After a protracted transfer that took 2 hours longer than it should, a MacDonalds lunch (the shame!) and an argument with the bus drive I got to Cartagena airport. I had arrived in plenty of time even with the delays so was able to relax and wait for my flight which was amazingly on time. Arriving in San Andres I hopped into a taxi for the short drive to the hostel and was met by the owner Juan who introduced me to the other guests and showed me to my room. As I...

Arriving at Dreamer hostal in Santa Marta was a bit like arriving at a resort - lovely swimming pool surrounded by the rooms with a bar and restaurant on the fourth side. I felt like my two week vacation had started. My 4 bed dorm was comfy and had a good fan for when the air con was not on during the day as well as a private bathroom. For most of my stay there was a great Bristish couple there who I sent most of my time with when I was in the hostal. True to a...

Arriving at my hostel in the early hours of the morning I was shown into a six bed dorm instead of a 4 bed but decided other than a small protest I would stay until morning. Hard to get into a good agruement in a foreign language when you are tired and other people are asleep in the room! The next morning I removed my stuff from the room so I could check into the right room then headed out to the old walled town to join the free walking tour. This did not go wel...

Getting the direct bus to Medellin turned out to be a good option with a comfy bus with air con and wifi even it wasn't as direct as it should have been and took an hour an half longer than expected. Arriving in the Poblado district where my hostel, Purple Monkey, was reminded me of Palermo in Buenos Aires - chic restaurants and shops in leafy roads filled with high quality cars. It gave the area a safe feel and felt very Western. That night I had an excellent s...

Our bus journey to Salento took us back across the mountain range again but this time it was at least paved. It was still a bendy route and the bus driver was a bit of a lunatic once we hit the hill climb. We needed to be in Armenia by 8pm to catch the last bus to Salento and there the last jeep at 9pm to the hostel. We made this by 5 minutes with Lotta running to find the bus as soon as the doors opened with Malou and I hurrying behind with the luggage. Reliev...