29th June, Villa de Leyva a Medellin, Colombia

29th June, Villa de Leyva a Medellin, Colombia

We got up early in order to make sure we didnt miss the bus Medellin. We wanted to make the bus trip during the day as we'd read on the net that the roads werent very good and that it would be through mountains. It brought back memories of the terrible bus journeys we got through Ecuador and Peru where the drivers are doing 80m/ph round blind spots on mountain edges. It was cheaper to get the bus in comparison to flying, but obviously the journey would take longer.

At Villa de Leyva bus station, we were told we would have to get a 1 hour bus to a town called Tunja, and from there we could get a bus to Medellin. This 1 hour bus journey made me feel sick. It was a samll van, driven by a maniac doing 80m/ph when signs said 30. He was taking blind spots even faster, and the whole time the van kept moving us all up and down, I really thoughy everyone would see what I had for breakfast that morning..

At Tunja, we were mobbed by people trying to get you on their buses, one lad lied to Jake and said he'd take us for 'siete mil' (7 mil) and then when Jake was about to hand over his bag, it was quickly changed to 'dies y siete' (17mil). We were really annoyed to be told that no buses went straight to Medellin, we would have to go via Bogota! So it would add 3 hours onto the journey. We had no choice but to get a bus with just 2 seats left next to the smelly toilets! This 3 hour journey is pleasant, the driver stuck to 30m/ph!

We arrived at Bogota, where we only had to wait about an hour for another bus back to Medellin. We were told it would take 10hours! I was dreading it thinking I couldnt stand 10 hours of dangerous driving through the mountains.. But a few hours in, I realised it wasnt that bad. The roads were narrow, and the drop at the side of the moutains were steep, but the driver wasnt going too fast, so it was ok. We were 'treated' to 2 Angelina Jolie fims in spanish, which passed abit of time. We'd hardly eaten at all that day, and we were starving on the bus, as they dont give you meals like the buses in Argentina. So bring your own food and entertainment! FINALLY, at about 7pm the bus pulled over at a restaurant where you could buy something to eat. Getting off the bus, the humidity hits you.. the bus had air conditioning so it was freezing, but when you step out, its the total opposite. After half an hour, the bus set off again for the remaining 4 hours of the trip.. The driver turned off all the lights so we were sat in darkness, and driving through the jungle and moutains where there are no street lamps didnt help! Im not sure why he did this, maybe it was because we were driving through a storm and there was alot of lightning.

We arrived slightly earlier than expected in Medellin at 10pm. It looked quite big driving through. We got a taxi to our hostel Villa del Sol', but thr driver couldnt find it, so he whistled over to an elderly man cycling next to us, and used him as our cycle escort to the hostel!

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