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We arrived on Halloween so we got dressed up. Myself, Steffi and Anna went with feather masks on, Elaine went as a punk and Carmel went as someone from the jungle. There were only a few people going out in the hostel because the main party had been on on the Friday night and people were still hanging two days later!!! We went to a couple of bars in the Zona Rosa which were okay.

Next day we were pretty hungover so we just got the Metro out to this cable car and then went up the cable car and went back the way we came. Its all part of the public transport system so all for 50 cent a great way to see the city. The neighbourhood under the cable car reminded me of a better version of the favelas of Rio. The are totally right on top of each other but just a bit nicer and bigger. Then we went to the Barefoot Park which has all these pools and things that youre meant to walk barefoot in. It was totally meant for kids so when we got there of course the place was crawling with them because it was a national holiday here like at home.

Our third day, we got up really early and went into town to the Museo de Antioquia (or some spelling like that).  Botero (the artist who draws all the fat people) is from here and so donated a lot of his works and his collections to the museum and it was in a gorgeous building. Then myself and Steffi went to the post office which you would think would only take 10 minutes max when there was nobody else in the queue. Firstly they dont sell envelopes so had to find a shop that did sell them. Steffi was sending stuff to the Chartered Institute so was thinking about sending it express post so we got a 5 minute explanation of the pricess. They were going to charge her 50 euro for two letters for express!!!!! She chose normal which worked out at 10 euro. Then we had to fill in a form with name, passport number and a finger print…yes a finger print and sign it so that we were agreeing that we werent sending drugs or explosives! Hilarious.  Then myself Steffi and Anna went to this cafe that was recommended to us for lunch. It was soo good. It was filled with old local couples who packed the place out. Great for people watching. We got banana juice (Actually lovely), gorgeous soup with fresh bread from their bakery, a main course of steak with rice, chips and a salad, a little bowl of ice cream and a coffee for about 11,900 which is less than 5 euro. Unbelieveable!
In the afternoon we did the Pablo Escobar tour. I hadnt really heard of him before but ye probably know him well. He was the biggest drug dealer to ever come out of Colombia. The first stop was up to Roberto Escobars house. Hes the brother of Pablo. Only a month ago there was an attempted kidnapping of him and there was a shoot out at the house but he had been tipped off about it so the poice showed up on time- still 3 people died! In the house are loads of photos of Pablo and a lot of momentos. Roberto is semi blind and deaf because when we was in jail a letter bomb was sent to him and exploded. So funny- he wrote a book about his life and its called “The Accountants Story”. it will be totally biased but going to read it when I get back. You should look up about Pablo. He was unbelievable. He built his own “prison” and stayed there for a year whilst still running his empire but then just got bored and left it. It wasnt a prison but was just a really fancy holiday home I think. The driver of the bus we were in today was his old body guard whose nickname was “Plaque”. The bodyguards of Pablo worked 2 weeks on then 2 off and when Pablo was actually killed it just happened to be his 2 weeks off.

Photo of Carmel below before Roberto took her into his secret room behind the book shelf!!!

We happily arrived in to Cranky Croc Hostel in Bogota, had a well needed shower and stayed in for the evening.

Next morning, we were up early to go on Mike´s bike tour of the city. It was a really good way to see the city and because it was a bank holiday alot of the streets were closed to traffic which made it easier to get around. On the way, we passed the main museums, the Presidential house, the main plaza, the red light district, some of the main parks and the main cemetary where it is common to rent a space for 5 years, after which the remains are cremated. We also tried some interesting fruits and street food. Photos from the bike tour are here.

After the bike tour, we went back to visit the Botero museum. Botero, an artist born in Medellin (city further north in Colombia) in 1938 donated his collection along with alot of his own work to this museum. Some cool stuff there including Picasso and Monet, along with his own works, that concentrate on fat people, fat food, fat everything!

Afterwards we had a quick coffee in Juan Valedez (like Colombian version of Starbucks) before heading home to cook dinner.

Our second day in Bogota, we went to see the Museo del Oro (gold museum) which had a huge collection of artifacts. We also went to the police museum and did some shopping later in the afternoon.

The next morning we got a taxi up to Cerro de Monseratte and got the cable car up the mountain (not advised to walk this due to frequent muggings) to see some views of the city. Afterwards we headed to get the bus to San Gil.