Bogotá to Medellín by Bus.

This post is simply to help out any other travelers considering a trip to Colombia. Like i said earlier I really wanted to see Bogotá but in the end I had to end up in Medellín. I started to research different ways to get from BOG to MDE. I asked a few of my friends in Colombia and they all told me the buses where safe, even at night. I was still a little bit nervous about taking a 9+ hour bus ride overnight through Colombia. My other option was to take it during the day. While this option would let you see all the scenery, it also meant an entire day sitting on a bus. The third option was to fly, which in my opinion sounded like the worst of the 3. As long as buses and trains take, I seem to get enjoyment out of it.

I was pretty dead set on taking the bus, I just wasn't sure if i wanted to take it at night or during the day (for safety). Luckily I had some really great people in Bogota to show me around and tell me everything I needed to know. Both Manuel and Carlos said the buses at night were fine. Since I trusted both of them, I decided on the night bus.

After spending Thursday - Sunday in Bogotá I packed up my bags and headed to the bus station around 9pm at night. I took a cab from Manuel’s place. It was probably a 30 minute cab ride and cost about 7 bucks. Manuel suggested the bus company Bolivariano. They had buses leaving every 15 minutes for Medellín. In very broken Spanish I managed to get a ticket and make sure I had a window seat. The ticket cost 60mil, which at the time was about 24 dollars.

When i was in Mexico I took a few buses and was blown away at how nice they were. I had high expectations for the buses in Colombia. Unfortunately they did not live up to the expectation. The bus was still nice (just your average coach bus) but nowhere as nice as Mexican buses. For those of you from the east coast, the bus was about the same as a Chinatown bus.

I got a ticket for a 10:15pm bus. Boarding the bus was simple. They checked your bags and gave you a claim slip (make sure to hang onto it). The bus ride itself was interesting. It happened to be a full moon so I could at least see the outline of the mountains. The one thing i under estimated was how hard it would be to sleep on a bus that was constantly flying around tight turns. I finally fell asleep but then awoke to the bus passing a Semi on a blind corner. This was the first of many scary driving maneuvers the bus driver pulled, but there was giant Mary and Jesus decals on the bus, so I figured I was safe (no joke).

The bus was direct to Medellín. There was one rest stop (at least that i remember) other then that the bus did not stop moving. I read before leaving the bus typically takes 8 to 10 hours depending on traffic. By the time we boarded the bus and left Bogotá it was probably 10:30pm. We pulled up to the Medellín bus station at exactly 7am.

Overall the bus trip was fine. I have had worst experiences on GreyHound and honestly it wasn’t nearly as sketchy as some overnight trains I have taken in Europe. If you plan to take this route, I would recommend having an Ipod or something to drain out the bad movies they play. I would also make sure you have a jacket (or blanket) handy. The buses do get cold (this was something else i read ahead of time but didn’t give much consideration too).

Taking the bus from Bogotá to Medellín was the one part of the trip i was worried about, but it went as smooth as possible. Once I made it to Medellín I found someone renting their cell phone and called up my friend Pablo and soon we were off on another trip.

Bus Company - Bolivariano

Just outside Medellin. I didnt take many photos for 2 reasons. First off, it was dark for most of the trip. Second, I didnt want to draw attention to the fact i was carry a few grand worth of camera gear.

The Cab driver noticed me taking this picture. As i put the camera down he smiled and give me the peace sign. Welcome to paisas land!

We entered Medellin from the North, which totally throw off my sense of direction off (Bogota is south of Medellin).

Bogotá - Part 3

I did pretty much everything I wanted to in Bogotá on the first day except climbing to the top of Cerro de Montserrat, one of the mountain peaks that overlooks Bogotá. Cerro de Montserrat is at about 10,000 ft and there are two ways to get to the top. You can either take a cable car or you can hike the trail. I decided to take the long route. Some people can run to the top in 20 minutes... well it took me a little over an hour to make it to the top. The altitude was noticeable, I definitely lost my breath really quick... or at least that’s the excuses I'm going use. The view from the top made up for the hike. From the top of Cerro de Montserrat you can see all of Bogota. This view gives you an idea of just how big Bogota really is. With Cerro de Montserrat checked off my list, the only thing left to do in Bogotá was shoot more photos. I spent the remainder of my day wandering the streets shooting photos. At one point I wandered a bit to far off the beaten track. I saw a fight break out (I was across the street so I didn’t get any photos) and immediately afterwards the police came up to me to see if I had photos (probably a good thing I didn’t).

On Saturday night Manuel made it back and we went out to dinner. He took me to an awesome place that served dishes on fried banana skins. It’s a traditional Colombia dish from the coast. It was sooo good. After that we went out to a “leftist” bar that had a huge painting of CHE on the outside. We met up with some friends and where out til 2 or 3. We walked home from the bar (probably about 20 blocks) without any hesitation or problem.

I got a bit of a late start on Sunday and made an attempt to rent a bike. Unfortunately the bike shop closed at 1pm so I didn’t have enough time to rent one. I spent the rest of the day walking around and shooting more photos. I had to call it an early day and get back to Manuel’s so I could get some food, pack my bags and head to the bus station. I had to be in Medellin by the next morning, which meant I had to catch an overnight bus. The trip from Bogota to Medellin is about 9 hours.

All and all I was very impressed with Bogotá as a city. I liked the layout, the climate, the people, the style, the food and the nightlife.

