For the first time in about 9 months, we are back in the Northern Hemisphere! We spent one week in Ecuador, ending in Quito and visiting the Mitad Del Mundo, or Center of the World, where we straddled the equator and passed for the first time into the N. Hemisphere. Next we crossed over into Columbia, where we are now.
Columbia is not as scary as the US Government would lead you to believe, but there are still some precautions that should be taken. Buses have been known to be hijacked at night, so we have not been taking buses at night (obviously!) However, this means we have to do all of our travel during the day, which cuts into our time to explore the country. However, the scenery here is beautiful; the mountains are all green and they are in their growing season, so there are plants and vegetables and fruits everywhere!
We first stopped in Pasto, in a 7 dollar flea bitten hotel near the bus station. That was a 10 hour rest stop so we wouldnt have to travel at night. Then we went to a nice little colonial town called Popayan, where the streets are all numbers and you can get lost, but not in a bad way. Next we went to the town of San Augustin, which sits at the top of the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range) and looks down onto the valley of the River Magdalena. We took a horseback tour to a bunch of old ruin sites which are from BC.
Our most recent stop is here in Bogota, where we are now. It is nice to be in the city, where there is semi decent internet, but it is just so big and everything is so expensive....we are looking forward to our next stop, Valle de Leyva, where we will go hiking and biking and nature watching.
Columbia is not as scary as the US Government would lead you to believe, but there are still some precautions that should be taken. Buses have been known to be hijacked at night, so we have not been taking buses at night (obviously!) However, this means we have to do all of our travel during the day, which cuts into our time to explore the country. However, the scenery here is beautiful; the mountains are all green and they are in their growing season, so there are plants and vegetables and fruits everywhere!
We first stopped in Pasto, in a 7 dollar flea bitten hotel near the bus station. That was a 10 hour rest stop so we wouldnt have to travel at night. Then we went to a nice little colonial town called Popayan, where the streets are all numbers and you can get lost, but not in a bad way. Next we went to the town of San Augustin, which sits at the top of the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range) and looks down onto the valley of the River Magdalena. We took a horseback tour to a bunch of old ruin sites which are from BC.
Our most recent stop is here in Bogota, where we are now. It is nice to be in the city, where there is semi decent internet, but it is just so big and everything is so expensive....we are looking forward to our next stop, Valle de Leyva, where we will go hiking and biking and nature watching.
