Colombia - notes for Scott

(notes from my notebook that Scott and Iris might find useful for an up-coming trip) Prices are for two people. The exchange rate was about 1800 pesos for 1$.00USD "no dar papaya" = don't be an easy target (advice from a taxi driver) Bogota: People say La Candelaria is dangerous, but that's the cozy, historic, bohemian area, so it's nice, but take the obvious precautions ... pa' que no den papaya). We had no problems, and were treated very well. Platypus Hostel is overpriced and noisy. I highly recommend Posada Anandamayi, only if you can get a private room. You and Iris will dig it. It's kind of a hostel, with a Buddhist flair. We didn't have a room reserved, so we stayed in the attic in the dormitory, which had required climbing 15 feet up a steep ladder just to get to a little room with an amazing view. Eat lunch at Quinua y Amaranto, if you can get a seat. Eat dinner at El Gato Gris, if there's music and if you can get a table. The Botero Museum is a must (so is the museo del oro, I suppose) Taxi to bus terminal, 12,000pesos Bus to Tunja, 24,000pesos - departed at noon, arrived at 3pm Tunja: You'll have to go through here to transfer buses/taxi's to smaller towns like Villa de Leyva and Barichara. If I had to choose between Villa de Leyva and Barichara, I'd recommend Barichara. Villa de Leyva has charm, but it's is a bit sterile. Bus to Villa de Leyva 13,000pesos Villa de Leyva: I can't recommend any place because the place we stayed was annoying (Hotel Villa del Sol). In fact, it appears all I did there was drink beer. The town is worth a look-see, possibly more if you want to do some paragliding or horseback riding. Bus to San Gil 50,000pesos (3pm to 7pm) Taxi to Barichara 30,000pesos Barichara: Very cool town (think Romancing the Stone) The place we stayed was okay, but wasn't our first choice ... we would have preferred other places that had more charm than Hostal Mansion de Virginia only because it was pretty new. The hike to Guane is really nice. You can taxi back to Barichara, or probably hitch a ride for free. Pizzeria Castanetos was really good. Bus from Barichara to San Gil 7,000pesos Bus to another San Gil 24,000pesos (I wrote down "otra San Gil") Spectacular views from San Gil to Bucarmaranga Bucamaranga has a pretty nice bus station, notice the special luggage slides along the stairs. Bus from Bucaramanga to Santa Marta on Copetran 140,000 "mamoncito" is a type of fruit ... slimy, obviously. Santa Marta: This is a port city, so the tourism infrastructure is minimal. We stayed in a Lonely Planet listing called the Park Hotel, which was along the malecon, owned by some gay spaniards, was once a glorious hangout that hasn't been updated since it's heyday in 1988, but wasn't that expensive (5,000 pesos per night ... let me see if I remember the exchange rate). We had an upstairs room that had a fan and a window with a view. It was decent. For some reason I have "Casa Vieja" written down on Calle 12 between Carrera 2 and Carrera 3 ... possibly a better hotel, but not on the malecon. Parque Nacional Tayrona (entrance 68,000pesos; Beatriz helped us): I recommend packing a lunch, snacks, comfortable shoes and a light overnight bag (and cash) and catching the bus to Guacacha on 11th and 11th streets (8,000pesos), but get of at Calabozo (we got off at 1pm and bought some basic snacks and water), which will allow you to hike one way (west to east), we got to Pueblito by 3pm, at the beach by 4pm and stay overnight at San Juan del Guia or Arecife (by 6pm). We stayed in a hammock hotel called Yuluka and paid 100,000pesos for dinner. It's just a short hike out the next morning (ask Vanessa about that hike, someday). Shuttle from park to entrance 4,000 pesos Bus back to Sta. Marta 8,000pesos taxi to centro 2,000 pesos (picked up bags back at Park Hotel) Taxi to terminal 5,000pesos Bus to Cartagena 42,000pesos (Berlinave), which took 6 hours because we had a flat tire and missed our transfer in Baranquilla. More spectacular views along the mountain valleys! I considered stopping off in Ataracata as homage to Gabo, but then I remembered the book. Cartagena: Hotel Baluarte in the Getsemani area, on Calle Media Luna near Las Tortugas (possibly facing Espiritu Santo) was good. Off the radar, clean, secure, cozy, A/C 70,000pesos per night. We gravitated to Cafe Media Luna a couple times. Post card stamps are very expensive Gas was 9,750 a gallon I got a sweet, first edition copy of Gabo's El General en su Labyrinto on the street ... a bit worn and with writing, but awesome none-the-less. Cafe Havana in Getsmani was fun, among other bars in the area, too.