Coming out of Central America, Colombia was simply a dream come true. We’ve been to amazing museums and done tons of fun things. When we met people in Colombia, be it on the trail or in the street they were all friendly. They ask where we’re from and how we like our time here.
When people here see us with a camera they offer to take our picture, rather than ask for money in exchange for theirs. Bogota was the first big city we’ve been to where we felt at home and we just kept finding more and more incredible things to eat.
We had planned to spend more time in Colombia, going all the way north to the coast and then back south again through Medellin. Finally we realized that as much as we wanted to spend an afternoon soaking in the mud pits of Cartegena overlooking Caribbean, spending 22 hours on a bus each way just wasn’t worth it…especially when we can fly there from Ft. Lauderdale for less money than the bus would have cost. We’ll just have to come back to Colombia again sometime in the future.
While in Colombia we had tons of great new foods. While couchsurfing we went out for Chicha, a fermented corn drink that could best be described as filling. We followed that up with an arepa which is the Colombian version of the sandwich/shwarma/gyro/burrito (take your pick) only with these there are about 30 different varieties to choose from. Bogota, like NYC, is known for its hot dogs and pizza and although it would seem New York City has nothing to worry about, the people here are onto something when they add little pieces of fried plantains to the top of the hot dogs…then some great sauce on top of that. The dessert of choice (how could we forget dessert) is two large waffle sized wafers with caramel mushed in the middle, unless of
course you want some berry or cream to go with it as well. And if that wasn’t enough, top it off with a kebab of perfect beef, with a potato on top, for a dollar.
Now, with our stomachs quite full, we turn our attention to Ecuador. Crossed the border without issue yesterday and made our way to Quito. No one we have met on this trip has exited the country with all the things they had when they entered; although some of our friends from DC recently got tear-gassed. Good luck to us.
Man. So many positive reports of people’s trips through Colombia. Great to hear another unreserved endoresement. I’m happy to say that Kathryn and I will be adding Colombia to our itinerary! Can’t wait to try some of the food out!
Oh — and by the way. Blow the budget and do the Galapagos! We’ll buy something through your Amazon link to help fund the travels next time we’re ordering a book!
I couldn’t help but notice that Daniel mentioned something about how ordering through an Amazon link can help fund your travels? I’m an avid amazon shopper for school books and cheap products. If there’s a link or something that will help with your finances I’d be more than happy to use it the next time I buy something I probably shouldn’t 😉