Colombian encounters

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We wish that sharing moments are at the heart of this adventure. Therefore, we are sharing our travel with children of French schools, our relatives and on social media. But the exchange is built everyday with people crossing our road. Without them, we couldn’t share as many stories. Unfortunately, we can’t be exhaustive and present all of these people to you, but each encounter will be unforgettable.

 

Benjamin & José Luis – Mutiscua

Our first story started on the way to Pamplona. Since our departure in Cartagena, we got used to make a stop every 150 kms. But there are 300 kms separating Bucaramanga and Pamplona. Between these cities, there are only mountains, fields and a few villages. No need to say that there is not that much of choices to find a place to stay overnight when you look on internet. We choose a little hotel in the village of Mutiscua.

After leaving the main road, we are going down a few zig zags during 2 kms. We started tonsee the first houses. After a hairpin bend, we arrive on the nice main square. Marie and Emilie, with the sat nav, go by walking to find the hotel while Julien and I are keeping an eye on the sidecars.

Intrigued by the motorbikes, Benjamin introduced himself to us. We start to chat about the mechanics, cylinders and wide of the tires, before he offers us a coffee. We are happy to accept but later as we are waiting the girls. After walking all around the village 3 times, Marie and Emilie tell us they didn’t find the hotel.

We ask Benjamin if he knows a place to stay overnight with a parking. Without a second thought, he asks us to follow him. We go to a street next to the square. Benjamin stops in front of a house and rings the bell. A old woman opens the door. Benjamin explains our situation in a Spanish that we can’t understand. She opens the door of her parking and shows 2 rooms in a building next to her house. She is very happy to let us staying overnight.

Once the side-cars parked and the luggages in the rooms, we are going to meet Benjamin on the main square. In the bar, it’s time for a beer to enjoy the end of the day. On the tables, there are already a few emptied. We share with Benjamin and his friends the « cervicita » of the end of the day. Then we discover with them the Aguardiente, the local aniseed liqueur. At the desk, we meet José Luis. He is curious about our travel and asks us many questions about the daily life in Europe, compared to their village. He wants to do everything for our stay in Mutiscua to be unforgettable . Once a few beers enjoyed, José Luis comes with us to enjoy a « Perro Caliente » in the next shop. The night ends with a last chat with a glass of Aguardiente, about the economic ressources, celebrations and traditions of the village.

The next day, we walk in the village and bumped into Benjamin. It’s 10am, time for a break. His day started at 6:30am. He offers us a beer, that we declined. He insists to offers us chocolate bars as snacks for the breakfast.

On the point of departure, José Luis makes the surprise to pop by to say goodbye. We take a last photo with our hostess before to go back on the main road towards Pamplona.

 

Bryan & Erin – Medellín

On the way to Medellín, we did a stop in San José del Nus. The mechanics to do before to go back on the road was longer that we thought. Indeed, we noticed that the set of feeler gauges to adjust the valves was not the correct one. We lost a few hours, but anyway, thanks to this we met Bryan and Erin who were passing by. When they saw us working on the sidecars, they came to chat with us.

After a short chat about our vehicles, we exchanged our contact details to meet in Medellin and have a longer discussion about our travel stories.

After a day visiting the « Comuna 13 » area and the historical centre, we met Erin and Bryan at the end of the afternoon in the Parque Lleras area. We share a first beer and exchange good travelling tips. Our projects are similar: riding to reach the Chilean Patagonia.

Dreams making us hungry, we are looking to grab a bite. After telling them we didn’t had the opportunity to enjoy a good pizza since the beginning of our adventure, we opt for the Italian restaurant named « Il Forno » matching with our expectations.

We end this meal by promising we will meet again to share a nice time together if we bump into them again.

 

Yeison & his family – La Pintada

After leaving Guatapé, on the way to the coffee area, we wanted to make a stop in the small city of La Pintada to stay overnight. Arriving at the end of the afternoon, we are looking quickly for a hotel. After 3 refusals as they are all fully booked, we park the sidecars in front of a fourth hotel with a touch of stress. While Emilie and Marie are asking the hotel reception for a room; Yeison, the owner of the restaurant next to the hotel, chats with us to know a little bit more about our travel. When the girls are back, they let us know there are no availabilities here again.

Yeison tells us that the city is very touristic and many people are coming from Medellín to enjoy the thermal baths during the weekends. This Sunday night, the hotels are fully booked due to the Monday bank holiday. Indeed, Colombia is celebrating the discovery of America by Christrophe Colombus.

