{"id":490,"date":"2022-09-06T18:09:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/?p=490"},"modified":"2022-09-06T18:40:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:40:43","slug":"colombia-bogota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muckton.network\/david-nicholson\/travel\/colombia-bogota\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombia - Not getting mugged in Bogot\u00e1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For decades, the Colombian capital Bogot\u00e1 has been synonymous with crime. In the 1990s it was reputedly the most violent city in the world, with thousands of homicides a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although things have improved since then, Bogot\u00e1 remains a hotbed of ill behaviour according to the British government. \u201cBritish nationals have been robbed at gun point in the Candelaria district,\u201d it says. People are routinely drugged, kidnapped and raped: \u201cTake care on city streets if you are on your own.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undeterred, I set off into the heart of the city one afternoon, dressed in a suit, carrying an expensive camera, mobile phone in hand. What could go wrong?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, nothing. I walked through busy, pleasant, attractive squares, ate a gourmet lunch at a refined, white-linen restaurant, then walked uphill for a few miles in search of views. The weirdest thing I saw was a man dressed as Osama bin Laden carrying a (fake?) machine gun and heckling drivers through their car windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Osama bin Laden rides again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I found a cable car to whisk me up to Monseratte monastery, where the city spread beneath its walls as far as the eye could see. To my left was an attractive, brightly-painted barrio tumbling down the hillside. This, I later discovered, was the famous Candelaria district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stalls next to the monastery sold tee shirts, baseball caps and keyrings bearing the image of notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar (1949-1993), much as you\u2019d see Maradona in Argentina or Mandela in South Africa. The high price of these was about as criminal as it got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The view from Monseratte monastery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For decades, the Colombian capital Bogot\u00e1 has been synonymous with crime. In the 1990s it was reputedly the most violent city in the world, with thousands of homicides a year. 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