Before I move on from Bogotá, here are a few random details:

• There was lots of fresh fruit available on the streets for snacks.
• You could get a cup of freshly squeezed OJ for 50 cents.
• No need for a calling card or cell phone, there were multiple people all over the city renting their minutes. Just look for “150 (or 200 or 300) minuto.”
• I drank the water. No problem. I ate the street food. No problem.
• Although the streets are numbered, there are no street signs. You have to look at house numbers to figure out where you are at.
• Being a vegetarian didn’t prove to be as difficult as I thought it would be.
• I was asked if I was “French.” That was a first for me.
• Cabs are cheap and supposedly hailing them from the street isnt as risky as it is in Mexico (although you should still call a number).
• Bus fare cost around 1200 - 1500 pesos or about 50 cents.

A view of north Bogota from Manuel's shower... yes his shower.

View from Cerro de Montserrat (Panorama of 4 photos).

The walking trail to the top. Awesome views along the way.

Someone's llame at the base of Cerro de Montserrat.

A very European looking government building.

Bogotá Streeets

A corner bookstore... literally a corner bookstore.

Police partrolling a corner a few blocks off the 7th. (This is where i saw a fight break out)

A midget mariachi performer.

He can do birthdays and other events, or so he said.

I took this photo for my dad.

Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo

Cool sunset in Bogotá.

Kids playing soccer in Bogotá.

Sunset.

I loved all the fruit vendors in Bogotá.

Shooting street performers may be cliché, but this guy was good.

I'm not sure who find him more entertaining, the kids or the parents.

"I need to finish my studies, help me!"

Traditional musicians from the coast.

Need a cell phone, just look for signs like this...

Another cool old car.

Bogotá - Part 2

Bogotá has a pretty awesome art scene. That and the amount of universities students makes for a lot of street art. Here are a few photos I took, primarily stencil and poster work (which are my favorite).

Bogotá - Part 1

So the main point of my trip to Colombia was to make it to Medellín to document and participate in the first environmental film festival of Colombia. I decided that if I was going to go to Colombia I wanted to make sure to see the capital as well. Since I only teach one day a week and early March happened to be my students spring break I had almost a solid 2 weeks for my trip. I decided to fly into Bogota, stay for 4 days and then make it to Medellín for the rest of the trip.

I flew out of LGA, had a layover in Miami and then arrived to Bogota at 9pm at night. I immediately felt like an ass at immigrations when the officer didn't speak any English except the word "Hotel." However, I managed to make it through passport control and customs without any problem and found my way to the Taxi stand. In Colombia (and Mexico was the same way) you can get a price quote for your taxi ride in advance at the airport. The Taxi office gives you a slip with a pre set amount and then assigns you a cab. I like this system because it makes nighttime cab rides a bit less sketchy and harder for the cab driver to rip you off. I arrived at my friend Manual's apartment, a journalist based in Bogota. Unfortunately he was out of town on an assignment but his roommate let me in and set me up for the night. I was beat from traveling all day so I just got some food and went to sleep.

The next day I woke up at sunrise to very very intense sun shining through the window. In Colombia altitude determines temperature. Bogota sits at somewhere around 8,000 ft above sea level so despite the fact its pretty freakin close to the equator the average temperature year round is 65 to 70 degrees. With warm sun and a moderate temperature, Bogota may have the best weather I have ever experienced (keep in mind I like very mild weather).

My friend Manuel lives in the Chapinero neighborhood of Bogota. Chapinero is located between the city center and the very affluent neighborhoods of the north. Bogota's lay out is extremely easy to navigate (the streets are laid out on a grid system and are numbered like in NYC). For example, the old colonial part of the city is around the 10th to 19th. The city center is located near the 19th through the 30th. Manuals apartment is near 60th and the affluent area is around 80th to the 100th. This entire area is bordered by a mountain range to the east and for the most part between 10th and 120th east of 7th ave is relatively safe. Keep in mind this is only a small percentage of the city. Bogota is huge, with a population of nearly 8 million.

Bogota does not have a subway system, instead they have a very elaborate bus system. Part of this system is called the TransMilenio, which runs on bus only lanes. There are also countless smaller buses that run to the neighborhoods. I was a bit intimidated at first, but by the end of the first day I got the hang of it (not to say i didn’t get lost a bit).

I spent the first day just walking around La Candelaria (the colonial part of Bogota) and the city center. There are tons of museums in Bogota. The only one I checked out was Museo Botero. As you probably guessed, it houses mostly work by the famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

After a full morning I met up with my friend Carlos and had an amazing lunch at a great vegetarian restaurant (somewhere near the corner of 60th and 10th, on the 2nd floor). After an insightful lunch discussion, Carlos had to get back to work (he is currently editing a feature for a well known Colombian filmmaker). I decided to head back downtown to shoot photos at dusk. After hanging out in Plaza de Bolívar (Bogota’s most famous square) until sunset I started walking up Carrera Séptima (7th Ave). On Friday nights the 7th is shut down, creating a unique public space for street performers, vendors, artist, etc. I walked half way back to Manuel’s and then caught a bus the rest of the way. Manuel was still out on assignment so I decided to just call it a night and catch up on sleep.

Bogotá - Plaza de Bolívar

You could pretty much buy anything you want on the streets of Bogota.

Coke (soda) in glass bottles

Museo Botero is free and amazing.

Very monochormatic.

Bogotá had lots of cool little side streets and alleyways.

Maybe someday this could be my "foto" studio.

Another view of Plaza de Bolívar, looking southwest.

There was a protest against those who have gone missing in the conflicts.

Each brick had a missing or killed persons name printed on it.

National Police watch guard over the "Justice Palace."

Another view of Plaza de Bolívar.

TransMilenio bus at 19th and 7th ave.

Street vendors set up on Carrera Séptima

Police patrolling Carrera Séptima.

This was my first trip abroad since Obama has taken office and the change in attitudes is very very noticeable (in the best way possible).

I actually would say the Coffee in Colombia wasn't amazing. However, you could get it everywhere and it was super cheap, which makes it awesome.