Love Affair

Alright guys, this is getting serious. I am having an intense affair with Colombia...in fact, I am head over heels in love. I promise to come home, but its not going to be easy.

After writing my last blog post from Bogota, I headed back to my hostel for the night and met some awesome new buddies. First, I met these two awesome dutch guys who are riding bicylces from Alaska to Argentina, and doing it all to raise awareness about water issues. They are totally badass...check out www.cycleforwater.com, im a bit obsessed with them. I also met Bill, a hysterical older Scottish guy who, years ago, hitchhiked from New York to Central America. Meeting cool new characters from all over the world is one of my favorite joys of traveling.

And then, most importantly for me, I met two British girls, on holiday here in Colombia for just 2 weeks. They were a few beers in, and when I casually mentioned that I was headed to the Zona Cafetera the next day, and would they like to join me...they said yes! Yay new travel buddies. We spent a few days in Salento, a stunning and beautiful town. We spent a day hiking in the Valle de Cocora, which had its challanging points (picture me crawling on a log to traverse a river to understand part of the hike), but it was rewarded with incredible views at the top. The next day we spent a few hours working on a coffee plantation...cleaning trees, it was all very glamarous...which was a fun experience. Sadly, their water pipe wasnt working that day, so we couldnt have any coffee afterwards! Bummer. Dont worry though, I made up for it every other day. mmmm coofffeeee.

After Salento I went to Villa de Leyva, an awesome little colonial town that almost reminded me of Europe a bit. I wandered the square and its surrounding cobblestone streets, sat in a park, and treated myself to an amazing lunch (mozzarella with tomatoes, garlic mushrooms, and a glass of wine. delish).

After that I headed to San Gil, where I am now. It was supposed to be a jumping off point to another colonial town Barrichara, one of Colombias prettiest and most well preserved. I ended up staying here in San Gil for 2 nights, as its half the price to stay here than in Barrichara, and only a 45minute bus ride. I went to Barrichara yesterday with a fun guy from New Jersey, and we spent the day walking around, seeing churches, having iced coffee on a balcony, and doing a 9k walk to another even smaller little town. Beautiful walk, much of it around the edge of a canyon, hot hot hot sunshine...it was a good day.

In about an hour, I have a 13hour overnight bus ride to the coast, which will hopefully be my vacation within my vacation. Ive been looking forward to this part of my trip for months, and im really really excited! I shall keep everyone posted!!

Hope that summer is in full force back home :)