Day 1
Los Angeles, USA - Florida, USA - Bogota, Colombia
I took a midnight flight from LAX to Florida International, originally I should arrive Bogota at 1pm. However, the first flight was delayed because the last domestic flight was late 45 minutes. I took another flight to Bogota at 3:35pm, but it was delayed again because of the weather issue. So, I saw the sunset of Colombia and night view of Bogota from the sky. Please be aware that all your baggages have to go through the X-ray machine before getting out of airport.
You can call Uber throughout the city (although Uber is not legal locally), but it is not convenient to call Uber from the airport to other places, because the airport police will expel Uber drivers, and Uber drivers will face huge fine if they stay and get caught by the police.
When you arrive the Bogota Airport, it is best to take a taxi for the first time, so do not need to worry much. If you have experience, you can leave at any airport's exits and then you only need to walk to the outer aisle to wait for your uber driver there, because the police can’t tell whether it’s a driver who is picking up family members or it is an uber driver, but it’s worth noting that You must provide precise location, wait for the uber driver in advance and get on the uber quickly. Most uber drivers will not stop and wait for you because there is a high probability that the police will issue a ticket.
Please fill out the "Check-Mig" provided by the Migration Colombia before an hour of your first flight. The app version is better than a web version. There is a time limit when you fill out the electronic form. I filled the form twice. You cannot download any receipt from the app. You will receive an email after you fill in the form. It take times to fill out the form because the English terms in the English version are not very accurate. At the same time, there are some Spanish terms in the English version. e.g. United States become Estados Unidos.
Why do travellers , who are from coastal area, become harder to breathe in Bogota? Bogotá is situated at an altitude of 2,640 meters (8,660 feet) above sea level, high in the Andes mountains range, so walk slowly and take a deep breath when you are from the coastal area. After a week, you will be familiar with the it.
Day 2
Home - Buy SIM card - Money Exchange - Plaza de Bolivar
There are families feeding birds in La Candelaria's Plaza de Bolivar, Bogota's foremost social gathering spot. There are also banana chips you can buy at the plaza. My boyfriend said a hawker sold us banana chips for $5 USD. So it is too pricy.
We also buy the famous Wayuu Bags in La Candelaria. Wayuu Bags are handmade authentic mochila bags which are made by indigenous women in tribes in Northern Colombia. These women have passed down the art of weaving through many generations. Each Wayuu bag is unique with a design that tells a story about the Wayuu culture and history.
A middle size Wayuu Bag we bought from the store Doris Ortiz, the original price $70.000 peso. We bargained the price to $65.000 peso ($16.25 USD).
We bought a large Wayuu Bag at the hawker (The man's spot is across the famous Colombian cafe chain Juan Valdez Cafe and famous fast food chain Home Burger, opposite to a wafer hawker) The large Wayuu Bag's price at the hawker is $50.000 peso ($12.5 USD). The quality at the store seems like better, but it is more pricey.
We bought Colombian wafers Obleas with a hawker lady (near Juan Valdez Cafe)
How to buy SIM card?
Phone card: one person: Calaro operator, a one-time prepayment of USD$25, can get 5GB national general data + phone call&text
Where is the best place to have money exchange?
We went to a shopping mall Avenida Chile Shopping Center and Financial to have money exchange. Don't go to exchange store in the street. You can compare the exchange rate among stores inside the shopping mall. Just find the most cost-effective store to exchange money. The most important thing to exchange money in this place is not to worry about counterfeit currency and the exchange rate is high. The marketization of capitalism is really good! ! !
Day 3
Home - Monserrate
On our 3rd day, we climbed up to the peak of Bogota, Monserrate. In my understanding, Bogota is a plateau surrounded by mountains. Monserrate is the most famous peak in Bogota. The altitude of Monserrate is 3,152 m (10,341 ft). It is similar to the attitude of Lhasa, Tibet, China (3,656 m (11,995 ft). Since I live in coastal area, it is hard to breathe on the top of the mountain, I panted and walked slowly there. I can tell you that it has one of the best landscape in Bogota. You can see the whole city of Bogota.
We went there on Sunday at noon time, there are many people went to the Monserrate as well. There are 2 lines to buy tickets. Don't worry, they are the same. The train station provide sanitizer (use your feet to step the machine, so the gel would come out. ) for you to clean your hands. We discovered that the funicular(cable car) and the monorail prices are much cheaper on Sunday!