Seeing us in a tricky situation, Yeison offered us spontaneously to stay in his house.

Once our luggages dropped in his living room, we are going to dine in his restaurant to enjoy a delicious burger made by his wife Neiyireth. Yeison chats with us about his passion for the downhill mountain biking, he shows us a few videos and tells us more about the area.

We spent the night in their living room. The street has a lot of traffic and the noise made by a few trucks passing by are giving rhythm to our sleep.

When we woke up, Neiyireth offers us a great breakfast including scrambled eggs, rice, toasts and a “chocolate con queso” (a hot chocolate served with a slice of fresh cheese). We chat during all the morning and compare our daily lifes in France and Colombia. It’s noon and it’s time to go back on the road, our next stop: Santa-Rosa.

 

Bernard & Fabienne avec leur super camping-car 4×4 – Salento

Upon our arrival in the campsite La Serrana, in Salento, we are impressed by the Mercedes 4×4 camping-car next to our camp. Next to it, our tents seem ridiculously tiny. The next day, during our hike in the Cocora Valley, in the middle of a steep hill under the rain, we bumped into a French couple asking us about the distance separating them from the Hummingbird’s House, key step of the hike. We realise this is Bernard and Fabienne, our neighbours in the campsite. We chat with them about our travels. Intrigued by the sidecars, we decide to carry on our chat when we will be back at the campsite.

The next day, during the service of the Urals, we continue our chat stopped the previous day. Bernard tells us about his passion for 2-wheels, his young riding a Mash and their experience in South of America. With his super camping-car, Bernard went everywhere including the Death Road in Ipiales, the steep roads in the White Mountain Range and the Bolivian paths. Fabienne doesn’t hesitate to give us good tips and reassure us for crossing the borders and more specifically the Ecuadorian one as we are getting close. We are taking a few notes that we will improve by reading their blog: https://www.myatlas.com/Nanarlelion

We are going back on the road towards South but we keep cautiously their contact details to share a coffee during our next stop in Briançon.

 

René – Popayan

There are meetings that you can’t plan. 6:30pm, the night just fall down in Popayan. On the way back to the campsite after visiting the town centre, a motorbike, with many stickers on its cases, overtakes us. At the service station, the biker waves us to stop. We stop the engines behind his motorbikes. René introduces himself. He is part of the biker club of the city and usually invites bikers travelling to come at his house. We accept his invitation to share a breakfast with him and discuss more about our travel.

The next day, at 8:30am, we arrive in front of a house which René gave us the adresse the previous day. He is waiting for us in front of the house with a flag from his biker club. We take a few photos and selfies before to go inside for a coffee. René welcomes us warmly in his home and shares biscuits and local candies looking like marshmallows. On the door of his office, he shows with proud the stickers given by the bikers who came at his place. We add proudly our card.

We leave René, with a full stomach, to go back on the road towards Pasto.

It’s 11:15am, René didn’t say a word but today it’s the Communion of his daughter at 11am. No stress, it was important for him to welcome bikers.

 

We are leaving the Colombian roads to enjoy the Ecuadorian ones. The adventure towards the South continues where we will meet new people.

 

Night spots in Colombia

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During the preparations of our trip, we were hoping to do a lot of wild camping to enjoy the nature and save some money. Today, we wish to share these spots with you if you go there one day. To be fair, in Colombia we needed to lower our expectations. Indeed, the wild camping is not recommended.

Among the 33 nights spent in this country, we slept 22 nights in hotels, 5 nights in a local’s home, 5 nights in campsites and only 1 wild camping night. 

There is only one spot but here the details, if one day you are looking for a spot around Bucaramanga jn Colombia.

This wild camping spot was next to the Misiguey waterfalls. To be more specific, the tents were set up on a private land. We paid the equivalent of 1€ per person to have access.

To go to this great spot, nothing too hard. On the road between Curumani and Bucaramanga, turn left in the Puerto Arturo village. Then follow an uneven path to cross the village. Cross the ford and go up on a track damaged by the rain with many ruts during 8 kms in the mountainside.

No doubt, you always need to go straight. If required, you can ask to the locals living in small houses on the side of the track. They will be happy to explain to you the way to the waterfalls with a big smile. Engines risk to overheat to reach the small shop announcing the entry of the path to the waterfalls. You will be able to leave your vehicles there to go down with your equipment to build up the tent in the wooden mirador with the view on the waterfalls.

