Travel Colombia - La Tebaida, Colombia
La Tebaida, Colombia
I've been waiting for a year in eager anticipation to visit Colombia with very high expectations-a definite set up for disappointment. However Colombia is SO amazing that's it's even exceeded all my expectations, making it my current no.1 country in the world.
*applause, champagne popping, cheers etc.*
Why is Colombia so great? Well, it has everything you could want in one country. The Amazon, the carribean, the Pacific, dessert, snow capped mountain ranges, super friendly people and really cheap stuff.
Colombia is quite developed so sadly I am without my usual tales of local people getting up to comical shena****ns like other countries I've visited. Because of this I've decided to write a blog that may be useful for once, for people scouring the Internet searching for information about travelling in Colombia.
*note information correct as of March 2016, bus prices dependant on company used. Prices can be higher during the high season for everything*
1. ISLA GRANDE, ROSARIO ISLANDS
1 hour from Cartagena by boat, the Rosario islands are a beautiful chain of islands in the caribbean. Isla grande is beautiful; turquoise water, tropical jungle, typical carribean postcard place. It has lots of lagoons and cool abandoned beachfront hotels that are great for exploring and swimming. Although it does have a couple of hotels and private beachfront houses (empty for most of the year), it's mostly jungle and not that developed, retaining a quiet backwater feel. It felt really empty when I visited and I had lots of beaches and swimming places to myself. The locals are more friendly than anywhere else I've been in the carribean.
Stay: my main reason for loving Isla grande was the hostal I stayed at, Casa Nativa Isla/hostal paradise secreto. A hidden treasure (at time of writing), it was amazing. The owners have acquired a large piece of property that was previously luxury houses and turned them into dormitory house. The houses are BEAUTIFUL; lounges, expensive Italian tiles, amazing architecture as well as a private beach, a swimming pool and a lagoon. When I went the hostal had just opened and a restoration process was underway. 50,000 COP dorm bed.
Www.facebook.com/hostalesparaisosecreto
Get there: most hostal and tour agency's in Cartagena can arrange boat transfer to Isla grande from Cartagena (la bodeguita docks-50,000 COP) or you can do it yourself and go to grimey docks at mercado de bazurto (8,000 COP taxi from old city) and just ask for a boat to Isla grande, then tell them to tell you where to get off as the boat docks up all over the island (30,000 COP tourist price-expect to maybe haggle for this price). Also expect to share the boat with chickens, dogs and everything else you can imagine. Boats are supposed to leave at 830 but actually hang around until about 0930.
Get out: x3 boats per day (25-50,000 COP) leave from the hostal docks to Cartagena.
JARDIN
Jardin! One of my most favourite place in the world. Mainly only visited by local tourists at weekends, Jardin is a hidden treasure. It's a scenic, small town with nice cafes and restaurants surrounded by the most beautiful countryside and nature imaginable. It's also one of the biggest coffee farming areas and has an amazing climate, warm and sunny during the day but pleasantly cool in the evenings.
Do: loads of amazing hikes and mountain biking to see waterfalls and beautiful rivers, visit the cave and swim in the crystal clear river, do a coffee farm tour, go horseback riding, do some of the cheapest paragliding in the world, take the scenic cable car across the valley, relax at one of the lovely coffee shops or restaurants in the centre of town and sample the local coffee.
Get there: frequent busses leave from terminal sur in Medellin (20,000 COP, 3.5 hours). It is also accessible by bus from manziales.
Get out: there is a small bus terminal 1 block from the centre. hourly busses to Medellin and frequent busses to manziales.
Get around: everywhere can be easily reached on foot but for journeys outside the town there are moto taxis and horses. There are 2 bike shops in town that will probably rent bikes.
Stay: you will find excellent value for money accommodation in Jardin. Whilst not on the Internet, there are multiple hotels from 20,000 COP per night for a private room around the centre and lots of accommodation in the surrounding area. You should be able to find a room without prior reservation.
TAYRONA NATIONAL PARK
Wow! Amazing! Colombias most famous national park definatly lives up to its beautiful reputation. Set along the carribean, it's massively diverse with spectacular beaches and jungle. A must see if in Colombia.
Get in: 5 hours from Cartagena. Go to Santa Marta and take a frequent bus (1 hour). Entrance is about 40,000 COP (worth it, I promise). You need to first listen to a 10 minute talk then get a piece of paper and take it to the pay booth.