Some bloggers said that it is not safe to go on Sunday because of more people and more thieves. (Maybe also the transportation fee is more affordable? ) Oppositely, some bloggers said that it is safer to go there on Sunday because there are many locals and christians would go to the church at the peak on Sunday, the normal days only have tourists. The thieves are easier to identify tourists. In my experience, it is not that unsafe to travel there on Sunday, but always put your bag in front of you to protect your property. I don't lose anything at Monserrate.
We chose the cable car to travel to the top, then we took the funicular(cable car) up and the monorail down. We are doing differently from most of the tourists (who do it oppositely) , but I think we made a good choice. The funicular is slower than the monorail, so we can spend more time looking at the scene. I think monorail so fast and there are tunnels in between, so we saw the sunset clearly, but not the scenery.
When we enter the funicular station, there are two side (two funiculars). We went to left funicular, so we chose to stand on the left side of the funicular entrance, so we could catch the best scenery.
If you was arranged to the right funicular, you should stand on the right side of the funicular entrance. We saw a couple who were in front of us, who did not want to catch the last cable (the right side), but they chose the right side when they took the left funicular with us, so they only saw the mountain only... I was shocked on their decision.
I thought I was crazy that I wore thermal underwear, fluffy sweater and fluffy coat to Monserrate , but I realised that I was right because it was so windy the whole day. The weather became chilly and freezing cold in the late afternoon and evening time. I didn't wear a beanie, so I was headache at that night. Wear a sweater and a beanie with you is a must to visit there! If you are afraid of cold, like me, then add a thermal underwear.
On the top of mountain, many people were taking pictures outside of the cathedral. And the priests were discussing about Bible and singing at the cathedral.
Near the cathedral, there are several snack bars, providing Colombian empanadas and Colombian wafers Obleas. We bought 2 empanadas with 2 different tastes. One was chicken only, another was beef and egg mixed.
After eating some snacks, we climbed up to the souvenir market, then walk though a food market. We stepped on a big wood and took pictures of the fabulous mountain view. Both of us ordered Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup, Ajiaco. The soup was so so so delicious!
Day 4
Home - The Museo Botero - Callejon de Embudo
On our 4th day, we visited the famous Museo Botero. We saw the arts pieces of artist Botero created. The characteristics of his art pieces are all his work are so fat, fat women, fat men, fat bird, fat cat and fat horse. The most famous pieces is the fatty, cute version Monro Lisa. I think Colombians are proud of his arts. Actually, you can see replica of his art pieces everywhere in Colombia! The Museum is FREE in admission.
After that, we walked to Callejon de Embudo. It takes around 7 mins to walk there. Callejon de Embudo is the oldest area in the city and Callejon de Embudo is the oldest street in Bogota. You can see many graffiti here in this area.
We went to La vieja Antioquia for dinner. We ordered the Colombian national dish Bandeja paisa.
The main characteristic of this dish is the generous amount and variety of food in a traditional bandeja paisa: red beans cooked with pork, white rice, carne molida (ground meat), chicharrón, fried egg, plantain (plátano maduro), chorizo, arepa, hogao sauce, black pudding (morcilla), avocado and lemon.It is served in a platter or a tray.
Day 5
Home - Rest
Day 6
Home - Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) - Galleria Artesanal De Colombia
On our 6th day, I went to Gold Museum (Spanish: Museo del Oro) . We thought that we could buy tickets at the entrance, but actually people can only get inside with reservation (maybe because of pandemic). The officers let us in for free. Don't follow our method to gain free tickets. We did not have the tickets by mistakes only. We can feel the warmth and kindness of Colombians by this incident.
The Gold Museum possess and exhibit lots of extravagant, indigenous items in Gold, including the crowns, earning, tools.... This is a incredible piece to see all the golds around you. We were surprised there is a Gold light show to display the golds.
Galleria Artesannal De Colombia is a local market , it is just next to the Gold Museum. This is where you can grab your souvenirs. It has everything, including Wayuu Bags ($100,000 peso - 4 small bags, $100,000 peso - 2 medium bags). It has toy cars, replica of Botero's art statues, shawl, magnet, etc. The pieces here are affordable and reasonable. Don't forget to bargain for a better price! Many rooms are empty there, I think these small stores were closed because of the pandemic. Really sad the see this situation.