You will enjoy a quite night with the sound of the waterfalls. You will wake up with the birds singing to give you the motivation to go out of your bed. Swimming under the waterfall, for the morning shower, will finish to convince you that this spot deserved the effort to reach it !

Colombian experiences

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During a month spent in Colombia, we had many surprising experiences. We just wanted to share some of them with you along these few lines.

 

Playing Tejo with a local beer

The Tejo is a Colombian traditional game. You can play with family or friends and usually with a “cervecita” (little beer). The Tejo playground has a length of 19,5m. Therefore, everyone doesn’t have their own playground in their garden! Their are usually located in the main places of cities or villages (mainly bars, sports grounds or venues).

We had the opportunity to discover this game in the small village of Salento, in the bar named “Los Amigos”. There are 7 playgrounds in their covered courtyard. When we played, there were no specialists to throw a Tejo, but only other tourists who came like us to discover this game.

The Tejo is the name of the big metal disc that we need to throw. It weights around 700 grams and it’s thrown towards a target of 1 square meter named “Cancha”. This one is angled and covered of clay.

We played just the 4 of us and we were against each other. The winner is the one having a score of 21 points. Each player throws the Tejo by turns.

Nous avons joué une partie à quatre joueurs, en étant “chacun pour soi”. Est déclaré vainqueur le joueur ayant atteint 21  points. A tour de rôle chaque joueur lance son Tejo :

  • 1 point for the player who is the closest to the ring.
  • 3 points for the player throwing its Tejo on a little pocket full of powder which will make an explosion.
  • 6 points for a player throwing its Tejo inside the ring. 
  • 9 points for a player making an explosion and then having its Tejo ending in the ring.
  • If a Tejo is in the ring and one of the next players makes an explosion, it cancels the points of the first player. 

Once the rules understood, the clay playground well flatten, the pockets full of powder in position and the beers open; the game can start! First points are won, until this exact throw by Marie with a Tejo touching the pocket full of powder. There is a banger noise attracting all the attention of the room and our target is hidden by a white a smoke; this is our first explosion!

We keep going the game until we finish our beer. The throws will become more and more accurate and the explosions will be more frequent (thanks to the skills we got with a French similar game!).

 

Getting the beard trimmed on the main square in Pamplona

A month of travelling which means a month without a razor, you can notice it! It could be considered as careless but we prefer saying “adventurer”. It’s not because we do not see many barber shops on the way, but they seem to have more skills for drawing stars in short hairs than trimming a beard with a trimmer and scissors…

Finally, it’s in Pamplona on the main square that I found a barber shop in which I trust. A decoration with a “biker” style, vintage leather seats and a barber using a cut-throat razor. Once the robe put on, the seat a bit up, I just need to express myself in Spanish to explain my wishes. The idea is to avoid the haircut of Neymar or the moustache of Escobar. At the end, the beard is shorter than I thought but it’s nice and soft!

 

Falling into a trap with the Pony-Malta 

Our relationship with Colombian sodas started in Bogota. A quick lunch in the streets of Bogota to taste our first empañadas with the number one of the Colombian sodas: le Colombiana. With its golden colour, we wouldn’t expect a natural flavoring but in reality it tastes only pure sugar, nothing more.

Intrigued by the advertising, a mix up of the graphic guidelines of the the toys “my little poney” and the labels of the beer Coreff (beer from Brittany), we tasted the the Pony-Malta with a pizza. But by wanting to taste the unknown, we finally got trapped. As all the Colombian sodas, the Pony Malta is very sweet. But, its taste is the most surprising. As mentioned by its name, this is the taste of the malt extract which is the most powerful. A flavor which is not enjoyed by the team. There is something to suit all tastes ; but his one would need to be removed from the marked according to us… 😉

 

Going to the Cocora Valley by standing up on the back of a Jeep 

We could have gone to the Cocora Valley by side-cars. But when we saw the Jeep’s on the main square in Salento, we couldn’t resist to do this touristic experience.

The starting point of the hike is 20 minutes away by car on a winding road alongside the Rio Quindio.

