CONciencia {experience}
"Ella tiene la magia de un instante de amor, y su mirada un toque de misterio.
Cuando ella llega siempre, suelo perder el control, no vuelvo a ser el mismo si la beso.
La conciencia me dice que no la debo querer, y el corazón me grita que si debo.
La conciencia me frena, cuando la voy a querer y, el corazón me empuja hasta el infierno,
al abismo dulce y tierno de sus besos.
Cuando se aferra un querer al corazón, y la conciencia no tiene la razón,
no valen los consejos.
Cuando se prueba del fruto del querer, cuando se aprende a sentir más de una vez,
no queda más remedio que darle cielo y alas al amor, y hacer de lo difícil lo más bello.
La conciencia me dice que la debo olvidar, Y el corazón me grita que no puedo.
La conciencia no sabe que no se puede hacer más,
Cuando te vuelves preso de unos besos, de un te quiero, del deseo, del corazón" Gilberto Santa Rosa
Itinerary;
New York - Medellín - Guatapé - Cali - Ipiales - Quito - Galapagos Island - Guayaquil - Cuenca - Baños - Quito - Pasto - Cali - Cartagena - New York
As we landed in Colombia, our goal was to meander our way down to Ecuador, taking local ground transport as we took pit stops and explored different cities, with an aim of taking a different route back up and seeing other parts of the country. For this set of travels, we decided to only book stay for our first place of landing keeping our itinerary fully flexible. As a result, sometimes we woke up not knowing which city we would find ourselves in that very night!
Medellín
You get a sense of how gorgeous the landscape is, as you’re flying over & into the city of Medellín. A city in the midst of the mountains, it glistens at night & stretches into the horizon during the day. Known to be the hub of drugs in the 90’s the city is on its way to being transformed & has a great vibe.
For a fully touristic night that includes magic shows, witnessing of local moves & grooves and an over invigoration of all senses, is Lleras park. To enjoy happy hours & feel the tourist-y fiesta, you can check it out. If you’re looking for tipico Colombiano food this is not your spot!
A local recommendation led us to an area called Las Playas that has late night chorizos, steak & arepas. Stretching across Calle 11 & 12 you’ll find a plethora of make-do restaurants - take your pick!
Arvi Park
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A must-do in Medellín, it’s a beautiful park on top of the hill, a perfect get-away from the city. The highlight is that you take the metro cable to get atop (From Acevedo which is on the A line change to the metro cable K line to Santo Domingo after which you can hop onto the to L line for Arvi Park), a super fun experience from where you can enjoy the entire view of Medellín as it stretches out across the hill, a view that’s equally gorgeous in the night light.
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$1500 per person
11
days
12/19/18-12/23/18
01/06/19-01/12/19
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Getting There​
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Flight from New York to Medellín
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Duration: 6 hours
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Airline: Avianca
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Cost: $600 return
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Bus from Medellín to Cali
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Duration: 10 hours
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Bus Company: Magdalena
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Cost: $20
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Bus from Cali to Ipiales [Southern most city of Colombia]
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Duration: 10 hours
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Bus Company: Trans-Ipiales
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Cost: $25
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Shuttle service from Ipiales to Pasto
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Duration: 3 hours
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Company: Super Taxis
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Cost: 10,000 pesos or $3
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Bus from Pasto to Cali
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Duration: 8 hours
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Bus Company: Bolivariano
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Cost: $8
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Comments: Contrary to online reviews for a bus that is considered the best, I had the worst experience with Bolivariano compared to all other bus companies. The bus was delayed by 2 hours and then the driver drove like a maniac to make up for lost time. Do not recommend!
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Flight from Cali to Cartagena
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Duration: 2 hours
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Cost: $100
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Stay
Cali
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Location: Central
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Rating: 4 out of 5
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Comments: Have 2 cute dogs & a great garden
Pasto
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Hostel La Tribuna: $20 per night for a private room​
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Location: 5 minute walk from Plaza del Carnival
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Comments: Hot water is in spurts
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Cartagena
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Hotel Atlantic Lux: $70 per night for 2 people
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Location: Bocagrande, 15 minute walk from the old city
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Comments: Internet is very slow
Food Much & Alcool
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Churizo, arepas & patatas
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Aborrajado [fried plantain with cheese & guava]
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Medellín
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Lleras Park: For cocktails, magic shows & over-stimulated senses [Very tourist-y]
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Cali
San Antonio
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Sisa Atahuatpa: Cocktails & amazing terrace views
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La Colonia: Tipico Colombian, great cocktails
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El Alcornoque: Must try, Aborrajado [fried plantain with cheese & guava]
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Cartagena​
Getsemani
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La Boutique de Indias: Incredible 3 course meal with options of chicken, beef or fish for $6. Starter is a typical Caribbean soup - absolutely delicious with an amazing ambience!
