Out of all the Colombian cities, i would say Bogota is my least Favourite. The weather is grey and so are the people. The first time I visited Bogota, I caught a night bus from Armenia (near to Salento) and unfortunately I became ill and was sick on the bus. This perhaps tainted my experience as as my for my whole time there I felt nauseous and feverish. I also did not feel very safe walking around in the dark as there aren’t so many backpackers around and so I felt very vulnerable and out of place.
All of the hostels are located in Candalaria area. I stayed in the Ferweh Photography hostel to start off with and I was disappointed by the end. The staff were really unhelpful and it was freezing. I eventually moved to Cranky Croc which was much much better. The girl on the front desk was so lovely and helpful. This hostel caters so well to backpackers, with an excellent kitchen, laundry service and comfy beds. There is a restaurant, bar and also a chill out area. They have excellent wifi and can organise an airport shuttle for you for 30 000$COP.
In terms of sightseeing, I would definitely recommend doing the graffiti walking tour. Bogota is one of the most famous cities in the world for street art. It attracts some of the worlds most renowned artists. On this tour you learn the political context of much of the artwork, most of it representing the corruption present in Bogota. Lots of the pieces had weapons disguised in the background, for example ants that were flying grenades that were known as ‘warbugs’. There were also other pieces that represented child labour. One piece that resonated with me was the environmental piece, this piece was a symbol of the destruction of the Amazon due to the high rates of drilling and mining. Despite the street art being a big part of the cities identity, the officials seem to be at war with the artists and are constantly trying to remove the art work as they do not like the image it portrays for the city. At the end of the tour, you are taking to a house which homes more art work from the artists. The organisation is a charity which helps with social projects such as using art to lift people out of poverty.
Another good thing to do is to walk up or catch the cable car up to Montserrat, a park on the top of a hill. I caught the cable car and then walked down. The views up here are beautiful and its nice to chill up here for a bit. There are some other tours such as the bike tour and general city tour that people recommend. In terms of nightlife, I didn’t go out but I know the nightclub ‘Teatron’ is meant to be the biggest in South America. There is no metro in Bogota, so you have to walk everywhere or catch a bus. I would recommend only 1 or 2 nights in Bogota and just be careful of pickpocketers!
Romy's Roamings 