Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [69]
Key routes:
La Candelaria to Zona G From ‘Las Aguas’ or ‘Museo del Oro’ stations, take D70 to Calle 22, switch to B13 to ‘Flores.’
La Candelaria to Zona Rosa From ‘Las Aguas’ or ‘Museo del Oro,’ take D70 to Calle 22, switch to B13 to Calle 85.
La Candelaria to Portal del Norte (for Zipaquirá buses) Take B74 direct to ‘Portal del Norte’ (last stop).
Portal del Norte to La Candelaria Take J72 from ‘Portal del Norte’ direct to ‘Museo del Oro’ or ‘Las Aguas.’
Zona G to La Candelaria From ‘Flores’ take H13 to ‘Calle 22,’ switch to J24 to ‘Museo del Oro’ or ‘Las Aguas.’
Zona G to Zona Rosa From ‘Flores’ take B1 or B13 to ‘Calle 85.’
Zona Rosa to La Candelaria From ‘Calle 85’ take H13 to Calle 22, switch to J24 to ‘Museo del Oro’ or ‘Las Aguas.’
The free maps available from tourist information centers show all TransMilenio stations.
AROUND BOGOTÁ
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Most bogotanos looking for a break from the city also look for warmth. Some towns within a couple of hours – like the trashy club town of Melgar – rest way below Bogotá’s elevation, with rising temperatures. There are also significant changes in landscape outside the capital, where you can find lakes, waterfalls, cloud forests, mountains and a maze of small towns and villages, many of them holding onto their colonial fabric. The most popular overnight destination is Villa de Leyva, covered in the Boyacá, Santander & Norte de Santander chapter.
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NORTH OF BOGOTÁ
Many day-trippers out of the capital head this way. It’s possible to combine a trip to Zipaquirá and Guatavita in a day – a taxi to both, with a couple hours at each, runs about COP$150,000 depending on your negotiation skills. Ecoguías offers all-inclusive three-day tours to Villa de Leyva that stop in Zipaquirá and Guatavita for about COP$800,000 per person. Agencies like Destino Bogotá Click here offer combo day trips to Zipaquirá and Guatavita.
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Zipaquirá
1 / pop 101,000 / elev 2650m
The most popular day trip from Bogotá, 50km north, Zipaquirá is a cute historic town noted for its salt mines, particularly the one fashioned as a surreal walk following Jesus’ last steps and finishing in a three-part cavernous cathedral 190m below the ground. Salt was a major resource in this area before the Spanish showed up in those metal hats, and local mines still churn out 40% of Colombia’s salt resources.
Zipaquirá’s main plaza is lined with cafes and ATMs and has a lovely church to peek into. For further info see www.zipaquira.gov.co.
In the mountains about 500m southwest are two underground cathedrals carved out of salt. The first opened in 1954, then was closed in 1992 for safety reasons. You can visit its stunning replacement salt cathedral ( 852 4035, 852 9890; www.catedraldesal.gov.co; admission COP$14,000, on Wed COP$8000; 9am-4:40pm). It was built between 1991 and 1995 (a total of 250,000 tons of salt were removed).
All visitors must join regularly departing groups on hour-long tours – you can leave them once you’re inside if you want. The walk leads past 13 stages of Jesus’ fateful day, with hollowed-out crosses symbolizing nakedness or death (sadly the view of No 11 – of the crucifixion – is now somewhat marred by the unfortunate placement of the souvenir shop just behind). The tradition of mixing religion with salt has logical roots: work in the mines was dangerous so altars were made. Eventually it grew to this. The 75m long mine can accommodate 8400 people and holds service on (very busy) Sundays.
About 15km northeast, the town of Nemocón is home to another huge (and less touristy) salt mine that can be visited daily. This one has been in use for 400 years, once serving as the town hall.
Few spend the night in Zipaquirá, but Hotel Colonial ( 852 2690, 852 1793; Calle 3 No