After initially visiting in August, Colombia has become my favorite country that I´ve had the privilege of traveling to. Perhaps after reading this blog post, you might be able to see why. Elaine, Hannah, and I planned to leave on a Saturday morning for the Ecuador-Colombia border by bus. Once at the station, a street vendor told us that we were making an impossible trip; consequently, we were unable to catch a bus to the Colombian border town of Ipiales due to increased traffic because of holiday shopping. Since the exchange rate between Ecuador, which uses the USD, and Colombia is so good (1 USD = 3,000 COP), many Ecuadorians make the trip north for a day or two. So we had to call one of Elaine´s friends to take us there. After 2 hours, we arrived in stand still traffic. So we got out and walked the final 2km to the land crossing instead. We stood in line to enter Colombia for 1.5 hours, then once at the window, realized we needed to first get an EXIT stamp from Ecuador. So we walked back across the border and waited in line for 3 more hours here. The only positive of this was meeting some nice Australians traveling across South America. Then, we attempted to get back into the Colombia line without much success with efficiency, so that was another hour. In all, we spent 6 hours almost waiting in line just to get these two stamps. Usually, the crossing only takes around an hour, but the increased foot traffic happened to be horrible that day. We decided to stay in Ipiales for the night just because of how tired we were of just standing all day.
Sunday morning, we took a taxi to Las Lajas sanctuary, which is an incredible church that is situated at the bottom of gorge and arches over a river. We walked around for a bit and headed to lunch, where I ordered a simple humita, which is a corn based mixture served inside a husk. For the past week or so, I was unable to eat much food because of malo estomago, as I ate something bad at some point. The good news is you can buy a box of antibiotics for $2 in Colombia, and that was the happiest I have been to ever purchase medication. We then caught a bus north that passed first through Pasto after two hours, and then around 3-4 hours more of VERY winding, mountainous, roads to Popayán. Luckily, I don´t get motion sickness, but Elaine and Hannah weren´t feeling the best. Once arrived in Popayán, I had a family that allowed us to stay in their house, even though they didn´t have much room for us. For a family of 7, they split 3 bedrooms. After some shuffling, they put 3 twin mattresses in one room for us to stay. They were incredibly welcoming, and the next day the father showed us around the city in the morning. It is known as the white city, and once we climbed to a viewpoint on Morro hill, we could see why. The downtown was charming, clean, and bustling with people- we only wish we had more time. Around lunchtime, we took a 3 hour mini-bus from Popayán to Cali, and then switched to a larger bus at the terminal for 3 hours further to our destination that night, Armenia. Armenia is located in Eje Cafetero, the coffee growing region of the country. We were able to walk around the city the next morning, but sadly had to continue on. I will definitely be returning to this area some day because there´s so much to see. We planned on taking the 8 hour bus from Armenia direct to Bogotá, though one lane roads due to construction slowed us down considerably. Regardless, the whole bus ride from Ibarra to Bogotá was stunningly beautiful, with the landscape changing every few hours; the ability to see the countryside and parts of rural living in Colombia was just beautiful.
In August, my mom, sister, and I spent a short vacation in Bogotá with a family we found on Airbnb. Franco, Franklin, and their mother Lupy. These people are amongst the most welcoming and caring people I have met, so I could not pass up the opportunity to stay with them again, along with Hannah. Franco picked us up at the bus terminal, but his car battery died during the 10 minutes he left his car to come and find us! Luckily, he knew this was going to happen and had a spare. Once almost home, as he lives in a more residential area, he bumped a taxi who was trying to cut us off. This taxi got so angry that he was walking around and yelling, then proceeded to get in his car and come and hit our car with his car on purpose after we had passed by him! It was all very awkward for Hannah and I in the backseat, but apparently very normal for Franco. We were just happy to finally get to his house and have a good sleep.
Wednesday morning, Hannah and I decided we wanted to learn the public transportation in Bogotá , mostly the Transmilenio. The Transmilenio is a rapid bus system that has its own lane in the city. Though its still not as fast as a metro or subway, it is certainly as complicated with all the transfer lines. Once in the city centre, we did the Free Walking Tour with Beyond Colombia- it covered political history, social history, culture, food, and more. I did the same tour in August, though having a different guide meant I could learn some new things. Once we successfully found our way back home, we went out for pizza (really been missing good pizza) and watched the first of two games for the Colombian league soccer final between Millionarios y Santa Fe. Franco said we were only allowed to root for Santa Fe.
