On the 8th of January we woke up in Elizabetha Hostal, Salento around 8am and the lady of the hotel served us a nice breakfast. Salento is a small village in the heart of the coffee growing area in QuindÃo, with colourful houses and surrounded by green valleys. When we finished our breakfast we
packed our bags and moved to another hostel just two blocks away called Cedro Negro, where we booked for the
next two nights.
We left our bags there and got a jeep (they call them jeep willys in Colombia) to the Cocora Valley, which is famous for the tall wax palms. The jeep was very crowded, there were 8 people sitting at the back and 3 more standing outside, so we were lucky to sit at the front. After a 20 minutes drive we arrived at the entrance of the valley. From there we could already see the tall wax palms, which can reach 60 meters high.
We walked down past the fish farm and arrived at an entry point where we had to pay 2000 pesos each. The full trek around the valley takes 5 hours and at the end of there is another 3000 pesos to pay. We just did around 1 hour and a half of the trek through a path with amazing green landscapes with wax palms and meadows and a foggy forest with many bridges to cross the river. When we got to the path that goes to the palm forest we turned around (the way was very steep) and came back to the starting point. When we were arriving it started to rain, so we stopped at the fish farm and tried the fried trout with patacon (flattened fried banana), which was very tasty. After the meal we waited for a while for the rain to stop, but it looked like it was going to rain all afternoon long so we got the jeep back to Salento. The queue to get the jeep was massive and it was raining heavily, luckily there was a big tent to cover during the wait.
Back in Salento we rested at the hostel until dinner time. We went to a restaurant close to the main square called Venga Pues Mijo and had grilled trout again and Ari had bandeja paisa (a plate with rice, beans, egg, avocado, fried pork meat and sausage). The food was very tasty and we also had nice live music.
We left our bags there and got a jeep (they call them jeep willys in Colombia) to the Cocora Valley, which is famous for the tall wax palms. The jeep was very crowded, there were 8 people sitting at the back and 3 more standing outside, so we were lucky to sit at the front. After a 20 minutes drive we arrived at the entrance of the valley. From there we could already see the tall wax palms, which can reach 60 meters high.
We walked down past the fish farm and arrived at an entry point where we had to pay 2000 pesos each. The full trek around the valley takes 5 hours and at the end of there is another 3000 pesos to pay. We just did around 1 hour and a half of the trek through a path with amazing green landscapes with wax palms and meadows and a foggy forest with many bridges to cross the river. When we got to the path that goes to the palm forest we turned around (the way was very steep) and came back to the starting point. When we were arriving it started to rain, so we stopped at the fish farm and tried the fried trout with patacon (flattened fried banana), which was very tasty. After the meal we waited for a while for the rain to stop, but it looked like it was going to rain all afternoon long so we got the jeep back to Salento. The queue to get the jeep was massive and it was raining heavily, luckily there was a big tent to cover during the wait.
Back in Salento we rested at the hostel until dinner time. We went to a restaurant close to the main square called Venga Pues Mijo and had grilled trout again and Ari had bandeja paisa (a plate with rice, beans, egg, avocado, fried pork meat and sausage). The food was very tasty and we also had nice live music.
Next morning we got a jeep again back to the Cocora Valley. This time we went for horse
riding with a guide and his tiny dog called Luna. There are plenty of places at the entrance of the valley to do this activity and they offer different itineraries around the valley. We chose an hour and a half itinerary that goes up to the highest point of the palm forest.
So we started our ride up to the palm forest lookout. It was foggy but the place and the views were amazing. Both horses were male and they were all the time competing to be the first one. The guide was walking behind both horses with his tiny dog and he was doing some whistles and noises to control the horses.
Once at the end of the path we had to step down the horse and walk up to the lookout point for around 2 minutes. At the top was still foggy, but seeing the huge palms emerging from the fog was still amazing. After 20 minutes we went down with the horses back to the starting point.
Back to Salento we visited a couple of viewpoints from where we could see the valley and the whole village. After that it started to rain, so we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant where we had a nice big pizza. After that we walked around the village and Ari had a desert with cream and strawberries. We rested at the hostel for the rest of the evening.
So we started our ride up to the palm forest lookout. It was foggy but the place and the views were amazing. Both horses were male and they were all the time competing to be the first one. The guide was walking behind both horses with his tiny dog and he was doing some whistles and noises to control the horses.
Once at the end of the path we had to step down the horse and walk up to the lookout point for around 2 minutes. At the top was still foggy, but seeing the huge palms emerging from the fog was still amazing. After 20 minutes we went down with the horses back to the starting point.
Back to Salento we visited a couple of viewpoints from where we could see the valley and the whole village. After that it started to rain, so we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant where we had a nice big pizza. After that we walked around the village and Ari had a desert with cream and strawberries. We rested at the hostel for the rest of the evening.
