My blog seems to be synced to the Olympic calendar, an entry comes out once every 4 years :-) Although I've been meaning to document all the places we've visited in the last few years, I feel an extra ounce of enthusiasm to share our story from our latest trip to Colombia. I am not sure why. May be it's the crazy culture, or its violent past, or the happy and welcoming people, or perhaps it's just the aguardiente :-).. whatever it is, Colombia seems to touch those who visit on a deeper level than any other destination, and even the most seasoned globetrotting backpackers tend to agree. Personally, I felt the travel equivalent of tasting something and instantly being transported to my childhood at my mom's kitchen! It really evoked a lot of nostalgic feelings which I doubt I can revive even if I go home to India these days.
Although 10 days is far too short to even scratch the surface of a vast country like Colombia, we managed to cover a lot of ground with our whirlwind schedule. Here's our photo journal, hope you enjoy it -
2. Salento & Tejo: The place has the potential to reset your soul! Talk about a simpler way of life.. Valle de Cocora is a magical place that cannot be captured on camera. The game of Tejo, however tame it has become nowadays, is still a hoot!
3. Rumba en Chiva: Touristy, tacky, and a bus load of all night fun! Comparable to the Indian Nautanki or Villupaattu, except on a bus that goes around town all night! Not for those who are keen on retaining their hearing faculty intact :-) I discovered vallenato music thanks to this.
4. Medellin's Metrocable: Truly awe inspiring and a great testament to the city's turnaround from violence.
5. Walled city of Cartagena: If you look past the touristy facade and the oppressive heat, the fascinating history is all too easy to visualize in this colonial maze.
6. Food & drink: We are not foodies, but I already miss the fruit juice stalls and the delicious street food! Our guide for the bike tour in Bogota was this bubbly 17yr old kid named Fernando, and he kept humming this song called "Guanabana Guanabana", which apparently his uncle composed in honor of his favorite fruit, and it's stuck in my head now! Guanabana guanabana.. aah ah.. guanabana..
2. Itinerary: Best option is to fly into Bogota and fly out of Cartagena or vice versa, but flying in and out of Bogota if you can find a better deal is not too bad either. We did the latter and followed a 10-day anti-clockwise circuit: Bogota(2days)+Cartagena(3days)+Medellin(2days)+Coffee Zone/Salento(3days). Some people recommend a clockwise loop but I personally would keep the coffee zone for last as it tends to raise the bar too high for the rest to match :-) Salento is a special place, we were glad we gave it 3 days. In retrospect, we think 2 days is more than enough for Cartagena, the extra time can be better spent in Santa Marta/Tayrona, or visiting a volcano in Manizales (check current conditions).
3. Vegetarian/gluten-free food: Not an issue, despite popular opinion. The key is to skip fancy restaurants and stick to street food and local cuisine. Rice, corn, beans, vegetables and fruits are staple food in Colombia. Ask for "Almojabana" in any cafe, a cheese bun made from corn flour. Try the freshly made arepas sold in pushcart stalls, the yummiest corn pancake you'll ever have. Also try "Patacones", which is a hard taco-like thingy made out of green plantain - delicious when topped with veggies of your choice and cheese. And do not miss "Agua de panela con queso", which is jaggery water served hot with a slice of fresh cheese (Tamil folks, think hot panagam!). I was told it'll be hard to find rice without meat mixed in. Wrong, just ask for arroz blanco. And colombia has the world's widest variety of fruits. Do not miss "Jugo de Guanabana", which is the stink-free variety of Durian - Ruchi wouldn't respect any other fruit after that :-).
4. Safety: We didn't encounter any trouble, but we were generally careful due to excessive warnings in guidebooks. Touristy neighborhoods tend to see more crime, and it's generally advisable for visitors not to walk alone at night in big cities. The only place we felt a little paranoid was in Medellin where the hostal we stayed at, Tiger Paw in El Poblado, despite being located in one of the busiest and most touristy neighborhoods of the city, had gotten robbed at gunpoint 2 weeks before our visit. We rationalized that the bad guys won't pick the same place twice and stayed there anyway :-). In general, Colombia suffers an unfair reputation as an unsafe destination due to poor media portrayal. All the violence is history now and the government is doing a pretty amazing job of maintaining peace. Tourism is on the rise and I have no doubt it'll be one of the top rated destinations in the near future. Do visit before mass tourism discovers Colombia, it has already begun!
5. Weather: We visited in mid June, which is supposed to be rainy season. But we got lucky on the weather front with sunny skies most of the time everywhere we visited. However, even if it rains it does so only in short bursts in most places and it clears up soon after. We were told bus journeys tend to get really cold, but we didn't think so. Cartagena and the carribean coast can get really hot and humid. Otherwise, we found the weather to be pleasantly tropical most of the time.
That's it folks! Hope this was interesting if not useful info. Feel free to ping me if you plan to visit Colombia. Do check the photos out and share your comments. Viva Colombia!
