Melgar - tourism, oil and army (part I)
Melgar - a small town only a few hours west of Bogotá. This is where we arrived around 8 PM (20.00) on Friday night.
Whereas Bogotá is situated on 2.600 meters above sea level, Melgar is down on some 4-500 meters. Surrounded by mountains, Melgar has a protected, tropical and extremely pleasant climate for vacationers. The town has become a place where lots of people from Bogotá go to warm up when the capital’s chilly nights start to bother. But people now come even from the U.S.A. since oil has been struck in the area and U.S. engineers have to eat and sleep as well.
Melgar has a small down-town that offers the most necessary in foods, clothing etc. Apart from that there’s a number of hotels, bars and restaurants. Tourism is indeed important for the local economy, and night life is vivid - especially during vacation peak seasons. But it’s obvious that people are struggling to find a decent income.
Anders