shoefry

After five incredible days in Jardin we didn’t want to go, but we knew we had to move on at some point. Although we were sad to leave, we were comforted by the fact that every traveler we had met had talked up Salento, our next destination. People had stayed for a week or more and loved every second of it. We had heard nothing but rave reviews for the town, so we figured it would be just as great of an experience as Jardin was. This made leaving Jardin a little less bittersweet.

After eight hours and three buses (four buses if you count the one that broke down), we stepped out on to Salento’s main square, and we were, well, underwhelmed.

First of all, the square was under construction. Ripped up concrete and the sounds of jackhammering (common throughout Colombia) didn’t add to its appeal. Even without the construction, the square and town was nowhere near as adorable as in Jardin. Within 30 seconds of getting off the bus we were asked for money and then pressured to switch hostels by someone else. We hadn’t experienced this anywhere else in Colombia and it caught us a bit off guard. Finally, as we looked around the square, we saw Gringos everywhere we turned. At this point, we kind of gave each other a look that said, “Why did we leave Jardin?” I swear, if it hadn’t been so far and difficult to get back there, we would have jumped on a bus immediately.

Fortunately, after spending some time there, and readjusting our expectations, Salento grew on us.

Instead of your typical taxis, Salento has Willys Jeeps to navigate the many dirt roads around the town. Since we had the backpacks, we splurged and took one to our hostel which was a few kilometers outside of town. It was a fun and bumpy ride.

A fun way to get around

We stayed at an amazing hostel, La Serrana, that was actually a little eco-farm. The views were outstanding and the hostel was so relaxing, that just hanging around seemed like a great use of time. All the people at the hostel were great, and one night we all chipped in and created a fabulous Mexican dinner.

View from La Serrana

One evening, Joe and I climbed the 240-something steps to a “mirador” over the town. The sunset just keep getting better and better with time.

Salento Sunset

Once the weekend came, Colombians came from the surrounding areas to Salento and it went from a sleepy town filled with Gringos, to a fiesta-like atmosphere with people everywhere and music bumping.

Construction stopped in the square and a wide variety of food tents were set up. One night, we tried a local specialty which was kind of like trout fondue. Basically it was trout, other seafood, and mushrooms, smothered in cheese, cheese, and more cheese. We got a huge thin plantain chip to eat it with. It was delicious, but one was enough!

Cheesy Goodness

With Colombian elections coming up in a few weeks, we have been bombarded by election information everywhere we turn. There are posters, banners, painted houses, flyers, t-shirts, songs blared from cars, and countless other methods of promotion.

As we were finishing our cheesy trout, a commotion started in the square. Of course, we had to check it out, and it turned out to be a parade for Juan Miguel, a candidate for Assembly. It was amusing to watch the enthusiastic parade go by, and we even got a thumbs up from Juan Miguel himself. Joe kept trying to remind Kristen that political events are what we should be avoiding, but it was all good-natured, and felt safe.

Juan, you got my vote!

In Salento, we were most looking forward to exploring the Valle de Cocora, a green lush valley filled with very tall wax palm trees. To avoid the seemingly regular afternoon rain, we got up pretty early and headed over to explore.

After a 30 minute jeep ride, we started hiking and were instantly mesmerized by the numerous greens and insanely high trees. We kept singing the Jurassic Park theme song to ourselves.

In-n-Out's palm trees got nothin' on these

Kristen's favorite picture, but Joe thinks the cow's face looks like Darth Maul

Can you find Joe? Told you these trees were huge!

In an attempt to take a shortcut, we got somewhat off of our desired path. After trudging up a steep hill for an hour (literally, over the mountain we were trying to avoid), we found the trail we planned to take originally.

Once we finished hiking up the right trail, we were treated to great views with clouds rolling in and the most robust hummingbirds we had ever seen.

Watching the clouds roll in

HUGE hummingbird

Since it looked like rain was rapidly approaching, we decided to take the easy way back (a.k.a. the way we should have come up). The clouds would quickly roll in and out providing a different look to the trees.

