Cali to San Agustin Thanks for your comments. I would say you probably wouldn't want to try and do Cali to San Agustin in one day. As I mentioned in the blog, you need to allow at least 6 hours to get from Popayan to San Agustin, something which needs to be done in the daylight since you are off road for so long.
It might be possible to do it in a day, but if you decide to try, leave Cali very early and ensure you can get to Popayan early on in the morning. An afternoon arrival will guarantee you won't make it.
Enjoy your trip though - it'll be fun !
Cali to San Agustin Thanks for your detailed description of your trip to San Agustin. It was great. I am thinking of going there from Cali. I have exactly four days to complete the trip. Do you think the traveling from Cali to San Agustin can be completed in one day? What about the return trip (which should be the same but may not be)? Do you have any recommendations on the traveling logistics?
Peter
RE: Border Crossing Information Dear Laura-thanks very much for your comments and apologies for the delay in responding-due mainly to intermittent Internet access recently. I hope to post photos and blog details on Quito and the Galapagos shortly. The Galapagos is definitely a great place to visit - book an 8 day tour on a boat in Quito - where you'll get at least a 50% discount on the trip (we got around a 70% discount on our trip) - get the best trip you can afford - you won't regret it.
Enjoy your trips in Colombia and Ecuador - we are sure you will
ecuadorecovolunteer http://www.ecuadorecovolunteer.org/ is a great organisition for amazing adventures here in ecuador. im currently volunteering with them and its been more than i could have hoped for.
Border Crossing Information Buenos tardes, Martin and Felicity! My husband and I are very much enjoying your terrific blog and great insights and recommendations. We will be arriving in Colombia the end of the month and plan on exploring that country and Ecuador for a six month period. We are expats from California who have been living in various Latin American countries for fourteen years. Following your blog along with other enthusiastic travelers is a new experience for us. Keep up the fantastic work. Wishing you both safe and rewarding travels. Laura in Mexico
A day does not make an expert I can agree with your title, but I can also see that you haven't bothered to read what I wrote which was positive about Medellin or that we are not 36 hour backpackers (there's more than 36 hours in 3 days) or that we didn't stay in a $20 hostel or that I talked to a local who has lived in Medellin for more than 4 years I accepted your comments so that others can see how ill informed they are. Perhaps you'd like to read my blog now and not just assume that everyone who writes about Medellin writes sensational nonsense. Enjoy your life !
Loved it! Hi Martin and Felicity! I just loved this blog entry. I have a very good Colombian friend, Maria, who is from Medellin (now living and working in San Francisco), so I sent her the link to your blog. Her sister lives in Bogota. I know she will enjoy it as much as I did. Now I feel like I know a bit more about her home town. Ray and I wanted to visit Medellin about 15 years ago, and she strongly advised against it because of the drug crime. I love the photos of the paintings from "your old friend" Botero, assuming they are the ones of the over-sized people. Do you really know him? Do you know why the horses are blindfolded? Thanks Martin for writing this blog of your travels. I really enjoy reading. Take good care of yourselves. Livia
A day does not make an expert- I always love the first impressions of visitors to Medellin, often clouded by the historical perspectives of the city in the media and Hollywood.
I was accosted on a recent Blog with, "why would you want to live in the jungle"?
You 36 hour backpacking wonders who tell the world of your adventures to Medellin and sum up a local situation from your perspective in a $20 per night hostel amuse me.
You have no clue and unless you are being paid to submit reports, are no better source of local information than the "on the spot reporter" of a national news agency paid to report on an event then hop on your plane and return to the soltice of your apartment in whatever city in which you live.
Readers, believe what you wish from the knee length shorts/sandals wearing, scraggy bearded sensalistist blog reporters on this site. The locals make fun of them and consider them "Cheap Charlie's" to be avoided. Their perspectives on their visits are often times clouded by drug induced re-encantations of an all night binge at some local watering hole where they met a beautiful local Paisa girl who rocked their world.
Try living here for 4 years then report your perspectives to your following clan of ragged, canvas backed "world travelers".
Simply amazing what some people will profess as the gospel after being in a city for a whopping 36 hours!
loved your Oaxaca blog Hi Martin,
I finally got around to reading your Oax. blog and loved your descriptions and comments...and our class photo as well! My husband and I have been busy planing some travel ourselves. On Sept. 15 we are heading to Prague for about four nights and then onto Copenhagen, Bergen, Norway and ending up in Amsterdam, from where we'll fly directly to Los Angeles for our grandson Ethan's bar mitzvah and get home in time to celebrate Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. If you have been to any of those spots and have recommendations we'll be happy to hear them.
abrazos to Felicity and keep on truckin'
Juanita
It is fun :-) Thanks Dave...we are hsving a great time. We are now in a lovely Colombian town called Villa de Leyva. Next installment, on Bogota, will be published soon.
Sounds like fun Seems like you are having a fantastic time. Great idea this blog its nice to follow you both round the world. Have a great time guys, no doubt we will catch up soon.
TTFN
from Willits' wife,( looks like he's having fun!) So sorry not to meet you all, and thank you for spending the time to write such an interesting account of your stay and also with photos of Casamar and the gardens, which we have worked very hard at making our tropical paradise to share with nice people like you!
Again, sorry not to meet you, but please do come back soon and spread the word!
love,
Rosalie
Puebla Gee, I wish you had told me you were going to visit Puebla. I used to live, work and go to school there. Well, in Cholula right next to it the town which has a church for every day, has Mexico's largest pyramid, was site of Hernán Cortés' battle turning the rivers red and whose train station was used in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (when they arrived on the Altiplano of Bolivia). Could have told you about so many things to do while there. Being students at the time, one of our repeated excursions was to a tequila distillery where they offered free samples of their goods if you went on the tour, or one of the notorious pulquerias. No ladies allowed in those days, though.
But, thanks for posting this. It brought back memories. In my days, the trip from the Distrito Federal took four hours on an Estrella Roja bus, then a second class bus where you ran a good chance of sitting next to a turkey. The railroad was also still running, but that trip took up to 20 hours and you'd probably have managed to get there on foot faster. Autobuses de Oriente (ADO) was definitely a better choice for you to continue -- glad to see they're still alive.
I hope you had a comida corrida with mole poblano while there. One of my favorite dishes still today!
Continue to have fun on your trip, am really envious.
Ar first I wasn't going to write a travel blog, but now, one month into an eight month world tour, I have the urge to write down and share the details that my wife an I are experiencing in our travels. My wife is more of a traveller than me, having spent many years 'on the road'. For me this is only the second time I have done this for pleasure. The first was the first time I left my job at UBS (a Swiss Bank) in 2003 and my then wife-to-be and I traveled for 3 months. This trip is after the second time of leaving UBS and is almost for 3 times as long...three months is c... full info
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Martin Russell
Cali to San Agustin
Thanks for your comments. I would say you probably wouldn't want to try and do Cali to San Agustin in one day. As I mentioned in the blog, you need to allow at least 6 hours to get from Popayan to San Agustin, something which needs to be done in the daylight since you are off road for so long. It might be possible to do it in a day, but if you decide to try, leave Cali very early and ensure you can get to Popayan early on in the morning. An afternoon arrival will guarantee you won't make it. Enjoy your trip though - it'll be fun !