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South America » Colombia » Cartagena » Sogamoso
July 19th 2012
Published: July 19th 2012
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Colombia – Jeff

Arrivng in Colombia obviously comes with some reservations based on what has been reported in the media about the country for the past fifteen years. Drug cartels, guerilla soldiers (The FARC), kidnappings, etc. As we traveled, it was also a place that topped most South America travelers’ list as a favorite country in the continent. Erin and I were both nervous and excited to experience Colombia with all of the conflicting information.

Our arrival city, Cartagena, is a large city full of Spanish colonial history and arguably the principal location for Colombian tourism. As our boat pulled in we passed by the old castle like fortresses that guarded the city hundreds of years ago. It did not take long for us to realize how hot Cartagena was after we had docked the boat. Our first few days in the city were spent wandering around trying foods and seeing sights during the late morning and early evening. The heat of the afternoon was often spent at our hostel under the bedroom fan’s not so cool breeze. Cartagena has an “old city” neighborhood that is beautifully preserved and still cozily sits inside the walls the once protected it. The cobblestone streets all had postcard looks with no shortage of historic charm. We ventured out for a night on the town together with our crew from the sailing trip and enjoyed some of Cartagena’s nightlife. After the weekend passed we decided to head to one of the beaches off of Cartagena’s coast. There are several islands only a short distance from the coast and many of them have beautiful Caribbean water and white sand beaches. Unfortunately we chose to go to the beach on a Sunday which is a big day for local families to hit the beach. We grabbed an overcrowded tour boat to head to the island and, as the only Gringos on the boat, the MC/guide/performer decided to exploit us a bit-all in good fun. Following the crowded beach day we decided to check out some last minute historic sites before heading off to San Gil on an eleven hour night bus through the mountains. By the way, many Americans underestimate the size of Colombia. Its nearly double the size of Texas and full of mountains so bus rides were long.

Erin and I both slept through the entire ride and arrived safely into San Gil the following morning. San Gil is a smaller town in the mountains that is most famous for its abundance of outdoor sports such as paragliding, white water rafting, hiking, kayaking, etc. We enjoyed the next few days in the cooler, dryer mountain air by hiking to several locations. Highlighting our hikes was our walk from one nearby colonial town to another via an antique colonial path that has recently been restored. The hike started in a small town called Baricharra and ended in an even smaller town called Guane. Both towns were beautiful white washed colonial towns that truly seemed trapped in time. Later in the week we hiked to a neighboring waterfall. . The waterfall was very impressive and the hike to it was half of the fun. The final leg of the hike actually included a 20 foot wall to scale with the aid of an old rope. After a few more walks around San Gil to enjoy the large local market and the central park, we sped off to Villa de Leyva.

The seven hour bus ride was cramped but uneventful. There have been very few places thus far on our trip that we have arrived and immediately fallen in love at first sight. Villa de Leyva was definitely one of those places. The tiny town is set in a valley with beautiful mountains as a backdrop in every direction. Like the small towns we hiked to outside of San Gil, Villa de Leyva had the historical cobblestone streets, white washed buildings and the “trapped in time” appeal. We later described it as a South American Tuscany…though neither of us has actually ever been to Tuscany. A large amount of the stones that make up the streets in town are actually fossils. Millions of years ago, the area was ocean floor which now makes it a very important prehistoric archeological site. Just another reason to enjoy Villa de Leyva.

We found a local hostel and on our first night we were welcomed with open arms by the Argentinian, Brazilian, and German guests. The hostel also had a large, black, half chow/half lab mix named Pepos that immediately took a liking to us. It was very clear to us that we would be in Villa for awhile. The surrounding area is loaded with hikes, museums, hot springs, waterfalls, and plenty of shops to keep Erin busy during our down time. We ventured out on several hikes, took a guided horseback ride to some natural pools, visited the hot springs, toured the local winery, and even spent a night watching the Colombian national team play against Peru in a full bar on the square. The Colombian fans were very generous with their face paint and the local shooter of choice, Aguardiente, to get us in the right state of mind for the soccer game. It was quite a party and Colombia came out on top 1-0 which led to a mass exodus of happy and drunk Colombians at the conclusion of the game.

