Colombia? The food is not much to talk about. The bus rides will probably kill you. Other than that traveling in Colombia is just as safe as any other countries we went to in South America. Or as dangerous. Depending on how you look at it.
Colombia, a country that’s trying so hard to reinvent its image (and is doing a good job in our opinion). Arriving in Colombia, we didn’t know what to expect.
The brutal coastal heat in Cartagena drove us south to San Gil and then Medellin where the temperature was cooler and the landscape was greener. That was when things got better.
We stayed in Salento for 10 days, much longer than any other place we went to in Colombia. Salento didn’t really have a cute plaza where you can hang out (unlike Jardín), nor did it have the prettiest houses (that’s Guatapé). But we ended up staying much longer than we expected for other reasons.
There is something about Jardín that makes you feel like you’ve entered a time capsule and transported back to a non-descript time in the past. A time when people did nothing much other than hanging out on the main plaza and drinking coffee or tea – was there ever such a time?
You might think, ‘Palm trees? I’ve seen enough palm trees to last me my lifetime.’
Well, that’s what we thought too. But Valle de Cocora still managed to impress these palm-tree hardened hearts. The photos don’t do this place justice.
The very first thing we noticed as soon we got off the bus in Barichara was how quiet everything was. Every now and then an old person would walk by. He would stare at us in the same curious way I imagine we were staring at him. Glad to see somebody else is out and about.
it’s unfortunate that there seems to be an implication that unless you have 5 hour to spare, you won’t be able to see the palm trees at all. A couple of people at the hostel didn’t feel like they would be up to such a tough hike and were quite bummed at the fact that they might not be able to see the trees.
But see, it doesn’t have to be that way.
This pueblo in Colombia looks like it’s taken straight out of an old Disney movie. The buildings in Guatapé are painted in highly saturated colors. The front side of the walls are decorated with painted reliefs. Different buildings, different motifs.
So when a couple of people from the hostel said they were going caving at a nearby cave, Cueva de La Vaca, with little hesitation I signed up. Then I remember that not only am I not a big fan of the dark, I’m also terrified of being in water where I can’t touch the bottom.
When I first heard about it, I couldn’t wait to try it. I also couldn’t wait to try to get Jack to eat it. See, he’s somewhat of a finicky eater so it should be fun to try to cajole and bribe him to try it.
We knew that the old city of Cartagena is divided into three districts or barrios: Getsemani, El Centro, and San Diego, but did not realize how different in characteristics they are. Here’s a short photographic tour of each of them.
Jack and I looked at each other, ‘I can’t believe they took us to a Chinese restaurant. Do you think it’s because I’m Asian?’, I wondered. Jack only shrugged.