Showing 1-16 of 16 results
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Day 58 & 59: En Route to Ecuador
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 10 April 2010
Stopover in Popayan, our midway point between the capital and the country’s border with Ecuador. A small town with its own character that was refreshingly different from other Colombian settlements we have been to. The streets are lined by whitewashed houses that felt blindingly bright. Stumbling into the main square was like a spiritual cleansing – everything was pure white! After a night
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Decisions, decisions!
Blog: Hecktic Travels - 5 April 2010
Seven months on the road, and these travelers are beginning to grow somewhat weary. The pursuit of adventure is alive and well as we still relish in each new vista seen or new friend met... but after seven months of living out of a backpack (five of which we have been constantly moving), breaking points are beginning to be hit, for several reasons.
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The other white city
Blog: Hecktic Travels - 31 March 2010
Saturday morning we were up-and-at-em early (well, early for us anyways) - saying goodbye to our new friends at the Rose Cottage hostel in Otavalo, as well as to our case of the "lazies". We were actually going to have to exert some effort for the next couple of days to get to our next destination of Popayan, Colombia.
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Colombia to Ecuador – Amazing Churches And Dodgy Calculators
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 30 January 2010
It’s quite rare that I get duped by money-changers these days. When you cross billions of borders you get used to working out beforehand roughly how much you want to get, and how much you’re prepared to accept. So it was absolutely infuriating to get scammed at the Colombia – Ecuador border, which is otherwise [...]
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Colombia to Ecuador - A border with class!
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 30 January 2010
When its time to move on to a new country, the one thing you dread second to immigration queues is border towns. They’re depressing places, usually full of unsavoury types who would love to get their hands on some gringo money – often in the form of a money exchangers.
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The Best (And Most Dangerous) Way To Get To Pasto
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 28 January 2010
And this was why we technically did San Agustin and Tierradentro the wrong way around: The Panamerican Highway is a decent paved road that runs all the way through the countryside… but in Southern Colombia, almost all other paths and bumpy dirt roads go over mountains with terrifying drops on the side. We were told, [...]
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The Road To Pasto
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 28 January 2010
When we arrived in San Augustin we learned that to go south toward Ecuador we’d have to go north to Popayan – which is another bumpy dusty journey – and then go to Pasto from there. A solid 12 hours travelling, it wasn’t appealing. However, the girl in the tourist office had said this was the safe way. Later we found out about another way to get to Pasto. You take a taxi to Pitalito, a bus to Mocoa and then a pick up to Pasto. Total travel time; nine hours. Much better.
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Galloping Around San Agustin
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 27 January 2010
The journey between Tierradentro and San Agustin is in three legs: an open-backed (although covered in plastic) truck to La Plata, a minibus to Pitalito and another truck to San Agustin. It takes about seven hours all in all, but that shouldn’t discourage anyone: perhaps we were just really lucky, but the connections between all [...]
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Tierradentro – More Exercise Than You’d Think You´d Get
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 27 January 2010
Really, we did it in the wrong direction, although we didn’t know it at the time. There are a couple of archeological sites that are apparently very worth seeing en route to Ecuador: San Agustin and Tierradentro. And if you look at a map, Tierradentro looks best to visit first. So that was what we [...]
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San Agustin - Colombia
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 27 January 2010
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Tombs in Tierradentro
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 26 January 2010
If you look on a map, the major attractions in the Cauca area of Colombia look pretty close together. However, many of them can only be reached by bumpy, rocky road meaning your travel time increases significantly. Equally your travel comfort decreases significantly too! But the road to San Agustin, the town in Tierradentro, keeps you occupied with breathtaking mountains and valleys. As long as the driver safely negotiates the windy sheer-drop bends, you can forgive the bumps.
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Popayan and the Thermal Baths
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 26 January 2010
Popayan is surrounded by some really beautiful countryside; many a mountain, volcano and national park. As such, there are quite a few options in the hot springs line of activities, and generally plenty to get out and see while you’re here. But you might also fancy, like us, a bit of exercise for the first [...]
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Popayan - a great Cali detox
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 25 January 2010
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Cali - the eyes have it
Blog: A Travel Diary from Mexico, Central and South America - 20 January 2010
Cali is a place that everyone seems to go when travelling through Colombia and it is famous for its night life. And according to our guide book, people say that Cali is home to the most "beautiful women in Colombia". I won't comment on that only to say you could substitute the word 'beautiful' for the word 'flirtatious'. Seriously, if you want to walk down the street and feel like Brad Pitt or George Clooney, hang out in Cali. Perhaps they appreciate the western man in Cali. Or perhaps they see a money bag with a dollar sign on it - like in the cartoons - I don't know.
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Popayan – Peaceful And Relaxing (Except For The Road)
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 19 January 2010
Since this is all meant to be relevant, up-to-date information, let me mention that Popayan is building a new road. Or, more specifically, they’re building a new bridge for the Pan American Highway, and in the meantime the traffic is all being diverted through one of the smaller streets, and by God it’s loud. But it’s [...]
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Cali – Just Here For The Party
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 18 January 2010
I really thought I was too old for this partying-till-the-crack-of-dawn stuff. It’s been a while since I’ve been awake long enough to see the sky get light. But apparently I can still just about handle it, and it’s a good thing too, because a trip to Cali, Colombia’s alleged salsa capital, made it unavoidable. Cali is [...]
Showing 1-16 of 16 results
