When a bottle of water has “instructions for use”….you have to wonder about the world….
Bogota, our last few days in South America were spent walking into the scenes of novellas (popular daytime soaps), checking out Pablo Escobars “real” body, having hats steam fitted, taking more “scary” cable car rides and hanging out with our friends Russell and Holly….
The Last Supper…..our last meal as “proper” backpackers…what else? Backpacker spag bol…world famous….washed down with some fine Argentine vino and a lemon tart….
Sleepy Popayan, is a whitewashed Colombian university town with a cathedral that allowed us to continue our unintended world tour of UNESCO towns. We happened to stay in a beautiful brand new hostel called Parklife Popayan NEXT DOOR to the cathedral! It was one of the most beautiful hostels we have ever seen and with a perfect view from our bedroom window of the busy central plaza - great for people watching! We took a day trip to Silvia to see the local indigenous community, whose men-folk wear a snazzy combo of skirts and boots!
Dinnertime?
We went for a walk to Valle Del Cocora, in the Colombian coffee triangle. Unfortunately it was raining, muddy and misty….we didnt see much!
Another opportunity for Ali and Zoe to indulge in more amazing coffee! Salento, a small village in the Colombian coffee triangle is green, wet, hilly and beautiful. We bumped into our lovely overlanding 4x4 friends Andrea and Georg, met old man coffee farmer Don Elias, local cowboys and Zoe milked some cows…..
We went to a very big rock called the Piedra de Penol!! A mini sugar loaf mountain in Colombia apparently….And climbed (slowly) 650 steps to get to the summit with beautiful views over the Guatape lake region….
Medellin, the home of a certain Mr Pablo Escobar who was once big in the export industry apparently….its now transformed into a funky city, a little like Melbourne with some cool architecture, trendy cafes and bars, a public transport system that includes a cable car to the slums and the ecopark overlooking the city, also strange statues of fat folks in the town centre….
Mompos…the town that time forgot….literally…An in-land island, stuck between two huge rivers, reached only by a very long and difficult journey and until recently out of access to foreigners as it was at the centre of guerilla fighting. The effort to get here in the “toto express” (AKA 8 hours in a pick up truck loaded with TVs, drums and us) was well worth it, as we felt like we had gone back in time hundreds of years. Not much has changed in a long time here, horse and carts rule the road, buildings are crumbling colonial palaces and locals pass entire days sat in their rocking chairs watching the (very slow) world go by….
