Where Spanish is truly romantic

After 6 splendid weeks of beaching and learning Spanish at Montanita, volunteering with the kids at the Arte Del Mundo at Baños, and taking in the beauty of the Quilatola loop, with heavy hearts we left Eucuador to make our way to our final destination in South America – Colombia.

Five years ago, not many around the world would have dreamt of visiting this vastly diverse country, but with the government taking steps to rid most of the places of guerrillas, civil terrorism and effective drug control measures in place, Colombia is now quite close to being a travelers haven.

Chapter 1: Salsa and the Caleños

Colombia is world famous for its gorgeous women and their love for foreigners and that fact was made evident right at the immigration terminal on the Ecuador-Colombia border when an attractive female immigration officer gave me 5 postcards as a gift and asked with very flirty eyes if a 90 day visit to Colombia was sufficient. Game on.

Although the city of Pasto was our first stop in Colombia, it had a strong Ecuadorian tone to it right from the way the people looked, to the culture, so we skipped past it quickly to move on to the sizzling heat of Cali.

Despite the extended delay in our arrival to Cali, Filipe, our CS host waited patiently at the terminal to pick us up and drive us back to his house in the northern suburbs. We stayed 3 nights at his place with his family and once again staying with a family made it all the more enjoyable what with his mom’s delicious cooking and also offering to stitch up a big hole in my backpack. Given the similarity in culture in Latin American houses and Indian houses, stays with Latin American families would always remind us of home and thus always keep our spirits up.

Now, Felipe was termed the king of Salsa in most of the references on his CS profile and it seemed justified when he took us out to one of Cali’s top ‘Salsatecas’ on what was just a regular Monday night. It was anything but regular with hundreds of rum fueled, neatly dressed revelers crowding the dance floor at ‘Las Brisas’ gyrating to the rhythmic beats of the percussionists around the dance floor. To make sure that we didn’t stick out like a sore thumb and to save his reputation, Felipe had us practice an hour of Salsa in the morning on his patio and all that practice was well served that night. Cali is known as ‘Casa de Salsa y Plastico’ (Home of Salsa and Plastic) and when the lights finally came on at the end of the night, that fact was evident in full display when we noticed that over 90% of the women had been under the surgeon’s knife and unlike in most cases, it produced dramatically stunning natural looking results. I approve of this combo – Salsa and plastic!

Chapter 2: The capital

Dee and I had decided a while ago that Colombia would be our destination of choice where we’d take a bit of a break from traveling together, to give ourselves a bit of space from each other and at the same time do a bit of solo traveling in this gorgeous country. Thus began our solo travel for 2 and a bit weeks.

We parted ways in Cali and I took an overnight bus to Bogotá from where I would continue to travel along the Eastern side of the country whilst Dee would take a bus to Medellin and travel along the Western parts and eventually meet up in the northern coastal city of Cartagena.

I had a very cheerful, vivacious lady for company on the bus from Cali to Bogotá who in typical Latin American fashion advised me to be extra careful in the megalopolis that is Bogotá and offered to show the city as well. The show of hospitality just does not seem to cease, does it!

I met up with Maya, a Russian girl I had come across during our travels in Berlin outside the famous Museo del Oro (Gold Museum). She was in Latin America to do her internship in Peru and accompanied me on parts of my travel for the next 2 weeks. Slightly mental with a panache for going off the oft traveled route, she was an amusing companion. We each had our own method of travel and disagreed often on many aspects of it, but that’s what makes the world we live in so fascinating – different people with different opinions. That said, we were both fierce bargainers, and on some instances would end up paying less than the locals for services such as food, transport and accommodation.

Bogotá was just like any other big city with plenty of people bustling about the center around the impressive Plaza Bolivar, street vendors offering fruit juices that I’d never heard of before (given that Colombia boasts of exclusive fruits that are only grown here). Given the extravagantly priced calls on cellular networks, the majority of the people cannot afford to have a network contract or even a prepaid service. Hence what street vendors termed ‘minutos’ thrive here in abundance at almost every 200 metres on each and every street, who offer phones from which the public can make calls. Quite unique.

Whilst in Bogotá, we were couchsurfing with Juan and his polar bear of a dog, Yuki, and it was here that I finally came upon couchsurfing with another Australian – Rita albiet she was only born in Australia and raised in Lebanon. A mongrel of a girl who was doing her exchange semester in Buenos Aires and spoke Argentinean Spanish as if she were native to the country. We hit off instantly amidst constantly pulling each other’s legs on our Lebanese and Indian origins respectively. Watch out for the second leg of blogs on Europe where I might be traveling with this sassy lass.

Chapter 3: Colonial Splendour

Post paying a quick visit to the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquiera, Maya and I headed to the colonial town of Villa de Leyva. The town was notorious for its highly priced hostels but given our stubborn insistence with the locals on staying somewhere cheap, after a good hour’s wait on the street, we got what we wanted – a stay at a hostel in a private room for a mere $6 a night – a win in a town where finding accommodation for less than $15 a night is deemed as impossible.

