We’re not big city fans to begin with, and combine that with driving a large, ungainly vehicle and Bogotá’s (well deserved) reputation for horrible traffic, and we almost decided to skip the city altogether. In the end we decided to go, and we’re very glad we did!

We left Villa de Leyva on Friday morning (Halloween) and drove to Zipaquirá, home of a famous salt cathedral. Not having researched this before we left, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. A cathedral made out of salt? How do they keep it from dissolving in the rain?

We spotted this beautifully restored steam locomotive behind an equally impressive old train station while driving through an otherwise drab town. Of course we had to stop for a look!

The cathedral is actually inside a salt mine. People have been mining salt here since pre-Columbian times. At some point miners started carving crosses and religious figures into the rock to give them a place to say a quick prayer before heading to work (such is the nature of the profession). This idea got expanded over the years into what now is one of the world’s largest underground cathedrals.

The cross in the background is 170 feet high. This was just one of numerous crosses and religious carvings in the mine.

There’s a reflecting pool filled with salt water.

After leaving Zipaquirá, we drove to Chia to visit Andre’s Carnes de Res, a famous restaurant outside of Bogota. We were hoping to be able to camp in their parking lot, but because it was Halloween night, there was too much going on. The restaurant staff was super helpful and eventually one of their employees guided us to his family’s nearby home where we parked for the night. That area of town was loaded with parties and fireworks until the wee hours, but we were happy to have a place to sleep.

Bogotá has a bus rapid transit system called the Trans-Milenio. Buses use special lanes in the center of the highways which are physically separated from the rest of the traffic. They stop at elevated platforms just like subway platforms and the buses are specially designed with doors on the left. This is all great, except that you’re not allowed to make left turns on roads with the bus system. There’s not much signage telling the unwary foreign driver what to do, which led us to a bit of “exploring” as we tried to get to where we needed to go.

Jen and Pocket Earth got us to a parking lot in the tourist area where we were able to leave the van near the hostel where we were staying. We spent the next couple of days exploring the city.

Our first stop was the gold museum. It apparently houses over 5 tons of gold. Pieces like this were recovered from the bottom of a lake near Bogotá where the indigenous population used to throw intricate gold figures as offerings to the gods.

We took a funicular ride to the top of a nearby mountain for a view over the city.

We found a restaurant at the top for lunch.

Usually we avoid restaurants in obvious tourist destinations like this, but based on reviews in Trip Advisor we decided to give it a shot. The food was good, the prices were reasonable, and the view was amazing.

In the afternoon we visited the Fernando Botero museum which houses works of the much-loved Colombian artist.

The museum courtyard

I never really feel like I’ve seen a city or town until we’ve been to the Zocalo / Plaza de Armas / whatever the central plaza is called. That was our next stop after the museum, feeding pigeons and visiting with buskers.

Quinn’s favorite part of a day filled with museums and lots of walking? Minecraft with his friend Superlegodude9 at the hostel.

The next day we went to the Maloka children’s museum. Quinn had a great time and even made a monster!

El Gato!