Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá and Guatavita

According to tourism literature one of the must-see places in Colombia is the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá Lesser known is Lake Guatavita or sometimes called the Lagoon in Guatavita.

I signed up with AirBnB Experience for a tour of both places.  It's an all-day tour costing about US$95.  My host Cesar picked me up at the Hotel de la Opera at about 8am that morning.  He drove to another part of Bogota to pick up another guest.  Surprisingly, this guest was waiting in line with his friend in front of me the day before waiting for the tram to go up to Monserrate.  He recognized me right away because I don't think there are many Asian tourists around.  He is from Guadalajara, Mexico, and he speaks decent English.  We were able to communicate and it was nice to have a companion visiting the sites with me.  Our hosts, we found out, was just a driver.  He just took us to the places and drop us off.  We both agreed that we have been charged too much.

Our first stop is the town of Guatavita, about 2 hours outside of Bogota.  Being a Saturday, there were a lot of bicyclists riding the mountain roads, causing traffic jams everywhere.  This area used to be inhabited by an indigenous tribe called Muisca.  The thing that makes this town famous is Lake Guatavita, where we will visit next.

Tower in the center of town

Town Square

I Love Guatavita

Lake Guatavita is about 30 minutes from the town.  Our driver dropped off us at the entrance and gave us instructions on where and how to meet him after a hike and tour.  We had to pay our own entrance fee.  We had some time before the tour start so we bought some snacks and drinks from the vendors outside the entrance.  Empanadas are popular everywhere in South America.  They are fried turnovers with different types of filling, ranging from chicken, beef, vegetables, etc.  They can be savory or sweet.  I love them because they are a quick convenient snack.  I've had some very good ones and some that are okay.

We had a woman tour guide leading a group of about 20 of us on the hike around the lagoon.  She spoke in Spanish so I could not understand what she said.  But I read a little bit about the history of the lake and its significance to the Colombian people.  The Spanish Conquistadors came here to look for gold, thinking that it is connected to the legend of El Dorado.  That legend said that the Muisca king covered himself with gold dust and dove into the waters, washing the gold dust into the lake.  Gold and jewelry offerings were also thrown into the lake.  Unfortunately, no gold was found in the lake by the Spanish colonizers.

Our Guide Leading the Tour

Explanation of the Lagoon

Lake Guatavita

Surrounding Countryside

On the way to the Salt Cathedral we stopped at the town of Zipaquirá for lunch.  Our driver took us to a restaurant that serves Colombian-style BBQ.  This is similar to Brazilian BBQ called Churrascaria.  Again, we paid for our own lunch, even though we thought the lunch was provided by the host.  Not only that, we subsidized his lunch because he did not have to pay for his.

Meat over hot coals

Lots of Meat

We were supposed to take a tour of the town of Zipaquirá but because we were running a little late, we headed for the Salt Cathedral first.  This is not the first time that I have been to an underground salt mine.  

In 2016 I visited one in Krakow, called the Wieliczka Salt Mine.  Read my visit to that mine here.

We were in a group of about 20 on a tour of the underground cathedral.  Our guide spoke Spanish but I was given a recorder and headset that explained the significance of each stop.  The commentary was quite good.  There were 23 stops and each stop has a certain significance behind it.  Here are pictures of some of the stops.

Entrance to the Underground Cathedral

A Sanctuary

One of the Stops

Another Stop

There is a Shopping Mall underground 

After the tour of the Salt Cathedral our driver took us on a quick tour of the town.  There are many residents in this town and being a Saturday night, it was quite lively.  There was traffic jams most of the way back to Bogota and I did not get back to the hotel until about 9pm.