Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Bogota, Colombia
Sad to be leaving Villa de Leyva after only one night. Could happily have stayed a few more days. Nice relaxing place to be.
About an hour’s drive to Punte de Boyaca. This being the battlefield where Simon Bolivar defeated the Spanish and thus claimed independence for Colombia. His monument sits atop a steep hill. Which means a steep climb. But a good view of the river valley below. The ‘river’ is now a stream but am assured there were 3,000 men fighting over a much wider river. Bolivar and his friend Santander fought against the Spanish and helped with independence for Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and eventually Panama.
Driving through stunning mountainous scenery enroute to Zipaquira and the Salt Cathedral.
See quite a few groups of people walking along the road with large packs on their backs. They’re Venezuelans apparently, fleeing from the current turmoil in their country.
The mountains surrounding Zipaquira contain huge amounts of salt mixed with coal which makes the salt look black and grey. They still mine the salt and process it to sell to industry but the old section of the mine has been converted to a Catholic cathedral. About 200m of tunnel run deep underground. Off the main tunnel are massive caverns where the salt has been extracted and now converted to represent various stations of the cross. The main cavern, all dug out by hand, is 25m high and has a large cross recessed into the salt, the illumination of which makes it look 3D rather than being a recess. The acoustics are staggering and am told that when they play live music concerts in here it’s an incredible sound. Again, the photos don’t do it justice.
There’s obviously a gift shop but local laws dictate that as it’s a working mine, if you’re down here more than 4hrs you have to wear a hard hat. So all the souvenir shop assistants wear hard hats whilst the tourists don’t. Bizarre.
Arrive in the Parque 93 area of Bogota. An upmarket area where the Hotel Atton Bogata 93 (https://www.atton.com/en/hoteles/atton-bogota-93/) is located. As much as I like characterful hotels, it is nice to stay in a brand new, modern hotel with high speed wifi.
In need of dinner that isn’t beef or pasta, find an incredible Indian restaurant just down the road. You know how you crave a curry every so often? Well this is excellent. Not had a curry since Buenos Aires. May even go back there again tomorrow night.
