Salt Cathedral in Bogota
August 14, 2022

As we drive out of the city, I officially name Bogota as the Land of Graffiti. Every wall and almost every building is painted with murals, sayings or sometimes just trashy scribbles.

Fighting bumper to bumper traffic on a Sunday morning with cars, motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians following no semblance of sanity, on streets that haven’t been paved in many years, Lez and I both get a headache. It takes 2 hours to get to our destination outside the city to a smaller town called Zipaquira…the world famous Salt Cathedral.

During the drive, Veronica explains the levels of society in Colombia. 95% of the people are classified into 6 basic levels. She is level 3. Where you live determines your level AND what governmental services you receive, as well as your tax rate. For example, if you’re level 6, your electric bill might cost $200/month, but when the government kicks in, level 3 pays $90 and level 1 only pays $25. Education and medical care is approached the same way. Public schools are available to lower levels, but higher levels pay very steep tuition rates. Veronica explains she had a brain aneurism years ago, and the level 3 hospital (basically free) wasn’t able to help her…. So she went to a higher level and luckily survived…but cost was much higher. Alot of people die due to poor FREE medical care.

We finally arrive at the Salt Cathedral. The Cathedral was carved from the salt mines. The mountain in which the mines are situated could keep the world supplied with salt for more than 100 years. They have been expanding since the 10th century, and at their heart you will find the Cathedral, which was opened in 1954. There are 14 stations of the Cross…each station sculpture by a different artist. At the lowest point of the cross you’re at 590 ft below the earth’s surface, dominated by the 54 foot high Central Cross. There’s actually no way to describe the feeling you get when you sit in the cathedral…. peaceful, serene, amazing, and awesome all come to mind. They have a short laser show to you help understand the history behind the Cathedral.

When we entered Lezlie had a severe headache and had had it for several days. She prayed while we were there for relief ….and amazingly when she walked out, her headache was 60% cured and by the end of the day no headache… Just saying.

Driving back toward Bogota, we visit a Family’s ranch where they raise and train the Paso Fino horses…famous for their “dancing”. Their name is literally translated as The Horse with the Fine Step. The owner has won several National Championships. In addition to ring tested to a private performance by the horses, we visited at length with the trainer. I was surprised to learn he only charges $110/month per horse to train vs. the $2,000/month we pay in the US to train our race horses. The horses were beautiful and very healthy. Colombians do not “like” Horse racing and in fact when a wealthy American built a modern expensive track 8-10 years ago, it went bankrupt within a year. On the way back to town, Veronica pointed out the overgrown track and clubhouse. Very informative and fun visit with friendly locals.

Long hot day…so we visited the spa for a massage and topped it off with a cocktail.