All the interest of this experience has been  done upon the choice of the driver in 10 seconds when he called his 10 passengers to leave at 8:30am. The strategy adopted, and which worked for Julien and I, was to leave the 8 other passengers going first to let us having space on the running board on the back of the Jeep. Hair blowing in the wind, hand on the luggage rack, we shared the same spot with a third tourist. Feeling at ease, we’re preening. At the third of the journey, a local farmer on the side of the road waved to stop the Jeep. He threw his bag full of cereals on the luggage rack and took position on the back with us. A foot on the running board, the other one on the spare wheel. We lost a bit of our pride as he was so cool in this position!

After a nice hike in the valley, we adopted the same position on the Jeep on the way back. The rain spiced it up to end a nice experience on the back of a Jeep.

 

Going up the mirador of Pamplona with a Renault 9 

In Colombia, the car brand Renault is one of the most famous. On the Colombian asphalt, as much as in cities as in the countryside, the Renault design is everywhere. We can find a few recent models such as the Logan, 4×4 Koleos or Mégane. But the most impressive is to see a lot of old models being still on the road while these models are not available anymore on the French market. The Renault 9 is the most famous. Often redecorated with stickers, neon lights and boomers, it’s the pride of many Colombians.

It’s 7:30pm on a Friday night, when we decided to enjoy a beer on the heights of Pamplona. Indeed we are 5, but tonight, none of the taxis wants to offer us a ride   which is unusual. Chatting with friends at the corner of a street, the owner of a beautiful blue Renault 9 with red neon lights offered us to give us a ride. With an Aguila (the most famous beer in Colombia) in his hand, he explained that we didn’t have any chance to find a taxi to go there as we had beers with us and the area is not very recommended.

Let’s go for a ride like in “Fast and Furious” in the winding streets of Pamplona.

Try to picture a very old Renault 9 with a front passenger seat unfixed, a fan to cool down the engine making a horrible noise and breaks squeaking in each turn, all of that in narrow streets with hills going up at over 45%. You have here the situation of our ascent.

On the top, the view over the city lights is worth it. This moment is today an unforgettable experience.

From Salento to the Ecuadorian border – 6 days – 1895 metres above sea level

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Medellín being surrounded by mountains, we need to reach a col to leave the city. There is nice road going down hills towards the little village La Pintada before to go up hills again in the mountains.

The most famous coffee production area in Colombia is located in the triangle made by the cities of Manizales, Pereira and Armenia.

The little village Salento is in the heart of this triangle. Salento is a touristic village, also famous for being at the entry of the Cocora Valley where excessively tall palm trees are growing.

Salento kept a colonial architecture. On the main square, there is the departure spot of the Jeeps to go trekking in the valley. After crossing the streets with artisans, we can go up hill to reach the mirador for enjoying a panoramic view over the village and the surrounding mountains. When going back down, we invite you to stop at the bar “Los Amigos” to discover a local game named the Tejo while tasting a craftbeer from the area.

Around Salento, there are many coffee farmsnamed “Finca” in the mountainside. There are farms of all sizes and for all tastes. So, do not hesitate to get more information to visit the right one! We have opted for the “Finca Acacias”, a small family exploitation where we have discovered, between the coffee plants, the secret of this brown gold before to enjoy a coffee tasting.

The trekking in the Cocora Valley is a true breath of fresh air, starting with a journey holding the boot of a Jeep. Once arrived at the bottom of the valley, we went up to reach La Casa de los Colibris (the Hummingbird’s House) by crossing many rivers with rope bridges. This houseis reached after a 2 hour climbing. It’s possible to drink a hot chocolate with cheese whilst enjoying the hummingbirdsflying around us. Once relaxed, we climbed again to reach the second refuge, the highest point of this hike. Then, there is a nice slope until the starting point, in the middle of the huge palm trees named wax palm trees are impressive with their 70m high!

We carried on our journey on the Pan-American Highway and we reached Popayan. This Colombian city is also named the “White City”. The historic town Centre kept its colonial architecture with white-frontage houses. Churches are indeed numerous in Colombia but they are one at each corner of this city. They have the specificity to be colourful and to have altars with beautiful gildings.

Just before the Ecuadorian border, we did a stop in Ipiales. The city is a bit austere but located on a strategic point. The border is only 10kms away towards South. In addition, 7kms away towards East, there is the sanctuary of “Las Lajas”. This is a beautiful basilica built in the heart of a canyon. The first religious building dates back to the middle of the 18th Century and was built after the discovery of a painting on the rock showing the Virgin Marie holding Jesus in her arms.