Spooky Trees

Hanging out under the trees

We timed it perfectly, because it started to lightly rain as we were finishing the hike. When we returned to the start of the trail, we arrived to a typical Colombian Sunday afternoon party. Music was playing, people were eating and drinking, and the Colombian soldiers (with machine guns still on their backs) were in charge of painting a Colombian flag on everyone’s face. I guess that’s a part of basic training around here. Everyone was having a great time, as usual.

On our final morning in Salento, we got up REALLY EARLY (4:30 am) to try our hand at milking the cows. We weren’t very good at it, but the farmer was really patient and encouraging.  We were only able to do about 1/20th of what the farmer did, but it gave Joe some satisfaction as he added milk to his coffee later that morning.

Farmer Joe

Luckily, we were treated to a great sunrise after we finished.

We are up way too early!

Overall, Salento ended up being a pretty decent stop. We learned not to build a place up too much before arriving, and then to give it a chance once you get there. This is a good lesson to learn for our future travels.

On to Buga, and to what everyone has said is the BEST beer and pizza in all of Colombia!

Oh dear, we’re doing it again.

For those of you who have traveled with me, know how jam-packed our itineraries can be. It’s normally two nights here, one night here, and go, go, go. It’s because I feel a need to cram EVERYTHING in to the small amount of time we have. Often, I physically cannot even sleep because I am so excited about all the amazing things to see and do.

Oh, I have tried to be more relaxed and abandon my precious trip plan spreadsheet before. It has never worked. When we went to Eastern Europe, we had 28 of our 30 nights booked before we ever left The States. Even this last December, when we went to Nicaragua, we said, “Let’s just play it by ear and not book anything,” but ended up going with every single night already booked.

Now, there are inherent benefits to this system. I always know where we’re going and how to get there. We always get to stay in our first choice of hostel/hotel. I know exactly what to see and do at each stop and we see a lot in a relatively short amount of time.

But there is one blaring flaw: we usually don’t have the flexibility to change plans when a new opportunity presents itself.

Fortunately for this trip, we have such a large block of traveling time that plans can now easily change at a moment’s notice. And that’s how we ended up at “The Farm.”

While at the 3 Cordilleras Brewery with Tatiana and Dave, they continued to ask if we wanted to join them at Tatiana’s Grandma’s farm for the weekend. We had turned down this offer a few times previously because we didn’t want to intrude. But after showing us some pictures of the farm and insisting we were welcome, we finally consented. And we are so glad that we did.

The farm was located a little over an hour outside of Medellin. It took two buses and a half hour uphill walk to get there. Thankfully, we were with Tatiana and Dave because we would have never found it on our own.

The property and views were amazing! Calling this place a farm doesn’t really do it justice. It is more like a quiet weekend house in the country with a horse that wanders around.

Converted Stables (in yellow) and Main House

Great views everywhere you turn

Just sitting around and taking it all in was a great use of time. We spent a good deal of time just hanging outside and playing games. It was perfect.

After we arrived and settled in, we hiked uphill to a great little swimming hole. It was pretty cold, but it felt refreshing after the hot and sweaty hike.

Swimmin' Hole

Feeling recharged, we continued marching uphill to one of the Panela factories. Panela is a sweetener made from sugar cane. It basically looks like a loaf of hardened brown sugar and Colombians use it to sweeten their coffee and other items.

When we got to the first “factory” (it looked just like someone’s house), we were disappointed to find out that their oven was broken. They directed us uphill (noticing a trend?) to another factory that was making panela that day.

We knew we had arrived when we found a house that looked like a giant steaming tea kettle and the air smelled strangely sweet.

Should we be concerned?

We were graciously invited in by a sweet lady who was ecstatic to show foreigners around her factory. She took us around and explained how the whole process worked. We understood the general idea, and Dave and Tatiana filled us in on the details.

First, a huge waterwheel powered by the river, squeezes the juice from the sugar cane.

Water Wheel

Then the juice (called “guarapo”) is filtered for some time. They insisted we try the fresh juice. While it didn’t look visually appealing, it actually tasted pretty good.

