As we were staying in Bogota for a few days we decided that we should do some exploring towards the limits of the city and we went to an area called Zapoquira.

We used the extensive city bus network to get there after dodging the possible thiefs and pickpockets on the way to the station. We decided that after trying to take one picture in the square in Bogota and seeing people eye up our camera that keeping the camera was better than getting photos!

We arrived in Zapoquira and made our way to the salt cathederal through the towns steep and narrow streets.

The uphill trek continued when we reached the mining site as myself Katie and Cecilie decided to have a race up the steps to the ticket office. It was then we realised that running at altitude is a lot harder than you think!

After paying and waiting in a queue (and chastising general foriegners for queue jumping) we were led into the mine by our spanish only speaking guide!

The original cathederal that was at the site was closed due to safety reasons and what we were visiting has been constructed in one of the old salt mines to replace the previous carvings. There are 14 seperate carved alcoves on the way to the main cathederal. These showed large crosses either carved as relief or as stand alone objects depicting various trials of christ.

The main cathedral itself is a huge void with in the mine with a pulpit knave and all the other areas that you would associate with a place of worship. The work that went into creating this re-incarnation of the original must have been immense as the cross carved in salt at the front of the hall was at least 20m high.

All in all a great place to go for a day but it is a shame that we can't see the original carvings from the time the mines were active.