Following last week’s Travel Inspiration photo series with Cartagena de Indias, be inspired to hop on the next flight to venture down to Colombia to experience the  metropolitan life of Bogota (four hours from LAN Airlines‘ Miami hub). Below, enjoy a set of over 30 images of Bogota’s oldest district, La Candelaria, and the surreal mountain escape of Monserrate (pictured above)—just a cable car away.

Picture yourself in place of my accompanying travel bag on this journey, the Bleecker Legacy Weekend Tote, shown in a couple of the photos below, and make sure to check out my story on luxury travel in Colombia for Latina.com.

Bogota, Colombia:

As the oldest part of Bogota, La Candelaria is full of history and character. The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has Spanish Colonial and Baroque styles, and the neighborhood is home to hostels, universities, libraries and museums. Among the museums, I got to visit the Botero Museum (containing the full-figure works by painter/sculptor Fernando Botero, and works by Monet and Picasso from Botero’s private collection) and the Gold Museum (housing 36,000 pieces in gold, wood, shell and stone organized in its three floors).

But before venturing to these and the streets of La Candelaria, the first stop in your journey should be Monserrate, a mountain part of the Andes Mountains at over 10,000 feet above sea level. Monserrate is both a pilgrim destination and tourist attraction where you’ll find a 17th-century church, restaurants and countless souvenir stands with native crafts, herbal remedies, food, drinks and more. You can climb to the mountain top, but a quicker (and more restful) way is by a cable car or cliff railway.

Then when you are back down, explore La Candelaria (and make you go north as the south area of the city is dangerous) to see the museums, government buildings, wall art and street food such as corn on the stick and capybara (yes, the giant rodent which apparently tastes like pork).

Photos by Andrew Villagomez

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