You need your passport number.
Get around: Take a bus from inside entrance to the start of the hike (3,000 COP-don't try and walk it like I did to save money, it's about 7km of nothing). From the start of the hike you can take a depressed looking horse rather than hike which may be a good idea if you have a big bag because it's far and hot to the campsites.
Stay: there are a few campsites, hammocks, cabanas inside the park. I just went on a day trip there which I felt was totally suffice. It took me 8 leisurely hours with swimming stops to do the whole hike and get back to the entrance. If you go on a day trip try to get there for 8am.
I stayed in palomino which is a 40 minute direct bus ride away.
Tip! Take loads of water because it's really hot. Also take food because it's really expensive inside.
ZONA DE CAFETERIA
Filandia-salento-salamina-Santa rosa-perriera-manizales
Colombias coffee zone has the best climate, beautiful scenery, amazing towns and friendly locals. Here are my top places to visit (and not to visit) in the area:
FILANDIA
Filandia is probably what salento was like 10 years ago. It's currently off the tourist map and has very few foreign tourists but with all the attractions of salento. It has a lovely main plaza, great coffee and artesian shops, cheap restaurants and waterfalls and great hikes nearby. People are not used to foreigners so are not yet jaded by tourism.
Stay: there are 2 hostels that I know of. I stayed at Bidea hostal and it was major value for money. It's a cute of colonial house with free bikes and free breakfast close to the main plaza (21,000 COP for 4 bed very comfortable dorm- highly recommended).
A great hotel is at finca el mirador which is 3km outside filandia. It's a working coffee farm set high up in the hills with an amazing view (and cafe). Go there for a coffee tour or just a nice walk from filandia to get one of their amazing drinks from the cafe. Double room 50,000 COP.
Facebook: finca el mirador filandia
Get there: I got a bus from periera (approx. 40 minutes 6,000 COP). There was no busses from Manziales. I imagine it's possible to get there from Armenia as it's very close. Get out: busses to perriera and Armenia as well as surrounding villages.
SALENTO
Another coffee farming town (very close to filandia), salento is a much more touristy. Its nice small town with amazing coffee shops and beautiful nature.
Do: valle de corcoras hike, which takes you up into the cloud forest full of hummingbirds, along a river then down through a valley full of weird wax palms.
Get in: accessible via Armenia. Frequent busses-40 minutes. Close to Filandia.
Get out: frequent busses to Armenia which has connections all over the country.
Stay: loads of hostels and hotels all over town, I recommend yalombia hostal.
SANTA ROSA DE CABAL
The draw of Santa rose de cabal is that is has some beautiful hot springs/thermal baths that are featured on all Santa Rosa pictures. deceivingly these are not in Santa Rosa at all, the closest is 20 minutes away by bus (main square infront of tourist office about 5x/day, 1,300 COP) or taxi (21,000 COP). Santa Rosa de cabal is an unattractive small city/big town that kind of merges into perriera (read-dangerous; grim).
However, the springs are beautiful and if you want to go I advise that 1) you go on a day trip 2) you take the bus and stay at one of the very many cheap accommodations on route (the route is also very beautiful once outside Santa Rosa).
Get there: take a bus from perriera or manizales (about 30 minutes) to Santa Rosa. Go to the tourist office in the central plaza and they can tell you the bus times to Santa Rosa thermales (22,000 COP entry-whatever you do...don't go at weekends!!)
SALAMINA
Salamina is (another) small coffee town 3 hours from Manziales. It doesn't quite have the tourism draw of salento and filandia but it location is amazing. It's on the top of a mountain in a valley so the whole town is one amazing mirador. I really liked salamina because the people there must be the friendliest in Colombia, they were so excited to see a foreigner that I felt like Justin Bieber in a crowd of teenage girls. I also liked it because it was really cheap (my favourite).
Also it's very hot and sunny there compared to other coffee towns.
Do: about a 1 hour walk from town are some man made swimming pools that are filled with natural water called los mangos. It's a really beautiful place, situated overlooking the valley. Nice place to spend the day. I didn't because I walked all the way there and forgot my swimming costume. Oh well. It's probably cheap as its a local kind of place.
