November 13, 2007
Day 776

Aiana and I took a jeep uphill far above Salento to go camping in a place called the Valle de Cocora. The surrounding region was very beautiful with lush green cloud forest everywhere. The highlight of the area was the multitude of wax… Read More: Camping in the Valley »

November 11-12, 2007
Days 774-775

Aiana and I traveled together north to Armenia, then to Salento, a small town in the heart of Colombia's coffee country. The climate is so perfect in for growing coffee beans in this region that half of Colombia's famous coffee comes from just one percent of its land. The… Read More: Too Much of Anything Can Be Bad »

November 10, 2007
Day 773

Last night while looking for a salsa club, Aiana and I saw several buses pass us that were blaring music and everyone on board was dancing the night away. We learned that the buses were called chivas, and that they used to… Read More: Chivas for World Peace »

November 9, 2007
Day 772

I checked out the downtown area of Cali today. There was smelly garbage everywhere, and the constant rain only served to spread the smell faster rather than wash it away. Traffic was so bad I couldn't walk across any street without risking my life. Roundabouts are a nice concept… Read More: Urban Sprawlsaland »

November 8, 2007
Day 771

I hung out with Jaime most of the day and got to know his neighborhood in Cali, but then he had to leave for Bogotá. He called a few of his friends to try to find me a place to stay, but they were all out of town. He… Read More: A Back Alley on a Dark and Stormy Night »

November 7, 2007
Day 770

To get back on the tourist track, I had to take a bus back to Popayan. On the way back, we stopped for breakfast at a house where the ceiling was at the height of my shoulders. Nobody else had to duck to stand there. I felt like a… Read More: Down to Salsaland »

November 5-6, 2007
Days 768-769

The next stop on my tour of Colombia was Tierradentro, a little-visited region near Popayan. Well, at least it's near Popayan on a map. However, the bus to get there took most of the day because the roads were unpaved, full of mud and potholes, and… Read More: The Importance of Oral Hygiene »

November 3-4, 2007
Days 766-767

I got a bus early today to Popayan. It was a beautiful ride with volcanoes covered with green constantly dotting the landscape, but the road was slow-going with nonstop twists and turns, and I wasn't able to enjoy the journey very much because my… Read More: Biker Gangs in the White City »

November 2, 2007
Day 765

I found out this morning that there were no buses going directly to the border, a surprise considering that normally buses go wherever you want them to go, but I didn't think it was a big deal. Instead, I first went… Read More: Still Searching for Shakira »