Bogota is a city with a turbulent past. Being the capital of Colombia it has received attacks from various political groups, guerillas and drug gangs. One of the most famous attacks destroyed the ministry of justice building, thought to be carried out by M-19, funded by Pablo, this theory is now being questioned as new investigations show it may have actually been orchestrated by the army itself. This type of conspiracy talk is common in Colombia. All the locals we have spoken to stress how corrupt the political system is and state how damaging it is for a country which is rich in resources.
We decided to start our visit to Bogota with a walking tour of the city. Walking tours can sometimes be quite dull but our lively Colombian guide kept us entertained throughout. We were taken to try some of the local dishes including the fermented drink Chicha
We were also taken to an excellent coffee house where our guide explained about a government led programme to train barristers. Through educating the locals about coffee they have created an up-and-coming coffee culture where the Colombian’s now understand the value of their export. As well as the coffee we also got to try the unusual mixture of hot chocolate and cheese.
We had seen this a few time throughout our travels but this was the first time we got to taste it. We have to admit it was quite good. Although that may be because the cheese was very light in flavour. It may not have worked so well with a stilton.
Other delights we sampled were waffles with jam and toffee and the extremely popular corn snack arepes which were dripping with cheese and butter. It goes without saying that Colombian food isn’t the healthiest.
At the end of the tour we were taken to a bar to play a local game of Tejo which involves throwing metal weights at packets of gun powder. It’s a fun game but I could envision the chaos erupting after one too many drinks. Of course Karl hit the gun powder on his first shot.
There is loads to do in the city and with only two days we had to be selective as to what we wanted to see so the next day we opted to go to the sparklingly new gold museum and the highly recommended police museum.
The museum de oro was dazzling. The endless rows of gold ornaments and jewellery was mesmerising to see. The displays also included information about the ancient processes used to make the pieces as well as some impressive light and sound shows which emphasised the importance of a lot of items that were used in religious ceremonies. It’s obvious why the Spanish spent so much time looking for gold in South America.
In the afternoon we went to the police museum. We learnt that in Colombia all men aged 18 have to do one year mandatory service. The young man taking us around the museum was clearly pleased with his placement and although he was very proud of working in the police force he did tell us that he wouldn’t be continuing after his one year was up.
Pablo's money counting machine and desk used to store money
Our guide enthusiastically talked about the criminals they have prosecuted over the years including the notorious leader of FARC and of course Pablo and his motley crew. Aswell as his Harley Davidson, Raybans and video camera, strangely they have a piece of the roof from where Pablo was shot on display which, as our guide was a bit too keen to point out, still showed some of his blood.
Bogota was our last true Colombian city before we head into the Amazon and like most of our stops in this country it was another diverse and fascinating place to visit.