Go to the tourist office-the little frequented tourist office staff love to see a tourist. They can give you more inside info on what is going on around salamina.
Stay: I stayed in one of the nicest hotels, in the central plaza with a lovely room overlooking the square and it was 25,000 COP/night. I highly recommend the hotel (hotel colonial-central plaza, see photo of room in photos). There are lots of other hotels around there that look more cheap. One looks like it may be a brothel (watch out!).
Get there: frequent busses from maniziales (3 hours approx 16,000 COP). The road is really twisty so if your prone to being sick you will probably be sick. There is a bus early in the morning from terminal south in Medellin which is about 90km away. Get out:Hourly busses on the half hour to manizales. Some busses to Medellin.
MANIZALES
Manizales is a big city. It's close to the national park, it has some cable cars. That's about it. I wouldn't recommend staying in the city. There are some highly recommended coffee fincas and hotels based just outside manizales which may be a better bet than the centre.
Get there and away: bus terminal with local and long distance busses. Easily accessible from rest of country. There is an airport.
PERIERA
Just don't go there man. Huge grim city. Go for bus connections only. Locals told me (remember this isn't fact!) that it's very dangerous with robbery and murder. I wasn't murdered or robbed but felt like I might be.
Get there and most importantly of all...how to get away: big bus terminal. Lots of local and long distance busses. Easily accessible from rest of country.
MEDELLIN:
The reason why Medellin, the 2nd biggest city in Colombia, gets no. when I don't like cities is because:
1) Medellin must be one of the friendliest cities in the world with people beaming at me, welcoming me to Medellin, offering advice and starting up conversations etc. on the metro. I have to be honest in saying I felt like abit of celebrity there. And it felt great. Just great.
2) Medellin used to be the most dangerous city in world and now isn't and is instead the most innovative (or something like that). It's a very developed, metropolitan city with amazing restaurants, nightlife and super upscale bars and shops (mainly in the Poblado area). It's got a great transport system, amazing sports stadiums, loads of free or very cheap attractions. What a great turn around for them. Well done Medellin.
Do and stay: there's loads to do and hundreds of cheap places to stay. For $50 you can get a really amazing hotel. For $7 you can get a good hostel including breakfast.
Get around:
Bus:
there are 2 main bus terminals-Norte & Sur, serving busses to the north and busses to the south. Terminal Norte is larger and is connected to the caribe metro station. Terminal Sur is a 15 minute walk from Poblado metro station. There is a green city bus outside each station connecting north-south terminals (has a sign stating destination on the front) which leaves really frequently.
Outside each of the metro stations there are usually small green city busses serving the area. It is about 2000 COP per ticket. The destinations are stated on the front.
Metro: The metro is really great. Clean, fast and frequent. If you are visiting the city for a few days you can either buy a one off ticket from the kiosk valid for travel anywhere on the metro (it's a flat fee-not dependant on distance about 2500 COP) for a single journey or you can buy a plastic card and add as much money as you want to save you buying multiple tickets if you are getting on/off the metro at different stops. Be aware this plastic card is only valid for one day. You can also buy a longer term card that you have to register for. **Whatever you do...don't eat or drink on the metro!! Strictly forbidden. I got told off by the police for holding a bottle of water...faux pas indeed**
Outside Medellin-
SANTA FE- 1.5 hours from Medellin. Small, Pretty colonial town. Big bridge and river 15 minutes by taxi outside of town. Aqua park outside of Santa Fe. I found it so-so. 2 hours there was enough.
GUATAPE-small colourful town about 2 hours from Medellin (terminal Norte). Very busy and popular with people from Medellin at the weekend. Lots of man made lakes, a massive rock which you can climb up called el penol (30 minute walk from town-the bus passes it on the way to Guatape). A really cool place on the road between el penol and Guatape which mainly locals go to (can't remember name) but it has a super fun floating assault course on the lake, kayaks, boats, nice swimming and walking places. There's different tariffs but to do all the activities all day it's REALLY cheap (I think 12,000 COP). You will see it on both sides of the road. It has a bridge crossing the road.
Stay: loads of hostal and hotels. Very busy at the weekend.
JARDIN-as mentioned previously.
VILLA DE LEVYA
A beautiful colonial town set in the mountains in an amazing dessert type landscape. Old cobbled streets, amazing cafes and artesian shops. Very popular weekend place for people from bogota and hence can be very busy and booked up at weekends.
