Destinations: Colombia: It requires care, but Bogota and beyond have a haunting beauty and charming people, writes Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Deaglán de Breadún

Money is scarce in Colombia, and many people cannot afford their own mobile phones. But enterprising types stand on street corners in Bogota, offering you the use of their "cellular" at a specified rate per minute.

Don't try and hang on to the phone, however, because it may be chained to the owner and might even have been stolen in the first place.

It would be an interesting challenge to promote tourism to Colombia. It is a country of extraordinary natural beauty with a rich cultural heritage. But Colombians say, with a touch of bitterness, that when God created the world's most beautiful country, he filled it with some of the world's most appalling people (as well as many of the nicest).

The reprobates include drug barons, assassins, terrorists, mass murderers, robbers and thieves. A travel warning issued by the US State Department on June 16th last won't have people queuing to catch the next flight: "There is a greater risk of being kidnapped in Colombia than in any other country in the world...No one can be considered immune on the basis of occupation, nationality or any other factor...Since it is US policy not to make concessions to, nor to strike deals with, terrorists, the US government's ability to assist kidnapped US citizens is limited."

Britain's Foreign Office, on the other hand, does not advise against travel to Colombia's major cities, but urges vigilance and "sensible precaution".

One of those precautions is to leave your passport in a hotel safe and bring a photocopy, preferably one endorsed by someone in officialdom, when you go walkabout in Bogota. A hapless Irishman was passing the time of day last year in one of the city's cute open-air markets when a total stranger suddenly stepped forward and spat in his face.

A kindly passer-by stopped to help the Irishman clean himself up. But the Good Samaritan was not what he seemed because, in the course of his ministrations, the Irish visitor's pocket was picked and he suddenly became an undocumented alien, not an enviable position in Colombia or anywhere else.

But despite all the drawbacks, Colombia grows on you. The flower markets, the soccer mania, the colourful streetlife, the bullfights (if that's what you fancy), and the way the people are always dressed to the nines, as though making a gesture of defiance against the country's political and security travails.

The climate in Bogota is mild. There are no seasons, just a minor variation from balmy to damp. It happens to be perfect for growing the coca leaf, raw material for cocaine, one of Colombia's principal, if illegal, exports.

When Frank Sinatra sang, "Let me take you up there, where the air is rare", he may have been thinking of Bogota, which boasts it is "2,600 metres closer to the stars". It is not a place for the short-winded: even if you are in good health and do not smoke, a modest incline or hill can leave you struggling for air.

The city is, after all, on the foothills of the Andes, and one of its prime tourist attractions is a cable-car ride to the mountain-top to see the inevitable church and statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. There are pluses for the foreign visitor. The cost of living is low by US and European standards. Clothes are good quality and much cheaper than home. The people are warm and friendly with a good sense of humour: heaven knows they need it.

Naturally, you will not have much trouble finding a place to stay. The "No Vacancies" sign is a rare sight in such trouble-spots. Many foreign visitors choose the Tequendama Hotel, where the service is friendly, with spacious rooms and good food. A word of warning: a bomb went off last Christmas in another building in the complex.

The wife and family of the notorious Pablo Escobar, drug baron and terroriser of the Colombian nation, stayed here once, but he is no longer on the scene, having been killed by police and troops 10 years ago.

The food in Colombia is well-presented and varied, with the inevitable strong Spanish influence, although the beef and chicken may not appeal to the European palate.

Bogota is only one of the country's multiple attractions with the tourist resort of Cartagena the most glittering of all.

A proud country with a glorious past and a tormented present, Colombia is going through a difficult time. It is not a destination for the fainthearted or, to put it another way, you don't have to be mad to visit the place but it helps. But while you may have anxious moments, one thing is certain - you will never be bored in Bogota.