peso

Many ex-Spanish colonies (most of the South American countries) have Pesos as a national currency. But each country has its own Peso — Dominican Republic has Dominican Peso (DOP), Philippines — Philippine Peso (PHP), Colombia — Colombian Peso (COP).

The prices shock you at first:

The rate at the moment is about 3500 Pesos per the US $1. That's why the prices in Colombia are thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands. The salaries are counted by millions.

The average salary in Bogota is 2 million pesos. In US dollars, this is about $570.
It seems to be acceptable for many developing countries, but this is the capital.
If you take Moscow, our average salary is much higher. The same is with Colombia - in other cities, they pay much less.

The price level, of course, is also not Moscow, but it is quite comparable, for example, with Yekaterinburg.

Colombians are used to buy clothes and shoes in markets and squares.
Of course, this is all made in China and of terrible quality, but cheap.

At the same time, there are also regular stores and shopping centers, prices there are even lower than in the USA in similar stores (I mean Mass Market stores like H&M, Zara, Mango, and other well-known brands).

The average bill in a good restaurant is about $15 per person. There will also be a separate article about Colombian restaurants because they really deserve it.

To make it easier to compare food prices, the Big Mac Index has long been invented - it is a comparison of prices for the most popular burger in different cities and countries.

So, in Colombia, a Big Mac costs about 10,000 pesos, that is, $3 (in the USA it costs about $5).

I love to try, in all the countries I visit, Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks, so I have my own Tea Index (not only the price but also the taste).

In Colombia, Starbucks is quite popular, second to the local Juan Valdez chain. Coffee can be found on every corner because it is grown in Colombia.

But as for the Tea, I would give it 7 out of 10. The price is 10,000 pesos or, at the moment, $ 2.95 (in the USA it costs $4.35).

Cooking at home is always cheaper. We didn't live in an apartment with a kitchen, so our grocery basket consisted of fruits, sweets, drinks, yogurts, and anything else that could be used to make a sandwich.

You can stay in Colombia any way you prefer: doing Couchsurfing for free, or living in a hostel in a common room, or in apartments, or in luxury hotels of any famous world brand.

We always choose the best option considering location, price, and comfort. Such accommodation in Bogota costs $25-50 per night. Most often these are hotels where breakfast is included in the price.

We first lived in Selina, a large chain of youth hostels where you can choose either a private room with your own bathroom, like in a hotel or a bed/room with a shared bathroom, like in a hostel.

Selina is loved for her design and party spaces. Ours had a coworking space, a billiard room, a bar with a stage, and a rooftop gym. Even despite the COVID-19, there were always a lot of people in common spaces, everyone communicated and had fun.

Selina, of course, is wonderful, but a room with its own bathroom costs $50 per night (without breakfast). Therefore, after enjoying the atmosphere and cool design for 4 days, we moved for the rest of the time to the minimalistic bh la Quinta Hotel (bh is also a chain, stands for best hotels).

I like to live in chain hotels, because having visited one, you roughly know what to expect from others since their standards usually apply to the entire chain.

This hotel was located in the same area and the price was $30 per night, including breakfast.

We can definitely recommend both of these hotels because we were absolutely satisfied with everything: bright and clean rooms with a beautiful design, new furniture, good service, and fast internet.

Selina even without any doubt (nor additional money) sheltered our suitcases for 2 days, while we traveled to Medellin.

Airplane ticket prices can be completely different, especially now, in the days of the COVID-19.

Domestic flights are usually cheap, around $20-40 per person one way. Our tickets to Medellin and back were $74 for 2 adults (without luggage).

Taxi costs an average of 10-20 thousand pesos, which is about $3-6. When traveling to/from the airport, toll roads will be added to the price, which will increase the cost by about 2 times.

Buses are cheaper, but understanding their networks is quite difficult, almost impossible.

You can travel between cities by bus, but they are more expensive than airplanes, and it takes much more time.
For example, a bus travels to Medellin for almost 11 hours and costs $27 per person one way. While the plane costs $18 and flies only for 2 hours.

Almost everything is free.

As for the entertainment, we paid only for the funicular to Montserrat - the highest point in Bogota. A ticket there costs 22,000 pesos (up + down per person), which is about $6.

For an amusement park in Medellin (this is generally, one might say, an accidental waste, but at least we walked there and rode a ride with dinosaurs).
This ticket costs 53,200 Pesos ($16) for two people.

And for visiting the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira - 63,000 pesos ($18) per person.

We also wanted to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bogota (MAMBO), but it was closed because of the COVID-19.

You can also visit the Gold Museum, they say it's also a cool place.


We'll tell about all the other sights further...