Anyway, back to my travels. After Cartagena I headed south to Medellin, which came with a much more pleasant temperature which made me feel like it was actually worth showering again. Medellin was another cool city- not as obviously pretty as Cartagena but lovely nonetheless. Just 15 years ago the city was the murder capital of Colombia, but since the downfall of Pablo Escobar it has become much safer. I went on a walking tour in downtown which was really interesting; the people of Medellin have had a very difficult past and it's crazy to think how recently it all happened. The tour guide told us about how when she was a teenager it was normal for bombs to go off and shootings to occur regularly. I think it's a testament to the Colombian people that in spite of their troubled history they're so keen to change what people think of their country; they're incredibly proud people.
I also went on a day trip out to Guatape, a colourful little town a couple of hours out of Medellin, to visit one of Pablo Escobar's destroyed houses and to climb up Piedra el Peñol- basically a big rock with 740 steps up to an amazing view. Of course I completely underestimated how far 740 steps is and nearly died on the way up but I'll admit the view was worth it.
I thought I'd mention my hostel in Medellin too. After hearing recommendations from basically everyone I've met here I decided to stay in the Happy Buddha hostel and I'd highly recommend it to anyone for one of the best showers and best atmospheres I've experienced so far. Just one thing- if you end up staying in room 111 be prepared to never be able to open the door yourself. Seriously the guy behind reception started joking that I needed to marry him because of how many times I had to ask him to help me open the door. Of course every time he did it the door would open on the first try. Sod's law.
After Medellin I headed further south to a small town in the coffee region called Salento. The bus there was my first relatively long one (6 and a half hours) and it was actually surprisingly good. Unfortunately the guy next to me took his shoes off immediately and proceeded to make it his mission to rub his feet on everything in sight. We were heading to the same place but sadly he did too much damage to our potential relationship that I decided we just couldn't be friends. Salento was really lovely, a welcome change from the big cities I've been spending most of my time in so far. I went on a day trek to Valle de Cocora which is full of wax palm trees- I had to rent wellies from my hostel which is one thing I didn't think I'd be able to say I did in Colombia. The view was really beautiful and despite wanting to give up halfway up the mountain, I'm really glad I did it.
I also went on a walk out to a local coffee farm with a guy from my hostel and had a tour of the grounds and the process of making coffee. I'll admit at home I tend to put a couple of sugars in my instant coffee but after trying the real fresh stuff I don't think I can go back to my old habits. My last recommendation for Salento is a restaurant called Brunch, where I ate possibly the biggest burger of my life and some pretty good pancakes too- if you happen to be in the area you have to go.
Finally, after Salento I went to Cali A.K.A the salsa capital of Colombia. I wish I could say that the four days I spent there have turned me into a professional; alas salsa and I are not good friends. There's a little side step move which in theory should be really easy but my feet just can't cope with it. I will say though that it's much harder for men- as long as you're dancing with a guy who knows what he's doing, you can sort of go along with it and be half-convinced that you know what on earth your feet are doing. Cali doesn't really have much more to it than salsa, though I'll admit we were all so lazy there and basically only left the hostel to get food from a place up the road called Pita Majita. The rest of the time was spent drinking beer, chilling by the pool and playing card games. I promise to be more cultural tomorrow- I just got to a place called Popayan on my way down to cross the border into Ecuador. It seems nice enough and my hostel is lovely, complete with bean bag chairs and a very fat cat named Sushi, but unfortunately it seems I'm one of 4 people currently staying here. Perhaps I can use this as an excuse to catch up on Great British Bake Off...
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