Stopped in a very un-touristy town called Armenia briefly before catching a little local mini bus up into the cloud forest of Colombia's coffee country. Checked into our extremely rustic mountain lodge complete with massive moths and decorative cobwebs run by an eccentric Englishman, his Colombian wife and their friendly pack of hounds. Tromped through the rain to the main plaza for a tasty fish dinner before hitting the local bar where we whiled away the eveni...

We really liked Cali, our first taster of a Colombian city. It was so completely against the expectations we had. A really modern area with trendy bars and restaurants, London could learn a new trick or two, plus the old town with churches and plazas and a great vibe everywhere. Not so keen on the Zona Rosa which is lined with cheap tacky Ibiza-style bars, but just two streets across and its like being in Beverly Hills! Plus the weather was incredible...so hot...

Thankfully a totally uneventful border crossing into Ipiales for a night where we had a tasty chicken dinner before retreating to watch cable TV with a few vintage bottles of the local brew Poker tucked under our arms...hurrah!! The 80 hour deadlock was broken and we both still like the taste of the amber nectar. Boarding our bus in the morning with money stashed around our bodies and each fully briefed on what to do in the event of one of the much-publicized b...

Back from our adventures we monged in the Old Town before moving hostel to Sunrise hostal in Mariscal to be bit closer to the action, and subsidised many cheeky cervezas by having super cheap (but very good) curries from a local place. The chef used to work in Guildford, so he knew his stuff. Next day, jumped on a bus to the Midad del Mundo, thats the Middle of the Earth between friends. We did the whole gambit and went to all three options there. First the o...

Got to the capital of Ecuador, slightly nervous from all the warnings of muggings and skullduggery, but after the usual hastle of trying not to get mugged off by a taxi driver arrived swiftly at L'Auberge hostal. A nice place between the old town and Mariscal Sucre, otherwise known as "gringotown"! It was getting a little late in the day, and apparently you can't walk around anywhere after dark, so we decided to head into Mariscal, and check into a ba...