On the subject of cathedrals of salt, Zipaquira, and toilet paper vending machines.

This is a Colombian toilet paper vending machine. For some odd reason, Colombia still hasn't figured out the concept of free public bathrooms, or the concept of free toilet paper. You want to use a public bathroom? That'll be a thousand pesos. You want some toilet paper? Pay up sucker. As you can see, Haley and I have resorted to carrying toilet paper with us. That way we don't have to pay (for the paper at least). We do that because we are poor.

Today started like many others. We hopped on a bus that took us to the town of Chiquinquira, then hopped onto another bus that took us to Zipaquira, a pueblo just an hour outside of Bogota. Both buses were vomit comets, but we made it with our breakfasts in the same places as they were this morning. Whew!

We came to Zipaquira to see the Salt Cathedral. Zipaquira lies on top of a massive salt deposit, and several companies actively mine the area. Back in the later 1800's a group of miners decided to make an underground cathedral that they could worship in. When the old mine grew unstable in the 1970's, Colombia decided to construct a new and improved cathedral in the guts of a more modern salt mine. It's somewhat of a tourist trap (they even charge foreigners double the typical entrance fee) but it's still quite remarkable. 

The experience begins with following a white line as it winds its way up the mountain. It's a good thing we had this white line, or we would have been lost in a heartbeat. It was really hard to spot the giant, touristy complex (equipped with a rock climbing wall and zipline) that was up the hill in front of us. 

Once we paid our double fee we were able to descend into the cathedral. The cathedral's various rooms and carvings are located in large caverns that remained after miners completed extracting salt. Each cavern is large enough to hold a 747 with the wings cut off.  

 There are dozens of carved crosses down here, each representing part of Christ's journey to the cross (as interpreted by the Catholics). 

It was a pretty remarkable space. We saw the main cathedral, the baptismal font, and several other fun rooms and carvings.

In spite of the crowds we enjoyed the church-like feeling that was there. This is a functioning Catholic church that performs a weekly mass and everything. It was almost spiritual...until we hit the stores.

You see, half of the cathedral was dedicated to selling you something. There were salt statues, ice cream shops, and even a place for massages--all located several hundred meters underground. Nothing screams "this is a working cathedral" like this:

Back on the subject of toilets, we have found it pretty funny how different things can be down here. You already have to pay to use the bathroom, and you have to pay for paper. Did I mention that they don't believe in toilet seats down here? Keep in mind that this is considered one of Colombia's premier tourist destinations. I'm not trying to bash Colombia--just saying that it's an odd cultural difference.

Overall we had a great day. We exited the cathedral and followed the white line down to the main plaza, where we had a nice dinner before retiring to our apartment. Tomorrow we'll be in Bogota, but only after visiting with some friends in the pueblo of Chia. Come back for more!