To see a photo in detail, just click on it !

After Quito we headed north to the Colombian border, but on the way we had to stop off in Otavalo for some shopping. This town is one giant market of stalls and shops selling Arts and Crafts from all over the country. We also visited Cotacachi, which is famous for its leatherwork, although it is expensive. We stayed the night in Ibarra where the only thing to eat was Chines in one of the thousand Chines restaurants.

We left early for the Colombia border on the advice that you should only travel by day in Colombia. We had been debating weather to visit Colombia for the last month as our families were dead against the idea having seen many reports about kidnapping for ransom. The other travellers we met who were coming from there all said that we must go; that it is amazing. The border crossing went very smoothly except when we arrived at the hotel we realise that we were a bag short. So we headed straight back to the frontier, dissolustioned with Colombia, but nobody reporting seeing it. Just as we gave the bag up for a goner, the bus returned that we had taken to town and they had been looking for us to give us the bag that we had left in the bus.

Ipiales, the border town, dose not have much to offer, but about half an hour away it the amazing church that is in the photo. Santuario do las Lajas is built on a rock that the Virgin Mary has appeared a few times.

The next day we left early again, for Popayan, which is a beautiful colonial town in southern Colombia. There was a demonstration going on in the main square, that we discovered later from an fleeing English teacher, was in protest to new government policy that withdrew the minimum amount of money that the mayors office would have to give to education. The English teacher was leaving because she felt unsafe in the area. Not very reassuring.! We visited the tourist office, which has been downsized to a guard at the local government offices. He said that we would be fine and that it was dangerous but we would be OK. Not being any clearer about our security we headed for Terradentro, which is the site of many underground tombs.

The photo shows the valley in which the tombs are located.

This bridge is made of bamboo that grows abundantly in the area and reaches five or six meters easily.

The interiors of all the tombs were decorated in geometric forms including faces among other things. Unfortunately only a few of the tombs have the frescos in good condition. The village of Terradentro is really suffering from the violence in Colombia. It is one of the tree main archaeological sites in Colombia, but we were the only tourists there apart from a Spanish traveller who had been there for two weeks trying to sell Artisans. We even had to order our dinner at lunchtime, so that whichever restaurant we choose would have the food for us. Back in Popayan we met some Swiss cyclists who had been cycling from Alaska and are heading for Terra del Fuego on the southern tip of Argentina. You can visit them at http://besu.ch/panamericana

The ceiling of a tomb.

Miles with the guide.

The rest of the photos are borrowed from other people’s websites, as we had an unfortunate experience with my camera. Beside each photo is a link to their websites if you want to look.

Photo Origin
From Popayan we decided to make a dash for Bogota, where we settled into the very welcoming Platypus Hostel. In Bogota we had to find flights back to Europe before we headed to the Caribbean for a couple of weeks. After getting a few quotes for 1300 dollars one-way we tried the student offices. We took the 700 dollar flights with USIT, which were $100 cheaper, that STA for the same flight. Up the Irish ! The street numbering in Bogota and Colombia is very clear. It is much like New York, except they even number their buildings by the Avenue that crosses it. i.e. once you understand this, a Colombian city is very easy to navigate. The photo is Bogota at night taken from Cerro de Monserrate, a 1000 meter peak towering over the city.

One hour from Bogota is a Salt Cathedral, which you can see in the photos. It was built in 1992 to replace the 1954 version that was blocking the way for further exploitation. The modern version is a fantastic example of contemporary Colombian architecture.

The photo shows Domino standing by one of the columns that divide the side aisle from the nave.

This is looking from the altar to the balcony at the back where the angel is.

The maze represents a part of the bible that talks about discovering the religion.? Very deep!

Bogota can not be passed with out a mention of the Gold Museum. Yet another, and off course privately owned. It did not have as large collection as the one in Lima, but was laid out much better.

Photo Origin
After having secured our flights we decided to head for the sun, sand and turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Our first destination is Santa Marta, from where we did a six day trek to the Lost City. This is a wonderful adventure of tropical forests, ice cold rivers, hammocks and mosquitoes. The tour is run by a co-operative of the guides and is very professional, a refreshing change after some of the experiences we have had. On the way we passed many indigenous houses and villages, of which you can see two young inhabitants in the photo.

Photo Origin
The lost city itself is very overgrown, but is beautifully located about a river from which you have to take thousands of steps. As the end of our trip was drawing to an end, I realised that myself and Domino had managed to travel for five months through the most hostile of countries and still loved each other more than when we started. I decided that I had to do something about this and armed with my tortoise shell ring I asked Domino to marry me. (Sorry to disappoint all you old romantics, but we had talked about it for a while and I didn’t even get down on my knees).

Photo Origin
All that is left of the Lost City now is the foundations, which create round terraces all over the ridge. We got into a conversation with the guide about our security and the general problem with Gorillas. In Colombia you now have four forces to contend with; the Military, who are quite corrupt; the Gorillas who are generally OK; the paramilitaries who have paid interests and the bandits, who are best avoided. On our trek back we passed a group of armed men who were our paramilitaries. They are paid a fee for every tourist who enters the Lost City. The guide was very comfortable with this arrangement as it made things much easier for him. He had a radio and should anything happen he would send word and the paramilitaries would appear.

Photo Origin
After the Lost City we went to Park Tryona, a National Park that protects hundreds of miles of coast. It is quite a trek to get there, after taking a bus and collective you still have to walk for 45 minuets or rent a mule. The beaches have become a Mecca for party backpackers who want to do nothing for a while. There you rent a hammock and eat expensive food. The beaches are very photogenic, but unfortunately are not safe to swim in due to strong currents and large waves. This paradise is where our camera was stolen. Clearly it was not safe enough to leave your bags under your hammock when you sleep, and after reporting it to the resort owner and local police we discovered that things were taken every day and we were just another of the hundreds of already victims. After letting our anger out with the owner with consoled ourselves with the fact that we were lucky that this was the only damage on our trip.

With a bitter taste in our mouths we left for Cartagena. This is another beautiful Colonial City that was the main port for the Spanish crusaders. It has impressive forts and town walls, which was important to protect all the loot from the pirates.

Photo Origin
I took a tour to the mud volcano while Domino went shopping for hammocks. The mud volcano is a 15 meter pile of mud that is created by fermenting matter bubbling up from under the ground. It is meant to be therapeutic to bathe in, and it certainly is a one off experience.

Photo Origin
The Islas del Rosario are famous for their beaches and corals. On advice we did not take a tour of the islands but went straight to Playa Blanca. This is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It is undeveloped because it is a national park, but the Colombian beer maker has been building pretty grass huts to lay claim to the beach. If you go there you must stay with the "French Man" who offers hammocks at a very reasonable price. And this is truly paradise. On the boat back we talked with an English teacher who was working on the island. He had been working in Cali, home of the famous Cali Cartell, but had moved due to the fact that the parents of half of his class got kidnapped for money. He tried to help, but found that the web of corruption spread all over the town, and everybody was after their own interests.

We flew back to Bogota to avoid road travel and to save time. We completed our shopping and had to pack all our belongings into two bags each with a maximum of 32kg per bag. Harder that you would think.

Finally after having checked in our 124+kgs, got through customs and seated ourselves in our British Airways seats to London, we let out sigh of relief. Deep in thought about what the future holds and what we had just experienced, we got talking to the person beside us. It turns out that he is from Guatemala, but is now working in Aarhus in Denmark where I am spending next year studying. And so the adventure continues……………