The Emerald Museum

I missed out on the gold museum, struck down by some serious laziness. A will to take Bogota at my own pace and to have a bit of an un-compromised wander around and take it in for myself. You can miss a lot when you are walking around with mates and talking, it's good to take off those blinkers sometimes. It was probably a foolish decision since it has one of the largest and most extraordinary collection of Pre-Colombian gold in the World - definitely a foolish decision. I did make it to the emerald museum which although short and sweet, rocked my world. As a child I collected gemstones and had various books about minerals and mining, none of which I really read at the grand age of six. The emerald museum rekindled this childhood passion. Maybe I can re-work it and become a jewellery designer...

There were just a few rooms, reconstructed mines and a quick talk through the mining process. Emeralds in Colombia are mined out of really hard rock which is one of the reasons why they are so expensive. The stones grow veil-like through this hard rock with pyrite. Green and gold a quite brilliant combination. Some of the stones and jewels on display in this little museum were quite incredible. Maybe I should get back into collecting? I wonder how much money is required for a big rock of Emerald? A lot.

In confusingly entwined centre of Bogota near Candelaria and not too far from the Emerald and Gold museums there are a fair few jeweller's shops and shops for jewellers. I wanted to hit on a real arts and crafts hippy haven but never quite found it, even though there were some cool shops and bars in Candelaria. I know that Bogota has a hell of a lot more to offer, it's a shame I can't just move there to get a real sense of what it's like. ONe day, one day....

Some random photos of Bogota

The Police Museum

The police museum was GANGSTER. The kit that the Colombian police use against their drug lords and terrorists is serious, the anti-terror uniform was worthy of NASA space exploration. Flame resistant and god knows what else. If aliens ever invade this planet, the Colombian police force will be the only people capable of saving the human race. Real talk.

It was an interesting insight into the recent history of the country. The best bit (obviously) was the Pablo Escobar exhibition in the basement, that and all the uniforms. UNIFORMS. I do like men in uniforms. Signs of submission. They command such respect, I would do whatever a Colombian policeman told me to do, the same goes for the Spanish Guardia Civil.

We were escorted around the museum by a young guy in uniform who ended the tour with a trip to the basement to see the Pablo Escobar exhibition. I wasn't that large, just a few pictures and mock Escobars showing his days in prison, his days as a politician and his death. There was a photograph display of every single member of the cartel some of which were taken at their scenes of death. Shot dead, their bodies sprawled over the ground, bloody. The worst was someone who had been both a police and a cartel informer. He had his own head opened to stuff his severed hand inside his face. He looked horribly disfigured. Brutal. All but four of the numerous members of the cartel are now dead. It seems crazy that they ran the show, made a mockery of the police and government but in the end their lawlessness got out of hand and the police took back the control of the streets. It is also crazy that one man drove this whole episode of Colombian history. Violence is something I don't really understand. I don't think I could have lived in Medellin during the days of Escobar.

Gunz

A petrol bomb turned swan, made by one of the policemen as a sign of peace after they foiled an attack.

Bogota from the museum roof

Apologies for the horrible quality of this photo, the lighting was rubbish and it was rather crowded.

First Impressions of Bogota

Over-cast and quite a change from the open blue skies or thunderous but perfectly formed, brilliantly defined white clouds that seemed to pass us by only on the horizon and never overhead when we were in the jungle. Several degrees cooler, we were back in jumpers and jeans, but it was a no point shivery and uncomfortably cold. Walking around candelaria and the centre of Bogota was just what I needed. A mixture of old and new architecture, large structures and small tiled roof houses sprawled over a weird network of seemily interwoven roads. Latin. I had read that Bogota was a cultural capital and a quick look around the centre seemed to confirm this, a couple of art galleries, some cool shops, graffiti on the sides of walls, really cool-looking buses, an amazing bookshop (heaven, I love books) and a slightly beaten up freak-show of a main square. This is what I had wanted and hoped this city would be like. There were llamas in the main square. This is something I was not expecting. Graffiti on statues, bubbles, people selling mangos and other forms of street food, children, adults, tourists and locals. Police.

We got stopped by some policemen and invited to look around the Police Museum. Police museum? Strange. Didn't sound that interesting to me. I was proven wrong, if you think about it, it's logical, in a country like Colombia where there has been a fair amount of violence, drug crime and terrorism that these interesting conditions create an interesting police force. Serious shit. I wouldn't want to fuck with the Colombian police force.

The change in gear from the jungle seemed to have made us all a bit tired and groggy. We searched for a good and cheap place to eat. We landed on our feet, finding a small cafe that had the most delicious menu del dia. It was a good introduction to some Colombian regional dishes - I had a vegetarian bandeja paisa which was delicious.

Colombian coffee! I love coffee.