Adventures in South America: Bogota, Colombia

My brother and I arrived in Bogota, Colombia via Toronto early in the afternoon.  We took a few hours to walk around the neighborhood we were staying in, known as La Candelaria, eating empanadas, fried bananas, and churros.  We spent some time in Plaza de Bolivar, which is surrounded by buildings of historical, political, and religious significance.

It was also full of pigeons, people, and llamas.

The next morning, Wednesday, we ascended Monserrate, a mountain high above Bogota.  We had to walk up a ways;

and then took a cable car most of the rest of the way up the mountain, some 1,000 meters higher than the city, and 3,157 meters above sea level.  

Monserrate was the highlight of Bogota for me.  At the top there is a Via Dolorosa;

a church;

a monestary (with purple flowers on the wall which attracted a gorgeous green hummingbird, which is just visible in the middle of the picture);

and best of all, an extraordinary view of the city.

We also wandered to the "other" side, and saw a much less touristy part of the mountain.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Bogota's most famous museum, the Museo del Oro.  It is full of Colombian gold from the centuries before European arrival--so much gold it gets tiring after a while.

Go here for more Bogota photos.