Guarapo: better than it looks

The juice is then boiled for hours at an insanely high temperature and slowly thickens up as it is transferred from pot to pot.

Boiling away...

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

The whole process is very efficient because they used the dried cane to power the fire. They even offered to let us feed some dried cane to the burning hot incinerator, but we politely declined. Best to leave that to the professionals.

Once it has thickened up enough, it is transferred to a large vat where it is stirred and cooled. When it had cooled to a carmelly/taffy stage, they gave us some to try. It was delish and tasted not quite like anything we’d ever had before.

Joe enjoying the warm panela

Once cooled enough, it is placed into different size molds to finish hardening and become the final product sold in stores.

Cooling Vat and Final Product (left)

We stood around in the boiling room for a while, trying not to get in the way, and we were so impressed by the whole process. We were lucky to find a factory that was actually producing because later we found out that they only produce panela every 14^th day. Our “tour” was very authentic and much better than anything we were anticipating.

We tried to buy some panela from them before we left, but they gave it to us and wouldn’t accept payment for it. They invited us back anytime, and we started the trek downhill (yea!) in a sugar stupor.

Everyone was unbelievably welcoming at the factory and it was an experience we would have never had if we hadn’t changed our plans and gone to the farm.

Perfect for hanging out at the farm: Why would we ever want to leave?

The rest of the farm experience was super relaxed. Tatiana made sure we were well fed, and then when her family showed up, they REALLY made sure we were well fed. I’m sure we’ve gained back any weight we’ve lost on this trip during that one weekend.

Tatiana’s family was very gracious and we got the opportunity to further practice our Spanish with them. When Sunday came, we hated to go, but we knew that Jardin was calling. With heavy hearts (and stomachs), we expressed our gratitude and said our goodbyes. We hope to one day return the favor and show Tatiana and Dave around Colorado sometime!

As I continue to learn the benefits of traveling wherever the wind takes you (I am getting my spreadsheet fix through keeping track our finances), we both are looking forward to future unforeseen adventures throughout South America.

When one conjures up thoughts of Medellin, it is usually something about Pablo Escobar, drugs, or murder (or a combination of all three).  Fortunately for us and other eager travelers, there is much more to see and do in this city that has really cleaned up its act in recent years.  Granted, this doesn’t mean that you can go wherever you want, whenever you want and not worry, but as long as you use common sense (stay out of the rough neighborhoods and be careful at night) you should be fine.

And if you are really interested in the whole Pablo Escobar thing, there are tours for that too, including one where you meet his brother, but we didn’t take part in that. Seeing as we don’t even really have a guidebook for Colombia, we took all our Medellin travel advice from Tatiana (a Medellin native) and her husband Dave.

One morning, we took the famed Metro to Downtown.  Nestled in the city center is the wonderful Parque Berrio with many of Fernando Botero’s famous sculptures on display. Botero, being from Medellin, donated many works of art to this park and the nearby Museo de Antioquia.

Botero has a very unique style, and even if you aren’t “arty,” once you see his work, you will be able to pick a Botero out of a crowd quickly.

Botero sculpture

High-Five to Botero!

Some would say that Botero like to depict “fat” people, but he probably preferred them to be called voluptuous or proportionally exaggerated.

Anyway you slice it, Huff’s cats would make great models for Botero.

This sculpture would make Ollie (Huff's cat) feel the need to eat more

After exploring the park area, we tried to get in to the Museo de Antioquia. It was like a Three Stooges routine as there were no signs and we tried entering the museum in the wrong place three different times. Each time we were given new directions, but I guess our Spanish hasn’t improved as much as we thought. Finally, one girl in the gift shop took pity on us and took us to the other gift shop, where there still wasn’t a sign about tickets, but we were finally able to buy some.  Not sure how we were supposed to figure that out.

Once inside, it was quite pleasant to explore. There was a very specific “route” to follow and we were directed from room to room by the friendly curators. The museum highlighted many different Colombian artists and had many amazing pieces from a variety of time periods.  Kristen was amused by how Simon Bolivar’s eyebrows were depicted in the exact same manner in every one of his portraits.

