Santa Rosa de Cabal serves as a base for a couple of natural thermal bath resorts and as such we were expecting a picturesque little mountain town.

What we got was a well past its prime averageville. It is not quite up there in the Colombian beauty parade, no real sights and few intact colonial buildings to speak of.

We checked into Coffee Town Hostel (functional, not yet on Trip Advisor) and had a wander around the town. It's the kind of place where there are a lot of suspicious looking blokes hanging around the main square doing not much at all. Also a lot of shops selling live chickens.

After a huge and delicious steak we were kept awake half the night by the two girls running the hostel partying downstairs with two Parisian guys. The "please be quiet after 0:30am" sign clearly simply there to cover a crack in the wall. Grr.

The next morning we headed off to one of the thermal baths with a Swiss girl also staying at the hostel. This involved an hour's journey in the back of a clapped out jeep, the vast majority of this on an unsealed dusty road. We certainly needed a bath by the time we got there. The scenery was as stunning as ever though.

We seemed to be the only guests at the Termales de San Vincente, despite there being an overpriced hotel onsite. The place is somewhat rundown but the open air hot waters soon relaxed us. The natural pools are far nicer than the man made ones. We had a couple of treatments - one involved being buried in scalding hot sand, roughly scrubbed down and showering it all off in a glacial shower, and the other being smeared with warm mud. I'm sure it took years off our appearance. Ahem.

Lunch was delicious - chicken in a mozzarella and bechamel sauce. Oh, and ham, raisins and tinned peaches - all in the same sauce.

The place got a lot busier in the afternoon as a coach load of Colombian (or spanish speaking at least) tourists arrived, all staying at the onsite hotel. There's life in the old dog yet.

That night we came across a miracle - a really cool bar (Don Pascual) that would more than hold its own in London or any international city. Amazing.

The next day Fabrice convinced me to go horse riding. I managed not to fall off - although to be fair my poor horse was so small I could probably have touched the ground with my feet if need be. It's probably at the horsey chiropractor right now.

Having another wander around that afternoon, we saw past the first impressions and saw the town for what it is. Friendly enough people and a mix of local and more upmarket shops, bars and restaurants. There are some pretty stunning buildings too, they just need renovating somewhat. Hopefully it's on the up, as I say our hostel was recently opened and the town is barely mentioned in the older guides.

And if you want a live chicken it's the place to go.