The Examiner

Welcome to Bogota, Colombia, the More-Than-A-Mile-High City

Aug 03--Somewhere over the Caribbean Sea, the Delta Airlines jet that brought me to Colombia from Atlanta reached a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet.

3 de agosto de 2009

It took a descent of less than 30,000 feet from that height to land at Bogota's El Dorado airport. That's because Bogota lies in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of more than 8,000 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest major cities in the world.

And when I say it's one of the "highest" cities, let's be clear I'm not talking about drugs! I'm here as a guest of Colombian tourism officials, who are eager to show North Americans that Colombia is again a safe destination for tourists, that the drug-related violence the nation once was known for is a thing of the past.

To that end, Colombia is launching an imaging campaign called "Colombia es Pasion (Colombia is Passion)." As part of this effort, special exhibits will take place next month in Washington, D.C. and New York City. I'll be sharing more about that in a future report.

My trip here began inauspiciously. As I boarded my flight to Atlanta in Chicago, a Delta Airlines steward ordered a colleague to check one of my carry-on bags because they had run out of room in the overhead compartments.

"What's your final destination," she asked me.

"Bogota."
 
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