We were among the first to arrive, so we plonked ourselves down on the grass and watched the place come to life. Gradually quite a crowd gathered, parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles piled out of cars and taxis. As the people arrived so did the vendors, there were a few ice cream sellers, a man selling chirimoyas, people selling freshly made potato chips and plantain chips. Then a papayera band struck up a cumbia, this was going to be a fun day.  

At about 9:15 AM in the distance we heard the first sign of the train, car alarms; the rumbling of the train set off a cacophony of car alarms. Shortly afterwards we heard the toot of the steam whistle and almost immediately someone in the crowd spotted the tell-tale puffs of smoke. The crowd sprang into action, all positioning themselves for a better view, little ones perched on shoulders for a better vantage....and still the band played on.

The tickets for the train, which should be purchased a couple of days in advance, have assigned seating numbers. Each carriage has a letter of the alphabet clearly posted on the side, once you match your ticket to the carriage you then match your seat number to the ticket. This is a good idea and avoids any potential arguments, the only downside is that you will be sitting on the same side on your return to Bogotá. It is easy to find someone to swap seats with on the return leg, so don't worry about this. The seats are clean and quite comfortable, but basic.

The train pulls out of the station and heads north, it travels first through some nice areas "Bella Suiza" but as you get to the very northern part of the city it becomes more impoverished. We are warned to keep the windows shut because the locals sometimes throw garbage or rocks at the train. I kept mine open about half way, ever vigilant for the rock throwing mobs. All that I saw was smiling faces, mothers holding children to the window for a better view, waving children... I waved back.

Bogotá is indeed a city of contrasts, on one side of the track there might be a smart modern block of apartments with nice landscaping, whilst on the other the other might be a very poor ramshackle neighbourhood. In the grass median just north of Usaquen we saw several cows tethered to trees munching happily at the clover and dandelions, oblivious to the cars whizzing past inches from their wet drippy noses. One of the reasons for this huge contrast is the fact that Bogotá is home to millions of displaced people from all over Colombia. These people are flocking to Bogotá so quickly that the city's infrastructure cannot cope. The mayor has prioritized getting basic water supplies and sewage to these areas, but it is impossible to stay ahead of the game. 

Continuing north the city finally gives way to the beautiful countryside, we are traveling very near the eastern edge of the city with the ever-present mountains looming close by. We pass football fields with games for all age groups being played, we pass English-style horse riding academies, and row upon row of greenhouses filled with roses just waiting to be shipped to florists all over the world. 

The train stops at La Caro about 1 hour into the journey, I have no idea why, but we got out and stretched our legs a bit. There was of course a few entrepreneurs selling cotton candy, ice creams etc. Three young tourist police who accompany the passengers stood and enjoyed an ice cream each. It was a curious sight, these three men with guns and army type uniforms enjoying an ice cream, it made their boyish faces seem even younger than they probably were. The papayera band that played as we boarded the train at Usaquen again appeared at La Caro as if by magic and whipped out a few tunes. After 10 minutes we were back onboard and once again rolling through the beautiful countryside. 

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM !!!! What's that, an explosion? My heart skips a beat.... no it only the beating of a big drum in the front of the carriage. A band consisting of two talented young men has appeared out of nowhere. One played the bombo, and the leader played the charango, the capador  & supplied the vocals! This type of Andean music is not one of my particular favourites, but these guys were good, it was hard to believe that there were only two guys playing all this music. Afterwards they passed out copies of their CD, hoping to sell a few copies.

Shortly thereafter we were treated to yet another band, this time a group of costeños playing vallenatos, this really got the audience moving. The vocalist was particularly good, I would like to find out the name of the group, unfortunately they were not selling CDs.  

We continued on through the countryside passing small humble dwellings with the most beautiful roses in the small gardens. Roses are everywhere, seeming to enjoy the climate of la Sabana de Bogotá, they climb on fences along the track, they cascade over walls, they are everywhere. After about an hour we arrive on the outskirts of Zipaquirá and are met with the usual locals selling food and snacks, Maria bought us a couple of helados caseros for 600 pesos each, they are a small cream popsicle, we both chose mora. While we were enjoying our snack the locomotive had been turned around and was now moved to the back end of the train, now the interesting bit, the seats are made to swivel around to face the opposite direction! Once the attendants had turned all the seats around we once again boarded the train, all except those who were visiting the Salt Cathedral. If you wanted you could visit the Salt Cathedral and then catch a flota back to Cajicá to meet up again with the train. Having already done the Salt Cathedral we opted to continue on to Cajicá.

