Funza - Colombian municipality of the department of Cundinamarca

Funza is a small city and major suburb of Bogotá, in Cundinamarca.

Understand

Funza's glory days are buried deep beneath the modern development, when this site served as the political center of the Muisca Kingdom. Aside from the occasional statue or painting of Muisca masks, though, you probably won't see much to indicate this today. Funza is best known as a non-notable middle-class town outside Bogotá that grew into a small city of 50,000 along with the growth of its far bigger neighbor. It's not a tourist destination at all, and it's pretty rare to find foreigners here, but that can actually make for a pretty good time, as most everyone will want to chat!

Get in

From Bogotá, the easiest option is to take the Transmilenio to Portal c.80, and then go hunt down a colectivo for Funza (which leave about every 10 minutes during the day). The ride from Portal 80 should be less than a half hour. To catch that colectivo going back from Funza, head over to Calle 15, north of the main plaza.

There is also a colectivo directly to Funza from Bogotá which you can pick up in Bogotá where Calle 13 (the diagonal) meets Avenida de las Américas, but that does require a better understanding of west Bogotá than most travelers ever muster.

Get around

The center of Funza is quite small and walkable. Taxis are available at night if the aguardiente has dulled your memory of where your hotel was, and locals will advise you to use them for your safety (although they're in all likelihood just being overprotective). It's cool to see that Carrera 13 also has some bike lanes!

See

Funza is not a tourist hotspot, and it doesn't really have much by way of sights, although the big church on the main plaza is rather pretty inside. A quick walk around the small center will take you to the main plaza and the "orange" plaza (plaza naranja).

Do

Buy

There seems to be an endless quantity of clothing stores in the center, especially along the main drag (Carrera 13).

Eat

Mantecadas are the local specialty—a sort of cheesy puff pastry, but you'll also find plenty of delicious street food by wandering around sniffing and looking for pulled meat.

Drink

While sleepy in comparison with bigger cities, there is a fun nightlife strip on Calle 15 southeast of the main square packed with lively bars blasting reggaeton, salsa, cumbia, and all the other usual and usually welcome suspects. Come with a thirst for aguardiente and an appetite for dancing and making friends.

Be on the look out for the local drink masato (or just ask anyone where you can find it), which is a fermented non-alcoholic drink made from a maize base, with a thick consistency similar to horchata, but mostly unsweetened and topped with cloves and cinnamon. You'll find it nowhere else!

Sleep

• Hotel Luxor. OK, so it does have hourly rates, but this just isn't a hotel town! The rooms are nice, albeit very noisy if near the front, hot water, and the nice people running the place will sell you beer, gatorade, or even hangover-remedying ibuprofen at any hour of the night! COP$45,000

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