Dave showed up at our hostel in Bogota early in the morning. Once Marie, Devi and I were awake we decided to venture out for breakfast before Marie’s flight. We had a hard time choosing a place and eventually when we did, I for some reason had a tamale for breakfast. Bad decision. It’s not that it made me sick or anything, it was just gross.
Marie'
Anyways, we had a nice meal reminiscing about where and what the four us had done together and of course talked about keeping in touch which hasn’t exactly happened yet (it will, right?). Afterward, we delivered Marie back to the hostel so she could get her bags and watched as she got in her cab and headed for the airport.
Once Marie left, Devi, Dave and I got our stuff together and got ready to make something of our day. Our first tourist activity was to head to Montserrat which is a cathedral high up on a high which overlooks all of Bogota. Seeing as we had gotten birds eye views of other place we’d been in Colombia we didn’t want to leave Bogota out. I had also heard from someone back home that at Montserrat you could purchase these really cool flasks which are made out of animal hoofs. Gotta have one of those right?
In order to get to the top of Montserrat there are there options. You can walk, you can take a cable car or you can take the ferrocarril which is like a tram. Because it was a weekday the walking trail was actually closed. Apparently during the week this walk is extremely dangerous for whatever reason but during the weekends, when there is mass at the cathedral and there are a ton of people using the trail it’s much safer. It also turns out that the day we were there the cable car was being worked on so our only option was the ferrocarril.
Cruising in our Ferrocarril
Once we got to the top we had to walk a bit more until we actually take in the views. The ferrocarril ride and the short walk were well worth the view.
After taking in the view and taking a bunch of pictures it was time to brighten up the day a bit. I had seen this gentleman that was riding in the ferrocarril with us drinking a beverage called Pony Malta. I’d seen Pony all over the country but had yet to try and it and thought what better time than now while looking over Bogota. The drink is a “malt” beverage but is non-alcoholic and is drank like a soda. They tout it as an energy drink and besides being thirsty and a little adventurous I felt like I could use some energy. I took the first sip and then handed it off to Dave. Enjoy the videos, they’re worth watching.
As you can see, Dave and I both thoroughly enjoyed the Pony Malta experience.
Once we were done with Montserrat, there’s little do there except enjoy the view and check out the few souvenir stands, we descended back into the city. We had heard from various people that the Police Museum was worth visiting and that they had a pretty cool exhibit on Pablo, so, that was our next stop.
Once we arrived at the museum and were joined with a tour group we actually ran into two friends we had made through Devi, Jason and Yojahira. It was pretty coincidental that we ran into them and were put into the same group as them at the museum.
The museum itself was actually pretty boring. The first 15 or 20 minutes is devoted to Pablo and his capture but once you’ve passed that section the tour moves onto things which really have nothing to do with Colombia. There’s a whole section on/with tools of torture from all over the world, a section of uniforms from police all over the world, a room with weapons of all sorts and some other things I can’t quite recall. In the room with the uniforms though there were an assortment of hats and helmets from police forces around the world that we were allowed to put on and take pictures with, obviously this was the best part of the tour.
Salute
It was pretty obvious that Dave, of all people, was getting pretty restless with the tour so when it was all said and done no one was complaining.
Trying to fill out our day, the three of us (Dave, Devi and I) then decided to go on a little mission into South Bogota to find some souvenirs that Dave and I had been seeking out. Back in Medellin (I think) Dave had the idea of purchasing some school uniforms (namely a t-shirt) from a local school, high school or otherwise, as a souvenir. Not having any luck in any of the other cities we were at we thought we’d get lucky here in Bogota. We had asked some students where to go and they directed to an area called El Restrepo. The thing is, everyone and I mean everyone had told us not to go to the Southern part of Bogota because that is where it is the most unsafe. Well… it wasn’t going to stop us.
We got there in a cab and wandered around for a bit and did not end up finding what we were looking for. I did however come across a “Policia Nacional Instructor” shirt a little shop that would actually cause me some problems further along in my travels (we’ll get to that later). At no point during our time in El Restrepo did we feel in danger or any less secure than we did elsewhere. I think it’s fair to assume that this is not the bad part of town people were referring to.
Returning to the hostel that evening we were all pretty exhausted and needed to rest for a bit. So we did. Later that night Dave and I would be meeting up with Pia and Caro (our friends from Cartagena) and Devi was going to go hang out with Jason and Yojahira.
After a quick rest I headed out first to go meet up with Caro and Pia at a bar while Dave packed. I don’t think I have mentioned it yet but today was actually going to be Dave’s last day in Colombia. The following morning he would be boarding a flight back to San Francisco. Our plan was to go out to dinner and then party a bit so that Dave would have a solid hangover for his flight.
Dave eventually met up with us and we all went to a restaurant in La Candaleria, the old part of town. The meal, if I remember correctly, was really good and complimented with several bottles of wine. After dinner we all went to a salsa club where we danced for several hours before Dave and I decided it was time to call it night. For the second time in three weeks we would have to say goodbye to our new friends Caro and Pia. It would be the last time we see them in Colombia.
Pia and I
Dave and Caro
Dave’s flight was pretty early in the morning so once we returned he promptly went to bed and I was not too far behind him. I pretty much knew that the following day was going to be a rough one for me because Dave was leaving and because we had said goodbye to Marie the following day and Pia and Caro that day. I’m certainly not usually fazed by “goodbyes” but, this really would be the start of a whole new trip for me. I was ready for it, but I also knew the following day would be a long one.
Previous Entries: A La Orden I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX
