After finishing my diving back in Taganga I headed up to Minca, a small coffee growing village about 40 minutes away from Santa Marta. I walked at random and followed a trail up a steep hill and encountered a beautiful hostal with a view over the sea and santa marta in the distance. As I arrived two toucans were singing in a tree right next to the hostal, and upon seing them I knew I had to stay for a few nights up there. Went there with two Israelis and we stayed there for 2 nights. Went swimming in the local swimming pool in the river and had a relaxing time. Witnessed two incredible sunsets with hummingbirds and bats flying around with the red colored sky in the background.

Hummingbird feeding as the sun sets

Jay, the english owner, gave us free coffee straight from the farm and I must say it was a great place. The hostals name was Casa Loma and should be in every travelling handguide out there, but is not(yet). Minca turned out to be a pearl, probably little visiting because of the horrible road leading up to it. Having a lot to see I decided to leave after two nights there though, but this is a place I want to come back to. Volunteering at the local coffee farms would be an unforgettable experience. So that friday morning an israeli, an american and myself got on the bus from Santa Marta, going to Cartagena. Glad to get out of the dirty, hot and sightless Santa Marta I put on music on my ears and realized I was back on the road. The bus trips have become a very pleasant part of the travelling, because I can just sit there watching the world pass by and wondering how the next destination will be like. Cartagena turned out to be a beautiful, ugly, chill, stressed out and way too touristy city for my liking. Stayed at the Media luna hostal, which is a huge hostel with all kinds of backpacker luxuries: free internet, tv with movies, pool, big kitchen, etc. Nonetheless it was a great vibe there and easy to get in touch with other travellers. Randomly met the trio from the states again on the streets and I spent the night with them, walking the streets of the old city and trying to watch a movie. The next day I walked Cartagena, visiting the sites. Having seen pretty much all by early afternoon I decided to keep moving and get out of this hot and humid climate.

Cartagena

Next destination was Medellìn. A city with so much history, and especially the one of Pablo Escobar, the notorious mafia boss that owned this city years back. After they got him killed, the city has flourished and is very modern. I got there in the morning after a 13 hour ride from Cartagena and went looking for a hostal with some people I had met on the bus. Took the metro through downtown and up to El poblado which is the neighborhood where all backpackers stay. Stayed at the first hostel, the black sheep hostel. And who did I meet there? The american trio! We got some beers and some good Colombian rum and headed down to the local soccergame. Bought our Nacional jourseys and got right into the crowd of the home team. I sang for 90 minutes straight, jumping and cheering for the local Nacionales. The fans were excellent and when the other team scored they sang even stronger. We lost though, and got the metro back to the hostel without to much cheering. We went out in Medellin that night, but overcrowded bars and restaurants and heavy rain made the night less comfortablem even though we had a great time. Sunday was spent on the couch of the black sheep hostal watching soccer, american football and movies. The americans and I saw the norwegian movie Trolljeageren. Kind of started missing my home by watching the movie shot in norwegian nature and with norwegian language. Anyways proud to be norwegian! Great movie by the way.

Medellin teleferico

Monday I used sightseing the city. Took the teleferico up to the edge of the city and got some great views. Wanting to see a little of the authentic Medellìn I walked down instead of taking the cablecar, through the barrios. Poor neighborhoods, and I could tell that "gringos" usually don´t come walking through the streets here. It was an interesting walk, but never felt threatened in any way, just looked upon as an alien. Back at the metro I of course met the american trio again, they were on their way to a lake nearby for an overnighter. I say goodbye to them, and I now wonder where I will see them the next time! Had an unusual chill night at the hostel, but during the day I had found out that this place is really not where I want to be on this trip. Great to have seen the city, but for the real Medellin experience I would have to stay here for a couple of weeks. And I don´t want to be spending my precious time and money there.
So the next morning I walked over to the southern bus terminal and took the first bus heading to a small mountaineous village 3 hours away. An american that I met in Minca had recommended the place. So we drove through the off the beaten track roads of Colombia, through picturesque valleys that are just as you would expect a coffee growing Colombian scenery to be like. Landslides and crappy roads ever now and then, but all in all the roads up here are quite good. The first sight I got of the city was the main plaza and the misplaced huge gothic style dome that stands there. Very impressive.

Jardín

Now I have been here in Jardìn for 2 days and I have seen it all. Here it´s almost car free, people walks the streets. No danger exists and the people are super friendly. Also here they look at me as an alien. It has an authentic charm of colombia that I came here to see, but as an active person I get bored pretty quickly and tomorrow I will find a way to get going towards the southeast and towards Bogota. My 3 first weeks in Colombia has gone so quickly and I realize I will probably stay in this country for 2 months or so. Have ripped out the chapters of Chile, argentina and uruguay of my lonely planet, realizing that I wont have time do go there. My plan as I see it now is to spend my time in colombia enjoying it, and then head south to bolivia and then fly out of sao paolo, brazil just before christmas.

Colombian beauties