1 Week in Bogota: Day 3 Monserrate & Video Diary

Day 3 we actually ventured into Bogota. A bunch of us, L, L's dad, L's sister, L's sister's boyfriend, L's cousin, and I squeezed into a car and drove a little over an hour and parked in a garage in Candelaria.

The plan was for everyone to hike up Monserrate and for me to take the teleferico. If you recall from my first day's blogpost, I got altitude sickness and almost fainted so I wanted to take it easy. The hike up is not easy. I mean, I hiked down and that took almost an hour and left me with shaking legs so I can 100% imagine how strenuous it would be to hike up.

Before we started on our day, I feasted on a tamal. Colombian tamales are made with a banana leaf wrapper. This one was made with a deliciously creamy corn masa, peas, carrots, a chicken wing, pork belly, and the most decadent chunk of pork fat. After breakfast, we hit the road.

MONSERRATE

The teleferico on Sundays is cheaper than the rest of the week. It was $6.000 COP one way ($2 USD). The line was a bit long; it took about thirty minutes to get through. Make sure to buy your ticket at the ticket booth and then go stand on line. There are two separate lines.

This little cutie was chatting with me the entire ride up.

The ride itself is like two minutes so make sure to have your recording devices ready, if you're into that. Otherwise, have your peepers prepared for some really awesome views of the city and the side of the mountain.

When I got to the top, everyone else had already finished climbing. I met up with L and her dad on the church steps and then each recounted our journeys up.

We also wandered through the markets and stalls.

This place has the most gorgeous views and plenty of places for photo ops.

The inside of the church was beautiful but admittedly a little less impressive than I anticipated.

L's dad was really into taking photos so I have a bunch from this day.

On our way down, we stopped for a snack at this stall that sold little chunks of guava jam topped with cheese. It's called bocadillo con queso and it is delicious. If you're a fan of cream cheese and jelly on your bagels, this would be right up your alley.

By the way, if you were worried about the climb up or climb down, there were plenty of EMTs and helpers along the way to offer assistance. At one point, we encountered a mother accosting her son, who was the cutest kid but he was chubby with a leg injury. We stopped by a group of policemen and told them about the situation and kept our fingers crossed that he made it down okay.

By the time we made it down, the sky had completely changed colors. The blue sky was completely grey and it started to rain like crazy. We had amazing timing.

MI GRAN PARRILLA BOYCENSE

For lunch we ended up at this meatery. The menu was just completely filled with every type of protein.

I ended up getting churrasco with chimichurri, yuca, and salad. I was craving something bright and crunchy so the salad 100% hit the spot. The mandarin orange juice we all shared was fantastic.

After our late lunch, we drove back to Tabio. Everyone was pretty beat.

I slapped on a sheet mask to pamper myself before curling up with my book and falling asleep.

Here's my video diary from the first three days: