Blogs from Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia, South America - page 2

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South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga July 20th 2010

After the rum and coke ridden hostels of the coast I was keen to get out of the backpacker scene and into peoples' houses. I was feeling jaded when I arrived in Colombia: six months of travelling was gradually ebbing away my energy. I easily found a CS host in my next stop, Bucaramanga. I stayed with Andres and his girlfriend Marta, who were very helpful and informative. I found that Bucaramanga doesn't have too much by way of regular sightseeing, which was just as well as I wasn't that way inclined. I preferred instead to soak in the culture, which my hosts dutifully obliged. They gave me detailed advice on surrounding attractions, Youtube tutorials on Colombian music, and walking tours of the city. I discovered that the city is surprisingly big at over 1.5 million ... read more
One of the main shopping streets
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Parque de los ninos

South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga June 7th 2010

Several weeks ago we spent a few days in the city of Bucaramanga. Bucaramanga originally was not on our agenda because we heard that it was just another big city with nothing special to see or do, so we skipped right over it on our way from San Gil to Taganga. However, I met a nice lady in Taganga who was from Bucaramanga and was somewhat offended that we didn't visit her city. So, she invited us to come stay with her and her family. She gave me not one, not two, but three phone numbers to contact her as well as an email address. While we were in Cartagena, Ryan and I talked it over and decided it might be a cool experience to go stay with a "host family" of sorts. So, our last ... read more
Video games with Felipe
Board games with the kids
Carnenza and empanadas

South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga March 3rd 2010

OK, I'm going to try to make this one brief, largely because there's not much to say. I woke up very aware of the fact that I still wasn't 100% sure how I was going to make the next leg of the journey. A flight was an option as was the bus. I guess if you were reading the last blog carefully, you'll realise that I took the bus...You'll find out why in a minute. As usual, breakfast at the hotel was delicious if entirely untraditional. Arepa, bread, scrambled eggs with sausage. Set me up well for the day. I wanted to get some shots of the hotel and the surrounding area so off I trotted with my camera, first around the hotel, and then the area where I was staying - Cabecera. As I was ... read more
Cabecera #1
Cabecera #2
Cabecera Street Vendors

South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga March 2nd 2010

There's no point trying to deny it - Sunday was all about recovering from the excesses of Friday and Saturday. The hotel where I'm staying is clean and comfortable, located in (what I'm told is) the best area in Bucaramanga and the staff are super-friendly. But one BIG gripe that I have with the place is that it's noisy - every morning I'm woken at around 6.30 by traffic and chattering in the restaurant, cleaning staff etc etc. It's really more due to the design of the building. My room looks out onto another room across the tiny atrium of the hotel. Two floors below is the restaurant, reception area, main entrance etc. The windows are single glazed and there is no escaping the noise first thing in the mornings - other than judicious use of ... read more
Giron Church
A lampost in Giron
More Giron

South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga February 28th 2010

As I start to write this, I just realised that (in the UK at least) it's just become March. Feels weird (for no reason, it's happened 38 times in my life already). It's almost springtime, guys. Not long to go. I really hope the weather cheers up for you soon. Yesterday (Saturday), I packed my bags and headed north to Bucaramanga. I've found that every place that I've been to so far in Colombia, I've wanted to stay just a bit longer than originally anticipated. In some cases, I've wanted to stay a lot longer. It's hard sometimes. You get a sense of feeling comfortable with a place and then you move on and start all over again. One of the great things about not having a fixed itinerary is the ability to be flexible. But ... read more

South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga January 1st 2010

Bucaramanga! A place I never thought I’d love… Ok, so as mentioned, I was a little nervous about landing Bucaramanga cause I hadn’t made any plans and I didn’t know anyone, and I wasn’t staying in a backpacker place where I could meet people, and well, Bucaramanga (a major city and commercial centre) is not really touristic at all. So why did I want to come here? Well, basically it was just a connection, to get out of beautiful San Gil, and away from my lovely family, and move on. I already had a plan. It was to stay in BC for like a day or two, just to see since I was already there, then take a 2 hour bus ride over to my good friend Luis’s place back in Barancabermeja (if you remember way ... read more
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South America » Colombia » Santander » Bucaramanga April 16th 2009

Ok, Chantal, here it goes, although I cannot promise anything. You see, my so-called passive life leaves me no choice but spend days with little going on in my life. As usual, you, my friend, are absolutely right and I must write some lines about that very little... well, these days we or should I say, they, are celebrating the Holy Week. What a sinner I am... But before, some of the background... Contrary to your multicultural societies, we Colombians grow Roman catholic, not much choice there, though :) and due to the Spanish evangelisation in South America, most countries are big in this week's celebration. The event goes from the Palm Sunday to the Easter Sunday, whose spotlights are Christ's cruxifiction and his return from death. Therefore, these days, which are an opportunity for catholics ... read more
People getting ready for the procession
And this was part of my 7 potajes
As Jesus had some wine in the last supper, we had to do it too




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