Posted June 26, 201113 yr In March I saw a cheap Delta flight to Bogota, a place I have long been wanting to visit, and decided to book the trip. I went with a coworker and met two natives there (one from CouchSurfing). Bogota is an interesting place. It is still most definitely a developing city, but it is entering the league of more advanced infrastructure now (new airport, new sewer and water lines, light rail, subway, streetscaping). The city, and country in general, also seems to have a bit of an inferiority complex with Rio de Jinerio and Brazil as a whole...especially with the Olympics and World Cup being awarded to them. This keeps Colombians pressing to make Bogota better and a more global city. Their efforts are showing real signs of progress, but wages must improve. 1. Peppe Sierra TransMilenio Station 2. Downtown Bogota 3. Avenida Jimenez TransMilenio Station 4. Calle 13 in downtown Bogota 5. 6. Museo del Oro 7. Kids loving up a street performer 8. Plazoleta Rosario 9. Monserrate in the distance 10. Calle 13 in downtown Bogota is pedestrian and TransMilenio only 11. TransMilenio near Parque de los Periodistas. The main crux for my visit was to check out this world famous BRT system, and boy did I. 12. Parque de los Periodistas 13. Downtown Bogota 14. 15. 16. 17. Outside Portal de las Americas TransMilenio station on the westside of Bogota. 18. Alcaldia Mayor de Bogota on Plaza de Bolivar 19. Plaza de Bolivar 20. Congreso del a Republica on Plaza de Bolivar 21. Catedral Primada 22. 23. Calle 11 in downtown Bogota 24. 25. Biblioteca Luis Arango on Calle 11 26. Carrera 5 in downtown Bogota 27. 28. 29. Courtyard view from Museo Botero 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. On Sundays the city closes off approximately 130km of city streets to vehicular traffic so that bicyclists, and others, can get out there and enjoyed the roads. This is from Calle 11 in the Santa Barbara Occidental district. 35. Back downtown now on Carrera 3 36. 37. Took the teleferico up the steep mountain to the majestic Monserrate 38. 39. On the way down we took the funicular...check out that incline! 40. 41. Monserrate 42. 43. 44. 45. Yes, adorable. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. Back down in the city now, here are some bike/pedestrian paths along Parque Simon Bolivar. 52. Jardin Botanico de Bogota 53. Housing near the Universidad Nacional de Colombia 54. Santa Barbara Occidental District 55. Beer. 56. The Santa Barbara Occidental District is a fairly wealthy part of town, so you know this is where I stayed during my visit. 57. 58. Flower Market 59. 60. Quinto Camacho District 61. Live street art in Quinto Camacho 62. The famous Zona Rosa District 63. 64. Pedestrian only street in the Zona Rosa district 65. More TransMilenio lovin' 66. 67. Museo Nacional de Colombia 68. I was in Colombia for 10 days, but went to some other cities outside of Bogota for two days. Villa de Leyva was easily my favorite. 69. 70. 71. 72. The omnipresent mountains play such an important cultural, environmental and economic role in Colombia. 73. Main plazas in Colombia take on the traditional role of being a central, open gathering space. Following tradition, you can almost always find the church, trading posts and government building(s) fronting onto the plaza. Both Plaza de Bolivar in Bogota and Plaza Mayor in Villa de Leyva do exactly that. 74. Cheese! 75. 76. Finally, I will leave you with the view from our rooftop lunch spot. We waited out the rain, had some terrific Colombia food, Chilean wine and even had live Colombia music to go with it. Win.
June 26, 201113 yr Awesome set, thanks for posting all those! Interesting mix of quaint colonial, monumental neoclassical and junky modern boxes. And of course all the photos of BRT and bike and pedestrian infrastructure are much appreciated :)
June 26, 201113 yr If you're interested in Bogota's famed BRT system you should read my full analysis of it here: http://urbn.cc/p1ww. The system is incredibly crowded...some say too crowded. To help alleviate some of that congestion transportation planners are now introducing double-articulated buses (yes, three buses long), and operating the system at almost non-stop frequencies during rush hour. It's an incredible sight to see in person.
June 27, 201113 yr Excellent tour. Colombia is one of the most fascinating countries in the world IMO. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 27, 201113 yr Kudos on a wonderful set of pictures--one could learn a great deal about this emerging city just by studying this expansive set of photos! (Bogota's BRT-system and bike-lanes should be the envy of many an American city!) Just one "concern" about Bogota from this armchair traveler, though--and any comments welcome. For many outsiders, Bogota has the reputation of being a violent Colombian drug capital where travelers need to beware of their safety at all times. Is such an assessment accurate or unfair?
July 2, 201113 yr Just one "concern" about Bogota from this armchair traveler, though--and any comments welcome. For many outsiders, Bogota has the reputation of being a violent Colombian drug capital where travelers need to beware of their safety at all times. Is such an assessment accurate or unfair? Colombia is MUCH safer than it was decades ago. The drug trade still exists, but primarily east of the mountains and out in the countryside. If you stay in the major cities you really don't have much to worry about other than pickpockets and general shenanigans that you could find yourself getting into trouble with just about anywhere in the world. During my ten-day stay in Bogota there were only a couple of times where I felt uncomfortable. One was when I was wondering around on my own while it was getting dark...I took some odd turns and ended up on a nearly deserted street with what looked to be heavily guarded residential compounds. It's normal to see heavily armed guards all over Bogota (outside banks, public buildings, universities, etc), but you don't often see it outside of a residence (residences typically have walls and a guard house out front if they're wealthy). So in a nutshell, Colombia doesn't deserve the really bad reputation it has, but it is certainly a place where you need to be smart about what you're doing.
July 2, 201113 yr Wow it looks so clean and modern , more then i thought. Were the locals warm and friendly?
July 2, 201113 yr Just one "concern" about Bogota from this armchair traveler, though--and any comments welcome. For many outsiders, Bogota has the reputation of being a violent Colombian drug capital where travelers need to beware of their safety at all times. Is such an assessment accurate or unfair? Colombia is MUCH safer than it was decades ago. The drug trade still exists, but primarily east of the mountains and out in the countryside. If you stay in the major cities you really don't have much to worry about other than pickpockets and general shenanigans that you could find yourself getting into trouble with just about anywhere in the world. During my ten-day stay in Bogota there were only a couple of times where I felt uncomfortable. One was when I was wondering around on my own while it was getting dark...I took some odd turns and ended up on a nearly deserted street with what looked to be heavily guarded residential compounds. It's normal to see heavily armed guards all over Bogota (outside banks, public buildings, universities, etc), but you don't often see it outside of a residence (residences typically have walls and a guard house out front if they're wealthy). So in a nutshell, Colombia doesn't deserve the really bad reputation it has, but it is certainly a place where you need to be smart about what you're doing. I woudnt necessarily agree with all of that. I do agree that the mountain and range cities are drug traffic trade routes. The closer you get to Venezuela the worse it gets. Columbia is still dangerous I'm only familiar with Bogota and Barranguilla, but as a fluent Spanish speak with street smarts, feel I need to be on guard. Good pictures.
July 2, 201113 yr Wow it looks so clean and modern , more then i thought. Were the locals warm and friendly? Bogota is definitely not clean, and I wouldn't call it all that modern either. The locals I met were nice. You have your share of crazies on the street, but as MyTwoSense said, knowing Spanish and having street smarts is crucial in Colombia.
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