At a whopping 10,341 feet above sea level (Bogota is at 8,600), located on top of the mountain lies a church built in the 1657 named after Monserrat's Morena Virgin located in Barcelona, Spain. The name was adapted from Catalan to Spanish along the way (adding an "e" at the end).
Inside the church is the statue of Señor Caído de Monserrate (The Fallen Lord). However, I didn't feel comfortable taking a picture. The church was full of people praying and I didn't want to be the insensitive gringo snapping away like an Asian tourist on a holy day. (Ironically enough, I was told that Easter Sunday isn't as important for Colombians as Good Friday. Don't understand it, I thought the two days would compliment each other, but whatever).
So the question remains...how to climb the 2,000 foot mountain...
There were 3 options: one could simply walk up the path. However, it's been under construction for 3 years and nobody thinks they will ever finish it. So were down to two options. One is a car lift that dangles you 2,000 feet in the air and wobbles just enough to make you feel as if you will fall to your painful death. Or....an almost impossibly vertically ran train that goes through a tunnel on a mountain that suffers from frequent falling rocks which could crush you leaving you stuck in a tunnel waiting for your eventual death. Option one soundly slightly less scary (and cheaper).
So I sold my soul and went up the teleférico (wasn't that a Robert Johnson song?)
I was scared, and of course, Deidi was just as happy as could be!
Of course, you don't just dangle off the edge of a mountain. You do so packed in like New Yorkers in a cable car full of screaming Colombians. But we made it just fine, with Deidi laughing all the way to the top at the full grown men screaming like little girls (which in retrospect was pretty funny).
So now were on top of the mountain trying to catch our breath....literally and figuratively, because below us was the most incredible view of Bogota you could ever ask for.
I literally felt on top of some exotic world that had yet to be discovered, except by the 200 or so other tourists.
It was the most exotic place I have ever been in my life. I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Well worth the $4.00 it cost to go.
For being at 10,000 ft, it wasn't that cold.
Let's put it this way..,Bogotá is a BIG city. This is just the south east corner.
Downtown (a few skyscrapers)
Northwestern part of the city.
As north as you can see. The city continues out of view. (I live somewhere in that mess of roads, buildings and construction.)
Here are some more pics, because who likes reading?? It's indescribable anyway.
Any bird watchers out there? Got a curve ball for ya....black bird with a neon orange beak that likes itty bitty mosquitos...
So after surviving the trip down. My lungs were letting me have it. Walk around for a couple of hours at 10,000 feet is no joke, especially for the old breathers.
I couldn't catch my breath. It was even worse than the first night in Bogota.
So I did what anyone should do when they can't catch their breath.
COCA
That's right. Coca leaves. Don't worry Mom and Dad, unlike their chemically altered, unfortunately well-known, mutated cousin, cocaine; coca leaves themselves are very healthy. And in my case, the best remedy for altitude problems. Coca Tea is widely available and legal. The box I bought was approved by the Colombian version of the FDA.
Here are just some of the benefits:
Helps your digestion
Prevents diarrhea (wish I knew that in Mexico)
Prevents vertigo and vomit
Cures altitude sickness
For those of you who sing or won't shut up, it prevents vocal cord fatigue
Fights arthritis and nervous system disorders
You can find Coca tea just about anywhere (for those of you who are going to Perú, you will probably be chewing the actual leaves, for what I've heard)
By the way, the coca is grown by the Colombian Government in their own legal plantations.
Translation: The Coca leaf is a cultural heritage of Colombia. It is a sacred plant to the indigenous, some of whom believe that we (los humans) came from the coca plant. But don't worry, I'm not going overboard with it. Just when I can't breath. By the way, it doesn't give you energy or anything. If someone gave it to me and told me it was green tea, I would believe them.
Well, thanks for reading! I am doing just fine in Bogota. I feel safe and healthy. So far, no cases of Cuernavaca's Revenge. Got some job interviews tomorrow!
Take care and saludos desde Bogotá!
