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Published: March 31st 2008
Right, after a 3 hour drive and a dozen military checks in Venezuela we finally got to border. It was easy enough to get through...pay $16 exit fee, walk to different place to receive exit stamp, cross border by foot, being asked some question by Colombian border officials and then getting passport stamped. Not bad at all. We went straight to Santa Marta to watch the Oscars but the hotel (bloody expensive btw) didn't have electricity but it came back in time and the evening was saved 😊
After that we were pretty much hanging out for a week in Taganga, close to Santa Marta. We stayed in Casa de Felipe, lovely place but boiling hot and mosquitoe infested. Great place to meet people though and there was some drinking and party going on every day. Taganga has a lovely beach around 15 minutes walk from the town. There are lots of stalls around that grill a fish freshly for you and it is delicous and so cheap, $5 for a whole, huge fish! Also they have numerous fruit stalls around the town that make delicious fruit smoothies and juices for you for only $1. I know that I'll miss that
when we leave Colombia.
We couldn't really do any hiking, too hot, so I decided to do some more diving. The reef around Taganga is quite good and I really enjoyed the dives. Ed was just doing some more chilling out for the 3 days! A week later we finally managed to get of our butts and go to Cartagena. The old town is really beautiful but the heat was killing us and we couldn't really enjoy it that much so after 3 night we fled to Medellin!
We stayed in Casa Kiwi, a bit pricy but really good fun. Great people and we had some really good cooks there that insisted on making food for us 😉 2 Israeli boys were preparing the best BBQ in the world on our last day, I didn't want to leave! Apart from partying, we didn't do much in Medellin. We pretty much stayed in the hostel for most of the time. In all fairness, it was lashing rain and we didn't fancy getting wet.
After 5 nights we moved on to Bogota with an english/kenyan couple (Ian and Erica). The weather wasn't any better but we found a nice hotel in La
Candelaria, the old part of town. The first glimpse of Bogota wasn't that great and I was thinking about moving on quickly.
Ed moved on to San Gil after 2 nights and I was supposed to head to San Agustin but I was too lazy and decided to stay in Bogota.
I have to say, Bogota is an amazing city. The old town is very beautiful with all the little bars and cafes scattered around. There's a good bit to see as well, my favourites being the Botero museum and the police museum. The police museum is actually the police station and they do guided tours, telling you about the history of the Colombian police and the capture of Pablo Escobar. Very interesting but very bizarre at the same time.
After about a week Ed and I met up again and went to Cali which doesn't really need to be mentioned and then a few days after we went to cross the border to Ecuador.
That's it for now folks...Enjoy
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Cynthia
non-member comment
Amazing photos
I was so intrigued by your photos on this leg - the "cakes" (where can I get me one of those :-) ), scary statues - very fascinating! But what is this that you split your trip for a bit? I always wanted to travel a bit on my own - I'm glad you had the courage to decide to do what you each wanted to do, even if it meant separating for a bit. Love your blog - keep it coming - and hope you are enjoying your travels. (Hope's the Spanish coming along?) -Cynthia