Today was a beautiful day in Bogota, so we experienced the city on two wheels with a Bogota bike tour.
Biking in Bogota
Sunday is a big day for cyclists in Bogota Colombia because they close the streets to cars. You heard me right! A big chunk of main streets in Bogota are shut down for pedestrians and cyclists for Ciclovia, and we wanted to be part of it! Since we don’t travel with bikes, we participated in a bike tour with Bogota Bike Tours. For 35,000 COP (less than $16 Canadian), we got a 5 hour ride around the city with a lot of facts and fun!
Fuel for the Bike Tour
The best way to get ready for a bike tour is to eat! Since we didn’t eat dinner last night because of our massive lunch, we stopped at a street with lots of Colombian restaurants. We wanted an authentic breakfast and got it at La Puerta de La Tradicion. We consumed coffee, a milk soup called changua (which was delicious) and chorizo. The food was good, the service was too, and from there it was a quick walk to the bike shop.
Bogota Bike Tour
The English language bike tour left around 10:40am from Bogotá Bike Tours and took us approximately 8KM around the city, with a lot of stops along the way.
Tour Stops
We began in a main square of the city, Plaza de Bolivar, which is bustling, even on Sunday. The plaza has government buildings, a giant church and some Pablo Escobar history, for those of us who like Narcos on Netflix.
I loved the next stop, a local fruit market. The variety of fresh and delicious fruit in this country is astounding. We sampled many beautiful exotic fruits.
On a funny note, Colombians do not like spice at all. I learned this with my host family and added my own hot sauce to many meals. At the market, this was emphasized when the tour guide dared us to try a local pepper. Me and a Mexican guy volunteered even though she warned us it was hot. It tasted like a bell pepper.
More Tour Stops
We got to play the Colombian sport of Tejo, which we’ve wanted to try since we saw Anthony Bourdain play it while drinking copious amounts of beer. It’s sort of like darts only you are throwing a clay disk at a target that consists of gunpowder, so when you hit it, it makes a big boom! Brian managed to hit the target and he was very pleased. I was not nearly as good.
The Ciclovia, which was very busy with pedestrians, vendors and some cyclists. It wasn’t that easy to navigate as people were everywhere! Everyone in Colombia is usually in a good mood, though, everyone smiles and laughs here, even when there are near collisions! During this time, we passed the Colombian National Museum and Olaya Herrera National Park, which had a topographic model of Colombia that was cool
Another interesting stop on the bike tour was the bullfighting arena. This sport was brought to Colombia by the Spanish. Apparently it was only ever followed by the elite and never became popular. The good thing is that the mayor recently abolished bullfighting.
We also stopped in at a coffee roastery, making us more excited to explore the coffee district!
Another great tour stop in Bogota is the Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo. It’s a narrow pedestrian street with shops, cafes, and a history as the place Bogotá was founded. Now it’s known for musicians, artists, and students.
Post Tour Soup
After the tour, we went back to the authentic Colombian restaurant street and had some really delicious national soups! We got the best “ajiaco” soup in the world in fact at El Mejor Ajiaco del Mundo. It was really good! The service at the place was terrible, so be prepared for them to forget your drinks and serve all the locals before you. But the food was good.
Bogotá
Bogotá is a big and busy city with a lot of different barrios to explore. The tourist options are vast compared to Cartagena. There are so many neighborhoods we want to try and things to see and do in the scant few days we have here.
I find Bogotá beautiful as well, surrounded by mountain scenery. The mix of old and new buildings and art also makes it ideal for strolling. Tomorrow we plan to go to the top of one of the mountains so I will take a lot of scenery photos. Glad we got to go on a Bogotá bike tour. Read more about Colombia sightseeing tours in Cartagena and Medellin.
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