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Bogota to Medellin by Bus (w/ GoPro video)

/ brittandjeff / 3 Comments

Bogota was our first taste of Colombia, and being the nations capital with the largest airport it is for most travellers. After spending a few days in the La Candalaria (read about that here), we were ready to move on.  Some online research and talking with other travellers would help us decide on Medellin for our next stop.

Then came the bus vs. plane decision…

Plane: Cost 130,000 COP ($65 CAD) per person when we looked. Takes about an hour actual flight time. Does not include baggage and taxis to and from the airport (which is located farther out of central Medellin).

Bus: Cost 50,000 COP ($25 CAD) per person when we looked. Takes 9+ hours. Includes baggage and taxis are cheaper from the bus stop.

Given that we are traveling as cheap as possible and can afford the time to spend a whole day sitting on a bus, we opted for land travel. If money wasn’t an issue and we only had a week or so to see the country we would have flown.

Taking this bus is too easy. It was a 20 min taxi ride to the bus terminal in Bogota from La Candalaria District (about 12,000 COP). We went inside and looked for the Bolivariono wicket. We read it is best to book with them as they have the nicest buses. They are also a company that apparently pays off the right people to make sure the bus arrives safely, on time, with all luggage intact (this fact may be out of date given the leaps and bounds Colombia has taken in safety over recent years). At the wicket we bought two tickets for the next bus, leaving in about 20 minutes. Total cost of 102,000 COP.  We walked to the terminal and boarded the bus after a short wait. As described the bus was clean, had comfortable reclining seats, on board movies, wifi, air conditioning and a bathroom. Not bad!

Buses leave on this route at least every hour and nearly 24/7. We opted for daylight travel and arrived at the terminal around 8:00am.  There is no need to book a ticket in advance.

The bus ride took nearly 11 hours, we stopped once for about 30 minutes to have lunch. The ride is 90% twists and turns up and down steep mountain roads, with a small section of flat, straight road about half way, leaving just enough time for our stomachs to settle from lunch. We arrived at the bus terminal in Medellin and took a cab to our hostel in the Laureles district (another 12,000 COP).

For our decision to to save a few bucks and sit on a bus for a whole day, feeling queasy from all the twists and turns, we were rewarded by the most amazing views of Colombian country side, we wouldn’t trade that for a plane ride in a million years.

 

Bogota: Our First Stop in Colombia

/ brittandjeff / 6 Comments

Arriving to a new place brings apprehension, excitement, and maybe a little bit of fear for most people. This is exactly what we felt arriving at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Colombia, after leaving the comfort of a place we know, Costa Rica.

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Bogota is the capital of Colombia and the largest city in the country. It sits among Andean mountain peaks and boasts some of the most impressive street art we’ve ever seen. In the past, Bogota had a reputation for being an extremely violent city where one wouldn’t dream of travelling to. Fast forward ten years – the city of Bogota has become a popular destination to visit, is (relatively) safe, and offers many activities to do and sites to see. We spent four days exploring the city, here are some of our favourite things to do in Bogota:

Drink Coffee

This one is a no-brainer…when in Rome, right? Colombia is the third largest producer of coffee beans in the world (behind Brazil and Vietnam). Some of the world’s most delicious coffee is made here, but 90% of it is exported to other countries. Thankfully, they still keep a little bit of it for themselves (and us!), so finding a good coffee shop and sipping on a tinto (black coffee) was a favourite activity of ours.

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Try Chicha

Those of you who read our blog regularly know that sampling the local booze is something we partake in everywhere we go. Its a must-do. Most South American countries have their own variation of Chicha, although it is typical of the indigenous people from the Andes. In Colombia it is made of fermented corn and sugar or honey. It has a funky taste to it, similar to that of kombucha. Consumption of Chicha isn’t widespread in cities anymore, mostly rural areas, but some local bars still serve it.

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Visit a Coca Cafe and Sample Some Coca Leaf Products

The legal kind! Bogota has coca cafes where you can sample the leaf itself, buy products infused with coca (like soaps, chocolate, basically anything), drink coca tea or take a shot of coca infused alcohol. Coca – in its purest form, is said to produce many health benefits like increased energy and can even ward off altitude sickness.

