Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [54]
The other potential big gap in knowledge is dancing. Everyone in Bogotá, pretty much, can salsa like a demon. If you’re looking for a dance instructor, a local’s advice is ‘find yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend and have them teach you.’ PITs and some hostels know local tutors.
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BOGOTÁ FOR CHILDREN
Some Bogotá attractions are particularly oriented to kids. Maloka is a children-oriented science museum with a dome cinema, and Museo El Chicó Click here has a kid’s park and library. In the Museo Nacional you can see mummies and old jail cells. Vendors sell bird seed for the (many) pigeons in Plaza de Bolívar. And you can marvel at the funny hats of the changing of the presidential guard nearby Click here.
Media Torta is a free kid-oriented concert on Sunday afternoons.
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TOURS
Destino Bogotá offers a host of unusual city tour and small-scale day trips, while Sal Si Puedes runs weekend walking trips around the Bogotá area. Click here. Also some of the PIT information centers offer free walking tours daily; Click here.
Click here for biking tours of Bogotá’s network of bike lanes.
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FESTIVALS & EVENTS
A mix of local and national festivals takes place constantly throughout the year. The following is a selection of the best. Also ask around as smaller festivals are held each month.
Feria Taurina (Jan & Feb) Bogotá has its bullfighting season when the major corridas take place, with bullfights held on most Sundays. Famous international matadors are invited, mostly from Spain and Mexico.
Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro (Mar & Apr) A theater festival featuring groups from all of Latin America and beyond takes place in every evenly numbered year.
May Day Parade (May 1) Don’t tell mom if you’re attending this one. Lefty bogotanos of various stripes cram into Plaza de Bolívar and along Carrera 7. It’s often a scene to avoid. Some participants are known to throw petos (paint-filled ‘bombs’ that are very loud) at police.
Festival de Jazz (Sep) Organized by the Teatro Libre, this festival features local and national Latin jazz artists, plus an occasional US or European star.
Festival de Cine de Bogotá (Oct) With a 20-year history, the city’s film festival attracts films from all around the world, including a usually strong Latin American selection.
Hip Hop al Parque (Oct) Two days of hip-hop taking over Parque Simón Bolívar.
Rock al Parque (Oct & Nov; www.rockalparque.gov.co) Three days of (mostly South American) rock/metal/pop/funk/reggae bands at Parque Simón Bolívar. It’s free and swarming with fans.
Expoartesanías (Dec) This crafts fair gathers together artisans and their products from all around the country. Crafts are for sale and it’s an excellent place to buy them.
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SLEEPING
Bogotá is seeing a hotel boom, with new big business-oriented chains (Hilton, Marriott) coming in during the life of this book – particularly along Av El Dorado in (remote) Salitre, a few kilometers east of the airport. Many other high-end choices loom way way north. It’s fine to be up there if you want more security for 10pm walks, or to be near malls and dress-up bars. If travel’s your game and time’s short, La Candelaria is where most of Bogotá’s attractions are.
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Central Bogotá
LA CANDELARIA
In the past couple of years, the historic suburb of La Candelaria has seen an explosion in hostels – including at least a handful not included here. Generally hostels’ private rooms are better than cheapie rooms in the several dated, grubby hotels around here. Higher-end travelers have a couple fine locales with more colonial spirit than you’ll find anywhere else in the capital.
Budget
Hostal Sue (Map; 334 8894; www.hostalsue.com; Calle 16 No 2-55; dm/s/d COP$15,000/30,000/45,000; ) Next to Platypus, and frankly a bit of a step down in quality, the friendly Sue (and its two satellite