Bogota Trip: General impressions

[cantlose]

Last Sunday I returned from a week trip to Bogota.  This was my first trip to Colombia, fourth trip to South America, and my first time going solo to this part of the world.  I normally travel with someone who speaks Spanish so this is the first time I have been dependent on my severely limited Spanish language skills.

I felt extremely safe during my entire trip to Bogota and the surrounding areas. Of course I used common sense and avoided the bad areas, such as the neighborhoods south of La Candelaria, the tourist district, and I always emptied my pockets of all cash before riding the Transmilenio, their rapid transit bus, during the rush hours (in case of pick pockets).  I felt much more threatened growing up in Chicago then I ever did in Colombia.  The only time I felt nervous was when I took the wrong Transmilenio bus at 10 PM and ended up heading away from my destination.  That was my second night in Bogota so I still had the media images showing Colombia as a terror filled place for tourists.  The people on the bus were very kind and redirected me so that I eventually got back to my Hospadaje about an hour later.  At that time I was staying at an area were it was safe to walk after dark.

Strangers I would meet riding the Colectivos, Transmilenio, or walking the streets would often offer their cell phone numbers to me in case I ran into problems.  One of them was the Director of the Bogota City archive.  When I first arrived I couldn't understand any directions I received from the locals.  By the end of the week, however, I was joking with the Tourist Police located outside the Museo de Ouro.

I planned on meeting 4 ladies who I had met over the internet.  While none of them really interested me I thought that it would be worthwhile to see how well I can communicate with the ladies in person, and to assess my gut feelings I felt towards the woman.

In general the woman were very similar to what I expected.  The warmth of the emails from one woman extended to real life.  The woman who was looking for the wallet revealed her intentions in our passing conversations.  Another woman who wrote me many times after I stopped showing any interest in her, presented herself in a low cut high skirt tight fitting dress.  Definitely not the wholesome type, as I had figured out long before. 

I also had a great time talking to another American I met at the Salt Cathedrals outside of Bogota, who was with a woman he had been corresponding with. 

My one disappointment was that I did not get to meet the "Cold Colombian Woman,"

http://www.planet-love.com/forum/index.php?topic=4928

I had referred to in a previous post from December.  I will start a second post for this part of the story.

[RK]

What hotel/apt did you stay at? Price, comfort, location, etc.

[cantlose]

RK,

I wouldn't recommend any of the hotels I stayed at in Bogota, primarily due to noise issues which I would find out about later in the night.  This was the first time I tried picking accommodations based on some of the websites ratings from previous guests. 

To finish my story.  Due to to a missed communication one of the gals I was hoping to meet failed to show up at our planned rendezvous my first day in town.  She, or her family, owns an Internet Cafe, so she works very long hours.  Consequently, we had planned on meeting on Sunday when the Cafe was closed.  After that didn't turn out, she refused to give me the address of her cafe, due to concerns over her safety.  I tried to explain that Americans with respectable jobs in US Fortune 100 companies are not normally prone to an activities which could lead to a stint in a Colombian jail.  Of course there were reasons while she couldn't take 1 hour to meet me outside of the cafe after it was closed.

After wasting 2 hours chatting with her on MSN Messenger I said have a good life.  I always new something was right about her from the very start.  Later that day I received emails about how sad she was that we could not meet.  After I returned home I wrote her an email explaining how helpful strangers were to me.  In a follow up email she mentioned that she was the only person in Bogota who wasn't kind to me.  It's good to know that she has some awareness of her actions.


Cantlose


   

[pat]

   Good info cantlose.

[Researcher]

  Good report cantlose.


    Researcher

[dennislevy]

cantlose

Im an American who lives In Bogota. I don t need hotel recommendations but I am curious ot know which hotels you stayed in.  I am always trying to add to tmy knowledge of Bogota.

Thanks
Dennis

[cantlose]

Dennis,

Here are the places I stayed at.

Hotel Dan Colonial, Calle 14 no 4-21 ($70,000 pesos) located in La Candeleria.  This is an older building with a nice lobby and good size rooms with pleasant views.   Some of the rooms had seen better days, and the promised hot water never reached my room.  Plus there was quite a bit of street noise.  I felt safe in that neighborhood although some locals say it isn't safe to walk alone after dark.

Hotel San Sebastion, Avenida Jimenez no 4-21 ($65,000 pesos) located in La Candeleria.  This was an absolute DUMP.  The room I had, however, was amazingly quiet given the busy corner it was located on.  I felt a bit less secure walking the streets then I did at Hotel Dan Colonial, which was 4 or 5 blocks away.

Hotel Ambala, Cra 5 no 13-46 (70,000 pesos) located in La Candeleria.  The postage stamp size rooms, which extend about 3 feet beyond the edge of the bed, were very clean and modern. Unfortunately noise from the kitchen traveled straight to my room on the 4th floor.  The street felt safe to me.

Los Faroles Azules, Calle 62 14-45  (50,000 pesos for a huge room) located 1/2 block from the Calle 63 Transmillaneo Station.  This is a so called "Love" Hotel located in a neighborhood I felt secure in. I have never seen so many mirrored walls. This was clean although the bathrooms were a bit rundown like many of the less expensive hotels you will find in a South American city.  Noise from the hallways and street was my biggest complaint.

Casa Real Bed & Breakfast, Calle 97A No. 60 D (65,000 pesos)  This hospedaje offers large modern rooms similar to Western accommodations in a residential neighborhood located about 5 blocks from the Sube Calle 100 bus station.  This was by far the safest neighborhood I stayed in.  It does, however, appear to be close to the flight path of the airport, and there was little noise isolation between rooms.  This is the only place I stayed where they spoke English. 

In the past while traveling to Latin America with my buddy we've always found much better accommodations for a comparable price so I suspect that the combination of traveling alone with my limited Spanish caused me to chose places that I normally would not have.   

If you have additional questions feel free to ask.

Cantlose
 

   

[dennislevy]

Ive stayed at Casa real B and B for onenight twice. I ll go and check them for a monthly rate.

Thanks

Dennis

[rocky1359]

Hello here is an option . I stayed the month of dicember in this apartment for 40.000 pesos a night.  Has hot water 24 hours. kitchen with fridge new .  stove new. bath, has 3 rooms half the time I had the whole place alone.
tv in room this apartment was on the 6th floor.  salitre calle 22 close to united states embassy.
TGIF fridays acroos the street.    shops across the street. everything walking distance.
great view.  landlord does not bother you. cleans the place free every 3 days.

this place saved me hundreds. maybe a thousand. oh thats my laptop in the foto has free wifi.    half  the building is vacant.  any body interested ? I can give you his e mail add.  Rocky

[rocky1359]

opps here is the apartment foto shes not it jejejej

[rocky1359]

here is the building salitre.only 3 years old.

[rocky1359]

oh yes the girl came  by for a visit from bucarumunga.