Bogota's Disco Taxi

Taxis are relatively cheap in Bogota, costing somewhere between $4 and maybe $7 U.S. depending on how far (more to cross the city). Contrast that with the bus, for example, which costs like $0.75 U.S. per person and you can see that it's a bit more expensive to take a taxi.

Even though taxis are convenient, they have a couple of drawbacks. For one, the Transmillenio buses have their own lanes, which allow them to cruise past Bogota's massive parking lot (a.k.a. traffic). Also, I (sometimes) feel safer taking the bus because taxi drivers tend to drive like the car's on fire and they need to drop us off before they can put it out. The reality, though, is that most taxi rides here are at most, "exciting", and normally, uneventful.

Although Diana and I usually try to take mass transit or walk pretty much everywhere we go, one night last week we decided to take a taxi back to the house from the local shopping mall. What we didn't know was that we had entered The Twilight Zone Bogota's disco taxi:

The taxi driver had blue LED lights throughout the car that were synchronized with the (loud) music he was playing. It reminded me of that TV show Cash Cab because, getting in, what you encountered was not what you expected. Our entire trip lasted two or maybe three songs during which I took a bunch of really dark and blurry photos before trying video:

It's definitely not Cash Cab (we didn't win any money), but Bogota's disco taxi was certainly an experience. If you're in Bogota, maybe you'll be "fortunate" enough to experience it too. Just look for the flashing lights and/or listen for the bumpin' music...