Blogs from Ipiales, Colombia, South America

(Day 112 on the road) The area south of Medellin is coffee country. My flight from Cartagena put me right in the thick of it, in the city of Pereira. And thus I spent the next few weeks exploring the region, starting with some beautiful hot springs near the village of Santa Rosa de Cabal, before moving on to the hot springs near Manizales. Now, Manizales is one of those second-rate Colombia’s cities which most people have probably never heard of. But they are one of Colombia’s cities I have seen that have incorporated cable cars into their public transport system. It is ingenious really: As Manizales lies in pretty hilly terrain, the bus terminal is located not near the city center, but at the bottom of a hill, right next to a cable car station. ... read more

Driving in Colombia has kept Ken on his toes more than he could ever have expected, or wished for! There is barely a flat or straight stretch of road in the entire country, so you inevitably end up stuck behind one slow truck/bus after another as you crawl up or down one huge mountain after another. Throw in never-ending roadworks, landslides, police checkpoints, local parades, suicidal stray dogs and crazy motorcylists, and you get an idea of why it can take up to 8 hours to drive 100 miles! There's never a dull moment, that's for certain. On the plus side, the scenery has been stunning without exception and reminds us often of the more spectacular parts of New Zealand's North Island. So we left Medellin after a week at the Al Bosque hostel, where we ... read more

Okay so Ecuador wasn’t on the initial plan, just like Colombia. Ecuador was in fact added when calculating the best way to travel to Peru. We looked up flights from Colombia to Peru and they all came up to a figure of around $300US each. Bearing these figures in mind, why on earth would we take a flight straight to Peru when we could spend nearly 2 weeks exploring Ecuador beforehand for the same price of flying over it? For us it was a no brainer. For some, I think a barrier to crossing the border between Colombia and Ecuador (apart from not having ‘time’, or a lack of interest in Ecuador altogether) is the consideration of safety. We read that the road leading up to Ecuador all the way from Popayan was known for robberies. ... read more

Our Arrival We arrived in Ipiales from Pasto at 11:20am. The bus terminal is right next to some hotels where we decided to stay. The town centre is within walking distance of the terminal however if coming with your backpack you might not want to walk into town as it is up a very steep hill. Where We Stayed Hotel India Catalina - opposite the bus station. COP$20,000 for a spacious double room with private bathroom with really hot water, TV and internet. The shower was the nicest I have had in a long time and the matress was really soft although the bed was on the small side. What We Did Visisted Las Lajas - a pretty church on the side of a gorge where a miracle took place. You can see the painting that ... read more

Geo: 0.82981, -77.6298Wir sind früh wach und freuen uns schon auf das Frühstück, welches wir dann auch ausgiebig genießen. Bevor wir dann später aufbrechen wollen, geht es noch unter die Dusche. Ich bin gerade fertig und habe angefangen zu packen, als es an der Tür klopft und eine schnaufende Angestellte mir erzählt, dass die Busgesellschaft angerufen habe, sie würden auf uns warten... Ich verstehe das mal so gar nicht, sollten wir doch um 12 da sein, doch dann erklärt die gute Frau, dass am frühen Morgen schon einmal angerufen worden sei, allerdings eine Nachricht für Karina hinterlassen wurde, womit das Hotel dann nichts anfangen konnte, da ich als Anja Obersteller eingecheckt hatte...Ich zerre Netti also unter der Dusche hervor, wir packen im Eilverfahren unsere 7 Sachen und reiten im Schweinsgalopp vom Hof. Bis 10:00 Uhr w&uu ... read more