What better reason to spend some time getting to know the beautiful city of Bogota than a Colombian Wedding? Our friends Mafe and Craig had invited us to their wedding in August, and we immediately said yes. Visiting Colombia has eluded us for years (a day trip to Cartagena doesn’t really count), so we were looking forward to our 5 day getaway to Bogota.
View on our 14 hour flight from Istanbul to Bogota; Turkish Airlines
Palace of San Francisco; Bogota
Mural painted on a wall at "Callejón del Embudo", one of La Candelaria's most recognizable streets
Drinking chicha out of a hollowed out gourd, called a "pilche"; Casa Galeria
Mural of an indigenous woman looking up at the sky; Callejón del Embudo
Chorro de Quevedo Plaza. It is believed that Bogota was founded here in on 6 Aug 1538
Colorful houses on Carrera 2; La Candelaria (Bogota's colonial era historic district)
Entrance to an old colonial building; La Candelaria
Street art; La Candelaria
Old colonial style architecture dominates the La Candelaria district of Bogota
Courtyard; Botero Museum
Robby poses next to the hand statue; Botero Museum
Self portrait of Botero; Botero Museum
Artwork on display at the Botero Museum
Courtyard at the "Casa de Moneda", Coin and Bill Production Museum
Tourists flock to explore the La Candelaria district
Tile work outside the San Carlos Palace
Hats for sale; La Candelaria
College of Saint Bartolomé
View of La Candelaria from Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Center
Interior courtyard at Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Center
Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá; Bolivar Square
Panorama of Bolivar Square, Bogota's main square
Waiting in line to buy tickets for the cable car up to Montserrat monastery
Stunning views of Bogota on the short cable car ride up to Montserrat
Becky in front of the 17th century church built at the top of Monserrate Mountain
Bell tower of Monserrate
Restaurant at Monserrate Mountain
Souvenir vendors; Monserrate
Colorful ponchos for sale; Monserrate
Mate de coca (coca tea), known to relieve altitude sickness
Admiring the views of Bogota on our hike down from Monserrate
Cute house in the Chapinero district of Bogota
Chicken and beef empanadas for lunch
Craig's stag do stage 1: drinks at The Pub in Zona T
The boys drinking beer at The Pub
Stage 2 of the Stag Do: dinner at Andrés DC
Stage 3 of Craig's stag do: drinking beer at BBC; Zona T
The night gets progressively hazier as the drinks pile on!
Drinking a mojito at the hen do for Mafe; Andrés DC
Mafe's hen do
One of 8,000 pieces of gold on display at the Gold Museum; Bogota
Intricate detail on these gold pieces; Gold Museum
Gold earrings
Muisca mummy on display; Gold Museum
Gold exhibit from the Tolima culture; Gold Museum
Gold face mask - notice the facial tattoo etchings
Gold jaguar; Gold Museum
Gold figurines; amazing craftsmanship on display at the Gold Museum
Clay pedestal figurine on display at the Gold Museum
The Emerald Museum, located on the 23rd floor of the Avianca Building, is worth a quick stop
View of Bogota from the Avianca Building
Robby searching for emeralds; Emerald Museum
Funky architecture in downtown Bogota
Cool graffiti on display at this skate park in La Candelaria
Even the spectator stands have graffiti!
And so does an outdoor gym
Becky on the colorful steps to the skate park; La Candelaria
Street view of the graffiti art; La Candelaria
We loved the colorful houses of Bogota's La Candelaria district
Street art everywhere in downtown Bogota
Vibrant street scene in La Candelaria
Strolling back through Callejón del Embudo; La Candelaria
Downtown Bogota
Watch out...a dragon is near!
Becky and Lars about to dig in to dinner at Mafe and Craig's rehearsal wedding dinner; M Cocina Arabe
Mattie and Robby chatting it up; M Cocina Arabe
Breakfast buffet; Hotel Vilar America
Antique police cars on display at the Sabana Train Station
Becky, Lars and Matt at the Sabana Train Station
Riding the tourist train of Sabana, a steam train linking us from Bogota to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
The four amigos on a train ride
Slowly chugging our way out of Sabana Train Station
Matt and Lars eat a tamale for breakfast
Train station on our route to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
Local musicians provide some entertainment on our ride out to the salt mines
Playing the trumpet; train ride out to the salt mines
View of the countryside on our way out to Zipaquirá
Robby loving his head massage from Lars!
Matt and Robby squeezing themselves out of a toy bus; Zipaquirá Salt Mines
Entering into the salt mines of Zipaquirá
First we had to walk through the "star wars" tunnel; Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Striking a pose in one of the many altars of the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
Posing by a cross built from salt; Zipaquirá salt mine
The main altar of the new cathedral of Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Descending to check out the new cathedral; Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Detail of the chandelier at the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
Holy family sculpture; Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral
Squeezing into the thin passage; Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral detail
The salt mines of Zipaquirá are big enough to house a shopping arcade!
