D196: Alegria's Hostal @ Bogota, Colombia

Colombia, Colombia, how beautiful you are. People still associate this country with its notorious past. It is a pity as it is one of the most fascinating countries I have ever seen. Also this is thanks to their extremely genuine, helpful and beautiful people. So far what I have noticed that the most genuine people I could find in countries like El Salvador and Colombia. These countries had endured a lot of violence in the recent past and despite all these they still manage to look happy and positive. I find it impressive. 

Let's change the subject to food my favourite part! The variety of dishes came as a breath of fresh air after the not so creative rice and beans of Central America and Cuba. They have this delicious maize pies filled with different things like hard boiled eggs, chicken pieces, potatoes and also different kind of fresh fruit juices, amazing coffee called tinto, hot cocoa called milo. Yummy!! 

Despite all the good things mentioned above, a lot of people struggle with poverty and drug addiction. Violence still exists but at a smaller scale.

The first city visited in Colombia was the hot Cartagena with a restored walled colonial Old Town overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Here all of us from the boat settled in at different hostels in Getsemani the backpackers’ district of Cartagena. After five days in the boat I felt the need to splurge out on a better hotel with a top notch bathroom, air conditioning and TV. The Hotel Villa Colonial was so clean that I could continue walking barefoot, a habit that I developed on the boat after five days without wearing any kind of footwear. For a couple days it proved difficult to get used to shoes again.

The group from the boat was so cool that we continued to hangout in Cartagena for two more days. In the afternoon of D185 some of us went for lunch at the Plaza Santo Domingo, then visited the Palacio de Inquisition which hosted an exhibition of replica torture tools used in Europe. It was a bit creepy but to be honest I have seen worst.

Following this, Nicole and I were admiring some local dancers shaking their booties to African music in Plaza de Bolivar. It was pretty impressive!

The day had to be finished with some happy hour maracuya aka passion fruit cocktails and delicious local dinner with the group.

Next day (D186) the San Francisco quartet and I munched on some local sweets, wandered around the pretty streets and wall of the Old Town, checked out some souvenir shops at the Las Bovedas and stopped to hydrate as the heat was almost unbearable.

Later on the plan was to get on one of the Rumba Chivas aka party bus. The tickets were bought earlier that afternoon but when we arrived to the spot to be picked up were told that due to the earlier torrential rain the trip was cancelled. Disappointed but not given up hope, six of us walked to the entrance of the Old Town where usually these kind of buses stop. Here one tourist police arranged for us to be dropped off at a hotel in Bocagrande where a rumba chiva was leaving. At the beginning there were not many people on the bus but after a few rounds around the hotel the bus was full. Then they started serving rum and coke.

The first row which finished the bottle of rum was of course our row. No wonder as there were two from Ireland (one native and one naturalized :)) and two party animals from SF. 

Then the crazy dancing started on the benches. Later on we were dropped off on the wall. Here you could take a photo with fruit seller ladies dressed in Afro-Caribbean traditional costumes or with a baby sloth called Ariana. Next we were brought to a salsa nightclub and I danced my heart out with a Panameno with a pulled wrist. The bus dropped us off near the entrance of the Old Town where we hang out a bit more and walked to a bar to Getsemani. After a lot of booze I was starving. Luckily late at night the streets are full of food sellers and I could stuff my face with a huge perro caliente. Definitely a crazy and fun night with amazing people! After a fun night it was obvious for me at least that a relaxation day (D187) would follow :).

It was hard to decide where to go next as this country has many nice spots but one cannot explore everything. Eventually I chose to travel to the isolated town of Mompos. Early on D188 I got on the bus to Mompox. At Magangue the bus was put on a ferry on Rio Magdalena for an hour. Then we continued again on partly asphalted road.

Just 20 km before Mompox the bus was stopped by a road block. The inhabitants of Tierra Firma blocked the road with logs of wood as a sign of protest against the local government. Apparently the litter from Mompox is dropped in Tierra Firma and as a result of that children got sick. The inhabitants wanted a solution from the local government but they were hesitating to come to any agreement. Four hours later still was no solution but they had no choice just to let the huge queue of vehicles to pass. In these four hours I met curious people who asked a lot of questions about me and Europe. At around 7:30 after almost 11 hours on the road I arrived at La Casa Amarilla in Mompox and shortly went to bed with zillion mosquito bites.

Next morning (D189) I walked out the hostel and I was mesmerized what I had seen. The roads were like two centuries ago so as the manicured houses. I felt like I stepped into Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the time of cholera” novel.

It was a fascinating walk on the shore of the Rio Magdalena. But the unbearable heat made me no choice just to return to the hostel to chill down with a cold shower.

