Salut les zouzou,

I am finally off from the big cities to go into the zona cafetera. We left Medellín very early with a bus. It's amazing that Colombian people built their road on the top of the hills, mountain, and you can find a lot of houses isolated on top of mountains. Also, such a green landscape. It was very refreshing.

We started with Manizales. Quite a big city. We walked from the station to the hostel: 1h with our bags on our back. We were so sweating. Then we relaxed and checked the city. Next morning, we woke up again at 4 am to go to the glacier at Nevado Santa Isabel: the height is 4700 m and it was quite a hike. Not much oxygen up there and you feel it. It's very tough: headache, breathless, but the view is incredible. You are above the clouds. We ended the day with a spa to relax our legs. Next morning, Salento.

It took us 3h to go there. One bus to Pereira followed by a bus to Salento. We met two Spanish guys that did the hike with us. We traveled together to Salento. There, we stayed at the hostel Tralala. Salento is very pretty and small. We had a blast there. I recommend this city for anyone travelling to Columbia and want to go to the zona cafetera. You should spend at least two days there. We rushed to the Valle de cocora to hike for few hours before the last jeep took us back to the city. I rode standing at the back of the car, it was quite a lot of fun with the amazing scenery around us.

We enjoyed few beers that night with a funny festival in the city. There was music and a big tent where people were washing your clothes. I think it was an advertisement for Ariel. Next morning, we woke up early to visit a Finca, the coffee farm. It was quite interesting to see the process of making coffee. After trying it, we bought few bags to take home. Some shopping (a hamac for example) in town before heading for Cartagena. Finally the HEAT :).

Next episode, the caraïbe.

Cheers,

Ben