Wandering around Colombia

28. June - 03. July, Villa de Leyva

After we, Petra & Tobi, Pascal from Arequipa and Verena, Pascals' friend, met in Bogota to watch die football world cup we went on to Villa de Leyva. I'll write more about Bogota later.

Our plan was to see more of the countryside and to take a break from so much travelling. That's also why we didn't do much in Bogota.

Villa de Leyva turned out to be a tourist trap. There really isn't that much to do which, was fine by us but the landscape wasn't that exciting as well. Also the short trip there took 6h. We already needed 2h to get out of Bogota and the rest because the bus was trying to pick up as many passengers as possible... That's how it works in South America.

The only highlight was the market where we went to have lunch.

This region is famous for its "good" sausages. Ok, whatever you mean by good...

And as always there were envious folk around who stoically waited to get a piece of the sausage. There we three of them this time :)

Unfortunately I'd caught a cold due to the shitty weather in Bogota and it was getting worse by the day.

03. July - 06. July, Salento

After Villa de Leyva we wanted to see the coffee region to chill some more. So we took the bus back to Bogota. This time we invested a little bit more money and the trip only took 3.5h! Then we took the nightbus to Salento. Boy were these roads winding. Salento which, 2 or 3 years ago was almost unknown, is overrun by tourists by now! There are almost more Hostels and Hotels than houses for the locals.

One day we walked to a small coffee farm and took a tour to see how they operated.

It was really interesting but the local coffee is just too acidious for me.

The next day we all wanted to go to the Cocora Valley to see wax palms. All of us went except for me because I lay in bed with quite a cold :(

06. July - 11. July, Buenavista

Then our ways parted for a short time. Pascal and Verena wanted to stay in a eco hostel in Salento and the rest of us wanted to go to Buenavista to see another corner of the coffee region.

Buenavista is a nice quaint town with just one hostel and a restaurant. So there are only very few tourists to be found.

But there you see the typical taxus if that region :) Four people sit inside and three are standing on a footboard and hold on to the roof. This is travelling :D

Because I forgot to get cash in Salento and there was not ATM in Buenavista I was forced to go to Pijao. That's only 6km in a straight line, 12km by car and about one hour by bus. The reason being that the bus goes back to Rio Verde. There you have to change busses and drive up the other side of the mountain to Pijao. However, this turned out to be quite fortunate because Pijao is the favorite hideaway for the city folk from this region.

In the super market you can get everything you need around here. All kinds of Machetes for $4-5 so you can get your garden in shape :)

And a storage place for the local coffee. Here on the table is where they check the quality ;)

11. July - 14. July, San Agostin

After a few relaxing days in Buenavista we drove to San Agostin where we all met again. The area is famous for its archeological findings that go back to before 1000 B.C.

But also for its spectacular nature.

And Panela, a kind of cane sugar which is used for just about everything from drinks to sweets and to spice up food... On our tour we were able to visit a small Panela factory, great :)

Then our paths seperated once more. Pascal and Verena wanted to go see the desert and the rest of us went to Cali (#28 on the list of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world ;) But I'll tell you more another time.