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Published: March 19th 2010
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Due to a couple of massive earthquakes in Chile which have closed a lot of the roads around Santiago we have decided to change our travel plans and instead of heading up to Columbia overland we are flying there and heading down.
We start this blog from Bariloche in the Lake District of Argentina where we were were going to cross into Chile from, before all the earthquakes that is, due to the current situation we decided to hop on a plane up to Columbia instead. The flight up was spectacular as there was no cloud cover, we followed the spine of the Andes so had amazing views of lakes and snow capped volcanoes, we were heading for Bogota the capital of columbia which is situated at 2200m in a large valley. The city itself is huge, we headed to the old town section of the city. The first thing that struck me was the military presence there, its not the police that patrol the street but the military in combats and with serious looking machine guns, you can tell they mean buisness and they are everywhere. The second thing is the driving, they are nuts, we had about 5
near misses just going to the hostel its like the wacky races!! The old town is really nice with lots of colonial buildings as well as all the government buildings with small narrow streets and plenty of people around, who are selling everything from wanting to shine your shoes to local street snacks such as fried banana chips and cheese corn buns (which were a couple of our favourites). The nice part was that this was not just for tourists, it was a way of life and plenty of locals were sat chatting whilst having their shoes shined and making purchases from the street vendors. We had heard about the legendary night life but as we arrived on a monday it was all pretty quiet for the 3 days we were there but it was nice to wander around getting a feel for the place, the town itself feels pretty safe and with armed military on most of the corners you can see why.
We headed north and our first stop was a beautiful town called San Gil in the Columbian Andes about 7hrs outside of Bogota, the country around it is really beautiful but even on the main
route the military presence is huge with armed checkpoints on all major routes to combat the chance of rebels holding up the buses and illegal trafficing of certain goods. San Gil is not really on the gringo trail yet so it not that touristy, it is set around a beautiful square where all the locals gather at night to drink beers around the fountain, it had a nice vibe to it. The nearby town of Barichara is the type of town you see in hollywood westerns with whitewashed buildings and stone streets all build around a beautiful church square, the place has not changed in the 300 years since it was built and you half expected the locals to have a gun fight in the square as the clock struck mid-day. We chilled here a few days before boarding a grueling night bus up to the caribbean coast and a backpacker fishing village called Taganga which is isolated in the north west of the country. The village itself isn't much to look at, it is full of hippy backpackers and has some nice beaches nearby, you can walk along the beach and eat freshly caught sea food for a couple
of pounds each, there are no menus you just select your fish from a tray. Right next door to Taganga is the Parque National Tayrone which is one of Columbia's most popular national parks, it lies on a jungle covered coast 30kms away, the quickest way to get there is by local boat. The parks beaches are set in secluded bays surrounded by coconut palms, it is a great place to relax for a few days. There is no real acomodation there and if you want to stay you either have to bring a tent or hire out one of the hamocks there for 2 pounds a night. The place is what I expect Thailand to have been like 20 years ago. The whole coast line has a 'not quite there' feel about it as it is just starting to see foreign tourism.
Our next stop is the legendary city of Cartagena which gets such a massive review in all the lonely planets as the most beautiful city in South America and a "fairytale city of romance,legends and history" For once lonely planet is right about something (first time) and it is an incredible place. It was built in
1533 and the walled old town has not changed much since there. The colonial architecture is really stunning and you can spend days wandering down the cobeled alleys of the city. The city is surounded on 3 sides by water and luckily has a good costal breeze as it is incredibly hot there. If you can stand the hassle from touts trying to sell you fake emeralds or cocaine or Micheal Douglas style hats its an increadible place to spend a few days. It also has some of the nicest beaches in South America so we ventured 20km to Playo Blanca which is the best of the bunch and spent a nice day just lazing and swimming getting ready for another night bus and our trip up to Medellin in the Zona Cafeteria which is the most beautiful part of the country set in rolling hills and coffee plantations.
Medellin is a very modern city with no real historic buildings but a lively town full of bars and restaurants that are best in columbia. It also has a really unusual attraction of a metrocable (think ski cable car) that connects the centre to the low income barrois that are
built into the hills. Quite a contrast between the two areas but that should not be suprising as the percentage of people who live below the poverty line is quite astounding, 60% in urban areas and 80% in rural areas.
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Emma McClement
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Have you been Romanacing the Stone?
Hi you two! 2 qs? 1 - Are some of the buildings tilited? and 2 - are the photos the view from the plane? It looks absolutely amazing! Agree about the western thing. Expect to see Clint Eastwood hanging out in the cantina! Glad you are both ok and having fun. Cant believe how cool it looks. It is nice that you two have been having a nice coco instead of getting wasted on the more notorious local delicacies! ;-) Only kidding obviously. Anyway, cant wait for the next installment. Kisses EM