As soon as I walked out of the airport in Bogota, differences between here and Cartagena started to become obvious. Firstly, it was cold, and it is the first time on this trip I have needed to pull my warm jacket out of my pack. At 2,500m above sea level (a little under 8,500 feet for the metrically challenged) and wedged between two mountains, Bogota has a year round temperature of about 14 degrees (58F), and it was cooler than that when I flew in.
Another difference, and not only to Cartagena, is that Bogota is easily the most modern city I have been in during my Latin American travels. The old city with layers of 70s, 80s anbd modern buildings in the centre surrounded by genuine industry (including biochemical and technology campuses in the business parks lining the freeway to the airport) which reminds me of a German or Austrian city rather than being at all Spanish like Cartagena or indeed most of Central America.
Most backpacker hostels are in the old city, known as La Candelaria, and there some of the less savory differences emerged. Many of the buildings are not well signposted (for example the Platypus hostel simply features an Australian monotreme on the exterior wall) making navigation difficult. Signs on the inside of doors in a couple of the hostels I went into reminded backpackers to shut the door firmly behind them and never to open the door to strangers. Even in the day time, most doors (and not only the Hostels) seem to remain shut and quite a number of retail businesses featured private security guards at their entrances.
Arriving in the early evening I didn't venture more than a block or two from the hostel just walking far enough to find some water and a quick bite to eat. There really didn't seem to be anything to worry about as there were a lot of people around, however streets in La Candelaria are narrow and dark so it seemed better to not take any chances.
In the morning, Bogota seemed a much less intimidating city. I wandered around for a few hours and walked into a major ceremony in the Plaza de Bolivar, where I took the above photo. I'm not sure who the dignatories attending were (I was hoping to see Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe but no such luck) however the security cordon around the Plaza extended for a number of blocks in each direction. I don't know whether FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) or any of the other communist guerillas or right wing extremists target Bogota, but it was an impressive police presence around the square as well as the formations in the photo.
The Parque de la Indepencia was a highlight of my morning stroll, especially as there were relatively few people around so it was something of an oasis of tranquility in the city centre.
I only had a little over 24 hours in Bogota, which is certainly not sufficient to do the city justice. I also never ventured into the poorer areas of the city or took a single rumba class, so I can't really claim to have experienced everything it has to offer. However, I never felt genuinely threatened or unsafe and it certainly seemed to have plenty to offer tourists, so I'd be prepared to recommend a few days in Bogota... just so long as it didn't eat into your time in Cartagena and the beaches.
On an unrelated note, I've been searching for a Spanish language paperback copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (or Cien Año de Soledad which is its original Spanish title) through bookshops in about five countries. Garcia Marquez is the only Colombian to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature and some shops have entire shelves devoted to his work. However I've only been able to find a large print collectors edition hard copy which isn't ideal for baclpacker travel. Well finally, in the El Dorado Bookshop in Bogota's El Dorado airport I found my El Dorado and purchased a paperback copy.
I think my Spanish-English dictionary is going to get quite a workout if I'm going to attempt to read it!
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