Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [97]
Buca, as it’s known to locals, was founded in 1622 and developed around what is today the Parque García Rovira, but most of its colonial architecture is long gone. Over the centuries, the city center moved eastwards, and today Parque Santander is the heart of Bucaramanga. Further east are newer, posh neighborhoods peppered with hotels and nightspots.
Dubbed ‘The City of Parks,’ Buca is filled with lovely green spaces. Unfortunately most of the city is not particularly attractive, and is made even worse by the horrific traffic and overpopulation. To ease congestion, Buca is currently constructing a massive public transportation system modeled on Bogotá’s TransMilenio, set to open in 2010.
Buca really comes to life at night. Its nightlife is legendary thanks to dozens of clubs, hundreds of bars and 10 universities. Non-party animals may find Buca rather boring. Nevertheless, Buca is worth a stopover on the long road between Bogotá and the coast or as a base to visit nearby colonial town of Girón.
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Information
There is no shortage of ATMs; many are clustered near Parque Santander along Calle 35, and in Sotomayor on Carrera 29.
Bancolombia (Carrera 18 No 35-02)
Citibank (Calle 49 No 23-55) Can change traveler’s checks.
Click & Play ( 642 2882; Calle 34 No 19-46, room 115, Centro Comercial La Triada; per hr COP$1800; 8am-9pm) Internet and international phone calls.
HSBC (Centro Comercial, Room 121)
Mundo Divisas (Calle 34 No 19-46, room 120, Centro Comercial La Triada; 8am-noon & 2.30-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-12:30pm Sat) Money exchange.
Police ( 633 9015; Calle 41 No 11-44)
Telenet ( 670 5850; Calle 36 No 18-03; per hr COP$1500; 7:30am-7:30pm) Internet and international phone call office.
Tourist police ( 633 8342; Parque Santander; 24hr) The Tourist Police kiosk has free brochures and maps. For more current information visit www.bucaros.com.
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Sights
The Museo Casa de Bolívar ( 630 4258; Calle 37 No 12-15; admission COP$1000; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat) is housed in a colonial mansion where Bolívar stayed for two months in 1828. The museum displays various historic and archeological exhibits, including weapons, documents, paintings, and mummies and artifacts of the Guane people who inhabited the region before the Spaniards arrived.
Diagonally opposite, the Casa de la Cultura ( 642 0163; Calle 37 No 12-46; admission free; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat), in another historic building, features a collection of paintings donated by the local artists.
Museo de Arte Moderno de Bucaramanga ( 645 0483; Calle 37 No 26-16; admission COP$2000; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat) houses rotating exhibits of modern paintings and sculptures.
Of the city churches, the Catedral de la Sagrada Familia (Calle 36 No 19-56), facing Parque Santander, is the most substantial piece of religious architecture. Constructed over nearly a century (1770–1865), it’s a massive, eclectic edifice with fine stained-glass windows and a ceramic cupola brought from Mexico. The Capilla de los Dolores (cnr Carrera 10 & Calle 35), in the Parque García Rovira, is Bucaramanga’s oldest surviving church, erected in stone in 1748–50, but no longer operates as a church.
The verdant Jardín Botánico Eloy Valenzuela ( 648 0729; admission COP$500; 8am-5pm) has 7.5 hectares of gardens, a small pond and a Japanese tea garden. The gardens are on the banks of the Río Frío on the old road to Floridablanca, in the suburb of Bucarica. To get there, take the Bucarica bus from Carrera 15 in the city center.
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Activities
Bucaramanga’s most popular sport is paragliding. The hub for this high-flying activity is atop the Ruitoque mesa. Colombia Paragliding ( 352 8839, 312 432 6266; www.colombiaparagliding.com; Ruitoque) offers 15-minute tandem rides for COP$50,000, or go all-out and become an internationally