We arrived in Bogota a little worse for wear and dozy after a bad night bus with only small intervals of sleep. We hopped in a taxi with a clueless driver who seemed to endlessly circle around the city, and even when we offered a map he still had no idea and was relying on our directions. Frustrated we arrived at our pre booked hostel and checked in half asleep. Upon entering our room we were greeted with a musky aroma and soon found out that our mattress was plastic. Yes-literally it was plastic. The most uncomfortable bed we have ever laid on-even the mattress in our Tayrona tent provided more comfort. Instantly realising we had made a mistake we went to complain and expressed our desire to leave. Huge tip for backpackers here-do not pay for your hostel until you have observed the room you will be staying in. This was a rookie error made by us due to sleep deprivation and lack of concentration. She was reluctant but then agreed to give us back money for 2 of the 4 nights we had paid for, we had no choice so irritatingly settled and moved hostels. Paying upfront was a big mistake on our part and one we will not make again. In contrast to this, Explora Hostel, our chosen destination was fantastic. Rooms were clean and a great size. Bathroom and kitchen facilities too were maintained regularly, keeping them neat and hygienic. Hammocks littered the corridor and the dining area is large enough for several people to eat at once. The staff spoke pretty good english and were extremely helpful. A sigh of relief at our second choice of the day to move hostel, this was a good decision.

La Candleria is the known backpacker area and with good reason. Bohemian hipster vibes are found in the crooked alleyways, decorated with artistically stunning graffiti, jewellery vendors and quirky cafes. There are plenty of hostels around to choose from, but we do highly recommend Explora. Bogota has a very famous Gold Museum, and although we were sceptical about how much we would understand, upon entering we learnt that an english guided tour was due to depart in 20 minutes. Great timing for us, and it meant we could be lead around informatively as opposed to aimlessly wandering. The museums personal tours only depart twice daily, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. You can pay for one to one tours, or if you time it right like we coincidentally did, then the museum ones are free and act as included within your ticketed price. It lasted just over an hour and was really interesting and informative. We learnt a significant amount in the given time and our guide was passionate and enthusiastic. Our attention spans with museums are limited, there’s only so much walking and reading plaques we can endure and even less that we can fully take in. Therefore being guided was a refreshing  way to learn, and without a doubt we absorbed more information being told it than we would have done reading it.

The city is calm and laid back, you will hear many things about it being very cold but we beg to differ. The sun was so warm in the day that we were in shorts and T shirts, and by the end of the day had badly burnt faces. It is very cool at night, but for us it was a nice temperature and reminded us of home. We were craving some home made food, so went all out at the supermarket to make one of our favourites; spag bol. We got chatting to another couple in the kitchen whilst we both prepared dinner, exchanging stories and they advised us to do the graffiti tour. We had also heard from reception that the walking tour is great to learn about the history of the city. Taking these tips on board we decided to kill two birds with one stone and do both trips the next day.

First was the walking tour which meets outside the gold museum-good for us as we knew the location. It lasted around 2 hours and the guide went over a range of historical events and political subjects. We learnt about Pablo Escobar, Simon Bolivar, various presidents of the country and he also touched on the graffiti art but suggested we do that tour separately.He also went on to recommend further attractions in and out of the city, as well as a variety of restaurants. Tours are tip based, and we were generous considering he had been an excellent guide as well as offering outside of his role with his recommendations.

We headed to the supermarket to grab some food for the next day as we had been informed it would be shut tomorrow. Jonny left Hayley to pay whilst he went in search of a toilet, as she exited the store he greeted her with a surprise bouquet of flowers. Today it is our one year anniversary. Awww. What a gent!
After  a quick  bite to eat we headed to the meeting  point  for the Graffiti tour. It was hugely popular, with around 30 people in stark contrast to the small group of 4 we had just been a part of for the walking tour. Again the guide was great, he personally knew a lot of the artists and explained their work with descriptive details. In Bogota as long as you have permission from the property owner you are legally allowed to Graffiti it. Some artists have gone on to become world famous in this sector, painting around the globe and stamping their graffiti across continents upon request. However for the majority of these talented artists we learnt they are sadly unpaid or recognised outside of Bogota. The graffiti itself is remarkable and every piece has emotional depth in its meaning.

