Colombia...the only risk is wanting to stay....so they say

All those months ago whilst in Bristol and deciding a vague route around South America we thought after Brazil we could then travel north up into Colombia, simple?! It didn't occur to us that Brazil´s territory, spanning 4,395 kilometers from north to south and being so huge it has four different time zones, might make the journey a little tricky. And there was one big problem stopping us from migrating northwards with ease...the Amazon Basin!

For anyone thinking of exploring this area of the world it is eventually possible for one to travel over land and river into Colombia or Venezuela. However, it involves 52 hours in a bus from Salvador to Belem, which is at the mouth of the Amazon, and then sailing up river via Manaus and Leticia using three different cargo boats, sleeping in a hammock surrounded by a hundred other bodies and eating beans and rice for two and half weeks. Alas, that Amazon adventure is for another day and after 5 hours of flying we landed in Colombia´s capital, Bogota...okay we admit it we are lame backpackers!

Bogota is a huge city and at an altitude of 2640 metres. After the 'taxing' 5 hour flight we decided to stop rushing around and chill for a few days. A few days turned into a week, possibly because it was the first time in 4 months we had a TV in our bedroom...ER and crap cable films were too much to deny! The historical centre of Bogota is La Candelaria and made up of colonial buildings, plazas and museums. Bogota is a lot safer these days, as is Colombia as a whole, and it was great to just walk around exploring the city.

After six days we needed some heat and had to tear ourselves away from ER. Colombia has a unique geography as the Andes end and split into three mountain chains towards the north of the country. This creates two valleys with their own micro climates, and it also makes the bus ride from Bogota to Salento very similar to being on a roller coaster.

Salento, in the Zona Cafetera, is in the heart of coffee growing country. The small provincial town surrounded by rambling hills and plantations was a world away from the Andean feel of Bogota. We arrived on the Saturday evening and the town was in full swing. The main plaza was filled with people dancing and drinking, small stalls set up for the weekend were selling fresh trout on large flattened plantains. We ordered up a couple 'a la Criolla' in a tomato, cream and onion sauce which, with a couple of cervezas, were magic.

A short jeep ride from Salento is the Valle de Cocora, which is home to the world´s tallest wax palms. Once our jeep was full, with around twenty people hanging on to the sides and sitting on the roof we were off and bumping down dirt tracks into the valley. The valley is like something out of Jurassic Park and the trees line the surrounding hills with cloud clustering around them and the fern forests. We stayed in Salento for a few more days visiting the local coffee plantation and generally enjoying the small town feel. However, we had to leave and move on to Medellin where we planned to spend about 10 days studying Spanish.

Medellin is known as the city of eternal spring and in classic style it tipped it down as soon as we arrived. However, we soon found our feet and took private lessons through The Black Sheep Hostel. The lessons were great and we ended up staying in the penthouse apartment belonging to the hostel owner and our teacher, Kelvin and Yadi. They were great and made us feel right at home. It´s a strange thing to say but for the first time since we had been away it was such a nice feeling to do normal things such as use the washing machine, have a routine and our own space. The city is very cosmopolitan, packed with malls, sushi restaurants and huge apartment buildings. We tended to have a couple of hours of Spanish lessons in the morning and go out exploring the city with the legend Pablo, a Colombian from Medellin who we met in Bolivia.

Time flies and we had to as well. Leaving Medellin we traveled overnight by coach with the usual air conditioning on full blast through the ride. The following morning we woke up with the signs of hypothermia to the tropical heat of the Caribbean coast and Cartagena.