Hi All, After more than 8 months of travelling with hardly no shopping for souvenirs or just things we liked, we have decided that the Otavalo famous market and its surrounding villages will be the place were we would break the rule of ¨no shopping¨and we will shop and shop and shop...till we drop... Therefore, we have arrived to Otavalo on a Friday evening, just in time before the renowned Saturday indigenous market. And on Saturday morning we got up early to make sure we exploit the day to its fullest. We started the day with visiting the animal market - this was the cultural part of the day, as obviously we had no interest in buying any of the chickens, the guinea pigs or the cows that were on sale there. Yet, it was a ... read more

Hi all, After a long time being behind the camera, I have missed the writing experience and decided to take a turn and write this entry. So, this one is from me - Tal. From Buenaventura - following the strange vessel ride - we took a bus toward our next destination - Popayan - the White City. Popayan is a well preserved colonial city, founded in the year 1537 and known for its beautiful streets, balconies, restored churches and white-washed historical centre, full with good restaurants, cefeterias and bars. We accomodated ourselves in one of the best hostels so far in South America - Hosteltrail - a clean, well organized and warm hostel, with great internet, kitchen and TV room facilities - and the best for me - free freshly brewed local coffee - all day ... read more

Hi, It is Omer. I want to tell you about a town called Salento in the region “Zona Cafetera” or in English the coffee zone. In Salento there are farms of coffee and they also do tours in the farms. Off course they also sell coffee in Salento. When we got to Salento, we looked for a hostel, when we found one (Las Palmas), we accommodated ourselves. Then we asked the owner of the hostel where is the best cheapest local restaurant and he told us there is a very good one called Somy in the main plaza. Don't ask me why, but he came with us all the way to there and also stayed with us when we were eating. Later we discovered it was because his sister owns the place - that's why he ... read more

Hi all, Medellin is the second largest city of Colombia with about 4 million inhabitants, and it is a very modern and well organized city, as we learned later, much more than the Capital - Bogota. It is also known as “The city of eternal spring” - and indeed, we had a fine weather during our staying, dry climate, no sweating and refreshing rains in the afternoons - a big comfort after the last couple of months with tropical climate, that is, heat and unbearable humidity. Upon arrival we have learned there is a good metro system - this is not a subway, it is more 'upway' (as Nitzan called it) a metro that is all above ground level, actually above many of the buildings in the city (like in Chicago??) - and so directly from ... read more

Hi All, This is going to be a short entry, unlike me I know, but easier for you to read... Cartagena is a beautiful colonial city in the northern part of Colombia. It offers a great old city narrow streets to stroll through, surrounded by immense wall, a reminder of by-gone days when Pirates hunted the city for its treasures and a great fort was built to defend it. Many of the houses in the old town are restored and are now home for shops selling souvenirs, jewelery or crafts, hotels and restaurants - making it a very nice place to walk around. On top there are many horse and carriages in the narrow colorful streets of the old town offering the tourists a different way of exploring this lovely area. All in all we stayed ... read more