Touring Bogota

Father and son owners of fruit stall in main market  

graffiti and murals cover most walls in Bogota

Bogota lies in a beautiful mountain valley at about 8200 feet.  The air is clear because of the rain showers and breezy conditions, while the mountains come in and out of the clouds.  Quite spectacular.

The city is covered with colorful murals and not-so-colorful graffiti.  The protesters added to this significantly over the last couple of days.  The murals are often masterful, depicting everything from the horrors of war to the legends of the pre-colonial days.  Graffiti aren't so picturesque.  Recent additions included plenty of profanity and encouragement for the general strike.

As I wrote earlier, the Gold Museum is one great highlight of a visit to Bogota.  We spent 2 hours there, but could have spent most of the day.  It is not only historically fascinating, but also perfectly displayed.  See my earlier blogs for photos of some of the gold objects.

When the Conquistadors arrived in this part of South America, they were looking for gold and silver.  They were astonished to see the tribal rulers decked out in elaborately decorated gold headresses, nose and ear rings, necklaces, bracelets, rings of gold and emerald and pearl, gold shin plates and more.  Tens of thousands of gold objects, encrusted with emeralds and other gemstones, lay in the burial chambers of the chieftains and at the bottom of sacred lakes.  The Spanish robbed the graves, enslaved the indigenous population, melted down their gold into 120 pound ingots and shipped it off to Spain (except what they kept for themselves).  One particularly sacred lake, deep in a volcanic crater, was rumored to have thousands of gold objects at its bottom, cast into the lake in ceremonies for the gods.  After recovering only a few pieces by dredging the lake bottom, the Spanish blasted a hole in the crater wall to drain the lake.  They recovered over 22,000 objects of gold and gems.

At the central market, we visited the intensely colorful flower market, just packing up for the day at about 10 a.m. (they start at 6).  Roses, chrysanthemums, orchids, sunflowers, exotic tropical flowers we hadn't seen before--such a gorgeous array of color.  Next was the central market that sells everything from fruits and vegetables to live chickens, all kinds of meat and fish, and just about everything else one could need.

At one fruit stall, we tasted tropical fruits we'd never seen before.  Absolutely delicious, especially the pidalla and granadilla, fruits with thick, bright skins and luscious, sweet fruit inside.  We chatted with the father and son who own the stall.  They have survived through many economic cycles and are worried about Colombia's free trade agreements (really, Colombia's globalization), but hopeful they will open markets in the U.S. and Europe for the kinds of produce they sell.