Zipaquira
(DAY216 : Bogota - Zipaquira : 40 miles)
Zipaquira
A small town just north of Bogota, Zipaquira possibly hosts the strangest cathedral on the planet. It's carved out of salt in an actual mine! Not only is it huge in scale, it's also earthquake proof. Add the trivia fact that the air in a salt mine is actually therapeutic, this is THE mine to visit if you're inclined to enter one. At the lower level, there's even a coffee shop and a big screen theatre showing an educational 3-D animation film.
Once accomplishing the feat of exiting Bogota, Zipaquira is only a short easy ride away. I headed straight to the Salt Cathedral and left Katirga with all the luggage and ride gear in the parking lot, within the park attendant's view. He gestured that he'd keep an eye on her, and didn't even mention the parking fee.
I think it was around 3pm when I entered the mine with a group led by an English speaking guide. While he was advising everyone to refrain from using their cameras yet, my 5D was acting up in the strangest ways. The guide's advice was in order to conserve battery power for the better part of the tour, which is at the lower level. As you know(!), salt mine interiors have a strong power draw that can drain a fresh set of batteries in less than an hour. He did explain why, but I wasn't among the few who understood (or just nodded?). Now I did have several fully charged batteries, but only if I could use them. Looking at these bizzare creations through the viewfinder and not being able to release the shutter was driving me nuts. Why on earth was this display flickering now?? I badly wanted my F3 back!
I had to leave the tour and ascend to daylight where I could at least see what I was doing. I couldn't find what might be the problem, but after further fiddling and cussing up at the entrance, it started to work normally. And luckily, I caught another group when I went back in. I was finally able to capture images. Until we got to the best part that is!
At the lower level, in the actual cathedral chamber, the grays in my hair doubled or tripled. The camera would lock up with the "busy" indicator after each exposure, leaving me with no option other than removing the battery and risking data loss. The first time it happened, I patiently waited half an hour. Good thing the 3-D film was fun.
When I finally headed out it was past 6pm. First I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. As it grew, I could distinguish the iron bars. THEY LOCKED ME IN???
The whole place was closed indeed, but they were nice enough to leave the tunnel gate unlocked. I wondered if I could use my museum ticket the next day. Then, I wondered if Katirga had all my gear. I dashed to see if I still had Katirga.
Phew! There she was, all alone, covered with trash bags. Trash bags?? Only then did I realize it had been raining out here. The park attendant had kindly covered all my gear. He had already gone home, so I couldn't even say thank you. Gracias y un abrazo parse!
After I checked in to a hotel with garage for $11, I went for a bite, then bought some DVDs. Wall-e, Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma, Kung-Fu Panda, etc... Six movies for $9! It was a moovy night.
Zipaquira
A small town just north of Bogota, Zipaquira possibly hosts the strangest cathedral on the planet. It's carved out of salt in an actual mine! Not only is it huge in scale, it's also earthquake proof. Add the trivia fact that the air in a salt mine is actually therapeutic, this is THE mine to visit if you're inclined to enter one. At the lower level, there's even a coffee shop and a big screen theatre showing an educational 3-D animation film.
Once accomplishing the feat of exiting Bogota, Zipaquira is only a short easy ride away. I headed straight to the Salt Cathedral and left Katirga with all the luggage and ride gear in the parking lot, within the park attendant's view. He gestured that he'd keep an eye on her, and didn't even mention the parking fee.
I think it was around 3pm when I entered the mine with a group led by an English speaking guide. While he was advising everyone to refrain from using their cameras yet, my 5D was acting up in the strangest ways. The guide's advice was in order to conserve battery power for the better part of the tour, which is at the lower level. As you know(!), salt mine interiors have a strong power draw that can drain a fresh set of batteries in less than an hour. He did explain why, but I wasn't among the few who understood (or just nodded?). Now I did have several fully charged batteries, but only if I could use them. Looking at these bizzare creations through the viewfinder and not being able to release the shutter was driving me nuts. Why on earth was this display flickering now?? I badly wanted my F3 back!
I had to leave the tour and ascend to daylight where I could at least see what I was doing. I couldn't find what might be the problem, but after further fiddling and cussing up at the entrance, it started to work normally. And luckily, I caught another group when I went back in. I was finally able to capture images. Until we got to the best part that is!
At the lower level, in the actual cathedral chamber, the grays in my hair doubled or tripled. The camera would lock up with the "busy" indicator after each exposure, leaving me with no option other than removing the battery and risking data loss. The first time it happened, I patiently waited half an hour. Good thing the 3-D film was fun.
When I finally headed out it was past 6pm. First I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. As it grew, I could distinguish the iron bars. THEY LOCKED ME IN???
The whole place was closed indeed, but they were nice enough to leave the tunnel gate unlocked. I wondered if I could use my museum ticket the next day. Then, I wondered if Katirga had all my gear. I dashed to see if I still had Katirga.
Phew! There she was, all alone, covered with trash bags. Trash bags?? Only then did I realize it had been raining out here. The park attendant had kindly covered all my gear. He had already gone home, so I couldn't even say thank you. Gracias y un abrazo parse!
After I checked in to a hotel with garage for $11, I went for a bite, then bought some DVDs. Wall-e, Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma, Kung-Fu Panda, etc... Six movies for $9! It was a moovy night.
posted by Serdar at
7:48 AM
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