The museum also had a large modern art section which, for the most part was interesting, but Joe is still questioning the umbrella hanging from the ceiling.  Just not sure if it was art or just someone’s umbrella hanging to dry. I guess we’re just not in to modern art.

The top floor was the main attraction, as it was dedicated to Botero’s paintings and smaller sculptures.  He has donated so many of his works to the museum, that they had to find a larger space to hold them all.

The pictures don't do this justice- these are like 8 feet tall

The death of Medellin's most famous resident (sorry for the low lighting no flash allowed)

The following day we again braved the dangers of Medellin to explore the botanical gardens.  The only truly frightening thing about this garden was the price: free. Seriously, who is going to pay this price just to look at plants?

The gardens were loaded with many amazing flowers, trees, wildlife, and even a butterfly house.

Beautiful Orchids

Iguana chilling

Huge Butterflies

The gardens had very few gringos (like we seemed to be the only ones), but there were many school-aged kids on field trips.  And as it turns out, we were much more interesting than the wildlife or plants.  They were so amazed that we were speaking English, and some tried to impresses us with what they knew (hi, how are you, and some other select lines learned from American movies). A few younger kids we met at the butterfly house were brave enough to ask us how to say things in English. I was glad I knew the basics (nose, door, window), and could actually answer!

At one point while we were strolling, we were followed by two girls, very closely, just so they could listen to us speak in English.  It was a bit weird to have some one follow you step-for-step only two feet behind you. Luckily, Joe felt he could take on these two pre-teen girls if it came down to it, but fortunately, it didn’t.

Our favorite orchid

Medellin was really a spectacular unexpected stop for us, from the comfortable Yellow House Hostel with their two big friendly dogs, to the people, to the botanical garden.  We had a great time hanging out with our new friends and enjoying what Colombia has to offer.

Speaking of offerings, we located a real, no kidding brewery, called Tres Cordilleres. They had amazing beers, and their tasting and tour was such an unbelievable deal. Breweries in Fort Collins, take note! There will be much more information about our first brewery experience on Joe’s upcoming Chips and Beer review. Stay tuned!

US: “No, I think we’ll skip Medellin. We’re not big city people really, and we already went to Bogotá.”

EVERYONE WE EVER SAID THIS TO: “Oh no, you really should go to Medellin. They have a great metro system.”

Whenever we heard this, we didn’t quite know how to respond. What’s so great about a Metro? We weren’t quite sure that Medellin’s could possibly be so amazing, that it would warrant a special trip.

Eventually we were convinced to head to Medellin by our new friend Tatiana, who thought it was inconceivable that we would miss out on what her hometown had to offer. She promised that we would be amazed by more than just the Metro and that the city was actually much safer than its reputation (past and present) would have you believe.

Having spent a few days in Medellin, we are on the bandwagon too. We are now singing the praises of their Metro to anyone who will listen.

A trip across town on the train took just twenty minutes and cost only one dollar per person. To travel that great of a distance, in such a short period of time, in a city where more than two million Colombians call home, was astonishing.

The other mind-blowing part about this transportation system is that we did not see a single speck of trash or graffiti on any of our trips.  We always saw people mopping and even scrubbing out trash cans. (Mom, they went way above and beyond your standards. You would have been impressed.) It was so clean, I could have eaten off the floor had they allowed food or drink inside the stations or the cars.

Waiting for a train - loving the dorky shoes and socks

It is obvious that they are extremely proud of their system, and we would often see or hear reminders about appropriate behavior while riding. (“In the stations, walking is better than running!”) There were always police officers present so we always felt safe and secure, even though most them looked to be about 16.

But that is not all, folks. To include more of the Medellin population, especially those in the poorer neighborhoods on the steep surrounding hills, they decided to connect the Metro trains with the “Metro Cable.” In other words, for the skiers among us, they connected the trains with a gondola system.