The town has a massive picturesque square which locals and travelers frequent at night with a beer in hand and sit upon the stairs of the church or the benches to enjoy a chat under the starry night sky. The nearby towns of El Fossil and Iguaque make for a great visit with the former housing a giant 120 million year old of a Kronosauras. As Maya was down with a bout of fever, I did a hike in the Parque Iguaque with Jim, an American bloke who was staying in the same hostel as us. It was a relatively steep and tough hike in challenging conditions which went from cold to hot in short bursts and the view of Lago Iguaque at the end was not quite as rewarding as we’d expected. Nevertheless, if you are itching to get your heart pumping, this is a great way to do so. I also met a local guide on the way, Angela, with whom I had the opportunity to practice my Spanish and talk about her life with her son in Villa De Leyva.

Chapter 4: The hidden gem of South America

I had set out to travel the eastern parts of Colombia, primarily because I wanted to hike the Parque Nacional El Cocuy – La Sierra Nevada, a park over 6,500 sq. km in size bordering the little town of El Cocuy. Since Maya was not feeling up for a hike, I ventured out from Villa De Leyva to El Cocuy on my own, which took me a good 17 hours given the numerous changes in buses, but once I got to the dainty little town of Cocuy, and upon seeing the surrounding landscapes, all that pain accumulated over 17 hours of travel went away in a jiffy.

In a town of hardly 5,000 people I seemed to be only tourist there at that time and hence got caring attention for all the locals, right from bus drivers, to guides to shop vendors. I was in two minds on hiring a guide to do the trek to the snow line of Pan De Acucar, a peak standing at 4,800m as the people on the town seemed divided in their opinion with most coaxing me to do the trip on my own as it was a well marked trail. I was leaning towards not taking a guide with me but when I got off the ‘lechero’ (milk truck) at the entrance of the national park, when Tomas, a chirpy young bloke approached me if I wanted his company along the trek for $20, I said yes without much thought. In hindsight, it was probably the best decision I’d made on my travels as with an 8kg backpack and rocky terrain to battle at high altitude, I would have probably not made it all the way to the snow line if it weren’t for Tomas showing me the way and keeping my spirits up despite me being fairly disoriented due to not being accustomed to the high altitude.

The hike offered splendid views of the vegetation that is unique to Colombia, along with trails past many a lake and river, terminating at the front of the majestic Pan De Acucar. Our 10 hour hike to and back to the Cabañas Pulpito was grueling and had built a monster appetite in me and as soon as I was done with my sumptuous meal, I hit the sack taking in a good 10 hours of sleep before embarking the next morning on the lechero back to El Cocuy.

After 4 cherished days in the town of Cocuy, I made my way on yet another 17 hour journey involving up to 5 changes of buses to the city of Bucaramanga where I couchsurfed with the lovely Sierra, one of my favourite hosts and now a good friend. She welcomed me into her home although I got to Bucaramanga at the unearthly hour of 3 in the morning. Her pets – Leyla, Samson and Maria gave me and my backpack an equally warm welcome. Sierra teaches English at one of the local schools and has been doing so for the last 14 years in different cities around the world. We enjoyed many a chat over a glass of Baileys overlooking the sunset from the pool on the rooftop of her apartment building and from the stunning views that her balcony offered. Sierra was well traveled and there is nothing more interesting to me than having a conversation with someone who has an open mind in forming opinions and can share plenty of views on everything right from the internet culture of today to the reasons behind the high reason of adultery in Colombia. She epitomised all that I love about CS and along with her mates Luis Fernando, Sara and Leanne, I had an unexpectedly great time in the city of Bucaramanga.

Chapter 5 : PADI followed by Playas, Playas, Playas

After 15 days apart, I met a well tanned and well fed Dee in the hot coastal city of Cartagena. I call Cartagena Venice without the water. The ‘old city’ section of the city is flocked with hordes of middle aged American tourists willing to spend many a buck on horse ridden carriage tours along the tiny alleyways that culminate in dinner at a high end restaurant overlooking the sunset. We took the same route on foot and armed ourselves with a beer watching the sunset perched on the walls facing the Caribbean sea.

We made our way to Playa Blanca to get our first taste of white sands and crystal blue water and decided to spend the night on the beach camping under the stars. During the day we had for company, the ever witty ‘Black Candy’, as he liked to call himself, a local bloke who gave out beach chairs on rent, who told us everything we needed to know about finding cheap meals on the playa amongst tales of how he could afford the thick gold chains wrapped around his neck. Even though there was a mild sandstorm on the beach at night, spending a night camping on a beach has been a long cherished dream and we soon realised that there are few things better than star gazing at a clear night sky.

