Mr & Mrs – A blog of our round the world trip travelling through South America and South East Asia

Country Overview: Travelling in Colombia

Posted by Steve on July 27, 2009, at 10:08 pm | Category: Colombia, Country Overviews | Leave a comment


View at Picasa Also available for private parties and evening functions, but we're booked up for a while.23-Jun-2009 04:51, Panasonic DMC-FX3, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200

Introduction: Colombia is the 26th largest country in the world and bigger than France and Spain put together. Its history of drugs and violence has also put off many travellers (and nearly us), but on travelling through this amazing country it has become our favourite so far in South America. Named after Christopher Colombus, even though he’s never set a foot there, in the last few years it has increasingly opened to tourism and allowed backpackers to fully appreciate this great country.

Local name:	Republic of Colombia	Flag:
Population:	45,644,023	Life expectancy:	72.8
Size:	401,042 sq mi	Currency:	Colombian Peso
Capital:	Bogotá	Capital population:	7,594,000
Language:	Spanish
Religion:	Roman Catholic 90%

When we went:12th June to 6th July 2009

Where we went:Flew into Bogota, took a bus to San Gil, then to Taganga (via Santa Marta). Took another bus to Cartagena, then flew back to Bogota to take a bus straight to San Agustin. Finally took a bus to Popayan to go straight to Ipiales ready for the border crossing.

Where we stayed:

Cranky Croc in Bogota – Our first hostel in Colombia and bang in the middle of La Candelaria, when we arrived it was jam packed with people and had a real buzz; thankfully the majority were just meeting up to head out as needed to chill a bit but a great place to socialise. COP$45,000 for double with shared bathroom. Great atmosphere, chill out room, big kitchen and hang out area. Andy the owner is a good guy, would stay again. Good wireless internet.
Hostel Sue in Bogota – Our previous hostel was so popular when we decided to stay longer in Bogota there was no room. These were round the corner and available with a good room. Good hang out area, TV room but small kitchen. It does have a ping pong table though! COP$45,000 for a double room with shared bath, many live here on extended stays so the standard of Spanish is high! Has wireless internet but with limited range.
Santander Aleman in San Gil – Unfortunately our preference, the one and only Macondo hostel run by Shaun, was full so we stayed in the overspill a few doors down. A decent enough hostel but no wireless was a big minus. Fairly sociable and great breakfast (not included). COP$38,000 for the double room with shared bathroom – you’ll end up spending most of your time at Macondo even if you’re staying here!
Casa de Felipe in Taganga – Again a must stay when you are in Taganga; it has a fantastic and large patio area with hammocks that overlooks Taganga and is very popular. Also one of the best restaurants in town, for COP$16,000 you can get a fillet steak that melts in your mouth; you don’t have to stay there to enjoy. Good wireless, COP$50,000 for a double with private bathroom breakfast is available but extra.
Casa Holanda in Taganga – A fairly new hostel and very clean with pretty good wireless; this is a good choice if you’re staying in Taganga. COP$50,000 for a double room with private bathroom with breakfast included – they do happy hour cocktails but they’re watered down so don’t get too excited.
Hostal Pelikan in Taganga – Been around for a while, they’re currently renovating/extending it. Friendly and with wireless, it has a good patio/balcony (not sun facing) to watch Taganga go by. We paid COP$25,000 for a double with shared bathroom, as the room hadn’t finished being built!
Hostal Real in Cartagena – Unfortunately we didn’t really enjoy our stay here; no ventilation and too hot in the rooms, bin in the bathroom not changed for three days and only had a twin available when we’d booked in advance (COP$40,000 double with bath). Not recommended, stay at Media Luna instead; it looked great!
Casa de Francois in San Agustin – A great character hostel in the hills of San Agustin. Francois is an excellent host who knows the area, the hostel itself is a small farm you can buy produce from. Bit of a hike from the town (15 Colombian minutes) although he’ll pick you up in his new(!) van. Definitely recommended, COP$35,000 for a double with semi-private bathroom.
Hotel Belmonte in Ipiales – We stayed here for one reason only; its basic, on the border and cheap. It ticks all these boxes admirably, plus they are friendly and it has a good location. COP$18,000 for a double with shared bath.

Things we saw: Underwater treasures that to us diving newbies got us hooked. Pablo Escobar’s guns. Lots of gold. An immensely impressive Salt Cathedral.

