When people asked me at the end of the journey which one was my favorite country, Colombia crossed my mind first. Why Colombia? I think it’s the people who left a deep impression inside me. All these little, maybe inconsiderable experiences I remember in every detail.
From San Gil I took the backroad adventure route to get to Medellin. This tour brought me through the land of bocadillo veleño, sweets made from guave with/or without milk. You know, Antonia is ALWAYS informed where she’s going (NOT). So, I asked the bus driver what’s the story behind all these factories. During the 8h bus ride across some mountain ridge I didn’t just learn about the history of the area, with all its good and bad sides, he even stopped to buy some bocadillo for me. I couldn’t leave this area without trying them!!
13h later I arrived in San José del Nus, where I should meet with my friends who travel on motorbikes. Stopover on the way to Medellín. I thought I would go to bed straight away, but this village had other plans. During the day, there was a horse festival and the party was still going. While the boys admired a strangers KLR, I young men invited me to join him on his horse and we rode the square up and down. Soon we knew all his other friends too, joined the party and danced salsa until sunrise. We extended our stay in this little town, met them again the next day and explored the surrounding area.
Next stop: Medellín
I arrived by bus and was so overwhelmed from the big city that I missed several train stations and took some extra turns before moving in our new AirBnb. We joined two very cool donation based walking tours, explored the night life of “Pueblo”, celebrated the obligatory 4th of July (still travelling with four Gringos 😉) and rode a lot of Metro and Teleferico – a great way to see the city.
Medellín is a fascinating city. The brick red buildings nestle up against the hills, from the bird perspective it looks like small red waves. Sometime ago paint was expensive, now it is the characteristic color of the metropole. The drug lord Pablo Escobar was ruling in this area and guerilla groups and paramilitary were always present, which means the crime rate and violence in this area was way above average. Somehow the city managed it to reduce the violence and change the face of the city. The metro reduced traveling times to work by 3h, metro stations are public places with libraries and dark corners are rebuilt to an open space. People are eradiating this feeling with every pore. I would express is at a feeling of hope, that lies over the city.
In Medellín we also went to a local soccer match. My American friends liked to see how crazy it would really get (we’ve heard a lot…!). It was fun, and the kids were jumping and singing throughout the whole match, but hey, in that matter the Germans are definitely as crazy!
After almost a week in the city we made our way to the coffee region of Colombia, Eje Cafetero and moved into a remote overlander hostel outside Finlandia, the Steel Horse Finca, ran by Yvette, Paul the cat and the two black puppies. A one-night stay turned quickly into a two week stay. Upsii.
Marco, her right hand showed us a nearby waterfall and the local horse breeding ranch. They breed “Paso Fino” there, a typical Colombian way of riding and competing. Not my world though..
However, being in the coffee triangle, we should dive a little deeper into the coffee business, eh? Don Eduardo from Salento introduced us to the world of coffee. Arabica, Rustica, Moderno, Tradicional, calidad exportado, calidad domestic – uuuiihh so many new things, but the coffee was delicious! The big question is WHY IS THERE NO REALLY GOOD COFFEE IN COLOMBIA? Well, the high quality beans sink to the bottom, the low quality ones float on the surface. Export and domestic quality..
The coffee triangle is not only famous for the coffee plants, but also for its palm trees – I mean HUUUGE palm trees! We saw the first ones on a walk through the Valle de Cocora, close to Salento and even more on a ride on the Old Road to Bogota.
We LOVED the palm tree view so much, that we took Mitch’s motorbike for a two-day ride and spent the night camping between cows, horses and all these palm trees.
At this point I had two more weeks in Colombia.
