Bienvenidos a Colombia!

Our two week trip through Colombia has just begun, and we’ve already have an eventful first couple of days. We awoke from our nap in the cab ride from the airport yesterday morning to find ourselves in the middle of the Candelaria, the historic neighborhood in downtown Bogota. Think of Old City in Philly, except more than 200 years older, and founded by the Spanish instead of the Quakers. Plus, it’s a little edgier, but beautiful and charming nonetheless.

Highlights so far:

Yellow Fever Vaccine = Great Success! We aren’t going to any particularly high risk areas (so don’t worry) but Parque Tayrona (where we go at the end of our trip) requires all visitors to show their yellow card supposedly, so we didn’t want to risk it. It turns out that here in Bogota at the airport you can get vaccines for 100% free (vs the $120 per person it would have cost us in the States). A friendly police officer showed us where to go.

There are delicious street snacks on almost every corner (Steve really enjoyed trying the fried pig anus. No joke.). From grilled corn on the cob to churros to plantain chips to empanadas, everything is delicious and cheap. Hot chocolate is also extremely popular here (particularly with a piece of cheese in it) so we are drinking that whenever possible. Of course, the coffee goes without saying.


Steve trying his new favorite delicacy

The city itself really is a highlight on its own. The people are so friendly and while English is not commonly spoken, everyone is more than willing to suffer through our attempts at Spanish. We’ve only met one other set of American travelers, and while there are tourists here, you definitely can tell that tourism has not been a defining part of Bogota in the past (although it is on the rise, and it somewhere we’d recommend to put on your radar). Our hostel – Alegria’s – is lovely and a great bargain. Also, the cost of cabs here is amazingly cheap.

The courtyard at Alegria's
And some lowlights:

Thursday into Friday proved to be a bit of a long travel day, since we decided to save on airfare and get the bonus of an overnight direct flight by leaving from JFK. Our scheduled Megabus broke down on the way to pick us up at 30th Street, so we got off to a late start that led us right into rush hour traffic, but for $5 a person what can you really expect? We’d do it again.

Definitely the lowest point was when we realized that our bank does not allow us to make ATM transactions – anywhere in the entire country! Our credit cards were fine, and we could use our debit card at stores, restaurants, etc that actually take cards, but the majority of places simply take cash – un problema since we did not bring a 16 day supply. Of course, this would not have been an issue if someone had not forgotten to call the bank ahead of time (and shockingly it was not Steve). For about 24 hours we scrounged around trying to figure out how to access our bank account without any ATMs. When our call to Western Union proved futile, we seriously thought we might have to come home (apparently, in case you need to know one day, it is not that easy to wire your own money to yourself in a foreign country)! However, thanks to our new best friends at the one Bancolombia that is open on a Saturday, we were able to access our bank account without an ATM and are happy to report we will be continuing with our travels! Let’s just say we can laugh about it now. ☺

Up on Monserrate
Tomorrow, we will be taking the Turistren to an underground salt cathedral outside of Bogota and continuing to enjoy the good food and culture of Colombia. We’ll post back soon!