Bogotá - Review

When I mention Bogotá, what is it you think? I know, I know… You are probably thinking about drug lords and violence. To set things straight, Bogotá never was the center of all that. There are no in the street gang wars constantly happening, and there are not drug dealers on each corner trying push something onto someone. As a matter of fact, Colombia in general has moved way past that stigma. Guess you will have to keep watching the stereotyped films to see all that.

Catedral Primada in Center Plaza of Bogotá

What is Bogotá like? To some it up, it is large and sprawled out, much like Los Angeles, but filled with artistic culture, like San Francisco and just a lot of old history and buildings like Madrid. Bogotá is filled with all kinds of different walks of life, from the poor to the rich and everyone between and offers a great place for anyone who wants to explore this wonderful city.

So Bogotá is grand, large and a very sprawled out city, much like Los Angeles. It is vast and has so many places to visit. But like Los Angeles, it also suffers from an insane amount of traffic. So much that it has a restriction on driving on certain days depening on your licensee plate number, a system known as Pica y Placa. The idea is to narrow the amount of traffic.

If you do not want to deal with the traffic, Bogotá has a “metro” bus system known as Transmilenio, which is an above ground bus system that has dedicated lanes and roads for the purpose of commute. It is a fast convenient way to get around Bogotá with out having to pay extra (yet still inexpensive) for the many many taxis you can take otherwise. The biggest drawback is the be weary of using the Transmilenio during peak hours, you may find yourself getting extra friendly with people on the bus with you.

Young Man Sitting on the steps of Botero Museum in Bogotá

One of the things I really enjoy about Bogotá is all the art in the city. From street/graffiti art to mounds and mounds of museums it has a lot to offer. One example is a great collection from the Botero Museum collection. A collection of great, including some Dali, Picaso and other great names in the art field. The art scene can mostly be found in the dowtown area of Bogotá, near Candeleria. There is also museums in other places of interest as well.

Art is not the only culture that can be found in Bogotá. One of thing that most Americans think about when they think of a latin country is Latin music. It is true there is a fondness for reggeaton in, and a lot of club dancing. But as you walk through the square of Chorro de Queveda, you will see a very different culture. It is a lot of rock. There is a huge rock and hard rock culture in Bogota. Sitting in a small pub in the heart of Candeleria while drinking soem chiche, a corn fermented alcoholic drink, I noticed the music of Metallica and local bands like Parabellum.

For those who like to dance, Bogotá is filled with such a thing. One thing that Colombians like to do is dance. And there are a fair share of dance clubs in Chapinorte and suba areas, as well as the northern areas of Bogotá.

Flowers of Cerro De Monserrate

For those who are more of those who want less energetic culture experience, there are a lot of sites to see in Bogotá. There is the large tower of Colpatria, and the beautiful old buildings of the Candeleria district. There is a the beautiful walk of Cerro de Monserrate and the view of Bogotá at the top of that mountain. The amazing square at Plaza de Bolivar offers a lot of culture and some of those amazing museums I mentioned earlier. And churches, Colombia definately has it’s fair share of churches and cathedrals, all worth photographing for their amazing architecture.

So what does Bogotá have to offer if cant fit the stereotypes of the what is shown in the movies? Well as you can see, it has a lot to offer, from amazing new and old cutlure and art in it’s amazingly sprawled out city.

So have you visited Bogotá? Maybe you have some questions about the large city? Write a comment below and feel free to follow us on twitter and Facebook and follow our feeds.

Erick Redcloud

A partially blind Graphic Designer, Freelance Travel Photographer, Artist, Buddhist and Vegetarian who loves to travel. Erick loves traveling by being with the locals and going off the beaten path. He is the founder and owner of Pathlesstravels and loves inspiring others to follow their dreams, whether it is to travel or something completely different. He started Pathlesstravels to hone is photography skills and to meet amazing people, and to help a friend break into journalism. Check out his photography at his link.