The following morning (D190) I continued my trip to Bucaramanga. It is quite difficult and expensive to get out of Mompos after you are in. First I was taken to El Banco by a car filled with five adults (including the driver and me) and three children. The car was started by touching a few wires and bit and pieces were hanging from everywhere. It was quite crazy. One the way we were stopped for a random identity check but I have the feeling that the army guys saw that there was a tourist in the car so they stopped us. They were fascinated with my passport and even when I was in the toilet I could hear them talk about me. So funny :)). At El Banco I got on the bus to Bucaramanga. The trip was over seven hours. During the trip an indigenous woman and her son were vomiting all the way to the Bucaramanga. Poor people! The roads are quite bad in Colombia and not only that they are a lot of curbs passing through mountain ranges. I was not sure where I was heading from Bucaramanga and in the bus I decided I would go to Medellin, once the most notorious city of Colombia. The nice thing about travelling alone is that you can change your destination in the last minute and it feels invigorating. Most of the time in my everyday life I am not as spontaneous. Going to Medellin it meant travelling overnight. But luckily the overnight buses in Colombia are equipped with seats that can be made beds.

Once in Medellin (D191) I took the metro to the city centre to find a hotel. It was a bit creepy to walk among homeless drug addicts who acted quite weird. I have never seen so many junkies in one place in my life. Eventually I settled in the cosy and friendly Palm Tree Hostel.

I spent the day walking around Medellin people - watching as I was told by nationals that this city has the most beautiful women in Colombia. I was disappointed but by the end of the day the perception of beauty is different to every person. In my opinion Cartagena has a lot more beautiful men and women than any other places I visited in Colombia so far. 

The following morning (D192) I took a cab to the terminal with Monica and Rossy, two girls that the owner of the hostel introduced me to. I got the bus to Salento via Armenia whereas the girls got off in Pereira.

Salento is a small mountain town surrounded by coffee farms and the beautiful Valle de Cocora. When I arrived I went straight to Hotel Las Palmas owned by a local lady and her family. The atmosphere was very homey so I decided this was a good place to chill and explore the area for a couple of days.

In the morning of D193 I walked 5kms to reach Finca El Ocaso a coffee farm. Here I was warmly welcomed by the lady owner and Marco my tour guide.

He explained me the life cycle of the coffee tree, showed me the coffee plantation and pointing out the different type of trees for example Arabica.

Next we picked some ripe grains, took off the skin to get the seed and planted some seeds.

He also showed me a machine that would separate the skin from the seed by moving the handle. Next I was walked around to demonstrate how the beans are dried. At the end I grinded some toasted beans and I was offered a fresh cup of coffee without milk. It was absolutely delicious.

No surprised that Colombia is the No 1 in the world when it comes to the quality of the coffee. It is the 4^th biggest producer in the world though.

In the afternoon Monica (Catalana) and Rossy (Bulgarian living in Germany) who I travelled with the day before showed up at the hotel so together went to check out the crowded town. We ended up listening to some funny story teller students. Shockingly enough I could understand most of it.

Next morning (D193) after breakfast a vintage Land Rover took five of us to Valle de Cocora.

This is a beautiful valley surrounded by peaks and filled with wax palms.

We walked 10 km through the valley, the forest and crossing dodgy handmade bridges to reach a waterfall and farmhouse.

During our walk a very intelligent and beautiful doggie joined us, directed us and waited for us  (sometimes passing out of tiredness :)) when we were walking too slowly. Started to rain while we were coming back and it had not stopped for at least two and a half hours. We were lucky with the doggie that showed us the way as sometimes the bridges were off the path. I definitely adore dog. They are amazing creatures!

Me the wise one I forgot to bring my raincoat with me so by the time we got back I was totally drenched and shivering of cold. The only thing I wanted was to have a hot shower and dry clothes. Despite the wetness and muddy clothes I loved our adventurous day. Later on we went for some hot soup and yummy trout. I was a happy but a tired bunny. The beauty of travelling is that every day I experience or learn something different.

In the morning of D195 I packed my stuff and continued my journey with an 8 hours bus ride to Bogota, the majestic capital of Colombia.

It is situated at 2600m above the sea level which means that the temperature is fresh during the day and cold during the night. It is quite clean and welcoming considering it is a capital.I chose to stay at the cool and tranquil Alegria’s Hostal in La Candelaria, the oldest part of Bogota.

Early morning of D196 I set to explore this huge city. First I needed to top up my Hepatitis A vaccine so I was advised to go to the Cruz Roja. Luckily the public transportation is quite efficient and it can get you almost everywhere. Later in the day I just wondering around the pretty La Candeleria backed by some green mountains and the statue of Fallen Christ. The plan for tomorrow is to climb up to the Cerro Monserate at 3200m which offers great views of the entire city.