Motorcycle Barrio

Trip Start Dec 11, 2008

141

Trip End Dec 11, 2009

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Where I stayed

Michel's Apartment in Bogota

(Bogota hotels)

Flag of Colombia Bogota, Colombia
Thursday, March 12, 2009

Gloria, Michel's housekeeper, told us we should take a taxi into town if we wanted to see t the Museo d'Oro - Gold Museum - but we ended up wall - which we did because the city is so big we figured we would take taxis for a couple of days until we understood how the city was laid out. Taxis are really really cheap in Bogota - the fares are anywhere from 3,000 pesos to the most I paid was 11,000 pesos ($5.25) to take me all the way uptown from downtown.
And Bogota is kind of laid out like Manhattan - its long and streets are running east-west and avenidas are running north-south. the confusing thing is that sometimes the streets are called "calles" and "carretera" but what is the difference and then sometimes the avenidas are called carreras and with the abbreviations it can get confusing but after a little while you get it. Its easy also because all of the addresses describe exactly where it is. For example an address will be ave 19 # 94-57 which tells you its at ave 19 at 94th street, number 57. Once you get it, its real easy to find your way around the grid.
But when we were going to the Museo del Oro, we got distracted by many street performers and artists in the street and went wandering a bit south. We ended up in what we call the motorcycle barrio, which is a neighborhood which is all about motorcycles - about 5 blocks by 3 blocks big its got every kind of store for motorcycle accessories, parts, mechanics even specialized moto-wash, like a car wash but specializing in knowing how to clean motorcycles.
In Columbia, motorcyclists must conform to a lot of laws. Not only do they have to wear a helmet, the helmet must have their license plate number on it and they must wear a bright orange or yellow vest with the license plate number in reflective letters on it. We decided we would conform to the law. Believe or not, me being a libertarian, you would think i would not like these laws, but they do serve the people. These laws make it dirricult to steal a motorcycle or a helmet - if a cop sees you without the vest or wth a vest with the wrong license plate on it he is going to stop you and make sure the bike is yours - its a good way to reduce theft - so I am all for it. The helmet thing though is still kind of up in the air but I prefer wearing a helmet....
So we had our vests made and came back to pick them up. We also found a store that prints out stickers that you design for your bike. We decided to come back the next day and have a new license plate made for Sylvain's bike using a reflective sticker. We also would have small stickers made of our license plates made for our helmets.