Zipaquira (Colombia) - salt and the lord

In a small town, only 30 minutes north of Bogota, lies the self-proclaimed 'number one marvel' in Colombia: the salt cathedral of Zipaquira. Not wanting to miss out, I took a weekend trip there and stayed one night, although it could easily be done as a day trip.

The cathedral itself is built in the already worked section of a collosal salt mine, the fourth biggest in the world if my understanding of the Spanish speaking guide was correct. After an hour queue to get in and wait for the tour (it was Sunday afterall), we walked along a dark tunnel down into the depths of the old mine. Religious statues and sculptures adorned the walls and eventually you arrive at the bottom on the mine where there are a serious of huge cathedral style caverns and seating for religious services. It was all pretty impressive stuff and it is a revered site for locals. But overall I was more interested in the engineering feat than the catholic iconography.

What else is there to see in Zipaquira? Well, not a lot. The usual Parque Central complete with a regular cathedral - though not one of the best examples - and a string of little shops. Otherwise, the big successes of the weekend were finding an excellent bbq meat restaurant and managing to teach my totally non-English speaking companion to play canasta. Not an easy feat.