Our room at the Hilton
The view from the window onto Carrera 7
Now, let me explain myself. You might be saying, well, a Hilton, sure, it's a nice hotel, but the "crowning" hotel of the trip? Yes, yes, yes.
We arrived at 7 A.M. Check in wasn't until 3 or 4 P.M., but the management was unbelievable. They recognized my gold status (thank you, HHonors credit card) and checked me in early. This was me gross, smelly, and without a shower in like 5 days, and without batting an eyelash, we were given the red carpet. We were offered a choice: we could immediately go up to a room or we could take breakfast (which would be included, even though, again, we weren't actually supposed to check in until that evening) while they prepared a club room for us. Moreover, even though we had paid for the one king bed, they gave us a room with two beds instead. And so we ate!
The happy hours at the Hilton were equally fantastic. Every evening from 4-7 P.M., the bar would offer free drinks and a full platter of appetizers. Between this and the full breakfast, we spent nearly nothing on food during our time in Bogotá. And the bartender was phenomenal, but more on that later.
Our Friday involved eating breakfast, a long nap, and a bit of shopping. We tried some of the local sodas and fruits. Such a huge variety of things I had never seen before! One lady suggested in the supermarket not to take a particular fruit, lest all we do for the remainder of our time in Colombia is sit on the toilet. That was much appreciated. As far as the drinks go, however, I'm not gonna lie, Colombiana has nothing on Pap or Bilz. And the pineapple flavored drink we tried wasn't close to Kem, either, the third of the Chilean trifecta. But don't worry, Colombia--we still love you!
On Saturday, we took a walk all over town, down from our block in the 80's to 6th (and blocks are long and not super well marked!). We went into a few old buildings, appreciated the art and architecture of some of the churches, and made our way back in time to enjoy the rest of our Shabbat. What a walk!
On Sunday, we made our way around the city to see some of the museums, including the Gold Museum and the National Museum. The National Museum was especially worthwhile and dynamic, and I appreciated the layout. We also purchased a fruit shake, our sole food purchase in Bogotá (besides the sampling of sodas and fruits). That evening, we returned and had a lovely conversation with the bartender about the canelazo (which was delicious--I'll take it over a hot sake any day), a local popular beverage, and its component parts (aguardiente and aguapanela). He explained that the aguapanela is a solidified mass of sugar, and that it is often traditionally served over a cuajada, or curdled cheese product, along with fresh jams. It sounded tasty! This is where the customer service kicked in. He asked if we were coming back tomorrow. We indicated that we were checking out (we had a 12 P.M. checkout that was then extended to 3 P.M. that was then unofficially extended to 5 P.M. due to the fact that we were visiting some sites farther away) and he told us to come back to the bar the next day after checkout.
Monday was quite the adventurous day. We could've hired a private car for anywhere between 250,000-400,000 COP (which sounds like a lot even before the conversion!). But, after talking to the amazing front desk staff (hearing Señor David every morning was the most amazing thing ever), we planned a route by public transportation around the areas surrounding Bogotá to visit the salt mine at Zipaquirá and the active mines of Nemocón. We had no idea what we were doing, but between GPS, asking questions, and just getting on buses and sitting down and waiting for them to tell us to pay, something that we learned is quite standard, we were able to find out way. We even managed to find the direct bus back from Nemocón to Bogotá, saving us time and hassle. And all for about $10/pp.
Zipaquirá is a fascinating place. It was an old mine that was repurposed into an underground cathedral, complete with twelve stations of the cross. While I don't religiously identify with the site, I do appreciate the architecture and attention to detail, and it was nice to have an English guide for no extra charge. Nevertheless, it was far too touristy. Like, FAR too touristy. A light show, shops galore, a fake emerald mine, and so much more. After getting muy lost back in town, we were able to find a bus to take us on the windy path to Nemocón.
Nemocón was a true gem. Part of that mine is still in use, and the remnant pieces of the old mine are still intact. The salty waters and the lampposts placed below ground for reflection were beautiful. There was almost a sort of peaceful calm in the mine. Our tour here was in Spanish at 80 miles a minute, but it was still informative. Plus, it was cool seeing the set of the movie The 33 that was shot in this very mine. After Nemocon, we wandered around the town a bit. We were asked to take photos with the kids of locals (I am dubbing this the "gringo effect") and saw some nice views of the town before returning by bus to Bogotá. We connected buses in the rain and walked the rest of the way back to the Hilton, arriving just a few minutes after our 5 P.M. unofficial official check out. Yet, when we arrived, they told us not to worry, to get some food from the bar, and to go up to the room at our leisure. Truly 20 star service. And then, we take a seat at the bar, and the bartender pulls out a covered plate and two small containers. Yes, he made cuajada, aguapanela syrup, and fresh strawberry jam only for us. Unreal, and solely because we were actively interested in the culture and had great conversations with the locals. After all, think about all the people who come, take photos, and leave without caring about local customs or traditions. I think the lack of pictures of our time in Bogotá is a testament to the desire we had to really immerse ourselves, despite the luxury of the hotel (our only really nice one all trip). It was a wonderful experience.
We left our hotel by Uber (man, was getting an Uber Pool a bad idea...it took over an hour to get to the airport with one cold and uncaring driver) and made our way for the night and day to Medellín, home of none other than the infamous Pablo Escobar.
Our flight to Medellín in the old LATAM livery
View above Medellín by night
We arrived quite late into our hotel (Hampton Inn) and went to sleep. The weather was stormy for the day, so we had to figure out good options. And I think that the Botero Museum was the greatest thing we could've done. Below are some of his art and sculptures. Fantastic!!!
We took the train around the city, but many things were either closed or not something we intended to do with the on-and-off rain.
We decided on getting off to take the cable car (Metrocable) up through the not-so-nice neighborhoods of Medellín. This unique project allowed more remote and dangerous parts of the city to have more ready access to the rest of the city and hopefully find jobs and connectivity. Certainly, the areas right at the bases of the stations were a bit nicer (by comparison) than the others we passed on the ride, but the poverty is dire and stark. And Medellín is in much better shape than, say, Cali.
Cable Car View
Cool bird! Can you see it?
Chicken flavored Pringles. Good stuff.
We still had time to kill after buying some food for lunch, so we grabbed out packs and made our way to Museo El Castillo, a museum and grounds of a wealthy home. It wasn't as kept up as the grounds of some of the mansions of the Northeast, but it was still a good way to waste some time. After that, we hailed down a cab (after quite the effort) back to the airport. For a $63 round trip ticket per person from Bogotá to Medellín with LATAM, I would certainly say money well spent.
The view at day from the lookout on the way to the airport
Our plane back to Bogotá, mercifully on time
Once we landed in Bogotá at 9:00 P.M., we had a small panic attack. We picked up our stored bags and ran them to check in. No one was in line, and even though our plane was to take off at 11:10 P.M., the boarding passes read that boarding was at 9:35 P.M. We ran through security, but the lines were outlandish. Still, after being cut a few times, we made it past security (I had to explain why Evan's passport looked so funny) and rushed to our gate, only to find that, no, boarding wasn't going to be starting for another hour. So, out of breath but grateful we had made our last non-RTW connection, we walked back to the beautiful LATAM lounge, swiped the Priority Pass, and relaxed for a bit before the flight.
LATAM Lounge Bogotá
LATAM Lounge relaxation area
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