The tour came to a close at around 5pm and we were starving. We have not yet mentioned that it was New Years Eve and we had been asking both the tour guides and other backpackers their plans. Turns out the NYE is not a big deal here like it is at home, rather alien to us the majority of restaurants are closed so even finding food was limited. Prior to arriving at Bogota we had heard of Andres Carnes de Res, as being prime party place and encouraged by a befriended Colombian in Medellin, she strongly suggested we try go there. It was unfortunately full and so our plans were next to none currently. Both tour guides had mentioned a few hotel parties, in which hostels would sell us tickets and organise transport, or alternatively recommended clubs but neither sounded appealing to us. We wanted a different NYE-clubbing and posh parties are available at home, plus we did not have any glamorous attire what so ever. One of the few restaurants open was an Irish Pub, where we paid for an extremely over priced and under portioned meal and much to Jonny’s disgust they didn’t even serve Guinness. We had been told by both guides that there would be fireworks in the Plaza Simon Bolivar, but had been advised to arrive early as it would be packed from around 4pm onwards. It was now gone 6pm, already the New Year back home, and we weren’t bothered about being in the square centre although fireworks were tempting.

We arrived back, got changed, put some music on and poured ourselves drinks. We the proceeded to the kitchen and made friends with a group of backpackers, also at a loss about what to do tonight. We got friendly drinking in the common area and decided we would head to Plaza Simon Bolivar for the midnight fireworks, stopping at a few bars on the way. Jonny and I wrapped up, much to new British buddy Emma’s amusement, who was so entertained by the amount of layers we had crammed on in contrast to her one cardigan she insisted on a photo, declaring us ‘the two warmest people in Bogota’.

A few bars later, Emma’s boyfriend, Pat, and Jonny realised they had more in common than they could imagine; both UCLAN graduates with many mutual friends just one year apart in their studies. The world is indeed a small place. Considering we had been advised on both our walking tours to arrive early for a good spot of the music in the Plaza, we wondered on our approach why there was no echo of a crowd cheering and in fact we couldn’t hear the band. Within a few minutes we were greeted by a lonely, empty Plaza Simon Bolivar. No band. No crowd. Even the Christmas Tree wasn’t awake to greet the new year, it’s lights were switched off and the only guests in the square were a few pigeons and two very confused policemen. In spanglish we managed to communicate enough of realising we had been very wrongly advised, and in fact we were at least one mile away from where the fireworks would be starting, in just two minutes. We simultaneously sighed and then laughed as it was now 11.59 and we all knew that our first few moments of 2017 would be spent in this lonely plaza. An entertaining disappointment. But in true British style, we linked arms and counted down from 10, loud enough that our voices filled out the plaza, frightening off birds and humouring the policemen. 12.00am arrived and we screeched, cheered, hugged, kissed, wishing each other a HAPPY NEW YEAR! All the while knowing our chances of crossing paths again in life were very slim. We created our own atmosphere. High on New Year adrenaline we decided to chase the fireworks and power walked/ran/skipped to where the direction they were coming from. Naturally as we arrived the last bang exploded in the sky. Then to cause more confusion to our strange night, the square quickly began to empty. In the UK the party starts after midnight-in Colombia apparently this is when it finishes!

We took the hint and strolled back to our hostel, analysing our bizarre and unexpected evening, concluding that Colombians just aren’t NYE celebrators. Not the best NYE we have had but definitely one we won’t forget! In fact we have stayed in touch with Pat & Emma-look out for them in a future blog post 😉

To conclude Bogota is a wonderful, artsy city which Colombian backpackers must explore-although we would advise to avoid NYE here if you want a big party!!

Hope you had a more exciting introduction to 2017 than we did-let us know where your best NYE was spent, we’d love some bucket list places!!

CHEERS!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