HOw long does passport control take in BOG?

[Frank O]

Anything to watch out for there?

[mudd]

... in response to HOw long does passport control take in B..., posted by Frank O on Jul 12, 2005

Yep, don’t go to the bathroom, and leave your baggage with a local. Any guys or women come up to you, asking for your papers or money, ask for identification. If you feel like something is not quite right, either walk away, or make a big scene and start yelling to draw attention to yourself.

And don’t go walking around town unless you know where you’re going and have been there before, or go with a local you trust. You might go somewhere where you shouldn’t be. Have fun

[Onephd]

... in response to HOw long does passport control take in B..., posted by Frank O on Jul 12, 2005

If you are asking how long does it take to clear customs in Bogota, then the answer is it depends on when you arrive.  If you arrive during non peak travel and around  8 or 8:30 it can be about 10-25 minutes.  if you hit it during peak travel(i.e. Christmas, then you can expect to take up to 1 hour or more just depending on if you can get off the plane fist.  I try to sit up near the front of the plane when going to bogota.

[Frank O]

... in response to Re: HOw long does passport control take ..., posted by Onephd on Jul 12, 2005

I'll be arriving August 11th at 8:35PM. I figure 1 hour would be safe. I can't see it taking ANY longer than the Kiev, Ukraine customs which was notoriously slow. Those jerks would sometimes send you to the back of the line after having waited 20 - 25 minutes to fill out the SAME exact form all over again. I guess they get their kicks out of that. Oh well.

[caslug]

... in response to Re: Re: HOw long does passport control t..., posted by Frank O on Jul 12, 2005

usually in the non-peak times(no holidays etc.,) it'll take less than 1 hr(mine took 15 minutes).  Then you have to go thru customs, which if they stop you then they'll do a quick check of your bags.  THere's a buttom you push AFTER you pick up any check-in, if the light is green you go thru w/o being checked, if the light is RED you get checked. Purely random.  After that, you'll exit the terminal baggage area.  

If you have ANYONE waiting for you, they'll be outside.  If not, turn right to go to the taxi counter/booth.  Tell them where you want to go, they'll give you a ticket/price, you give this to the taxi driver.  It's safe and reliable, you ONLY pay what's on the ticket(w/ tip if you want).

As for safety, in some area like zona rosa(n. Bogota) it's VERY safe, you can walk around at night.  In other areas, like Central, you better take taxis at night even for couple of blocks.  During the day, you can walk, take bus or taxi pretty much MOST area(south Bogota is more "dangerous" EVEN during the day).  

Check out poorputhappy.com board for info on things to do in Bogota(AND COLOMBIA), crime/safety stuff, etc.,  DONT talk about dating on that site.