San Gil is a great little town.

loads to do. We have been rafting in grade 4 plus rapids which is very scary... damian has been abseiling down 60 metre volcanoes and i have been paragliding down the worlds third biggest canyon!!! extreme or what. we have also been meeting some of the most lovely friendly people of all our trip so far, the colombians are wonderful.

we have just been hiking for 3 days around the highlands of colombia, up and down the third biggest canyon in the world called chichamocha. we dumped our rucksacks at a hostal in San Gil and took a little bag with nothing but water, sleeping bag and change of clothes (no hairdryer in sight)

The first day we walked an easy 10 km between two gorgeous little colonial villages that look like nothing has changed for 100 years. The locals came out to find out who we were and took us to the only bar (which is basically an off licence with a urinal in full view at the side of the counter) where we drank local beer and made lots of new friends who all gave us their phone numbers and told us to come back any day and stay.

the second day we walked from about 12pm (after a leisurely breakfast) all the way till 6.30 pm (bear in mind the 30 degrees plus heat), we walked all the way up the massive canyon... it was about 1000 metres of ascent and there are no maps of this area so we had to frequently ask locals for directions, which invariably resulted in the wrong information...

we went to some ace little villages where no gringoes go, where all the children stare at us as we walk past, we walked through tobaco and mango plantations. they dry the tobaco in huge barns, it takes 2 months to dry before it is sent to bucharamanga to be rolled into cigarrettes, the valley smells slightly of fresh tobaco which is a nice flavour even for a non smoker. they also grow soursop and maize and there are lots of cows and goats. amazing views, stunning canyon and mountains.
we stopped to chat to some locals and ending up drinking with them at their house, local drinks made out of maize, cinamon and cloves..

Later reached another villages where we ate goats intestines, from a goat in the back yard they killed just before. yum.
Third day walked all the way back onto the canyon somewhere else, and at the end of the walk we had planned to go to a tiny village called Jordan but it turned out to be a ghost village mostly of empty colonial houses and an empty town square full of tumbleweed and chickens, and only 10 people in the village, so we had to move on, and climb back UP the other side of the canyon to get to todos santos which had a cheap hotel (one pound a night) and the best empanadas ever! and another local drink made of maize for us to sample.

we had a fantastic time. was 35 degrees heat all the time though so well exhausting! at some point i think i nearly got heatstrok its SERIOUSLY hot in the canyon, no shade at all, and sun beating down from overhead. Now we are back in civilisation but its been really interesting talking to all these colombians who are really very friendly they just make tobacco and mangos and sit in hammocks and they were very lovely! i think this is a much nicer way to see a country.