Colombia: Majestic Mountains and Warm-hearted Locals

While Colombia has been plagued with horrible atrocities ever since 1915 when cocaine was recognized as a harmful substance and made illegal (as well as some insurmountable political rifts), the current President Uribe has done wonders in improving security over the past several years (granted I don't know anything else about him politically), making the vast beauty of its landscape and people once again attainable for backpackers. I'd have to agree with the signs which read...

That's not quite true. There are still very real risks, but with a few simple precautions (like not walking around late at night, being careful about ATM withdrawals, and avoiding certain jungle areas filled with guerrilla warfare) the experience can be an extremely positive one. We didn't originally plan on coming here, but after meeting several travellers and Colombians who raved about it, we decided (thankfully) to give it a shot. As Joo told me, Colombia's landscape is the most beautiful she's seen in her entire life...

Our first stop was of course the border, where we very narrowly missed a $400 fine on the Ecuadorian side (there are a couple small pieces of paper called Andean tourist cards which you absolutely must keep from when you enter the country and we couldn't find ours for awhile). Therefore, when we got to the Colombian side and I read the immigration sign saying, "Colombia has no requirements involving Andean tourist cards," I had very favorable first impressions. Although we had heard stories of strict border checks, it turned out to be the easiest border in South America (after all, who would smuggle drugs INTO Colombia!??) From that point on, Joo and I seemed to be the focus of every policeman who boarded our bus, but considering their friendly attitude and kind remarks, I'm guessing it was mainly because they weren't as accustomed to travellers. One particularly funny moment was when Joo and I asked some university girls for directions and they asked us, "Are you from another country???" When we replied yes, they began jumping up and down, screaming and clapping in delight. :)

Our first main stop was in Pasto, a small town in Southern Colombia. The presence of the catholic church (of which 80 to 90% of Colombians belong) was quickly more evident than in more southern regions of South America. Here's the Pasto Jesus overseeing the town...

Next we boarded a bus heading North and rode through some more incredible scenery to a romantic little university town called Popayan.

As we hadn't bothered to take the two hour trip north of Quito and pay an admission fee just to take a picture on the actual Equator, here is me straddling a line between the Northern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere upon arriving in Ecuador...

While Argentinians were kind in a gregarious way, Uruguayans were kind in an intellectual and sophisticated way, the Colombians we've met so far seem to display their kindness in a shy but very sincere way. Here's two we met, Luis and Carmen, who gave us all their contact info and pleaded with us to call them if we ran into any difficulties in Colombia...

But of course, there was an ulterior motive on both of our parts for travelling through this paradise... coffee. I'll write more about it in the next blog once we're actually stationed in a misty coffee plantation, but here's a quick snap of Joo's first cup of real Colombian coffee.