To fill one of our days in Medellin, we decided to ride gondola to admire the amazing views and just for the thrill of the ride. For only one dollar per person, we rode the train across town and then boarded the gondola with locals who didn’t seem quite as enthused as we were. As we were peacefully lifted from the city center to the upper reaches of the hills, Joe was left asking himself where all the ski slopes were.

One of the Metro Cable lines

Medellin from another Metro Cable line

This ten minute ride, with ever-growing views of the city, was met by another gondola (this one cost about $2) which headed to Medellin’s Arvi park. Our initial thought was that this park would simply be a small overlook with some benches to enjoy the view. After we keep riding for 20 minutes over the hill and through forests, we eventually arrived at something much different.

Using our steadily improving Spanish, we learned that the park was huge and offered many long hikes, campgrounds, horseback riding, and restaurants to enjoy. Needless to say we were less than prepared for this adventure, and didn’t have much time, so we just walked around for a little bit and got some food.

It was nice to see that with a few bucks and a nice ride you could escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy nature.

Who are those two locals riding the gondola?

This interconnected system is the most unique we have ever seen or ridden on. The stark comparison between the racing busses in Bogotá (Yes, some would race each other to get passengers), and the organized system in Medellin is amazing. In addition to the organization, there were far fewer exhaust-spewing busses revving their engines trying to run you over.

The metro system was wonderful to use and Medellin did a great job implementing their vision. Soon, they are going to add dedicated bus routes from the Metro stops to further increase its usability.

Don’t worry, although we are easily amused, there was plenty more to see and do in Medellin. You’ll hear about that another day.

After a wonderful overnight bus from Bogotá (meaning we actually got sleep and got in at a normal hour) we arrived in the magical and wonderful town of Guatape.  Being so close to Medellin, this area hasn’t always been safe enough for tourists, but we are happy to report that it felt perfectly safe. Now Guatape is a happening weekend destination for those living in Medellin.

Guatape and the land around it was transformed in the early 70’s when the valley was flooded to run a hydroelectric station, which now provides Colombia with about thirty percent of their power. Now the lake flows beautifully through the landscape, and it is difficult to imagine these islands once being simply hilltops.

Not to be outdone by the lake, the region also has a large rock similar to Sugarloaf in Rio de Janeiro.  We were lucky that our hostel was positioned in such a way to take advantage of the beautiful lake, amazing rock, and colorful town, and that may have been what convinced us to stay a few extra days.

View from hostel patio - we spent lots of time in the hammock

The town of Guatape would be just another typical Colombian pueblo, but they “kick it up a notch” with the colorful buildings and unique reliefs found throughout the town. It was entertaining enough just to wander through town and admire the picturesque streets.

Guatape Street

Normally Joe gets mad when I make comparisons to Disneyland, but being a Southern California girl, it seems to always be my normal point of reference. (C’mon, the drive to Estes Park totally looks like Thunder Mountain!) Well, this town was so picture perfect with its colorful houses, cobblestone streets, lanterns, and hanging flower baskets, that I really couldn’t resist making the comparison, and this time Joe totally agreed.

This just screamed Disneyland

Not to be outdone by the structures, most of their moto-chivas (tuk-tuks) were intricately painted as well. I swear, the paint store owner in this town must be loaded.

He must get a lot of chicks

We were told that the reliefs and paintings started in the town to help indicate what the person specialized in or what the store sold.

Maybe Joe could have gotten keyboard lessons here?

Everyday on the walk in to town, we saw quite a few people hard at work painting. With the outstanding amount of painting to be done in the town, we are assuming it is like the saying about the Golden Gate Bridge, and once they finish the whole town, it’s time to start again on the other side.

Just your everyday house in Guatape

The sight of La Piedra or El Penol, the Sugarloaf-like rock, teased us from afar so one day we set off to ascend it.  The concrete stairs are stitched into a crack, they even have one set for up and one for down.   We climbed the 644 stairs to reach the top (at just over 7000 feet elevation) and enjoy the view.

Looking up at El Penol

It was amazing to see how the lake formed into the valleys and created such an amazing landscape.  We sat enjoying the view for a couple hours and we day dreamed about owning one of the beautiful homes on the lake.

