TRANSPORT AROUND BOGOTÁ

13th - 15th  Nov 2018

Bogotá city looking west from Cerro de Monserraté

Bogotá, capital city of Colombia, population of just over 8 million, is built on a plateau in the Andes at an altitude of 8,660ft. It is surrounded by mountains and was originally a fertile bog. Perhaps that is how it got it's name.

As my bad choice of hotel put me at the opposite (north) end to the more interesting tourist area (south-east) I had to travel accross the city for the first 3 days. Apart from taxis (and the Uber ones are good) the only public transport is the 'Transmilenio' which, being very cheap and me being a miser, I used. It was an interesting experience and not for the faint hearted.

The 'Transmilenio' system (I will abbreviate to TMO) consists of 2/3 carriage red and yellow bendy-buses (left) which masquerades as an overground 'metro' system. They have their own dedicated dual carriageway lanes on routes around the city stopping at covered 'stations' (right) but have to conform to normal road traffic lights. In theory it sounds fine. In practice there are a few drawbacks, especially for novice visitors. 

Firstly; understanding the routes, which change depending on the time of day or night, would flummox even the most brilliant original Bletchley Park, or GCHQ Cheltenham code breaker. I stood no chance.

Secondly; when you do arrive at a 'station' the name of it is marked in almost invisible etching on the glass wall. 

Thirdly; at most times, especially at rush hour, the carriages are packed to the gunnels. I think I only twice got a seat. This makes it even more impossible to read the station signs.

Fourthly; Bogotonians have no sense of letting passengers off before they get on. At rush hour  the open doors resemble a hard fought loose ruck in an international rugby match with no referee. On one occasion I witnessed an old lady (probably a late substitute) getting her arm jammed in the closing doors and the 'bus' set off amongst much screaming. The driver opened the door to release her.....and we were moving! Not sure if anyone fell out. Difficult to tell as we were packed in like sardines.

Fifthly; (if there is such a word) the drivers use only full accelerator or full brake. Every stop seems to be an 'emergency' one. This means, if standing, you have to hang on for grim death and the discomfort is compounded by the fact that there are several bumps in the road. I suspect they are all frustrated stock-car racing drivers.

My TMO journeys to and from La Candelaria took anything between 45 mins and 1hr15mins, except on one occasion when I missed a stop to change buses and ended up in some dodgy favela/barrio and had to retrace my steps. I think that took me most of a morning.

On the plus side, apart from being cheap (COP 2300, that's about US$ 80 cents for any single journey of whatever length including changing buses, and you buy cards which you can top up) there were often locals willing to help a baffled looking Gringo like me. I was 'guided' through the system on several occasions by some charming and helpful locals (thank you Angela, Julianio, Maria, Augusto and some others if you read this!). I later found that there is an 'App' which tells you which route and bus to take. It works, but I only had it for one day.

The Uber taxi system works well and is relatively cheap and I did use that on occasions for shorter trips, but what the hell! I braved the Transmilenio and feel proud for doing so and escaped relatively unscathed. Anyone reading this and going to Bogotá, don't be a whimp! I challenge you to do it. 'Go Transmilenio'.

Left: As a post-script, on one of the less crowded TMO buses there was a very tuneful band. One normally tries to avoid these wandering minstrels, but they were very good and took ones mind off the discomfort. Apologies for the wobbly and blurred photo but I have explained the 'less than stable' travelling conditions. I was hanging on with one hand.

There are innumerable 'yellow' taxis available, but I was advised that they are considerably more expensive than Uber and you take your life (or money) in your hands if you ever get one 'off the street'. I was at least aware of that.

By the way, I have been reunited with the faithful rat (right) which I took around the world on my initial journey in 2011. It belongs to my niece and I thought it had been lost. It has reappeared, so it will feature in several photos to follow, whether you like it or not.

I'm slowing down with these blogs, (old age) but much more to show from Bogotá, so 'stand-by'.