Taking in a cathedral with more than a pinch of salt

After another fine breakfast, including access to a tropical fruit and marshmallow chocolate fountain, we braved the local transport system and took the 20 minute bus ride to the provincial bus terminal before going on a surprisingly comfortable but tediously slow 50km journey to Zapaquira - the site of Colombia's largest tourist attraction, the Salt Cathedral and Mine.

Zapaquira was a nice small town - with the usual colonial plaza - but unusually, a weekly steam train that brings tourists from Bogota. Takes three hours and about 5 times more expensive than the bus. We arrived in town at exactly the same time as the train so it was a quick 15 minute march up the hill to beat the crowds.

The cathedral was a really impressive place`- the tour took over an hour and a half and covered around 2 km of tunnels and walkways.After the main tour (and a 3D movie!), we had the chance to put on hard hats and take a closer look at the workings of the mine. Not only did we have a go at the walls with a pick but also Katie managed to get herself picked to light the fuse to demonstrate how explosives are used in the mine. All the tours were in Spanish although the guides did their best to explain things to us in broken English - clearly not used to getting that many non-Spanish speakers despite the popularity of the place.

After visiting the site, we went back down into town and were pleased to get straight on a bus to Bogota - thankfully quicker than the one in the morning. Good to see outside of the city and impressed by the standard of the roads (our longest journey on dual carriageway all trip!) and the smartness of the out of town shopping centers.

Matthew has gone out with Paloma and some of her friends tonight - talk of going to a club but under strict instructions not to be back too late as we need to get the airport before 0900 and hope that there are TV's showing the football in the Check-in and Departure areas!

After our fill of gold and salt, we are off the the Coffee Region tomorrow and hopefully a tour of a coffee farm.

Apologies for the strange format of the blog - the photos have not been loading as they should be.