We got really lucky today when our hosts Gloria and Miguel offered to take us into downtown Bogota to see a few of the sites.

The first impression as we drove in was of another modern city. There are number of large malls and shopping areas on the way in. Once in the city we passed through various business districts and some of the shopping areas reflected an affluent population with shops selling premium European and American brands. However, the colonial past is never far away and is visible in many of the older buildings.

Our first stop was to take the cable car to the top of Monserrate, a mountain east of the center that affords a wonderful view of the entire metropolitan area, It also affords people like us who basically live at sea level an opportunity to experience the effects of altitude as the summit of Monserrate is at about 10,000 ft and there are some stairs to climb once one gets out of the cable car. From the top the general shape of Bogota is visible. The entire city complex sits on a very flat plain surrounded on all sides by ridges. Apparently the area was once a lake bed. The oldest part of the city, and the part that still contains much of the government, is snug up against the ridges on the east side of the plain. As the city has grown is has expanded north and south into the hills but mostly to the west. It has not yet filled the entire plain but seems well on its way to doing so. It's a big city, current population is something like 8 million. The cable car passes over a forest of the most enormous eucalyptus trees. I am still puzzled by the abundance of eucalyptus trees in Colombia, I thought (maybe incorrectly) that such trees were natives of Australia. But our hosts say they are also native to Colombia.

Next on the days tour was Museo De Oro the gold museum, an attraction for which Bogota is famous, and rightfully so. We spent a couple of hours perusing the exhibits, some of which date back to 15,000 BC. It was hard to get more than an overall impression of the various ancient cultures of Colombia since there was just a mountain of information. But the short version is that Colombia has supported complex civilizations, with a high enough standard of living to support artists, since at least 15.000 BC.

We followed the museum with a stroll around the area of the main square Plaza De Bolivar. Beautiful old buildings dating back to the mid 1500s, buildings that were the scene of 20th century massacres, and believe it or not the first astronomical observatory built in the Americas.

The day was finished off nicely with a dinner of Colombian food at a restaurant called Casa Viejo.

Oh! - I should mentions, we got to experience Bogota rush hour traffic. It is something!!