Religious icons for sale; Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Figurines of miners extracting emeralds; Zipaquirá Salt Mine
Cajica train station
Steam train statue at Cajica train station
Robby and our steam train
Robby at Lobo Feroz, serving up the best burgers in Colombia!
Lars and Matt dig into their delicious burgers; Lobo Feroz in Cajica
Enjoying a pint of beer at Bogota Beer Company
The perfect end to a perfect day!
Panorama of the wedding venue at Hacienda Pozo Chico
Craig and Mafe's intimate wedding ceremony; Hacienda Pozo Chico
This saxophonist was amazing!
Mafe and Craig get whisked away for wedding photos by horse and carriage!
All eyes on the beautiful bride as the happy couple returns to the party
Craig's mates beaming with pride
The interior decorations at Hacienda Pozo Chico
Mafe and Craig's wedding cake
Wedding reception dinner
A sweet note from Mafe and Craig
The TransAfrica peeps dress up nice!
Robby, Craig and Chris
Taking a photo with the awesome wedding photographer!
Lars and Robby acting merry
Robby, Craig and Mattie
Love these guys!
Craig and his nephew
Becky, Craig and Mattie
Mafe, Catalina & Paola
Feeling a bit hungover for our flight the next morning...Ecuador here we come!
Getting to Colombia was quite an adventure, as we started our journey in Saigon with a flight to Istanbul (and a 21 hour layover), before hopping on the next leg of our journey which was a 14 hour flight from Istanbul to Bogota. Thankfully the flight was with Turkish Airlines, who put us up in a hotel for the long layover and had plenty of entertainment onboard to keep us occupied. Once we arrived to Bogota, we chucked our luggage into storage at our hotel and immediately hopped in a taxi to catch a 10 am free city walking tour. What a way to kick start our stay in Bogota, as we got the layout of downtown in a few hours. By the time the tour ended, we were able to check into our hotel by 3 pm and managed to snooze for a few hours before linking up with Lars, who was also in town for Craig & Mafe’s wedding. Good times as we drank a few beers in the room before hitting the streets, stumbling into a circus restaurant, and ending up at a bikers’ bar.
Day 2 of our Bogota adventure saw us catching a morning cable car ride up to Monserrate, a mountain that dominates the skyline of Bogota and offers fine vistas of the city. We opted to hike down and felt bad for the hikers who were huffing and puffing their way up the hill. The 10,000 Peso ($3) ride up was worth every penny! Since we had a stag do (bachelor party) and hen do (bachelorette party) to catch that night, we decided to forego a visit to the gold museum for another day. Our respective parties at Andrés DC (at El Retiro Mall) were loads of fun, although the boys carried on their partying in the night club district of town (Zona Rosa).
Day 3 was a visit to the excellent gold museum, where we spent a few hours admiring the gold on display. Wow, just wow! Next up was a quick visit to the 23rd floor of the Avianca building, home to the Emerald Museum. Afterwards, we did a self guided graffiti tour around the La Candelaria district where there are some amazing works of art painted on the sides of walls and buildings. That evening was a rehearsal dinner at M Cocina Arabe, a lovely Middle Eastern restaurant that was the perfect venue to meet Craig and Mafe’s family and friends. Our friend Matt from the TransAfrica trip showed up and it was lovely to reconnect (7 years since we last saw him!)
Day 4 saw us getting up early for breakfast before rushing to the Sabana train station downtown for a ride on a refurbished steam train to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. Matt and Lars joined us for a fun filled day where the salt mines and cathedral were better than expected. Lunch was at the Lobo Feroz burger joint in Cajicá (yum), followed by a short train ride back to Bogota. There, we joined Matt and Lars for beer at the BBC (Bogota Beer Company), topped with pizza for dinner. What a fun day today!
Day 5…wedding day for Mafe and Craig! We had free time until 1:30 pm where we had to link up at the Hotel Dorado in the Zona Rosa district to catch a bus to the Hacienda Pozo Chico. Traffic leaving Bogota on a Sunday afternoon was horrendous, but we managed to get to the hacienda by 3:30 pm, well before the wedding ceremony kicked off. It was a lovely wedding that brought tears of joy, followed by plenty of drink and food and dancing. The party lasted for hours until the wee hours of the morning when we had to load on the bus for the short ride back into Bogota. Well done guys…you threw an amazing wedding ceremony and it will be hard to top that!
Day 6 saw us catching a few hours of shut eye in the morning before having to pack for our onward journey to Ecuador. Goodbye Bogota…you’ve treated us well and we would love to come back!