This building has been increased over centuries to create a majestic basilica which has been finalised in 1953.

The next day, we left Ipiales at the dawn as we wanted to cross the border the quickest possible.

We arrived at the border at 7am but many Venezuelans were already in the queue. Travelers that we met on the road told us about this, and indeed it’s very hard not having any feelings about this situation. They are waiting patiently and don’t saying anything when they see Europeans passing in front of them as there is a specific line for European citizens.

We managed in less than an hour to get the stamps proving that we left the Colombian territory. Plus, gave back our temporary Colombian importation document for the sidecars (only 5mins for this). Then, we crossed the bridge separating both countries before to go to the Ecuadorian immigration desk to get our visas for the next 90 days. Here again, in only 5 mins we got our stamps for the visas. We needed a few more minutes for the importation of the sidecars. Overall, crossing this border took us 2 little hours. All the paperwork have been done by a nice and smiley staff.

Let’s go to Ecuador for our next adventures!

 

 


OUR FAVOURITE PLACES 
 

What to visit?  

La Casa de los Colibris (the Hummingbird’s House)
Cocora Valley
5,OOO COP the entry 

We won’t hide it from you too long… if you wish to visit the Hummingbird’s House, you will need to make a small detour of 2 kms during your hike in the Cocora valley. But this additional is well worth the effort to worn your shoes a little bit more! First, because a drink is included in the price of the ticket and enjoying a hot chocolate (you can opt for El chocolate con queso – which is a Colombian speciality!) for a break during the hike is great! But above all, watching the show offered by the hummingbirds flying around is impressive! With their trajectory, their high speed and when they are hovering over to. We could stay hours. A delicious moment for eyes and taste buds.

Finca de las Acacias
Palestina, Salento

This is maybe not the most beautiful, the biggest or the easiest to access but we recommend this “finca” without a doubt as we have been very well-welcomed. This visit has been done in a simple way but in a good and communicative mood with the wish to share a passion more than a job. A true moment of sharing which ended with the tasting of a treasure: a Colombian coffee!

 

Where to eat? 

El Patio de Mi Casa
Cra 7a con calle 5a # 5-03, Salento

This is an enjoyable place where to eat the local dish which is the trout named here “Trucha.” The place and the staff are nice, and for the most important: the garlic trout is delicious! The only bad point is the price which is still accessible but expensive, probably due to the city being very touristic. We still highly recommend it!

Medellín & Guatapé – 3 days – 1500 metres above sea level

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Arriving in Medellín, we understood quickly the impressive size of the city. Some new areas, with houses made randomly, are being built in the surrounding mountains. Effectively, Medellín is the second most populated city in Colombia.

This city is sadly famous in the world for the bloody crimes which happened from the 70’s to the 90’s. The drug cartel of the famous Pablo Escobar imposed his law which causes many score settling.

Step by step, the local associations with the help of the public authorities have successfully integrated the street art and the urban culture to replace the acts of violence and delinquency.

The “Comuna 13” area is today the standard-bearer of this successful transition. Adding escalators in this area helped to open up the hill. Plus, painting graffitis on the majority of the walls helped to attract today many tourists who like this urban culture.

The historic town centre has 2 nice squares. The Botero Park highlighting the sculptures of the famous artist around the cathedral. The Plaza Mayor having a modern architecture and away of the traffic. This is an enjoyable and quite spot, hidden from the buzzing life of the city, but locals do not seem to come here a lot.

The Parque Lleras area is very westernised. There are restaurants and bars with worldwide influences where we can meet backpackers and comfortably off Colombians.

1h30 away by riding, towards East, the lagoon and the Guatapé village is not to be missed. Indeed, you will see many tourists, but the surroundings is largely worth it!

First, the village offers a surprising colour palette. Each facade of the houses has a embossed fresque with on the lower part with a design of animals, jobs or geographic places. The “Plazoleta de los Zocalos” has stairs painted with hundreds of colours. If the weather is nice, this place is perfect for a “tinto” coffee on a terrace.

During our passage, roadworks were in progress to build in the future the banks of the lagoon which will increase again the beauty of this village.

A few kilometers away, you can’t miss “Le Peñón”. This rock, famous in the world, offers breathtaking view over the lagoon after climbing its 659 steps.

The lagoon, and its nuances from blue to green with a hint of turquoise, is artificial. Indeed, the lagoon has been created further the construction of a river dam to create a reservoir provinding freshwater to Medellín.