On Thursday, Hannah and I ventured out of the city to head to La Chorrera, the largest waterfall in Colombia. After asking public transport employees many questions, we figured out how to arrive. We took the Transmilenio to the center via a few transfers, walked a few blocks to a small bus station, and hopped on a mini-bus for an hour until we asked the driver to drop us off at La Chorrera. We walked for 1.5 hours down a gravel road to the entrance of the reserve before paying the $5 fee. This trek had unbelievable views the entire way, and we were able to see aspects of daily life in a rural area. All of the families were working outside, kids were playing, pets and strays were abundant, and everyone we encountered was so friendly. After paying the entrance, it was another hour to the waterfall. We had distant views the entire way, and once we got to the end point, we probably only saw 15-20% of it at once- it was huge!! The way back we could have hitchiked- but at a price of $8. Being as cheap as we are, we decided to enjoy the natural beauty and walk our way back. We had 40,000 steps at the end of this hike! We flagged a bus back to Bogotá off the main highway, and this was the only time I have experienced motion sickness as the driver was just rapidly whipping around the curves. Back in town, we tried to take the Transmilenio home, but we were absolutely suffocated in station with people. Everyone was frustrated, yelling, punching one another, and there were 3 pickpocket incidents within minutes. So we decided to go out and get some ajiaco for dinner instead until it calmed down. Ajiaco is a traditional soup from Bogotá, which has potatoes, chicken, corn, avocado, cream, capers, and more. It is absolutely delicious, and we had to finish with obleas for desert. These are wafers that have fruit spreads in the middle, your choice.
On Friday morning, we decided to head north to the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral. After purchasing fresh OJ for less than a dollar, we took the 45 minutes Transmilenio to its north portal, then transferred to a 1 hour bus north to Zipaquira. We walked around town for a while, then entered the tour. It was $15 which for Colombia, is a very expensive entrance fee. The cathedral was once a salt mine, but it closed and the workers wanted to do something with it- so they constructed this active church underneath the ground. It was very cool to see, but Hannah and I rather enjoyed our outdoor adventures more! It was worth the money to see, though I would not return again. Once home, Franklin took us to buy pizza slices, and we returned to eat them with Lupy while she made some divine hot chocolate. The hot chocolate here is for some reason loads better than in the States; to drink it, you cut doblecrema cheese into chunks and let it melt in the hot chocolate. It sounds gross but its delicious! Hannah and I love sitting down and night and talking to Franco and co.; 1) because they are so nice, and 2) we get good spanish practice. Hannah studied abroad in Patagonia region, Chile (!!!) for a year so she has a better base than me, but we both still love the practice. Often at CRECER, we speak English just because we can.
Saturday morning, our destination was Guatavita, a small city that is near the lake that spawned the Legend of El Dorado. After a similar amount of transit north as the day before, we arrived in town to purchase some much needed tinto. Tinto is basically a black coffee from the States, though usually only 4-8 oz. I could have drank three or four of them. We had to wait 1.5 hours to catch the next bus to Laguna Guatavita, and it was a 45 minute rural drive. The tour guide was a part of the Muisca people, an indigenous group of Colombia that have fought for protection of this sacred site. When the Spanish came to Colombia, they searched out this lake as they heard it had tons of gold at the bottom from past Muisca ceremonies. They attempted to drain the lake, without finding much of anything. There were continual attempts to obtain the gold, though all failed. Now, the lake is protected, but you can see how much water was sadly removed. The Muisca still use this lake for important ceremonies, though they don´t cover themselves in gold anymore. Gold used to have the same value as salt and emeralds in Colombia, until the Spanish decided to try and find it. On the Transmilenio ride home, we had the doors smacking our far, we were falling on other people, and getting stuck in the space between the station platform and bus exit- a scary place to be when one group of people is pushing you out and the other are trying to push you back into the bus! We had a relaxing night drinking aguapanela and tamales. Aguapanela is a raw brown sugar chunk that dissolves in hot water, much like tea. We were once again happy to hang out with Franco, Franklin, and Lupy.
My last full day, Sunday, Hannah and I took our first city-local bus north to Usaquén for the artisan markets. We spent 4 hours and a lot of money, but we kept reminding ourselves that it would cost at least three-five times in the States or Australia. We met a Venzuelan refugee who, along with her husband, created some beautiful earrings and ring on the spot for Hannah. They travel around the country continuously, and they said to look them up any time we are in Colombia again. After the market, we headed to the center one last time for lunch, walking around, and another round of obleas. Police were flooded everywhere, and Im not sure I´ve ever seen so many police. I asked, and it was because of the upcoming final game between Millionarios y Santa Fe. We headed home to watch the game with Franco, though sadly they lost in the end. Franco was very upset, but he did take us to the supermarket during halftime for a lesson on fruits. Since Colombia is so diverse, they grow a plethora of fruits and other products. It is difficult to remember them all, so he showed them to us, asked us to repeat their name, and we had a fun tasting of all of them later. We also had bocadillos this evening, which is a ripe platano that is fried and cut down the middle, then a piece of cheese and fruit is placed in the middle. Again, sounds gross, but so delicious!
Franco offered to drive me to the airport a little before 6am the next morning. After staying up late talking, I was exhausted, but it was worth it. I rarely meet a family as nice as Franco´s. His mom Lupy is 90 year old, mostly independent, and she has a mind as sharp as a tack. And Franklin is always so happy to hear what we had done each day. Franco is one of the most animated people you could imagine, and he has a heart of gold. I am very sad to leave Colombia, and I know that this will be a country I visit multiple times more; I have fallen in love with it. The thing I am looking forward to is my family arriving in Quito!! I flew back Bogotá to Quito in the morning, so as I write this at an internet cafe, they are en route to Ecuador. I have to say: I am one lucky person!