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Beiyu: Acai Bowls
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Salsa in Colombia
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Cali
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Salsa School in San Antonio: Arrebato Caleño Salsa School
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Cost: $35,000 pesos / $10
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Best teacher to ask for: Andres, +573004763474
Salsa Club
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Topa Tolondra Salsa Club
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Cartagena
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Salsa School: Crazy Salsa School
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Local Travel
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Disclaimer: Ubers in Colombia & Ecuador are DOUBLE the price of local taxis, so best to hail local cabs & give directions based on GPS. They are still illegal in both countries which is probably why they are so much more expensive, something that one doesn’t figure out immediately as a visiting tourist.
Getting around in Cali
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Taxis have a meter, which start at $0.25
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Getting around Cartagena
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With taxis not running on meters, the minimum seems to be 8000 pesos or $2.55, the price of what it costs from Bocagrande to the old walled city
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Highlights
Medellín
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Arvi Park
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Plaza Botero
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Pueblito Paisa
Day trips around Medellín
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Guatepe
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Cali
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San Antonio
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Art & Grafitti walking tours
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Pasto
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Negra y Blanca Carnival [Usually in the month of January]
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Cartagena
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Old Walled City
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Neighborhood of Getsemani
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Islas de Rosario
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As you ascend into the park, it opens up to a flea market filled with Colombian snacks, fresh fruits & fun souvenirs. There are organized hikes and birdwatching that you can sign up for or roam around the vicinity strolling towards the end of the road, from where a right turn [20-minute walk] will lead you to a waterfall, river & picnic spot. En route we found a restaurant with tipico Colombiano food, with delicious vegetarian options!
Plaza Botero
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Fernando Botero, a Colombian artist is known to disrupt the expectations around bodily shapes and sculpts figures big, bold, curvaceous & larger than life. Amidst the plaza are 23 sculptures representing his unique style. It’s usually uber crowded so best to be aware of your belongings.
Getting there:
Based on Google’s suggestion, we ended up taking a bus to a place called Minorista and walked through a slightly sketchy area where drugs & prostitution seemed widespread. There are still some areas in Medellín that are unsafe so best to take the subway to Parque Berrio that opens up right next to Plaza Botero.
Pueblito Paisa
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A supremely cute part of Medellín, you get a view of the entire city. It started raining when we were there, and so we found cover under a cafe in the square that had one of the best cappuccinos. You walk up a fleet stairs to get to Pueblito Paisa which aren’t too steep & surrounded by densely forested trees.
Day trips around Medellín
An hour away from Medellín, Guatepé, an ol’ colonial town is full of bright colors, almost seems like you’re walking into a toy land. The walls, plazas & quaint streets are filled with murals.
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As you explore the town, there are an array of tiny restaurants & cafes for coffee & delicious dessert. It reminded me of the towns of Rutas de las Flores in El Salvador, a very similar & awesome vibe.
Before the conquistadors invaded Colombia in 16th century, the indigenous people were being overseen by a tribal leader called Guatapé, thus the name. In Quechua language, Guatapé means water & stones.
The granite monolith, La Piedra is surrounded by a human-made water reservoir system that was made by the Colombian Government for a hydro-electric damn in the 1960’s.
We ate at a restaurant right next to where the bus stops for La Piedra, delectable food as you sit by the water and find company in the dogs who are well-fed & yet always famished ;)
Cali
San Antonio
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Cali as a city is mostly flat except for San Antonio, a hilly top, where around the Church there are a plethora of restaurants & bars. We got amazing terrace views from a bar called Sisa Atahuatpa, great for cocktails, as well as El Alcornoque, which has a delicious Colombian dish called Aborrajado (fried plantain with cheese & guava!)
Another traditional Colombian bar in this area is La Colonia, with great music & a super fun ambience. Empanadas we tried here were average, place was best for drinks.
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Santa Cruz
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One can drive up to the peak of the hilltop, which has tiny shops, performances at night & delicious Colombian dessert.
Salsa-ing in Cali
In San Antonio, we took a Salsa class in the city known to be the Salsa capital of the world and with no surprises, found one of the best teachers. Highly recommend Andres at Arrebato Caleño (+573004763474), if you want to get down and dirty, true Colombian style ;)
One of the best places to salsa in Cali is Topa Talandra, where the dance club has professional dancers flowing like waves, tourists trying out their moves & Colombians lighting the place on fire with their groove. Party buses are a regular thing at the end of the night, which almost immediately apparate you to the next bar for all night dancing.