Next morning we got all our bags and got a jeep to Filandia, another village similar to Salento. The drive took around 40 minutes and I was all the time standing at the back of the jeep. Once we arrived at the village at the main square Plaza Bolivar we watched a performance where a guy was doing some acrobatics driving one of these jeeps just with the 2 back wheels.
After that we walked around the village until the lookout tower. We didn't enter as there was an entrance fee. On the way back to the main square it was starting to rain, so a bus driver offered us to get in for a short drive for free.
Around 2pm we got a bus to Armenia. We had lunch inside Armenia bus terminal and got another bus to Pijao. It was an hour bus drive between Armenia and Pijao and on the way we passed through a village called Barcelona and the scenery while going up the mountains was amazing, all surrounded by coffee plantations.
In Pijao we stayed at an airbnb accommodation with Patricia. She offered us a cup of tea and prepared the room for us. We walked around the village and had dinner in a bar, as most of the restaurants were already closed. We had a couple of crepes and drinks, which was not much but better than nothing.
After that we walked around the village until the lookout tower. We didn't enter as there was an entrance fee. On the way back to the main square it was starting to rain, so a bus driver offered us to get in for a short drive for free.
Around 2pm we got a bus to Armenia. We had lunch inside Armenia bus terminal and got another bus to Pijao. It was an hour bus drive between Armenia and Pijao and on the way we passed through a village called Barcelona and the scenery while going up the mountains was amazing, all surrounded by coffee plantations.
In Pijao we stayed at an airbnb accommodation with Patricia. She offered us a cup of tea and prepared the room for us. We walked around the village and had dinner in a bar, as most of the restaurants were already closed. We had a couple of crepes and drinks, which was not much but better than nothing.
We woke up and had breakfast at a bakery close to our
accommodation. The village was super calm and quiet. We walked around the village and surroundings following a path that gave us a good view of the whole village. We walked back to the village and got the bus back to
Armenia around midday. From there we changed to another bus to our last destination in the Colombian coffee area, Santa Rosa de Cabal.
Once we got to Santa Rosa, the guy at the hotel we booked told us it was already full, but offered us to stay in another nearby for the same price. The owner of the other place lived in Spain for many years and he was very into local politics. He was very critic about corruption and how tourism is managed, even he was appointed to be the mayor of Santa Rosa some years ago.
We had lunch at a restaurant where they just served chorizo Santarrosano (the local chorizo which is nice but not as good as the Spanish one) and bandeja paisa. After lunch we walked around the village looking for a transport to the hot springs, they asked for 50000 pesos to take us with a jeep (which is quite a lot for a 45 minutes ride each way). We finally went with our landlord for a similar price.
We arrived at Termales de Santa Rosa around 18h. It was getting dark already so we took some pictures while there was still some daylight, put our swimming suit on and soaked into the various hot water pools of the hot spring complex. The water temperature was around 45 degrees, so every about 15 minutes I needed to have a cold shower or get into the nice natural falls. The hot springs were really cool but even when it was getting late it was still crowded. We stayed until 22.30 and still then it was difficult to find a place to sit inside the pools. When we exited the hot springs our landlord was already waiting for us to take us back to Santa Rosa.
P.S.: We are now in Bohol, the Philippines and Internet is very slow, so I'll be updating the post with pictures once I can.
Once we got to Santa Rosa, the guy at the hotel we booked told us it was already full, but offered us to stay in another nearby for the same price. The owner of the other place lived in Spain for many years and he was very into local politics. He was very critic about corruption and how tourism is managed, even he was appointed to be the mayor of Santa Rosa some years ago.
We had lunch at a restaurant where they just served chorizo Santarrosano (the local chorizo which is nice but not as good as the Spanish one) and bandeja paisa. After lunch we walked around the village looking for a transport to the hot springs, they asked for 50000 pesos to take us with a jeep (which is quite a lot for a 45 minutes ride each way). We finally went with our landlord for a similar price.
We arrived at Termales de Santa Rosa around 18h. It was getting dark already so we took some pictures while there was still some daylight, put our swimming suit on and soaked into the various hot water pools of the hot spring complex. The water temperature was around 45 degrees, so every about 15 minutes I needed to have a cold shower or get into the nice natural falls. The hot springs were really cool but even when it was getting late it was still crowded. We stayed until 22.30 and still then it was difficult to find a place to sit inside the pools. When we exited the hot springs our landlord was already waiting for us to take us back to Santa Rosa.
P.S.: We are now in Bohol, the Philippines and Internet is very slow, so I'll be updating the post with pictures once I can.
Una mica enderrerits, no?... que ja som al abril!
ReplyDelete:)