The troopers: Jens, a German guy I met here in Bogota, Torsten, his visiting friend, Cami, my best friend, and well, me.
Destination: The Coffee Zone.
Mode of Transportation: Flota, translating to "very-dangerous-bus"
Day 1.
We left on Thursday at 3:30 in the afternoon, and enjoyed a nine-hour bus ride! It was quite decent though, since we sat in the front, the c
hairs were very nice and comfortable, and the driver, a careful one. The German guys had wanted to go by plane, but the only way Cami could come on the trip was if we took the bus, and it was a fantastic idea. The view of the mountains, the sky, the crops, was so beautiful it became almost romantic. We got to Armenia at around midnight, having slept slightly and being extremely excited. There was a foreshadowing of it being a quite fantastic weekend.Casa Jardin Zen
What made our short trip a memorable one was our decision to change where we spent the night on each night. We arrived to the Casa Jardin Zen pretty late, but were so awed by its beauty that we stayed up for a while, just going up and down the stairs, trying unsuccessfully to go outside, checking out all the rooms and their unique design... Cami and I went to sleep while the German boys went to a nearby and empty bar to look for a mojito.
Oh wait. Before going to sleep we did definetely get attacked by a huge spider... ok not attacked, but it was freaking us out as much as possible just by crawling on the other side of the room. It crawled out the balcony, and we were happy. Already in bed cami tickled me in a spider kind of way and my reflex was to smack her in the arm, quite hard I must say.
Sorry Cami, I really don't like spiders.
Day 2
I got woken up by the crowing of a rooster at... nine? Maybe it was a hangover rooster who woke up to late to crow... who knows. It was still a wonderful way to wake up. Cami and I started taking pictures of our magnificent view from our room in the second floor. Mountains... again, as green as they could get. It was quite the honeymoon sweet. We went down to wake up the guys and have some breakfeast. The owner of the house, who is called "La Mona", was certainly mad at us for being so loud the night before, but we won her over with our charm and she ended up helping us quite a bit. After taking a shower in a bathroom where anyone in the living room could see me with my head full of foam, we left, on to negotiate a day with a cab driver to he would take is to the Valle de Cocora.
El Valle
It took us some time to get up there, but once we did, it was oh-so worth it. The palm trees are called "palmas
de cera" and they are the Colombian national tree. There are only six species in existence, five are in Colombia, and four in this valley. It is really one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. Right there we ate some trout that had been fished in the nearby river, with patacones., Yuuuum. good stuff. Then the driver took us to where we would be staying our second night, The Hippie Hilton. And no, I'm not kidding. This was the name.Hippie Hilton
Georgio, the owner, welcomed us with a big hug and many crazy things, including his museum of meteorites and other archeological discoveries, and the bed where Simon Bolivar spent a couple of nights. He also had a couple of snakes, the mice to feed them, and a litter of newborn golden retrievers. Our sort-of-tent was one of many, each of them with a different theme. One resembled and amazon-type cabin, the other, a trailer, and there was one filled with glow-in-the-dark stickers. Ours, was decorated with records and Beatles posters, had a hammock, a water bed, a rustic kitchen and a small fridge. The toilet was separated from the rest of the room only by a piece of cloth. The shower was outside, and it only reached up to the shoulders. The river, only steps away, could lull us into sleep. After hanging out for a while in this very trippy place, we went to the nearby town of Salento to buy ourselves some dinner. We arrived to this town in a small bus, walked around, had some beers in the town square, and went to a very Colombian slaughter house to get our well-deserved-dead cow. After waiting a long time for a bus, we got back to the Hilton, Jens marinated the beef while Torsten started the fire and Cami and I just took pictures. :) The night was awesome, a little cold but quite sureal.
Day 3
El Parque del Cafe
After some laughs while each of one took showers and the others attempted to take pictures, we decided to go back to Armenia to the bus terminal, so we could get to El Parque Del Cafe. When we finally got there we decided we didn't want to go on any attractions, since we know that there are far better ones in other parts of the world, but the coffee experience was well needed. We went on the cable car up and down, walked some trails through bamboos and coffee plants, Torsten got bit by humongous ants and Cami and I tried to teach them about rural legends. Then we had lunch at a very-touristic-therefore-not-so-good place where Jens made Torsten eat a Bandeja Paisa. It is a Colombian dish, typical from the area, that has beans, ground beef, pork, sausage, rice etc. Torsten hated it.
Canopy
After such a suculent lunch we went to do Canopy, and we had a great time climbing up trees (with ladders jaja) and then launching of with pulleys to the next tree. A Tarzan-like experience, giving un a great view of plaintain crops and bamboo dwellings. It took and hour. We were exhausted. We had FUN.
Delirio
Our last stay in another century. We arrived to this huge hacienda, filled with antiques and paintings, with a nice pool and too many rooms. After taking a dip in the pool we got ready and set off to Montenegro for a night of adventuuureee. After looking for a decent place to eat, a little beggar kid took us to a decent place where we ate some more trucha. After this, we went off to find a party spot. Everyone in this little town stared at us, since well, we were speaking in English and Jens is probably the blondest person many of them had ever seen. We went inside a small club, had some drinks, Cami and Torsten got attacked by the local people (With kindness I must say.. many of them wondering where we were from and if they wanted to spend the night at their house) and after not much more of this we took a cab back to the delirio. Then, we sat by the pool, looked at the stars, talked for a couple of hours and went to sleep in our huge rooms, of the huge, fancy house, that was certainly haunted.
Day 4
The last day of our trip. We had a good breakfeast in Delirio's huge dining room, and then headed off to Armenia to meet with Jens' mentor and his very mexican wife. They are quite a fantastic couple, and I noticed how happy they were, and how long they had been together. I wish that fate for each and every one of us. We had ajiaco for lunch with the same fantastic view that we had the first day from the Casa Jardin Zen. Then it was time for us to go on the bus, this trip only taking 6 hours, because our driver was a little deranged. It seemed longer though, because of our lack of AC. Good trip, good times.
1 comment:
sounds like a fabulous trip!
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