Just a bit of the incredible 360 degree view from the top

Kristen on top of La Piedra

My favorite story regarding this rock is about its disputed ownership. This monument is between Guatape and El Penol, and they have long fought over which town can really claim the rock as their own. Guatape set out to settle the matter like a first-grader: by painting their name on it. However, they were only able to finish the G and part of the U, before El Penol put a stop to it. So now the rock has what looks like a huge GI on it.

GI: How else would you claim it?

Whenever we’re near water, Joe starts itching for an opportunity to take a boat out. After some serious discussion with Kristen, we decided that Joe might be able to handle the challenges of a paddle boat.  With our broken Spanish, we negotiated a deal and off we went for a one hour tour of the lake near Guatape.

On the high seas

This type of water craft was taxing on Joe’s skills, but we made it back to dry land safely. The view of the town humming with tourists from Medellin and La Piedra in the background, made the trip extra enjoyable.

The island Kristen tried to maroon Joe on

Guatape turned out to be a great place to relax and talk to fellow travelers, which is also part of the reason why we spent a few extra days there.  We spent many nights sitting on the hostel’s patio trading stories and discovering more places to visit.  The patio had such an amazing view that just sitting and taking it all in seemed like a good use of a day.

One more view from the hostel

Thanks to our new friends, Dave from Chicago, and Tatiana from Medellin, we have changed our course and are headed for Tatiana’s hometown. She promises that we won’t regret it! We’re excited to see Colombia through the eyes of a local.

To escape the hustle and bustle of the big city we headed to the small town of Zipaquira to take a tour of the famous salt cathedral.  Just getting there was part of the adventure and excitement.  Being in a big city of over eight million, travelling from one side of the city to the other was a big enough challenge.  We first had to figure out which of the seemingly hundreds of busses we needed.  Then, we had to travel across town in a small city bus, driven like an Indy car, to the larger bus terminal.  After all that, is was a nice one hour ride to… you guessed it… another small colonial town (Zipaquira).

Zipaquira fits the mold nicely for colonial town: attractive buildings, a nice town square, huge church, and friendly people.  This time, however, we were not searching for the allure of a Colombian colonial town, we were looking for the tunnels and sculptures of a church built inside of a salt mine.

Zipaquira town square

The salt mines were very impressive, and we had to walk about one kilometer underground to reach the famous cathedral.  Along the path to the cathedral, the old mine caverns had been turned into the stations of the cross.  The cathedral and stations of cross were originally designed by the miners, but have now become a tourist attraction.

The original chapel created by the miners has been destroyed due to poor mining techniques and water ingress.  Makes you kind of wonder about the rest of the mine’s integrity, but we threw caution to the wind and continued on.

One of the stations

Once you arrive at the bottom of the mine you are treated to the main attraction…  the cathedral.  It is said to be able to hold 1,500 people and at nearly 200 meters underground, it is a truly amazing site.  They claim they cross in the cathedral is largest underground cross in the world.  From a distance, it appears to be a large stone cross, but on closer inspection, it is an optical illusion, and is actually dug into the wall.  The whole area was lit up with beautiful and vibrant colors.

Salt Cathedral

Reflection Pool

To continue in the mine adventure we opted for the “more adventrous” tour, to see how the salt is mined.  Donning our helmet and minning lights we joined 35 other adventrous souls for the tour into the depths of the mine.  We learned about how the salt is mined and Kristen even got a chance to do some work.

Kristen paying for the tour

This trip was not nearly as breathtaking as the caving trip in Vaca caves, but it turned out to be educational (and a chance to practice our Spanish comprehension).  After exiting the cave, we took a quick tour to learn how salt is extracted from the rock, and then we headed back to Bogota.

We took the same one hour ride back into Bogota and then we discovered Bogota’s amazing public transportation.  Similar to the subway, this bus system ran above ground and only had designated stops and ran in its own designated lane.  Turned out not to be as exciting as the Indy bus driver, but was more comfortable and quicker.

Guatape (and countryside) here we come…