Do: horse back riding, visit the ostrich farm (14,000 COP entrance, about 5km town...some poor animal welfare standards), a house made from clay (7,000 COP entrance), lots of hikes in the surrounding area, pozo azul (turquoise blue natural pools in the dessert)
Stay: lots of very nice accommodation options. I recommend Colombian highlands renacer hostel and buda hostel. Both really lovely relaxing places just outside of town with lots of outside space and hammocks to relax.
Get there: accessible via tunja (40 minutes, 5,000 COP). Very frequent busses tunja-villa de leyva. Frequent busses bucaramanga-tunja and bogota-tunja.
Get out: busses approximately every 15 minutes to tunja. Busses tunja-bogota approx every 15 minutes (2-3 hours 20,000 COP). Villa de leyva a good place to stay if you have a flight from
Bogota and don't want to stay there. There are busses from villa de leyva to bogota at 6 & 7am which get to the terminal near the airport in about 3 hours.
POPAYAN
Called the white city as there's loads of colonial style white buildings. And that's about it. There are some day trips you can do around popayan but the city itself (in my opinion) is really traffic logged, noisy and abit boring. It also has loads of police and militia everywhere which makes me feel more unsafe than safe like there's some hidden danger there. However it's a good stop overnight whilst travelling to/from Ecuador and has bus links all over the country.
Get in/out: very accessible from anywhere and loads of busses to everywhere else (Medellin etc)
Get around: you can easily walk around everywhere.
Stay: there are a few hostels and hotels scattered around.
TOLU
I really hated tolu, my worst place. My experience of Tolu was that people were unfriendly, almost everyone I come into contact with cheated me, it was dirty with trash and diseased dogs everywhere (one dog died infront of me and it's body was just lying there for ages), very poor, very hot. There's nothing nice there-only recommended to stop off via going to the San Bernardo isles. If you need to stay overnight I recommend "golfo de morrosquillos" which is really basic but also really cheap-25000 COP private room & bathroom in high season. It's on the seafront and should cost 2000 COP on a bike-taxi from the terminal.
CARTAGENA
Positive: The old city of Cartagena is really nice, set on the carribean with picturesque streets and really nice (expensive) bars, shops and restaurants. A definite must see. Located close to the Rosario islands, a string of beautiful islands in the carribean.
Negative: price much more than rest of country for hostels, everything. People a little unfriendly at times. Some hassling and overcharging. Stepping outside the old city walls can be like stepping into a different world. One of the street outside the city walls had some human poo there. Lots of people with no legs.
Stay: I stayed just outside the city walls in getsemani which I really liked. It looks abit ghetto and kind of is but had been gentrified. It has some beautiful buildings, boutique hotels and really upscale bars and coffee shops. Amongst all this is the local working class residents just hanging out, dancing in Trinidad plaza and what not. It's really cool there. Big thumbs up to getsemani.
It's also cheaper, which of course I liked.
Get around: everything you would want to see in Cartagena is in walking distance including getsemani.
There are loads of taxis (agree a price before getting in). From outside the fort you can take a local bus (1,800 COP set fare to anywhere) to the bus station which takes 1 very long and hot hour. From the terminal you can get a different bus to anywhere. If you want to go to Santa Marta I recommend to take a shuttle from your hostal as it doesn't work out much cheaper doing it yourself by public transport and takes much, much longer.
PALOMINO
Palomino is a very ordinary carribean village which has now been gentrified and engulfed by hostels and hippies. I liked palomino as it is set in a (not immediately noticeable) beautiful location next to tayrona national park on the carribean. The scenery/nature around the crystal clear Rio palomino is of the spectacular, breathtaking kind. The best way to see this is by going tubing (20,000 COP) as its not really visible from palomino itself.
I also liked palomino because it was really cheap. I got a private bedroom/bathroom on the beach, in high season, in the middle of everything for 30,000 COP.
Palomino info:
-Don't let the carribean tempt you as it has a very dangerous current and you risk being sucked out to sea to die if you go in.
-It's a number 1 hippy hangout, full of hippies and hippy stuff. There are also some indigenous Indians from the jungle living around there as well which makes for a really odd mixture. But mainly non indigineous Colombians equally bemused by both.