The trip to Cajicá takes about 1 hour, so we arrive at about lunch time, and we are getting a bit hungry. So we leave the train to the strains of La Piragua, the papayera band has once again magically appeared. We head through Cajicás plaza looking for a bite to eat. Off in the corner we spy a panaderia and head that way, it is an amazing little shop, one of the best bakeries I have ever seen. It is packed with all manner of cakes, pastries, breads, cookies as well as packaged yogurts, jugos etc. I know Colombians love their pastries, but this was totally unexpected here in this sleepy little town. They had quite a business going, they even had the latest ovens from Europe, very high tech and no doubt expensive. They had a few tables in the small shop so we sat down and had a delicious piping hot roscon filled with lovely bocadillo, and a cup of coffee. Then we purchased a couple of yogurts and headed out to explore Cajicá.    

We wandered down a few side streets and ended up on the main road from Bogotá, not the prettiest part of town, and not much to see. So we head back toward the plaza. There is a Mass at the cathedral so we do not go inside, it is an attractive building and I manage to get a few photographs. It is not east finding good vantage points for photographing the cathedral as there are so many big trees in the plaza. The plaza itself is very nice, lots of shade and quite a few park benches to sit on. If I was retired I could think of nothing nicer than to sit on one of those benches and pass a few hours, but I am on holiday and must make the best use of my time.

So once again we set out, this time we end up back near the train, only 2 hours left in Cajicá, what shall we do? We stopped and bought some fresas con crema  and headed back to a park bench in the plaza. Ah this is the life... then it started to rain, just a soft drizzle. Attracted by the sight or the smell of our food a few stray dogs turned up for a closer look. A young adolescent male that my wife named "Rodolfo", and a senior citizen with a grey muzzle, named by my wife "Tigger". I hurriedly ate my fresas so that they wouldn't bother me... but they just hung around. Of course my wife made a big fuss over them, "Rodolfo was intent on making my jeans muddy by placing his huge muddy paws on my lap, I kept pushing him away but this only encouraged him more, I was getting quite pissed off, it didn't help that Maria was laughing at his antics. The more I pushed him away the happier he became. Meanwhile "Tigger" was content to have his head scratched, he would have happily sat with his muzzle on Maria's knee all day long. It was only after Maria noticed that her clothes were now muddy too did she decide enough was enough. So after we washed up in the fountain we determined it was time to head back to the train.

We got back and the train was locked up tight, that's odd. Maria managed to persuade an attendant to open it up for us. I headed to the toilet for a long pee, ahh that felt good, on the way out I noticed the sign prohibiting using the toilet while the train is stopped. oh well it was only a pee. Where were all the other passengers? I had a look at Maria's watch, she had read it wrong and we were back to the train an hour early. Why buy a watch without numbers?

The seats recline, so I tried to have a nap, nothing doing. So I got off the train to have a closer look at the engine. The plaque on the side says it is a  Baldwin Locomotive number 73056 built in Philadelphia USA in April of 1947. Our locomotive is number 72 of Ferrocarriles Nacionales Giradot. The train is a 2-8-2. Apparently this locomotive used to be oil-fired, but early in 2004 was converted to coal to save money. Interestingly number 73 is still in operation, thousands of miles away in British Columbia, it runs on the White Pass & Yukon Route from Skagway in Alaska to Bennett, British Columbia.

On the dirt path that runs between the track and the fields they are giving horse rides to the children, and a few adults. So I sit back and watch their antics until it is time to head back to Bogotá.

By the time we head back we have had enough of the train for one day but I do spy out of the window what I believe to be gorse. Can it be? Well it is true, the gorse plant (Ulex europaeus), so much a part of life in Cornwall, has been somehow introduced into the area around Bogotá and now they can't get rid of it. I don't know why seeing gorse should make me so happy, but for some reason it does, I am elated. And then we stop in La Caro, why? Maria buys a few snacks from a vendor, mani dulce, patacones & habas fritas. Well... I finally found something I don't care for in Colombia, habas.

We finally get back to Estación Usaquen at about 5:00 PM, the train continues on with the rest of the passengers to Estación de la Sabana and we head back to the hotel.

We didn't stay in the hotel more than half an hour and we were off again, this time we caught the bus to Quinta Camacho to Maria's other aunt, Crino. We stopped at the new Carulla that is built into one of the old houses and purchased some marcelinos to take with us. We had a nice little visit and some coffee and pastries. Then Maria Luisa, Crino & Olympia walked us to Carrera 9a to catch a bus back to the hotel. While we were waiting a homeless man and his cardboard box approached us begging for some money, immediately little Olympia turned into a fiend, growling at the poor man with fangs bared, she seemed possessed! The poor man went on his way without a peso, Afterwards Crino whispered, "Olympia no le gustan los mendigos.".

All content copyright © 2004 Jim Thompson

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