Sabado 2 de mayo - Otavalo
We eventually arrive in Quito around 6am, after the bus briefly breaks down on route.. from here we take another bus, which is leaving straight away, to Otavalo our final stop in Ecuador before crossing the border into Colombia.
After a fulfilling 10 weeks, my longest time in one country so far this year, I have just one more day left. In Otavalo we walk to the mercado to have breakfast, and then make our way to our hostel for the night Runa Pacha. Our plans have worked out well, as the main market in Otavalo takes place on saturday! We explore the markets, which fill a large plaza and continues into the surrounding roads. In the evening we head back out for some dinner, before an earlyish nights sleep in preparation for an early start tomorrow to begin our journey into Colombia..
Domingo 3 de mayo - COLOMBIA... Pasto
An early, unwelcome alarm at 6am wakes us up, and we are soon heading out of the hostel through the city to the main pan american highway to catch a bus heading to Tulcan... straight away we flag one down and are off..
3 1/2 hrs later, we arrive in Tulcan and immediately take a taxi to the border.. our passports are stamped before we leave Ecuador and then walk across the border and into Colombia...
.. First we change our dollars into Colombian Pesos.. I cant find a $20 dollar note I'm certain I had hidden inside my big backpack.. whilst looking other people arrive resulting in a longer queue.. which we then have to wait in whilst others are changing huge sums of money!
The migration into Colombia is straightforward, we don't even have to fill in any paperwork.. after our passports are stamped we take a small minibus into the first town after the Colombian border.. Ipailes. We get dropped at the bus terminal where we then take a bus to Pasto.. a 2 hour ride.
Our first main destination will be San Agustin but this is another 6-8 hour journey so after arriving in Pasto around 2pm we decide to stay one night there and then continue on in the morning. We find a hostel, then have lunch at a nearby restaurant. For the rest of the afternoon we chill out, before heading out for dinner where we find two other travellers from our hostel. We share a huge pizza.. a disappointing.. unappealing.. greasy.. cheesy choice .. (which we later fill the affects of over the next few days.. !). Another early night ready for another 6am start.. (oh the hardships of travelling..)
Lunes 4 de mayo - San Agustin
We take a taxi to the bus terminal with another traveller from the hostel and manage to find transport to Pitalito (where we will then continue onto San Agustin.. the final 1hrs journey) leaving immediately.. our journey will be in a minibus as it is not possible to go by bus on this route due to the quality of the roads.
Our driver from the off is crazy.. overtaking at every opportunity.. and even without the opening to pass a car and with traffic coming towards us in the opposite direction. Me and Virginie give each other a look that sums up how we are feeling.. hold on tight, hold your breath, this journey is going to be quite the experience...
The roads, for the majority of the route, are winding around the mountains.. no extra caution shown here! And after an hour or so we hit bumpy rocky untarmaced roads and the route takes us into, and around the jungle.. an impressive sight.. but we are having to keep holding on tight throughout.
When we reach Mocoa, we stop for lunch, and then continue onto Pitalito and finally onto tarmaced roads.. although there are plenty more heart in your mouth moments speeding past the other traffic!
At the bus terminal in Pitalito we find transport to San Agustin, and a calmer driver! After arrving in San Agustin an hour later, I have the sudden shock of not finding where my phone is.. Where could I have left it? This is not good..
Our driver is still here, waiting for people to drive back to Pitalito, so I decide to check one more time in the minibus.. and to my relief my phones underneath the chair.. phew.. a close call!
Finally after a couple of days of long travelling we arrive at a destination we will be spending the next 3 days in, and an awesome hostel as well.. La Casa de François. The hostel is located up above the city, with beautiful views of the surrounding area.
Martes 5 de mayo - San Agustin
After breakfast at the hostel, we chill out until midday when we make our way into town and then take a minibus to the Archeological Park just outside the town. Here we find out about, and see the numerous, mythical statues which date back over 2000 years. First we look around the museum and then continue into the vast grounds which comprise the park. These statues, which represent human/animals, are linked to the after life and funeral ceremonies and burial grounds.
On of the sites is located at the top of a hill.. a steep climb but worth it with the views that await us. After over two hours exploring the park we return to San Agustin and buy food for the next couple of days. We stop off for a beer and to watch the second half of the Champions League semi final between Juventus and Real Madrid. James Rodriguez, a Colombian striker and star of the 2014 World Cup, plays for Real.. we see many men wearing the James Real Madrid sports shirt.
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Miercoles 6 de mayo - San Agustin
A wet, drizzly morning. After a lie in, I revise some spanish and then decide to chill out at the hostel whilst Virginie heads off on a walk to the river in the afternoon. We cook again in the evening, tomorrow we will be heading to Popayan..
Jueves 7 de mayo - Popayan
I am awoken from a deep sleep by my alarm.. no lie in today. After coffee, eggs and fresh bread from the hostel for breakfast, we check out and then make our way down the steep hill to the town centre. We find transport leaving to Popayan and are soon on route to our next stop in Colombia.
Another bumpy ride, but a much more cautious driver. Popayan at first doesn't seem so great.. but we are in the outskirts of town and after taking a taxi to our hostel for the night, Casa Familiar Turistico, we are within the historical part of the city.. cobbled streets, white colonel buildings fill the streets.
We have a cheap lunch at a nearby restaurant and then have a walk around the city, seeing the numerous churches and the main plaza. Back at our hostel we meet Pauline (a French traveller) who is travelling with a Colombian guy, Juan, and an English, Adam, who she met when volunteering in the north of Ecuador. Later in the afternoon we head back into main part of town, and enjoy a tasty.. sugar overloaded... ice cream.. muy rico!