-no ATM! Bring enough cash!
Get there: about 1 hour from Santa Marta. Cost me 10,000 COP in a maximum fancy bus.
Stay: literally everywhere. There are loads of places to stay on both sides of the road as far as you can walk. No reservation necessary. No or patchy wifi anywhere.
VALLEDUPAR
Valledupar is known as Colombians greenest city. It's a pleasant, small, clean city. Good for breaking up a trip from the coast to bogota or bucaramanga for a day or 2 (there is not much there).The draw point of valledupar is its amazing looking river advertised everywhere but actually this river is NOT in valledupar, but one hour away in a taxi. There is one so-so river in the city.
Stay: the reason I liked valledupar is that the hostal there is really nice (provincia hostal). Really cool staff, clean, relaxed.
Get there: take a collective taxi (35,000 COP 2.5 hours) from riohacha or take a bus from Maico or Santa Marta.
Get out: busses to the rest of the country. Busses 8,9, 10pm to bucaramanga (60,000 COP 8 hours)
SAN BERNANDO ISLES:
In my opinion the best way to see San Bernardo isles is to stay in tolu (See below-I know I'm
A big hypocrite. Telling you to stay the hell away from tolu then telling you to go there) overnight and go on a day trip (loads of tour operators over tolu-don't need advance reservation) to the isles then take the 3 hour bus back to Cartagena in the evening. I stayed on the Casa de agua which is a floating boat-hostal. It was a cool concept but the reality is that you are marooned on a small boat in the ocean with too many people for a small boat with no privacy, wifi and washing from a bucket. It's kind of cool I guess and they offer day trips though.
BUCARAMANGA:
If you are time limited a cool way to see bucaramanga is to take the night bus there and arrive early in the morning. You can leave your bags at the luggage storage at the bus station (really cheap and secure) then take the early morning bus to canon del chica mocha (12,000 COP-1.5 hours). canon del chica mocha is the 2nd biggest canyon in the WORLD! But doesn't look like it at all. Entrance: free to look at canyon but park there includes Aqua park, rides etc this is different tariffs 21,000-55,000 COP). Note that the park is closed on Monday and Tuesday (**the bus to/from SAN GIL passes here too, so it's better to stop on route of you are going onto San Gil). Then you can return to the bus station and take the bus to giron, which is a pleasant colonial part of bucaramanga (do not need more than 1 hour to see this).
There isn't a lot to do in bucaramanga but I liked it as people are really nice (maybe more than Medellin!) and will really go out of their way to help you if you need anything. I'm boring and don't like to party but if you do here is probably great as there's about 11 universities and loads of bars.
BOGOTA
I did not like bogota at all.very big, average, slightly dangerous feeling with loads of traffic everywhere. If you want to go to a city I advise Medellin or Cartagena.
A good way to avoid staying in bogota is to stay in villa de leya (3 hours away). I did this then just got the bus into bogota on the day of my flight home.
If you have to stay in bogota go to the botanical gardens which is really nice and cheap.
BORDER CROSSING
Colombia-Ecuador
Really easy. Take a night bus to ipalies and arrive early morning.There are some security concerns with taking the night bus in that area but it was fine. To travel in the day it is best to stay overnight in pasto (there is a cheap hotel next to the bus station) and get up early in the morning and get the bus to ipalies (2 hours) as its not a good idea to cross the border in the evening.
From ipalies (note: ipalies and pasto are very cold) take a collectivo taxi 10 minutes to the border. Stamp out on Colombian side, change some money and walk across the bridge to the Ecuadorian side (5 minutes). Important! The Ecuadorian immigration is not organised. You need to fill out a form then stand in line to give the form in. The form is not easy to find so as soon as you enter try to get the form rather than stand for 1 hour for the form then fill it in and wait another hour in the same queue (as I did).
After you have filled the form and got stamped etc. (All free) take the small busses or collectivo taxi outside to Tulcan (15 minutes). From Tulcan terminal there are frequent busses to Quito (about 5 hours). There are cheap places to have breakfast to the left of the bus terminal.
Ecuador-Colombia. Same in reverse. Go to quitumbe or carcelen terminal in Quito for direct busses to Tulcan.
Hints & Tips!
-buy Colombia facil guidebook. It's a super cheap guide to Colombia which is much better than lonely planet and other guidebooks.