Some memorable highlights:
1. Ooilees/jeeps: It's great fun to travel by one, especially hanging onto your dear life on its back! Ooilee is how I spell it based on how the locals say it, but it's actually "Willys", a name on the logo :-) This took me back to many years ago when I first visited Allahabad in India with my parents, the locals kept telling us to wait for Vikram, who will take us wherever we needed to go. We were waiting for a guy named Vikram, but turned out that Vikram was just the brand name of the tuktuk (or futfutee as we call it there). Amazing similarities across cultures half a globe apart!2. Salento & Tejo: The place has the potential to reset your soul! Talk about a simpler way of life.. Valle de Cocora is a magical place that cannot be captured on camera. The game of Tejo, however tame it has become nowadays, is still a hoot!
3. Rumba en Chiva: Touristy, tacky, and a bus load of all night fun! Comparable to the Indian Nautanki or Villupaattu, except on a bus that goes around town all night! Not for those who are keen on retaining their hearing faculty intact :-) I discovered vallenato music thanks to this.
4. Medellin's Metrocable: Truly awe inspiring and a great testament to the city's turnaround from violence.
5. Walled city of Cartagena: If you look past the touristy facade and the oppressive heat, the fascinating history is all too easy to visualize in this colonial maze.
6. Food & drink: We are not foodies, but I already miss the fruit juice stalls and the delicious street food! Our guide for the bike tour in Bogota was this bubbly 17yr old kid named Fernando, and he kept humming this song called "Guanabana Guanabana", which apparently his uncle composed in honor of his favorite fruit, and it's stuck in my head now! Guanabana guanabana.. aah ah.. guanabana..
Practical info for future travelers:
1. Visitor visa: Indian citizens need one, but it is super easy. Took us all of 10 minutes at the consulate in San Francisco. Citizens of most countries don't need one. If you are like us, originally from India but settled elsewhere for many years and hence are not sure how to respond to a Colombian's question, "Where are you from?", just say India and watch their face light up and go "De la eendia!!". We are exotic creatures still, see last point in #4 below :-)2. Itinerary: Best option is to fly into Bogota and fly out of Cartagena or vice versa, but flying in and out of Bogota if you can find a better deal is not too bad either. We did the latter and followed a 10-day anti-clockwise circuit: Bogota(2days)+Cartagena(3days)+Medellin(2days)+Coffee Zone/Salento(3days). Some people recommend a clockwise loop but I personally would keep the coffee zone for last as it tends to raise the bar too high for the rest to match :-) Salento is a special place, we were glad we gave it 3 days. In retrospect, we think 2 days is more than enough for Cartagena, the extra time can be better spent in Santa Marta/Tayrona, or visiting a volcano in Manizales (check current conditions).
3. Vegetarian/gluten-free food: Not an issue, despite popular opinion. The key is to skip fancy restaurants and stick to street food and local cuisine. Rice, corn, beans, vegetables and fruits are staple food in Colombia. Ask for "Almojabana" in any cafe, a cheese bun made from corn flour. Try the freshly made arepas sold in pushcart stalls, the yummiest corn pancake you'll ever have. Also try "Patacones", which is a hard taco-like thingy made out of green plantain - delicious when topped with veggies of your choice and cheese. And do not miss "Agua de panela con queso", which is jaggery water served hot with a slice of fresh cheese (Tamil folks, think hot panagam!). I was told it'll be hard to find rice without meat mixed in. Wrong, just ask for arroz blanco. And colombia has the world's widest variety of fruits. Do not miss "Jugo de Guanabana", which is the stink-free variety of Durian - Ruchi wouldn't respect any other fruit after that :-).
4. Safety: We didn't encounter any trouble, but we were generally careful due to excessive warnings in guidebooks. Touristy neighborhoods tend to see more crime, and it's generally advisable for visitors not to walk alone at night in big cities. The only place we felt a little paranoid was in Medellin where the hostal we stayed at, Tiger Paw in El Poblado, despite being located in one of the busiest and most touristy neighborhoods of the city, had gotten robbed at gunpoint 2 weeks before our visit. We rationalized that the bad guys won't pick the same place twice and stayed there anyway :-). In general, Colombia suffers an unfair reputation as an unsafe destination due to poor media portrayal. All the violence is history now and the government is doing a pretty amazing job of maintaining peace. Tourism is on the rise and I have no doubt it'll be one of the top rated destinations in the near future. Do visit before mass tourism discovers Colombia, it has already begun!
5. Weather: We visited in mid June, which is supposed to be rainy season. But we got lucky on the weather front with sunny skies most of the time everywhere we visited. However, even if it rains it does so only in short bursts in most places and it clears up soon after. We were told bus journeys tend to get really cold, but we didn't think so. Cartagena and the carribean coast can get really hot and humid. Otherwise, we found the weather to be pleasantly tropical most of the time.
That's it folks! Hope this was interesting if not useful info. Feel free to ping me if you plan to visit Colombia. Do check the photos out and share your comments. Viva Colombia!