After staying in Villa de Leyva for two weeks we had developed a pretty steady routine. We typically went on morning walks with Pepos. The afternoon usually involved some kind of outdoor hiking activity. And the nights were spent cooking in our hostel kitchen and spending time with the friendly staff and guests. Life in Villa de Leyva was as relaxed and comfortable as it gets. It was not an easy day when we decided we needed to move on to the next adventure. It did not help that Pepos tried following us to the bus terminal.

Our next destination was the capital city, Bogota. Due to a FARC car bombing that occurred in Bogota while we were in Cartagena, we decided not to spend too much time in the city. We did, however, decide to use CouchSurfing, an online social community that connects travelers with locals willing to host them for a night or two. Our host, Pedro Medina, was quite the unique character but harmless and friendly nonetheless. He runs a non profit organization that has really taken off called “Yo Creo en Colombia” which aims to restore national pride in Colombia. National pride has been damaged due to all of the negative press about the country.

Our first full day in Bogota Pedro had some work to handle so we walked around downtown Bogota on our own . Fortunately it happened to be a Sunday. Bogota (and several other South American cities) closes down many of their main roads on Sundays for families, bikers, walkers, joggers, rollerbladers, etc to get out and see the city and get some fresh air and exercise . Over one million people do this every Sunday in Bogota. Many people take a break to rest in the large squares where there are food and drink vendors, art exhibits, alpacas, live music…a little bit of everything. It was very neat to see simply because it was such a communal event. The following day we ventured out to Pedro’s eco-farm house called “La Minga”. It was impressive but still in the progress of being finished.

Pedro dropped us off at the bus terminal so we were able to catch the night bus to Medellin that same day. This night bus was not quite as roomy as the first but we managed to arrive in Medellin around 5:30 AM the next day. We had a few days to lay low and get rested up before our friend, Rob, was scheduled to arrive for his visit. Rob arrived right on time. Being in a very social hostel, there were also several other guests that we had befriended that were awaiting Rob’s arrival. His first night in town, Rob , Erin, and I- along with many other guys from the hostel- headed out for a night on the town. Medellin nightlife is known for late nights and lots of dancing. We had a great time but needed to catch up on some sleep the next day. We recovered and spent a few days exploring the city and mapping out our next moves. Rob and I both wanted to give paragliding a try. The experience was exhilarating! We each spent thirty minutes flying over Medellin and the surrounding mountains.

Another must-do tour that we decided on was the Pablo Escobar tour. We only had six total people on our tour which was nice and intimate. The tour took us around to three locations. The first was a building that was victim of a car bombing attack by a rival cartel; Pablo stored his sports car collection in this building. They later took us to his grave. The final stop was an escape house where Pablo’s brother, Roberto, still lives. Roberto was the number two guy on the CIA’s hit list when they were on the hunt for Pablo. Roberto was highly involved with the Medellin cartel; he was most responsible for running the books. After Pablo was shot down, Roberto turned himself in and was given eleven years for money laundering. While in prison, he received an assassination attempt from a rival cartel in the form of a letter bomb. The bomb blew up in his face but he survived it with only partial loss of site and hearing. It was very interesting to meet him and hear some of his stories. I asked him if he had any US Government officials on their payroll in Pablo’s day, fearing I was a journalist, he said yes but refused to give any detail.

The three of us wanted to spend one more night out on the town before getting out of the city and heading to a nearby tranquil lake town. The night was fun as always but the following morning we were ready to leave. We hopped the bus to Guatape, the high elevation lake town. The town itself is perhaps the most photogenic town we have been to ye t on the trip. It is painted with many bright colors and each building has its own 3D zocalos (themed bas-relief boards). A few days relaxing, fishing, and hiking in Guatape was a great way to wind down Rob’s trip. Following Guatape, we headed to Santa Fe de Antioquia, a white washed colonial town. There we enjoyed the street food, seeing the sites, and taking pictures of the well preserved old town.

We returned to the mountains outside of Medellin to stay one last night before Rob headed home and we flew out to Quito. Rob had a date that night with a gal he had met on one of his nights out. Erin and I laid low and soaked in as much information on Ecuador from fellow travelers that we could.

The following morning Rob left around sunrise and we headed to the airport a few hours later to catch our flight to Quito.

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