Pasto
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Colombia is filled with festivals, carnivals & celebrations!
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Three hours from Ipiales, tucked away is the very small town of Pasto. We decided to make a pitstop at Pasto to experience the Negra y Blanca carnival. Considered very traditional, the festival lasts 6 days. Post our Ecuador escapades, we reached just in time to partake in the last day of the fiestas, which paid ode to the day of the whites! With a focus on both black & white, the goal of the carnival is to affirm respect & equality for all in light of the history of slavery, colonization & exploitation. Nonetheless, paradoxically I wondered why the last day was still being dedicated to the day of the whites instead of it being a multi-cultural celebration of all colors, backgrounds, cultures & people!
After a day of extensive parades, puppets & marches, the evening unfolds with the city throwing white color at each other, close friends, family, strangers. As we walked, after having been the target of a few friendly attacks, we armored ourselves with Colombian ponchos, hats & glasses. What followed after was tons of fun, back & forth play with strangers, walking on the other side of the street to safeguard oneself from big groups ready with white color & foam, and the experience of the plazas where intensity of the carnival took over, with dispersed Rumba being the cherry on the cake. It was a super interesting experience, reminded me of Holi, the Indian festival of colors, where streets, towns & cities are a similar distinctive level of festivity & fun!
Cartagena
The walled colonial city is a delight to wander through, spending hours simply exploring the
Colored buildings. Streets with flowered balconies. Central plazas. Cubby holes within the wall that have apparently become spots for lovers & friends, overlooking the coast & sunset. Live music atop the walls. Folks breaking into salsa. Refusing the several many vendors. Hiring a bike. Indulging in tipico cuisine. Being aware of drinks being spiked with cocaine(!). Taking salsa lessons. Finding lucrative happy hour deals. Cruising under the umbrellas. Being in rhythm. Admiring Botero’s life work. Clicking away. Building memorabilia. Living & loving.
Right outside the walled city is the area of Getsemani, which is filled with hostels, more restaurants & bars. For lunch, there are incredible three course deals that are beyond fantastic! We spent an afternoon at La Boutique de Indias, a place highly vacilando recommended. I often use the app Happy Cow for alternative food options & our search for açaí bowls one morning led us to this cute neighborhood, which has a similar vibe to Centro Historico.
Cartagena is not known for stunning beaches & towards the culmination of our travel, we wanted to be beach bums so we decided to go to Playa Blanca Bora, which was approximately an hour away and is connected via road. A return journey (excluding food & drinks) via bus cost us 35000 pesos ($12) from the harbor. The beach is beautiful, with blue green turquoise water & white sand, but way toooooo crowded. There’s over stimulation of senses, with vendors walking up to you literally every second, packed in between people, boats & restaurants. If that’s your jam, it’s the place to be but if you’re looking for a chilled low key tranquil scene, this is NOT the place.
We contemplated going to Islas de Rosario, which in my opinion would make more sense for an overnight stay as opposed to a day trip, which is why we picked Playa Blanca. Islas de Rosario has 28 islands and there are several boats that leave from Cartagena to visit the different islands. Tours seems to be in profusion, but I personally prefer flexibility of time and space. More information can be found online or directly at the harbor.
Salsa-ing in Cartagena
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Crazy Salsa school, offers group & private lessons and with live music at night turns into a complete part-ay. Someone out here tried to spike my drink with cocaine, so remain aware and beware during your escapades!
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Donde Fidel, is home to a local feel of dancing salsa in the old city. With bright lights, cerveza and a skip in your step, it's a fun place to see folks dancing as you bring forth your own salsa spirit.
Border crossing from Colombia to Ecuador:
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From Cali we took an overnight bus (12 hours) to Ipiales the southernmost city of Colombia.
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At Ipiales, there are collectivos which one can take to the Colombian border, Rumichaca (2000 pesos / 0.85 cents) per person
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Go through immigration, there’s no exit fee (45 minutes)
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Walk across the bridge to Ecuadorian immigration, no entry fees & long lines (2 hours). Due to the Venezuelan crisis, there are several people at the border who are being accepted into both Colombia & Ecuador, which is amazing!
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Take a Taxi from Ecuadorian border to Tulcan bus terminal ($3)
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Buses run frequently to Quito. There are two terminals so best to check the location of your stay on the basis of which you can get off at either Carcelen ($6.10) or Quitumbe ($7)
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We got off at Carcelen & a taxi to our Airbnb around 6 kilometers away cost us $6.