Ten hours after checking out of our hostel in Salento, we finally made the final stop at the bus terminal in Popayán. We had heard that buses from Armenia to Popayán depart every hour, however, it was well over three hours before we managed to board the bus and head out of town. On the positive side, it leave us ample time to make the huge decision to end our epic trip with one last Australia/New Zealand adventure before the trip screeches to a halt in just ov...

Man, we've mentioned the beauty of the countryside a few times in Colombia...but it bares repeating for this journey between Bogotá and the Zona Cafeteria (Coffee Region). The bus wound along precarious roads carved into the side of the mountain affording views both spectacular and harrowing...spectacular when looking out across the valleys and mountains, harrowing when looking down into the abyss that falls away from the road for thousands of feet...it would o...

Bogotá, Colombia...one of those places it feels surreal to be visiting. In years past Bogotá, probably all of Colombia for that matter was notorious and the mere mention of the name conjured up images of cartels, drugs and violence. Still, as we have heard and read, and as we have learned first hand thus far in Colombia: the way things were 'then' and the way things are NOW are worlds apart. The ride from San Gil to Bogotá was, as all bus rides in Colombia, l...

We arrived in San Gil nearly 13 hours after we left Santa Marta. The bus ride was freezing and awful as they all seem to be, but we probably managed at least a couple hours of sleep so we weren't in as bad of shape as we have been in bus rides past. After purchasing our departure tickets 4 days later, we grabbed a cab and headed straight for our hostel for the next three night Morcado. The hostel was swarming with people when we arrived. Many sitting in the com...

After a late start in Santa Marta, we ate some breakfast and packed it up. We would be embarking on the easiest travel day we could possibly encounter, Santa Marta to Taganga, 10 minutes down the road. We made our way out to the main road to flag down a van heading east. Van after van flew by without so much as a glance in our direction. The temperature read 40 degrees Celcius and the humidity had to be hovering in the 95-96% region. That coupled with the blazi...