Our Great Adventure: Bogota Day 313 28/07/2015

After another leisurely breakfast on the hotel's balcony we walked though the La Canderleria district in order to go to the funicular which would take us up the Cerro Monserrate. We read mixed reports in Lonely Planet about the safety of walking there and as the receptionist at the hotel was non committal (she said it was ok for her to walk there) we decided to go for it. Whilst a couple of blocks were run down we soon got the the huge Los Andes University unscathed and walked up the first part of the hill to the funicular. This runs in the morning and in the afternoon the cable car takes over. After paying the 37000 COPs return fare we boarded the carriage and we were soon hurtling up the slope with the city below us opening up its expansive views over a 1700 square km area. The end point is at 3200m, an ascent of nearly 600m. On arrival the mist started to descend and with it drizzle started to fall. However we still had good views right across the city and the valley beyond. At the top of the hill is the impressive church which we wandered around leisurely both to take in the impressive architecture and paintings (including the famous Senor Caldo (Fallen Christ) statue) and to shelter from the rain. At noon prompt we descended the hill in the cable car, spying out our route to go back into the centre of Bogota which looked only a short walk. Halfway back we stopped at a very bohemian cafe and enjoyed a couple of Colombian coffees (best we have had to date). Back in the centre we headed to the Museum de Oro (the one which was closed yesterday) and spent the next couple of hours looking at the many exhibits across all three floors including some very impressive craftsmanship of gold symbols created in pre-Hispanic Colombia. We decided we had room for a little more culture so after an uninspiring lunch at the Bogota Cafe on the main street, we headed back to Plaza Bolivar to visit the cathedral. Our bad luck continued as it was again closed so next stop was a chemist in order to stock up on malarial tablets for when we hit the Caribbean coast next week (it was strange being back in a chemist and not asking for contact lens solution for Diane - thanks to Di's Dad!). We needed 12 packs of 10 tablets each and as the shop only had 5 in stock, two of the shop assistants kindly went to two other chemists nearby to get us the right number (this is true to form, all Colombians we have met have been very helpful at bus stations, in the street, in shops etc). As we paid cash for these we had to visit the ATM and we chose BBVA as we thought we could get the maximum amount out (£300). However we could only get out £70 which is really starting to annoy Simon as it costs £1.50 every time to get money regardless of the amount. This necessitated us having to get two more lots of money out with the resulting cost. When we get home we are going to tot up how much we have incurred on our travels getting our money out and ask Bank of Scotland and IF how much profit they have made. Not expecting much joy but give us something to do whilst job hunting! The rest of the afternoon we did more planning and on the evening enjoyed a tasty Mexican meal at a restaurant just around the corner ensuring we were back in the hotel well before 9pm!