Bogota

Bogota is a cosmopolitan place with all the things associated with any big city... plenty of good restaurants, terrible traffic, an active night life, etc...  What's different from most other big city is the visible presence of military most everywhere.. patrolling the streets, directing traffic, providing security to prominent buildings.  So... this will either make you nervous or make you feel secure - you pick.  Once I realized that there is a mandatory military service and that most of the armed guys that you saw were all 18 to 20 years old just doing their time, I wasn't uncomfortable with it. 

There are a couple of things everyone who visits Bogota has to do... The picture on the left is from the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum).  The gentleman on the left is completely decked out in gold apparel (the guy on the right with no gold - that's me).  The museum is famous for its collection of gold artifacts (like the one above) numbering in the ten of thousands.  The other mandatory activity is to take the teleferico (cable car) to the top of Monserate.  There are a couple of pictures of that here as well. 

This page has photos from around Bogota and the next page has pictures from other places around Colombia. (The photo at the top of the page is from the Candeleria district where these statues adorn the roofs and walls of the old buildings in the area.) 

This is allegedly the oldest cathedral in Colombia on a central square shared with government buildings in Bogota. The mountain in the background is Monserate.

JB in front of the cathedral atop Monserate high above Bogota. >>>

A view down the path to the top of Monserate... these statues depict the various stages in the journey of Christ to the cross.

Another view from the top of Monserate.... this is the walkway leading down to the city visible below.