This morning, Gabby and I took a taxi cab to Monserrate and hiked several kilometers up to the summit. The hike/walk up reminded me of Runyon Canyon, in that it is definitely an urban hike that towers above the city. It also seems like a very popular, fashionable hike/trail that is enjoyed by families, people working out, couples, tourists, and even elderly people. The hike was very steep with a lot of steps, but was a very entertaining and interesting walk. Along the trail, there were hundreds of vendors including restaurants, snack vendors, souvenir vendors, etc. At every turn, we either had views of Bogota below us or were immersed in the Bogota culture and food experience. Some of the snacks offered include toffee marshmallow, cheese with guava, ice cream, and more.
After a couple hours of hiking, we reached the top of Monserrate, where there is a large cathedral and many more street vendors and restaurants. We walked the entire top of the mountain, and enjoyed a plantain stuffed with cheese and guava, which was good, but not as good as we thought it would be. Next, we hiked to a restaurant/cafe where we enjoyed a coffee/tea and relaxed for about an hour. The top of the mountain was extremely busy, most probably because it was a Sunday and there was a cathedral on top of the mountain. We waited for about an hour to take the funicular down to the starting point of the hike.
From there, we took a taxi to a street market in Candelaria and walked around for about an hour. Then, we took a taxi to the mall near our hotel, and enjoyed a nice dinner at the Cabrera restaurant. Afterwards, we picked up our luggage from our hotel and continued on to the airport to fly to Medellin, where we checked into our hotel for the next four nights.
https://youtu.be/TmEKnOkK9ls
