Colombia
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
Just left Colombia overland from Ecuador at Rumichaca. The Colombian Immigration has a large handwritten sign requesting onward ticket and photocopy of same. Whilst I was waiting I saw a few people (including a British traveller) refused entry.
Gavin Sexton, (Feb 03)
Travel Tips
It is not the safest country in the world. But with some forward thinking and a common sense approach, I think it is an easy country to visit, especially as an independent traveler. I contacted the Colombian Embassy in London prior to my visit and gave them my proposed route. Their advice, basically about all travel in the country was that flying between places is the safest method of travel. Avoid travel at night, only travel on main roads and use main bus companies. They also suggested contacting the local police at each town visited and to ask about security on the road etc. The Foreign and Commonwealth website also has regularly updated advice for travelers. I did as I was advised, was not paranoid...and had no problems. I was only stopped at an army roadblock once for a cursory search with no problems and all police I spoke with were polite and approachable, especially the Tourist Police.
Kenneth Mackie, (Jan 01)
I saw that in your web pages you have some links to newspapers, could be good to include the following:
The second most important newspaper, next to El Tiempo, is El Pais and you can find it at: www.elpais-cali.com
Rolf Grau, Colombia (Jan 01)
There is now a left luggage office at Bogota airport, located in the domestic arrivals terminal. Bags are placed in lockers, and you are given the key. The office is staffed 24 hours. Anyone travelling to Colombia should make sure their bags are padlocked (three of my colleagues had items taken from their luggage).
Joanna Depledge, UK (Jan 00)
Moving About
To get to the Tayrona National Park from Santa Marta it is quite helpful to catch the Chiva from the Hotel Miramar, which departs daily around am. The costs of COP 15.000 includes return trip any day (daily around 2pm), entry fee to National Park. The traveller's bags will however be carefully checked by local police at the entrance to the walk to Arrecifies.
Nicolai Oswald, UK (Jan 00)
Scams & Warnings
Of course you have read that Bogotá is dangerous. So did I, and I was also arrogant enough to believe that I am an experienced and careful backpacker, who knows what to do. I thought I would deal with the dangers of this city as I have done during the last 12 years of regular backpacking, with the experience of four previous trips to Latin America and living half a year in Guatemala City (not the safest place on earth). Please note that Bogotá, Colombia for that matter, is a different story. Of course bad luck can hit you anywhere but the risk of something happening to you is really different in Colombia. Common sense like "beware of pick pocketing in busy areas, watch your bags like a hawk in terminals, don't wander off in quiet areas by yourself, keep a low profile or don't go out after dark" etc. etc. is not enough! Anywhere in the centre of Bogotá you can be robbed in broad daylight. I was walking in a nice sunny street just a block from Avenida Jiminez. It was a national holiday so many people (families, couples) were walking around. People were standing and sitting in front of their houses and there were even two police officers 30 meters away. However, when they were called they refused to come while I was being stripped by eight boys with two knifes in my face. The robbers even take their time to check your underwear as nobody around them bothers them anyway. This story does not stand by itself. The police station on the Avenida Jiminez on the way to Monte Serrate records about 150 robberies a day; many Colombians and about every foreigner that dares to stroll around the neighbourhood. What do you think of the nice square in front of the gold museum...yes people were violently robbed and beaten up there just a few weeks ago. We counted 4 violent robberies in these last 3 weeks in this hostel alone. Some things in Colombia are really great and some people are wonderful, as many travellers will testify, but yes, it is getting really bad. Common smart travellers sense is not enough for Bogotá. Please believe that you are taking a different risk than most other countries. I am far from the only one that was surprised by the vicious criminals of this place. Nearly half of the people that I spoke to during my month in Colombia had been robbed. Nobody got hurt...but I was amazed.
Rob Minee, (Jan 01)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
I can say that Colombia is world famous for being one of the most dangerous countries in the world but honestly if you have common sense you can have a great time. Most of the people are very friendly but you will never hear that on CNN and that is because Colombia has a bad publicity agent but the small city of Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea is one of the most beautiful in the world. It's an old city with a big colonial fortress. But the most beautiful thing in this city, and its main tourist attraction is its crystal sea. It doesn't matter how deep the bottom of the sea is you can see it and appreciate it. It's also a very cheap thing to do because you are going to see fishermen swimming with out any equipment and many people just having fun. Back on the mainland you can see kids playing soccer without shoes and without having to pay a fee and if soccer rules the "playa" baseball is in every street.
Mauricio Lanos, Colombia (Jan 02)
An event that surprised me a lot when I first came here to Cali is that every Sunday between 9am and 10pm they have something called 'la ciclovida' All streets through the whole city are closed down to traffic and the city turns into a people's fiesta. All kinds of people, young and old, go out to the streets walking, rollerblading or riding their bicycles through the city. Along the streets they have drink and food stands, music is played everywhere and at some streets you even have free aerobics classes. Best of all, this happens every Sunday and it's a lot of fun every time.
Rania Salameh (June 01)
There are some other highlights that should be definitely included in the next edition of the book. The Ciclovia is an event that takes place every Sunday (and holidays) in Bogota, in which many of the main roads are closed and hundreds of cyclists take over. It's an amazing way to see the city, especially if you are biking from the north part to the Plaza de Bolivar which takes about an hour each way. Bogota's mayor, Enrique Peñalosa, made many recent improvements, such as cycling routes, that permitted me to see much of the city by bicycle.
Benjamin Guezentsvey, USA (Jan 01)
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