Things we did: Visited some awesome museums in Bogota – don’t listen to those who don’t like Bogota! Apparently you can try on a bullet proof jacket and get shot near the police museum. Missed that. Saw the sunset from the top of Monserrate. Went paragliding in San Gil. Did an excellent PADI Open Water course in Taganga. Played Citadels, a great card game. Met some good people. Saw too many stone heads. Went horse riding. Drank beautiful banana and Oreo smoothies.

The Food: Started enjoying Menu del Dia; a cheap and usually tasy two course meal. Still no excellent indiginous food to speak of though!

The Drink: More beer… Beer is about COP$1000-1,500 (~50p) in shops, and COP$2-3,000 (~£1) in bars/hostels.

Top five things to remember:Paragliding over Colombian countryside. Fantastic scenery and beautiful everywhere, worth taking buses in the day. The incredible Salt Cathedral, bar the unnecessary embellishment. Seeing ten lobsters chilling on two shelves, 20m down. Attempting to offload my crutches with animated dancing at Bogota bus station.

The not so good things: Not a lot, we loved Colombia! Only that we didn’t have enough time to visit Medillin and the Coffee District. Plus that my knee wasn’t up to the fabled Lost City trek or visiting Tayrona National Park.

Useful links:

Colombian Flight Comparison site
Hosteltrail - Good site for finding hostels in Colombia.

Blog posts:


Beautiful waterfall in the background View at Picasa Beautiful waterfall in the background03-Jul-2009 20:40, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 7.1, 35.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400	The novelty had worn off slightly for us by now as well… View at Picasa The novelty had worn off slightly for us by now as well…03-Jul-2009 21:52, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 6.3, 30.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400	He actually went slowly down the hills every now and again View at Picasa He actually went slowly down the hills every now and again04-Jul-2009 17:29, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 8.0, 40.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 400
Trying to direct a Colombian on how you want your photo to look is very difficult, and potentially life threatening when he still doesn’t get it &&^\|%£^& right. But hey, its still a good photo! ) View at Picasa Trying to direct a Colombian on how you want your photo to look is very difficult, and potentially life threatening when he still doesn't get it &&^\|%£^& right. But hey, its still a good photo! )06-Jul-2009 18:18, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 9.0, 28.0mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 400	Pretending to invade Cartagena. We need more guns. View at Picasa Pretending to invade Cartagena. We need more guns.29-Jun-2009 18:35, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 5.0, 45.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100	Looking forward to beautiful soft skin… View at Picasa Looking forward to beautiful soft skin…30-Jun-2009 16:59, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 10.0, 95.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 400
She (I assume) was having none of it however. View at Picasa She (I assume) was having none of it however.30-Jun-2009 22:23, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 4.5, 105.0mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 400	Our first night, a gorgeous bbq that had enough left over for lunch! From left to right; Mirika, Chris, Malph, Aart, Alex, Joyce, Corey and Lynette. View at Picasa Our first night, a gorgeous bbq that had enough left over for lunch! From left to right; Mirika, Chris, Malph, Aart, Alex, Joyce, Corey and Lynette.21-Jun-2009 01:50, Panasonic DMC-FX3, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 400	The infamous Irish lads, busy wooing my lady… View at Picasa The infamous Irish lads, busy wooing my lady…23-Jun-2009 03:18, Panasonic DMC-FX3, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250
Underwater there are only so many funny faces you can make! View at Picasa Underwater there are only so many funny faces you can make!24-Jun-2009 02:29, SONY DSC-P8, 2.8, 6.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100	The happy couple after a long day! On to Cartagena! View at Picasa The happy couple after a long day! On to Cartagena!27-Jun-2009 22:19, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 11.0, 28.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 400	Two’s company, three’s a crowd. View at Picasa Two's company, three's a crowd.18-Jun-2009 20:57, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 7.1, 30.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100
Her pilot was particularly keen on spinning around at speed towards the ground… View at Picasa Her pilot was particularly keen on spinning around at speed towards the ground…18-Jun-2009 20:48, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 8.0, 105.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100	A bit blurred, but our best attempt to get a photo of the loving couple in the cathedral. View at Picasa A bit blurred, but our best attempt to get a photo of the loving couple in the cathedral.16-Jun-2009 19:46, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 3.5, 28.0mm, 1.3 sec, ISO 1600	I feel some photoshop work coming on when it comes time to print… ) View at Picasa I feel some photoshop work coming on when it comes time to print… )17-Jun-2009 00:22, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL, 4.0, 28.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 400

Country Overview: Travelling in Colombia

Leave a Reply

Have you read...?

Recent Comments

Backpacker Blogs we've met

Other Travellers

Useful Travel Links

Itinerary of the world!

Archives