... in response to Re: Another letter writing success story..., posted by muddslinger on Aug 5, 2001Hi Muddslinger,
I'll reply publically since others might be interested too.
I'm certainly not an expert in Bogota, having spent only three days there but here are a few thoughts. Most of these ideas are just common sense when traveling in a large unknown city where you'll stand out.
Don't take random taxis. Always have the hotel, restaurant, club, etc, call you a taxi. In particular, if you're finding yourself needing a taxi at the airport catch one in the area where the airport police regulates them. There'll be lots of people asking if you want a taxi. That's not safe. The best thing is to have someone you know, or someone sent by an agency or hotel, pick you up.
I'd never go anywhere without having a trusted local person tell you it's safe. In Bogota you won't get kidnapped but you might get robbed. That's the danger - street crime. One night I took my lady to a club to go dancing. We weren't sure which club we wanted to go to so we hired a taxi driver to take us to different places and wait outside for us while we danced. Then he took us back to the hotel. It cost me about $6/hour for this service, which was probably a bit steep, but it made us feel safe.
Consider that you might experience altitude sickness. I didn't but others have. I forget how high Bogota is but I think it's something like 9000'.
The climate varies. This time of year it's cold in the mornings and nights and warm during the day. Bogota, due to its altitude, definitely has a different climate than do the other major cities. A weather web-site like wunderground.com can give you short-term weather forecasts for Bogota.
I don't have a good sense of the neighborhoods in Bogota. Have others on this list recommend areas to go. We had really good food at a steak house 'Estancia Chica' and good food also at 'Casa Paella.' My favorite meals, however, were at the little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. There are plenty of places to dance. I don't do dance steps very well but I have GREAT rhythm and had tremendous fun with my lady.
I stayed at the Andes Plaza Hotel. Very centrally located in what seemed like a good neighborhood. The staff was very nice and helpful, the room was nice and cheap ($37/night) but the free breakfast sucked and I had a couple of other minor gripes with the hotel. So, I'd look for a hotel next time except that, in my case, I've got a standing invitation to stay in my lady's guest room!
Quite honestly, there was nothing about Bogota which thrilled me except for this one special lady. My point is, go where your heart leads you then get a guidebook or help from this list or from locals, to guide you wherever you land.
Good luck to you!
Sol
p.s. In both my trips to Colmbia, the first was to
Medellin, I never experienced or witnessed any crime but I also pay alot of attention to my surroundings and don't take risks if I can avoid them.
