The first stop of our 3-week honeymoon was in Bogotá, Colombia. Bogotá, the capital of the country once known for drugs and mafias, is now a very big city where two worlds live side by side. It hosts almost as many people as the entire Portuguese population.
Bogotá is at the same time charming and decadent, organized and chaotic, colonial and modern, chic and slummy. As any big city in Central/ South America, the traffic is pretty bad and, in certain neighborhoods, you can feel the danger in the air. In the good neighborhoods, in turn, you get lost among very nice restaurants, trendy bars, endless rooftops, and stores of the biggest brands in the world.
We were staying by Parque 93, in a nice residential area with plenty of restaurants and good looking buildings, most of them made of brick and with pleasant rooftops. Our first dinner was in the area, as we arrived quite exhausted from the long trip (and still from all the dancing in our big day). We went to a very good Peruvian place called Cuzco. Highly recommended!
On Tuesday, we left the hotel reasonably early, after a morning workout and a breakfast of arepas and eggs. We took a (clandestine) Uber to the historical center, and spent the entire day in the area. We walked around the colonial callés, we checked Parque Santander and its catedral, Plaza Bolívar, the parliament, all the monumental Government buildings downtown, and we visited two museums: the National Police Museum (as Gorda wanted to know more about the drug situation in the country) and Museo del Oro.
To finish the afternoon in style, we walked to the bottom base of the Monserrate cable car, and took a ride to the top of the hill. Despite the rain and the clouds, it was more than worth it going there. The endless view of the city is gorgeous, and the warm tea with that view felt like heaven.
In the evening, we walked to Zona Rosa, a very lively and fun neighborhood, packed with bars, restaurants and many, many stores. We had dinner and drinks in Segundo Bogotá, which we highly recommend.
In a bit over a day, we saw most of what we wanted to see in Bogotá. We were sad not to have been able to check Zona G (Zona Gourmet) or Andrés Carne de Res. Next time!
We where especially impressed/ amused by some stuff about Bogotá:
- All the public infrastructures are super well maintained and in extremely good shape.
- Stores are organized by type, I.e. in certain quarters you see dozens and dozens of stores of the same type. In some places, you only find printer shops, in others you only find military clothing shops, and in others only book shops. It's nonsense and hilarious.
- Colombians are very, very friendly and welcoming.
After Bogotá, we moved to Santa Marta and to Tayrona Park, with which we deeply fell in love.
We stayed outside the city, in the seafront, where the best hotels are located. The place isn't the most charming, but the hotel (Mercure Santa Marta) was quite good.
Tayrona Park was heaven on Earth. We left the hotel around 6 am on Thursday, survived a 1h30 bus drive, and then explored the park for a full day. We walked 15 km in total, literally in the middle of the forest, just by the sea. We beach hopped, we hiked in the most humid climate ever, we had coconut water, rested in paradise beaches, and sweated quite a lot. It was literally our kind of day - with some kind of workout, close to the beach, with some culture, together. Our major stops where at: Miradouro, Canaveral, Arrecifes, Piscina Natural, Cabo San Juan de Guia.
After a long nap on our way back, and the best shower ever at the hotel, we went to the city center for a remarkable dinner at Lulo. The food was amazing, the cocktails were even better and, for a few hours, we saw tons of street performers while eating and drinking. We can't get enough of the food and the vibe in Colombia.
More and more, we agree that we made a great call picking this place for our honeymoon. It's been fun, and not boring at all.
Now, it's time for Cartagena!
Love,
The Amorins
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