-wishers!) I keep reading that one must keep their wits about them, avoid certain areas at night, and keep an eye on their wallet, etc. But isn't that true everywhere? I don't know of a place where it would be advisable to wander drunk on a desolate street in a bad neighborhood, leaving your wallet slightly protruding from your back pocket. When i was in Ecuador, everyone told me Quito was dangerous, but i wandered after dark by myself without issue. Bogota may have some legitimate safety concerns, but i'll see what it's like when i arrive and i'll behave accordingly. My favorite piece of travel advice i've read so far is "keep your shirt untucked and over your fanny pack". Really? The assumption that the readers of this particular travel book wear fanny packs is a strong sign i'm reading the wrong book. Anyway, like i said, i'm not concerned and i look forward to reporting in a few weeks that everyone's concerns were unnecessary. Either that or i'll be kidnapped or mugged and then all of my friends can have a good "i told you so" laugh at my expense.

But I'm focussed not on muggers, but on mangos, architecture, late night salsa bars, coffee, hammocks, colorful squares, smoking indoors, bustling & filthy markets, and crowded boats & buses to new destinations. I'm sure it will be amazing and i can't wait.

Market Photos

gondar, ethiopia

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