When we return to the hostel again we meet Juan and Adam, and then later head out to eat, drink and party. First we find a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then after walking around the dead streets within this part of the city, we take a taxi to a great venue for a night of salsa dancing!
Viernes 8 de mayo - Cali
A slow morning after a heavy night.. Adam ended up heading off with a bunch of Colombians to continue partying when we took a taxi back to the hostel. He is in a bad shape come the morning.. We also awake to find a majority government in power in the UK, time to reconsider my options..
After waiting a little longer at the hostel whilst the others decide whether or not to continue to Cali.. they end up sticking to their plan, and will stay in Popayan for a few nights more, we head to the bus terminal. After buying our tickets to Cali, we buy some snacks for the journey and wait around for our bus. The bus is late.. when it eventually arrives, a man we had been briefly speaking with about where the bus was and who we thought worked for the company, helps us with our bags when loading them onto the mini bus. When we board the bus the man accompanies us to our seats, and tells us we must put our handluggage above us.. I am sceptical, I get the belongings I want out and then put it there, Virginie has already done it. He then preceeds to talks to us about our travel plans and what buses we will be needing to take to get to our next few destinations.. I am sceptical of someone being so interested in our travels, and due to my lack of spanish leave the talking to Virginie. He is then off and Virginie decides to head to the toilet before our journey, we are in a rush and whilst she is searching for her purse I give her the money needed.
When Virginie returns she looks again for her purse but can't find it.. neither can she find her camera.. now we're panicking.. where could it be and when could it have been taken?? Suddenly she sees that her laptop is missing too..
The bus is about to leave and we are still in a state of shock and trying to think through what had happened and how/when Virginies belongings could have been taken.. After pulling out of the terminal, whilst talking to the other people on the bus, a Colombia guy says he will come back with us to the terminal and help us with the police.. he is angry about what has happened and how it creates a negative impression of his country.. we tell him that these things happen everywhere in the world.
.. After what nearly turns out to be a happy ending, after speaking with the police, watching the CCTV, seeing the man who had spoken to us (who the police already had a picture of after acting suspiously in the terminal and who infact is a known criminal stealing belongings in terminals up and down the nearby areas..) they know the bus that he and his accomplice.. his father.. are on.. it is then stopped on route and searched.. but none of Virginie's stolen belongings are found.. A big low..
We decide to continue onto Cali with a later bus, as we will then be journeying onto the Coffee region of Colombia tomorrow. After a 4 hour journey we arrive in Cali, and head to a hostel for the night. The surrounding streets here are historical and cobbled streets again. We are both tired and shattered after the events of the day. In the hostel I bump into Sandra, a girl I had met back in Pucon, Chile! After eating I am not sure whether I'll head out with Sandra and her friends, I lie down on my bed... awaking at 3am still fully clothed!!
Sabado 9 de mayo - Salento
We continue our travels to Salento, within the coffee region of Colombia, in the late morning.. and arrive in the afternoon to a beautiful old fashion town.. with colourful buildings. We walk to our hostel where we will be staying for the next three nights.. after so much time travelling since San Agustin we are happy to now be staying here for a longer period.
Domingo 10 de mayo - Salento
After a lazy morning, we head into town to explore the area, and the sunday markets... there are endless artisan shops here. It is also a very busy day. At 3pm, back at the hostel, we walk down to a nearby coffee farm where we have a tour.. in spanish. There is only one other guy with us so we have a more personalised tour.. in the morning there had been a large group heading for the english speaking tour! The tour is very interesting.. and the views are fantastic. Here they also grow other plants for banana, platano, pineapple, and bambu.
We see the whole process from a coffee bean plant to tasting a fresh cup of coffee, with beans our tour guide roasts and we all help out in grinding. Another chilled out evening, we cook and sing through the songs I had learnt during our time in Salasaka, bringing back happy memories of the music classes with Renato.
Lunes 11 de mayo - Salento.. Valle de Cocora
Today we are up early, prepare sandwiches for the day ahead, eat breaky and then make our way to the town square where we jump onto the back of one of the many jeeps which takes us to the Cocora Valley. From there we begin our days trek through the valley. Fantastic views throughout the walk. Soon we are walking through the forest, crossing the rivers on rickety wooden swing bridges. At a waterfall, where we make a brief stop, we again bump into Sandra and the group of people she is currently travelling with. We then get a chance to properly catch up, after a brief encounter in Cali. After two hours of walking, we reach the Acaime Reserve where we make a stop for lunch and get to see many different species of hummingbirds. The rest of the walk is once again full of beautiful views of the valley.
Martes 12 de mayo - Medellín
Today we have another long days travel by bus. First we head back to Armenia from Salento, and then board a bus to Medellín. An expensive bus which we then find out has interactive entertainment systems in front of each seat! The movies however vary depending on where you're sat. For the first hour, the bus has many empty seats at the back. I move to a seat where I am able to watch The Dark Knight Rises.. albeit in spanish. At the next terminal the bus completely fills up, my options have changed.. the only film I know from the new list is Iron Man 3. At this point, however, the wifi starts working on the bus, and instead I turn my attention to Duolingo!
Eventually, after a 7 hour journey, we arrive in Medellín.. and then take a taxi to a hostel the driver knows.. Casa Kiwi. When we check in, a free salsa class is about to begin. We throw our bags into our room, grab a beer at the bar and then join the class. Here we meet Joe, and two girls, Kate and Emma, all from England. The class is fun, and I learn a few new moves.. later we head out to a venue recommended by our teacher to continue salsaing!! Just another day with Virginie before she flys onto Cartagena after a great time busing it up to Medellín from the border together. I will now be staying in Medellín for an extra week and taking some more spanish classes, before also heading to the coast at the end of May!