-internal flights are nearly the same price as the bus. Flights connect to most cities. Look at sky scanner.com
-go to a local looking restaurant and ask for "del menu de dia" (or something like that in Spanish) it's normally soup, rice, salad, beans, some fish or meat and a drink and shouldn't cost more than 8000 COP
-dress warm on the night bus-it's freezing! You will see lots of Colombians decked out in arctic clothing.
-eat seafood, particularly ceviche. Seafood is so cheap and amazing in Colombia. I went from hating fish to eating full fish every day with the head and everything. Recommended!
-visit todos 1,000 mil, 2,000 mil and 5,000 mil shops. You didn't think you needed to buy anything until you visited there and seen all the cheap goods.
-the police will sometimes pull over your bus, make everyone get out, inspect your bags and ID and pat you down. They often have dogs. This is all normal. If your thinking about carrying around drugs it would be pretty risky business!
-in bogota it's not cool to dress like you are heading to the beach, in flip flops etc (like I did).No one is wearing this, people will stare at you. It is the 2nd highest capital in South America and is cold.
-drink "agua Panela con limon". This is sugar cane and water mixed with lime or lemon. It tastes really nice and if you are ill and can't eat it's great. Colombia also has amazing cheap fruit juices (jugo naturales).
-download maps.me on your phone. It's a free app that doesn't need Internet to use the map. Reduces needing to take a taxi.
-It is not normal to be doing anything alone in Colombia. Be aware that if a Colombian discovers you are travelling alone this is likely to illicit much pity and sympathy for you-you not having any friends, family or colleagues who want to be with you :(
-also it is not that normal to be in your late 20s unmarried without children (imagine me, 27 years old, travelling alone, not married, no children...what a barren failure!)
-learn Spanish. Your trip can potentially be very stressful without Spanish.
-chevere means cool in Colombia
-in some places you will be accosted by people as soon as you go near a bus terminal trying to get you on the bus. They work on commission for the bus companies so your not expected to pay them or anything. Be aware it might be for the most expensive bus company but maybe not. They can be very helpful.
PEOPLE
-People are generally VERY friendly (in a lot of places) right up there with the Ghanaians and Macedonians. Even when they are cheating me by over charging me etc, they've always thrown in a freebie. The carribean side can be quite a different experience and I think it's better to start your Colombia trip there, lest you start comparing people from different places in Colombia.
-because Colombians are very polite and friendly, it's polite to greet strangers if you make eye contact and particularly if you want to ask them a question/buy something. For example: "buenos tardes, senor. Quiero/donde esta.." .Colombia has not had big tourism for long so a lot of people will never have had contact with a foreigner, so it's up to you to fly the foreigner flag so the Colombians think "wow! Those gringos are the best!" Rather than hate us all.
-English is not widely spoken at all, not even in tourist areas, in lots of hostels etc. You need to learn Spanish to get around.
-some if the men on the coast are kind of lecherous-if you are a girl you may get slightly harassed on the coast with hissing noises etc. Such romantics! Nothing like being hissed at to charm a girl. I didn't have any problems like that elsewhere in the country.
-people are often quite religious. It's not that common to have no religious belief.
SAFETY
-Colombia has a underserved bad reputation.
I have no problems in 3 months as a girl travelling alone BUT I would be careful in big cities, particularly bogota and avoid walking around at night in quiet areas. Outside the cities is fine.
I've heard that when you do get mugged or robbed that the robbers will often later return/leave a change of clothes, any medication that your taking and your passport (if it's not american). How thoughtful of them. If only more criminals in the world could take on this kindly approach. Note that there is quite a gap between rich and poor in Colombia, with some really bad poverty in some places (markedly the carribean).
-the tap water is fine to drink in a lot of places and infectious diseases are not common nor is malaria. And your mild Cold or headache is probably not Zika disease. I drank the tap water and did not take anti malarials (don't sue me if you get terrible gastroenteritis off the tap water and go into kidney failure then catch malaria).
-watch out for poisonous snakes when walking!
Enjoy your trip to Colombia and I hope you leave as a honorary Colombian-selfie stick in one hand, empanadas in the other, small dog wearing baby clothes under your arm, you wearing too tight jeans, very high heels with a friendly smile full of braces.