II.III.VIII

WANDERING

Just before we’d get to enjoy the city of Bogotá, we had one final road trip planned in order to cover as much ground as possible. Luckily, Pedro’s father offered his car for that.

Our first stop was the Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá which are salt mines extending some 650 feet underground with a church at their epicentre. Apart from being an architectural masterpiece, the cathedral also boasts of impressive salt sculptures and murals. Getting to wander inside the salty underground labyrinth felt surreal to say the least! It is here that I also got to learn about the 7 Wonders of Colombia, of which I had unknowingly already visited three – the salt cathedral, the Lost City and the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in Cartagena.

Then it was time for something I had been waiting for since I had started planning my trip – the Laguna de Guatavita; a lake. Yes, a lake – but not just any lake. It is the lake (at least to me). Remember when I compared the Lost City to El Dorado? Well, this lake is widely thought to be the basis of the myth itself!

Legend has it that the Muisca people that inhabited these lands used to conduct a ritual that involved throwing gold and other precious metals and jewellery in the middle of the lake as a sacrifice to the gods. In their search for gold, the Spanish conquistadors and others who followed, attempted (and mostly failed) to drain the lake in hopes of finding said gold. Though some were successful, much of the presumed treasures are still buried in its depths to this very day; or so it is believed.

I don’t know about you but I’m a sucker for these things. What I’d give to be able to go back in time… To be able to live in those eras, to be able to take part in such tribal ceremonies… I felt the same overwhelming wave of inexplicable nostalgia when I was at the Lost City and a few years previously in Greece as I walked on the ground once trodden on by an ancient civilisation I’d never be able to witness myself. Think about it, how many untold tales have been erased from history; tales we’ll never get to unravel.

To finish off, we finally got to Villa de Leyva, another colonial town with cobble-stone streets and a large central plaza. After spending the night there, we had a full day to enjoy the city and its surroundings. Here we got to visit the coolest archaeological museum where you can find the fossilised remains of the giant Kronosaurus and also roamed around the incredibly weird yet cool Casa Terracotta. We also rented a quadbike and drove around the middle of a semi-desert. I know, a semi-desert; not that impressive, but an enjoyable experience, nonetheless – especially when we got to Pozo Azules; a small pool of torquoise water in the middle of the desert where we got to enjoy a swim!

And that was that. I’d spend the last few remaining days in Colombia exploring the capital. Bogotá, ‘The Lady of the Andes’ – Colombia’s beating heart. The urban capital, west of the Andean peaks, is right at the centre of the country. Diverse and multicultural, the vibrant capital boasts of modern and colonial architecture, a one-of-a-kind city rich in history, culture and most importantly, the passion of its people. By now, the city was not just another box I checked off my bucket list. It was home.

From La Candelaria; a neighbourhood downtown known for its colonial and baroque style, to Cerro de Montserrate; a hill towering over the entire city with a church on its summit and quirky decorations all over, we had no time to be bored. We roamed around the city’s streets, visited cathedrals and museums, spent all our money on coffee and local food and we were practically in heaven.