To conclude this stage, we spent the night next to the lagoon. A waterfront waking up to enjoy a last time this memorable place before to go back on the road towards the South.

 


OUR FAVOURITE PLACES
 

Where to eat?  

Pizzeria Il Forno
Circular 5, Segundo Parque de Laureles ##73-15, Medellín

Arepas are nice but after a month, a pizza is like a dream. We recommend to the backpackers having the same feeling, to enjoy the Pizzeria Il Forno. This pizzeria is located in the Parque Lleras area which means prices are a bit high, but this crunchy pizza dough… this delicious tomato sauce base… this melting mozzarella… well… we couldn’t resist!

 

Where to have a drink?

Le jus de fruit de chez Luis
Comuna 13, Medellín

We have been impressed by the Comuna 13 area, but you need to climb up. In spite of taking the escalators, you will feel thirsty quickly… No worries as Luis is here with his fabulous fruit juices. A simple terrace but a reasonable price in spite of its optimal location to attract tourists. This juice deserves at least a little break of 15 minutes.

 

Pamplona and the areas of Santander and Norte-Santander – 8 days – 2342 metres above sea level

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The Norte-Santander county is located at the Venezuelan border at the North-East of Colombia.

These areas are keys in the history of the country as this is where many battles happened for the independence of Colombia. The most famous battle happened near Bucaramanga with separatists against Spanish conquistadors and last 1 000 days.

As we arrived from the North, we did our first stop, in the Norte-Santander, in Bucaramanga. Our first impression was not the most positive one as we needed to go through an horrendous traffic to reach the town-centre perched on a mountain. In spite of the link with the Hispanic history, the architecture is not majestic, even with 2 nice squares. But we still had good surprises.

First, the chess players in the Parque Santander at the bottom of the cathedral playing with pawns, bishops and knights on the draughtboard. After starting to chat with a person watching a chess game, we are invited to share a  “tinto” coffee while debating about European football.

After walking a bit in the streets of the city, we enjoyed the cultural spot offered by “El Instituto del Oriente”. Far away from the buzzing city life, we enjoyed listening the music lessons, watching the dance classes, and learning more about the history of the area in the small museum upstairs.

 

A few kilometers away, at the West of the city, Girón offers a more quite environnement than the big city Bucaramanga. Its historic centre with Hispanic influences offers an enjoyable atmosphere. Narrow paved streets, nice houses with white facades and little stone bridges seduced us quickly.

On the way to Pamplona, after reaching the top of the “Cerro Morronagre” col at 3100m above sea level, we made an improvised stop in the Mutiscua village. To go there, nothing easier. On the main road, there is a sign indicating this village. You just need to take this road on the left hand-side, to go down the 2km winding road in bad conditions, and Mutiscua will wait for you! This little village in the mountains lives with cultivation of vegetables and trout farming. We have been seduced by the simplicity and the warm welcoming of their residents. The main square is built around the church overlooking the river. This is the true heart and soul of the village where everyone is meeting to spend time together at the end of the day with a soda, a beer or a glass of Aguardiente with his neighbour, his friends or his colleagues.

Pamplona is a city surrounded by mountains. This was the first capitale of Colombia after the announcement of the independence of the Norte-Santander county. Pamplona kept many buildings with a Hispanic architecture. Its main square is the true meeting point of the city. It’s nice to spend a few minutes to watch the Colombians animating the square by playing frisbee, enjoying an ice cream or chatting on the benches in front of the cathedral. For a first time, this religious building is not that imposing but its Norman design makes the cathedral very welcoming. The second unavoidable spot in Pamplona is the covered market. There is a true labyrinth of aisles where you can find the usual sellers of fruits and veggies, the butchers and delicatessen stalls, plus a few clothing stalls. This is an unusual place isolated from the buzzing life in the streets.

After this small detour by the North-East, we are going towards the South. Next stop: Medellín!

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OUR FAVOURITE PLACES 
 

Where to go?    

Raizón thermal baths

A few kilometers away from Pamplona, towards Cúcuta, you can relax at the thermal baths of Razón. These natural pools are full of hot water coming from the volcano next to them.

 

 

Where to have a drink?  

Babel, Coffee & Pub
Carrera 6 # 8B-77, Pamplona

2 floors, 5 little rooms with a different ambiance and a nice small roof-top. A nice bar to enjoy a local beer or a cocktail.