We wanted to do our PADI open water certification in Colombia as we wanted to do plenty of diving in Cuba, Mexico and Belize and hence signed up for a course at the Poseidon Dive Center in the town of Taganga in Santa Marta. Run by two German brothers, we knew that the quality of equipment and instructors on site would be on par with usual German standard and we were not wrong. Corrin, an Aussie girl with Italian origins with a South African accent was instructor to Dee, myself and another bloke from the UK. Over the next 3 days, we spent quite a few hours underwater marveling the diverse marine life and reef corals along the various dive sites around Taganga and were a bunch of proud, happy campers (quite literally having spent a night camping outside a garage) at the end of our course. Whilst Poseidon might be a bit on the high end with respect to pricing, their service and high quality of dive gear ensures a highly enjoyable diving experience.

We were couchsurfing with Fafo and his imitable cat – Badman and plenty of fun cooking and indulging in general lazing on the numerous hammocks around his place

We then headed out to the famous Parque Nacional Tayrona, an hour away from Santa Marta, which borders the northern coast and hence houses many a pristine beach and natural ocean pools. We camped there for 3 nights and spent most of our days lazing on the beach reading or wading through the warm waters. We were quite lucky to have sunshine throughout our stay and despite the dense greenery around, I’d like to think we had become quite immune to ‘attack of the mozzies’.

Chapter 6: City of Eternal Spring and Zona Cafetara

Air travel within Colombia on budget airlines can be much cheaper than bus travel on most instances, so we took a flight on VivoColombia from Cartagena to Medellin where we spent a week couchsurfing with the endearing Elisa and her daughter Sofie with whom Dee had couchsurfed during her stay two weeks ago. Given that it was ‘Semana Santa’ (Easter week), Elisa and Sofie like most other Colombians were going away on a short vacation, but readily handed us the keys to their palatial house that overlooked the entire city of Medellin. We did nothing of significance except watch a few movies and go out dancing and our 5 day break in a luxurious house gave us that much needed rest before we embarked on our Central American travels.

Prior to heading back to Bogota, we spent a couple of days in the Zona Cafetara (Coffee Zone), where we visited the dainty little town of Salento. Our last two days in South America were spent couchsurfing with Diana and Santiago, a Colombian couple who were very European in their lifestyles, what with gourmet breakfasts and dinners. We planned to head out of Colombia with a bang, partying all night at one of the Salsa bars fueled by that lethal drink they call Aguardiente.

After spending a month and a half in Colombia, as I expected, I have grown to love this place, its amicable people and the style of life here – eat, smile, dance, sleep, smile. The beautiful diverse landscape and the safety that the police and the military provide make it very much safe for all types of travelers. The extremely high percentage of adultery and broken marriages did come across as a bit of a surprise, but for a country with beautiful women, that runs high on sexual energy and a strong male machismo attitude, be it on the dance floor or with day to day dealings, this was always going to be an eventuality. My blog here took me an eternity to write and probably two lifetimes for you to read, but once I got myself to writing about Colombia, there seemed to be no end to my love for this country that I shall definitely visit over and over again.

SNAPSHOT

General musing

Get to Colombia now. It’s perfectly safe for all types of travelers with a little bit of common sense.
The landscapes are very diverse from hikes to snow capped mountains in national parks to sizzling heat on the beaches along the Caribbean coast.
Practice your Salsa moves before you get to the country or sign up for a quick crash course. It’ll make your experience on the dance floor distinctively more enjoyable. Make sure you pay homage to a Salsateca in the home of Salsa – Cali.

Recommended travel routes

If coming from the north, enter through Cartagena, make your way to Parque Tayrona in state of Santa Marta and then wind your way down through either the eastern towns of Bucaramanga, Tunja and Villa De Levya to Bogota and Medellin or through the western parts through Medellin, Armenia and Salento to Bogota. I would recommend the former as it gives you a chance to visit the stunning national park of El Cocuy. Head further south to Cali from where you can exit the country to Ecuador. If coming from the south, follow the route in reverse.

What not to miss

Travel the east side of the country. It houses many little gems such as the town of El Cocuy, Villa de Leyva, San Gil and Bucaramanga.

Hike in the Parque Nacional El Cocuy – La Sierra Nevada if the season permits. The circuit is a 6 day trek but there are 1 or 2 day treks that are also possible. The park is the hidden gem of South America and I see it attaining the same amount of popularity as Chile’s Torres Del Paine in the years to come.

Parque Nacional Tayrona is magical if you are one who loves the outdoors and sleeping under a starry night sky.
Head to the Totumo volcano at Cartagena to sample the unique experience of being bathed form head to toe in volcanic mud.

Food & Drink – What to try?

Try plenty of the local fruits and the alcohol concoctions – definitely worth a go given that they are unique to the country. Have a shot of Aguardiente – it’s Colombia’s alternative to Anees.

Whilst in Cartagena make sure you head to the sandwich bar next to Hostel Chillhouse. They seem to be only place housing the delicious Limonada de Coco. A must try.

Arepas (flour pancakes sandwiched with meat or cheese) are sold everywhere, right from restaurants to on the streets. Pick a mix that suits your taste.

TravelSmart

Bargain for everything. From meals in restaurants, to bus tickets, to taxi prices. Everything can be bargained.

Be extra careful of your belongings on the public buses at Bogota. They are always crowded and make an easy haven for thieves.