For dinner, we had a meal at a fast food chain El Corral , other famous fast food chain is HOME BURGER.
Day 7
Home - La Puerta Falsa - Plaza de Bolivar - Casa del Cabildo Eclesiástico - La Candelaria Shopping Mall for Emerald
We went to the famous restaurant False Door Restaurant (Spanish: La Puerta Falsa) . The restaurant. The False Door Restaurant is next to Plaza de Bolivar. It was established in 1871. We accidentally ordered their famous dishes. They are Colombian Tamales, Ajiaco (Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup) and Chocolate Completo (Colombian Hot Chocolate with Cheese) . We both think that the restaurant has the best tamale. A tamale is made with pork, have a piece of chicken, a boiled egg and the masa is mixed with cooked rice.
We worked around the Plaza de Bolivar again. There are thousands of pigeons, so we called it is the "pigeon plaza". There is a black cover outside of many buildings. So please go to this spot at weekends. We entered the cathedral and pray. Then we enter a shopping mall Calle Real De La Candelaria Shopping Mall, which is next to the plaza. The first floor is selling Emerald, which is the national jewelry and mineral in Colombia. Feel free to walk in.
Then we bought Colombian wafers Obleas again with the same hawker lady. It is near Plaza de Bolivar, Juan Valdez Cafe and Home Burger. Among the taste, both of us love the cheese with peanut butter, rather than raspberry jam with peanut butter.
We grabbed 2 seats outside of the Juan Valdez Cafe to eat our obleas, then we bought a bag of coffee beans ($23,500 peso) there. Actually this store provides the service to grind coffee beans when we bought coffee beans. But we refused to do the service. The store also have ground coffee grounds for sale. Please be aware that : Not every branch of Juan Valdez Cafe provides the service of grinding coffee beans !
Colombia is the 3rd largest coffee exporting country in the world. Colombia is well-known because of its coffee. Juan Valdez Cafe is the most famous Colombian local coffee brand and cafe chain. So don't miss it when you travel to Colombia!
Day 8
Bogota, Colombia - Dallas, USA - Los Angeles, USA
I have to fill out the "Check-Mig" again before departure. When I arrive the airport, I realised that only passengers can enter the airport. You have to prove that you have to take the plane (You can bring the air ticket's email confirmation. After you enter the airport. If you are going back to the United States, American Airline asked me to sign a statement that my COVID-19 result is accurate and real. I also need to write down my final destination for tracking. The officer just took a look at the COVID-19 result only, they won't collect the test result. American Airline requires passengers to wear masks during the flight besides eating and drinking during the meal time, but they don't allow passengers to bring drinks and food to the flight.
When I arrived Dallas, the immigration officer only asked me to take off the mask to take pictures. She asked me what food did I bring in? How much I have brought? She does not ask me any questions regarding COVID-19.
Cost for 7 Days
Accommodation for 2 people: CNY$3300 , USD$515
Taxi for 2 people: CNY$2000 , USD$312
Meals for 2 people: CNY$1400 , USD$218
Gift for 2 people: CNY$1400 , USD$218
Phone card: one person: Calaro operator, a one-time prepayment of USD$25, can get 5GB national general data + phone call&text
A total of USD$1291, it is very enough to travel around in Bogota.
Clothing
The temperature is around 20 degree C. So, wearing light sweater with a jacket plus jeans or pant would be a perfect choice! Colombia is at the equator. However, Bogota is at a high attitude. That's why it is so cool.
Reminder
Walk slowly when you first arrive Bogota because it is located in high altitudes.
Colombia's safety has been improved a lot. I wasn't robbed by locals. It was famous because of drug, but it is much safer now. You can see police officers are on patrol everywhere, especially at tourist spots. Put your bags in front of you instead of at the back, can definitely protect yourself. You can also see lots of security guards and security guards with dogs everywhere here!
I am a non-Spanish speaker, it is relatively difficult to survive in Colombia. Not everyone can speak English here. Google translator can help a lot!
The funniest thing I see is there are so many long buses here.
Asian faces are not common in Colombia, so it is easier to attract the locals. We were asked to take pictures with locals because of our rare faces in Colombia.
Use Uber instead of taxi or buses.
Staying in business zones (areas with tall buildings) is safer, usually the street number is around Calle 100 or above. We rented an apartment in Pasadena area, which is really safe and clean.
コメント