Here’s Part 2 of our See Colombia Travel passengers’ Linda & Bernie ongoing Colombia Adventure, enjoy!
- Linda and Bernie visiting Plaza Bolivar in Bogota’s historical center
I have to be honest, Bogota’s weather isn’t exactly my idea of perfect cycling weather. There’s a lot of rain. Still a little jaded from our lengthy flight to Colombia, we arrived in La Candelaria for the Bogota Bike Tour a little apprehensive. We were rapidly fitted with our bikes and helmets, tire pressures checked, before meeting Mike. Mike was our guide and the owner of the company. He hails from California and exudes that typically Californian disposition: laid-back and enthusiastic.
After preliminary introductions we set off for our first stop. Unfortunately, being a keen cyclist, I wasn’t happy with my bike initially, but after a few words with Mike I was swiftly taken back to the shop to be refitted.
The tour took in much more of Bogota than I expected. We visited the important points in La Candelaria such as Plaza Bolivar, the Botero Museum and the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Centre. At the latter place we stopped to explore the architecture and we were interrupted in our tour by a local girl. She’d just been to Australia and wanted to tell us how pleased she was that English-speakers were visiting her country on their hoidays.The pleasure is all ours, we assured her!
It soon became apparent that Mike’s knowledge of Colombia and Bogota was almost second to none, as we began to explore more off-the-beaten-track areas. We saw where locally grown ‘viagra’ is made (including live crabs!), where uncut emeralds are sold and one of the biggest fruit markets in the world. The elements were definitely against us and as we stopped at the market the heavens opened and sheets of rain began covering the city.
Fortunately we had the shelter of the market as the worst of the rain came down and our host, Mike, was keen to show and feed us samples of the wealth of local fruit available in Colombia. It was amazing.
Mike knows many people and we found him to be very generous. He allowed us to try a local cookie before buying a bagful, which he proceeded to share amongst local street vendors along the way.
The rain abated a little soo we resumed our ride, looking splendid in yellow and orange ponchos. They may have been lacking in style, but they made up in functionality. We cycled to a local coffee factory where we saw the process of coffee’s production before sampling a little cup ourselves. Delicious.
Who would think that a rain-sodden graveyard would be interesting? It may not have been on our list of things to do, but with Mike explaining the history of some of the inhabitants (including communists, presidents and locally assigned saints) it became an illuminating part of the tour.
On our way back we stopped at the bull-ring, heading inside to see the spectacular stadium. Tired, wet and with 5 hours of exercise behind us, we headed back to the shop to end the tour. It was an invaluable experience and one that Bernie and I would recommend to anyone. We know far more about Bogota and Colombia, and our calves are a little more refined!
Definitely an early night.
Linda
If you want to read the rest of Linda and Bernie’s adventures in Colombia, follow the links below:
Part One – Arriving in Colombia / Bogotá
Part Two – Bogotá / Bogotá Bike Tour
Part Three – The Coffee Triangle / Cocora Valley / Colombian Coffee Farm
Part Four – Tayrona National Park / Colombian Caribbean / Colombian beaches
Part Five – Cartagena / Cartagena Nights / Cartagena Restaurants
