Burner Billy Adventures: Waking up to Colombia in your cup

When I booked my trip back in late December, I really didn't have Colombia circled into my plans, but after talking to a few people, I figured maybe I should check it out. Since I wanted to go see my friend, Ty, in São Paulo, I realized I needed to get a visa to enter Brazil and to get that visa, you have to show that you are flying in and out of the country. Well, Colombia became a reality when I booked my flight out of Bogota to São Paulo on April 16th. Bienvenido Colombia!

Today, Colombia is different than the days of Pablo Escobar and drug trafficking. Yes, the FARC still exists and traveling outside the normal destinations, can be risky, but overall Colombia is pretty safe now and the locals embrace travelers. However, I decided to fly from Quito to Bogota for a couple of reasons. One, the border between Ecuador and Colombia is still a little rough, but that shouldn't discourage travelers with a budget because many people make the trek from Quito to Cali with no issues, but be aware of landslides because they happen often, ask my travel companion Tara Peat about it. Two, I was tired of taking buses. Ecuador's buses are cheap, but they aren't the most luxurious. Lastly, I wanted to catch an old friend, Shelia Ellis, before she left Bogota. She offered a free night's stay at her hotel, and the thought of a queen-size bed almost made me wet my pants. Kathryn's floor in Quito was not the most desirable place to sleep.

As usual, I arrived to Bogota with a everybody and their mother asking me "where are you going?" Considering the price difference between a personal driver and a cabbie (it's 4x times the price and it's even cheaper to go by bus), I patiently waited in line for the next available cab....you know like a normal human being. Off the bat, I met a wonderful old man, who struggled to understand billpañol, but was delighted to have me in his country that he pointed out the mountains, talked about the beautiful women, and showed me the American embassy. God bless him and the Colombia people! Sheila and I caught up with my first microbrew of the trip! Yes, I have been drinking watered down beer this entire trip and thanks to bogota brewing company, I was able to feel human again. IPA, yes please! After that, we spent the night drinking $20 shots of tequila and talking all the gossip of no-place-like-home Indiana! The next day, I was able to eat a GRATIS lunch with Sheila and her colleagues and then we spent the day sightseeing. Bogota was really clean and modern, but I enjoyed the old part close to downtown more because it shows it's true colors, artsy and hip...which is so me (insert joke here)! Shelia, really enjoyed catching up!

After Bogota, I was reunited with Tara from Peru, and we set off for the coffee region of Salento with her two British friends. After two bus rides, one in which the bus driver was 10 seconds away from leaving Tara and I selfishly said to the Brits "eh, she can get the next one," we made it to Salento and walked into the plantation house hostel (no slaves worked here, my corny joke for the week). Salento is aaaaa-mazing. It was definitely a place to chill, veg out, exactly what I was looking for on this trip. There aren't busy highways, crowds of people, and oversized maps, it took 10 mins to walk around the whole town. I ventured to the cocora valley and did pretty cool hike where I met a Canadian (Jerry) and French couple seeking places in South America to get a good workout when you are traveling. Jerry (great name by the way), I look forward to that book! Outside from eating at the American owned restaurant Brunch (Jeff was wonderful man who almost had to help me a pinch. Go eat there if you want a real big American Style burger), learning about the process of picking, drying, and roasting coffee beans (did you know Colombia is NOT the #1 coffee producer? Brazil and Vietnam come before them. Wow!), playing Colombia's fame game called TEJO (it's a mix of horseshoes, bags, and washers all into one, but involves gun powder...yes that's what I said gun powder), and riding on the back of an old army style jeep from the 1920s, I really enjoyed meeting the American teachers working in the town of Armenia. I stumbled into them while I was walking the main drag of Salento. As much as I was in awe about these ladies teaching subjects in English in a Spanish speaking country, I was more impressed with their party skills on a beautiful Saturday night. I ended up hanging out with them and drowning a few beers in the town square while Amber kept trying to speak Spanish to me in her wine driven stature. Inglés, por favor! It was definitely nice chatting with some fellow patrons in a town that was thousands of miles away from our country (I ended up catching up with Amber and few others in Cartenga a week later), but the bulk of my Colombia trip was packed with beaches!