I arrived in San Gil at 1am in the morning, having flown to Bogota in the afternoon and then rushed to get my connecting flight to Bucaramanga. From here I had to wait an hour before the next bus (which was also an hour late) to take me on the 2.5 hour journey to San Gil.

Next morning I was up early ready to book an exciting day of action and thought I had stuck to the plan pretty well when an hour later I was collected ready to go paragliding - the last thing on my wish list for South America that I had not done yet. I was the only tourist going that day, so along with a few of the guides who were going for a jolly I jumped into a minivan for just over an hour as we climbed way up into the mountains.

We finally stopped at a beautiful spot on the top of a mountain ridge with a steep valley on either side of us that had a river running through. Behind us up the ridge I could see another 5 or 6 paragliders and it wasn't long before I was strapped off and ordered to run towards the edge of the cliff as quickly as possible. The first few seconds were a rather bumpy, adrenaline filled few moments of panic and elation as we took to the skies but before long we were soaring along with the vultures that ventured nearby everynow and then. It was so peaceful in the air with only the wind to hear.

We explored both valley and ventured out above the valley for a but until there was nothing underneath us for several hundred metres. It was very cool when we saw other paragliders riding the same gust of wind as us and circled near each other for a while and there was something very picturesque about seeing the shape of a paragliding filling the skiws above stunning mountain scenery. Still after 300 minutes in the skies we made our way down to what was a very soft landing back at the starting point. I watched the others finish there 'glide' for half an hour or so before it was time to get back into the van and descend back into San Gil in the afternoon.

Back in San Gil I got chatting to Camilla the receptionist before going for a stroll around the National Park in the middle of the town. It really is a very small national park within the town with peaceful gardens, ancient trees, streams and rivers and corners you could hide away in for hours. However, I had a rather fleeting tour as the park closed 45 minutes after I got there.

Back at the hostel I mentioned the words beer o'clock to someone and before I knew it a beer was placed in front of me by a Finnish boy. As is only polite I joined him for a drink and got chatting to Ville and his Finnish friend and we quickly established that nobody knows much about Finland, but that they drink an awful lot, especially when they are on holiday. Before long we were heading out to the only club in town, or rather out of town, which is behind a petrol tank and I was surprised to see Camila from reception also partying away inside.

Drinks in the club were rather expensive though so we found ourselves economising by buying a litre of vodka from the shop above the club and drinking it outside between us 2 German girls, and the Colombian girls (although I think they had 5 shots between all the girls). This evidently was not enough alcohol so I also bought a bottle of rum before we made our way back downstairs to shake our booty a little before getting a taxi back rather late in the day.

Next morning and feeling a little groggy I spent the morning getting to know Johana, who was also on reception duty at the hostel. However, in between socialising I was trying desperately to find someone to go caving with me that morning as I needed at least one more person to go with me for the tour to run. After 45 minutes of fruitless trying a phone call came in and I was told I had to be at the bus station (a 5 minute walk away) in 10 minutes if I wanted to go. Thus, despite not having the time for a shower, or to pack, or to check out I ran to the bus station with a bag of things I thought may come in useful.

The journey was 45 minutes and I was met by my Colombian guide and a couple I was to later find out were divorced and on there first weekend away together in ages to see if they still liked each other. As a result it was a rather awkard mix of an ex-couple that didn't know how to react around each other with me tagging along, now aware of their situation due to the blokes ability to speak English, whilst the woman had no idea we were discussing their relationship. However, awkward relationships aside the caves were incredible!

The first part of the caves was filled with bats, but their presence was stopped by one part of the cave where we had to go underwater and pull ourself through using a rope into the next cavern. From here we followed the underground river through various different heights and caverns until we reached a room with a ceiling filled with crystals and stalagtites and mites. We explored a little further and found some spiders in the cave along with some blind cave fish that have lost all of their pigmentation before it was time to turn around and head back out the way we came, completing the underwater adventure once more.

That afternoon I had intended on going to Barichara, a nearby village meant to be the most beautiful in all of Colombia. However, I decided to stay another night in town, going to Barichara the next morning. Instead I speant the rest of the day chilling out and chatting to Johana, Camila, the Finns, Malie (French), Lina and Tim (Germans).

That evening I went out again with everyone from the afternoon. We started drinking in the hostel, before upgrading to the plaza outside where everyone was gathered drinking before making our way to the club behind the petrol station out of town once more. We had a great night generally being foolish and fun and tearing up the dance floor of San Gil like there was no tomorrow until it was all over once more.

Next thing I know, despite promising Johana that I would be up at 7am to greet her as she started her morning shift at work, I was awoken by Johana at 1.15pm in the afternoon and kindly told that checkout was at midday! I also realised that it was now too late to go to Barichara as I was catching the 5.30pm bus to Medellin and Barichara was an hour away itself. Instead, I did as I had the previous day and just chatted the day away with others.

However, the day was not entirely wasted as I was introduced to ants...a delicacy in the region. These big bottomed ants, are a favourite amongst Colombians and supposedly act as an aphrodisiac as well. Having sampled one of the critters I went on a search to find a supply of my own before returning to chatting nonsense for the afternoon.

At 5.30pm Lina, Tim, Malie and I made our way to the bus station for the 2.5 hour bus ride to Bucaramanga, before the 11 hour journey to Medellin. In Medellin the next morning I said my goodbyes and headed off alone via minibus to Manizales for a further 4.5 hours! It was one heck of a long journey!