I walked to the Gold Museum and after asking for directions from a couple of armed soldiers that were patrolling and not doing much, and then grabbed two tickets ( in order to save time and not need to queue up for a return ticket ) and was glad that the price of the bus being still a fixed 1,500 mil pesos each way despite going right to the end of the line. A Further 1,300 mil pesos was needed for the onward bus from Porta Norte to Zipaquira, and on the way I got chatting to a small group of American and Canadian tourists who were newly arrived in the city and the first place that they were heading for was the Salt Cathedral.
Being French Canadian they could speak English and French, and a couple of them could speak a little Spanish, so together we figured that as a group we stood a good chance of getting there and back in one peice.
I suggested that we stopped off for a quick snack before we headed on up to the cathedral and the museum, and I was glad that I did as we ended up spending about 4 hours in total and after the bus journey I could already tell that my breakfast was wearing off.
The route to the Cathedral from the bus drop off point was due north west through the old historical town centre, and we passed a plaza that was not unlike those in Peru or Spain, and it was here that we took a few group photos before through some luck and directions from the local townsfolk we found the entrance at the bottom of the hill.
Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we checked the sign boards then followed the white painted line on the ground up the hill, covering around a few hundred meters and a few hundred steps, and yet we were no higher than when we left Bogota, being only around 8,000 and something feet above sea level and only around 38 miles from their hotel as the crow flies.
First off we had to navigate the ticket booth, which surprise surprise only spoke Spanish, and we had to try and get senior ticket discounts, an English speaking guide and try to make sure that everyone paid about the right amount as we were getting a group booking. With the entrance to the museum, the cathedral and the archaeological museum down the bottom of the hill, and guide, it cost around 22,000 mil pesos, but I am now debating if the guide price was worth it as others seemed to come with us and we doubted if they also paid for a english speaking tour guide.
In 2007 the salt Cathedral in Zipaquira was declared the first wonder of Colombia, so it promised to be a lot to live up to, and I am happy to say that it passed with flying colours.
The original Cathedral was built underground about 60 years ago, but at the time not enough thought was given to the supporting the roof and walls and so by 1990 it was closed down due to safety fears and a new cathedral was ordered to be cen reated and after a short competition to see which of the leading Architects of the time was up to the job, a new Cathedral was begunand by 1995 it was completed.
The place was very dark, as you might expect being underground, and yet they were very clever with the use of back strip lighting, floor lighting and coloured lights to give the cathedral a unique feel.
The place holds mass every sunday for tourists, who still have to pay the entrance fee regardless, and is infrequently also used for wedding and other special occasions, as well as music concerts with the acoustics being perfect for hyms and opera.
For such a relatively new building it had a lot of history and the museum had information dating right back to the colonial days and the trading of salt giving us the word for Salary.
Just outside the cathedral entrances we noticed a maze for the kids, and a round shallow amphitheatre, so the area probably also holds outdoor festivals and shows as well.
Afterward we swung round the musem at the bottom of the hill, before grabbing a bite to eat and then catching the bus just as it was leaving the town to return to Bogota, in typical fashion setting off before the last of us was even properly on the bus let alone in our seats.
Back in Bogota central it was raining hard, but knowing how difficult it was to catch a taxi at this time of day I chose to run all the way to the cinema where I was meeting up with C' rather, who had actually arrived half an hour early at our rendezvous point, which caught me out, but in return I bought her a coffee to warm her up before the film, my second viewing of Quantum of Solice, but there was not much else on to watch and I did want to watch a cinema flick here.
Apparently there are more than one hotel in the city centre with the same name, and once we left the cinema at first the taxi driver set off in the wrong direction, although I am half thinking that this was a scam as we were being charged by the meter and at a night rate, so I would suggest always taking the full directions for your hotel and showing that whenever you get in a taxi here, just in case.
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