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Take the Cable Car To Monserrate 

Twenty-thousand Colombian Pesos (about $10.00 CAD) will get you a ride up the side of a mountain in a train that feels like the cable could let go at any second to the site of the “Church on the Mountain”. The money is totally worth it and offers the most stunning view of the city and surrounding mountains. Some adventurous travellers attempt to walk up the mountain, and find themselves lost or get robbed on the way up. Be lazy like us, take the damn train.

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Bike Tour

Gran Colombia Tours offers the best tours we’ve ever had the pleasure of being on. The organization was started by a guy named Julian only a few months ago and the tours are based totally off donations. We took his Free Walking Tour our first day in Bogota, where we experienced some of the activities you read about above, like the coffee lab, chicha drinking, and coca shop. The tour is based in La Candelaria (the backpacker district in which we stayed), and runs about 2.5 hours. The walking tour also included fruit tasting and some amazing facts about the history of Bogota and Colombia. The next day we took his Free Biking Tour in which you bike around Zona Rosa, an upscale neighbourhood in northern Bogota. The tour includes transfer from La Candelaria to Zona Rosa, your bike/helmet, a salsa lesson, a visit to a museum, a street food snack, a visit to a flower market, another visit to a coffee lab for tasting, and more history. Both tours are fantastic, Julian is extremely knowledgable and passionate about Colombia and it’s history, is an outstanding tour guide. If you are in Bogota, you have to check them out!

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Roam the Streets/Chat With the Locals/Meet New Friends

Our favourite things to do! We love walking the streets of a new place and taking pictures, and Bogota, specifically La Candelaria, a historic neighbourhood with a Spanish Colonial feel, makes it easy to do just that. The streets are all numbered and navigating is easy. And while most major cities frown on graffiti, Bogota has taken a different approach – and building walls are covered in intricate tags and elaborate murals, making the city one the of world’s trendiest showcases of modern street art.

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The man walks around in the mornings serving from his cart, a herbal tea made of lime, honey and if you wish, Aguardiente (a popular liquor in Colombia).

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Amazing people we met on the walking tour: Adam, Tasha, David, and Robin.

Don’t Get Too Comfortable

The last activity in Bogota is more of a not-to-do. The city has made major progress in safety in the last ten years, and during the day we were totally comfortable. Lots of hustle and bustle, and a heavy police presence. Different at night, most places in La Candelaria roll down metal barricades over doors and windows and the majority of police disappear from the area. A new friend noted similarities to the movie The Purge while we had a drink in a bar around 9pm and watch the neighbourhood lock up for the night, although we are sure it’s not that bad. But, you are advised not to walk unless you are in a bigger group, as robberies are common (Also a good tip: download the app “Tappsi”  for taking registered cabs rather then hailing them). Just weeks before our arrival the rebel group ELN (National Liberation Army) set off a bomb targeting police, killing one and injuring more then 20 others, this was not far from our hostel. Although this type of incident is not common it speaks to the hurdles this country is still working to overcome. Being aware of the potential danger is key, enjoying yourself but not getting too comfortable that you make risky decisions, or become a target.

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Police with Rottweilers in muzzles on almost every corner.

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In conclusion, we loved Bogota. The city is beautiful and prices are cheap. It’s amazing to see how much progress a place can make after so much turmoil. Our four days were up, and we were ready to move – on to Medellin!

So Our Flight Got Delayed, Then Cancelled (Five Tips!)

/ brittandjeff / 1 Comment

It’s late morning and we just took off from Toronto Airport, nearly 24 hours later then planned. Our flight to Costa Rica with Avianca was delayed, and eventually cancelled. We spent 10 hours in the airport and approximately 12 hours in a hotel waiting for our new flight. Up till now we have never even experienced a major flight delay, we’ve been lucky. It does happen and now it’s our turn.

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Dealing with a flight delay or cancellation boils down to essentially two choices…get angry, stressed out, argumentative with the flight staff while attempting to explain why your plans are more important than the other 100 people on your flight and demand special treatment OR take some deep breaths, realize its beyond your control and go with the flow. Sure, this doesn’t mean be a push over and accept nothing for your troubles. Just don’t be an asshole. If the flight’s delayed, wait it out. Maybe you will get a few dollars off some terminal food, or even access to an executive lounge. If it’s delayed more than 8 hours, it could end up cancelling, like in our case. If it’s cancelled you should expect to be accommodated further. A hotel, a meal and shuttle to and from airport are reasonable expectations.

Thus far we have received a nice hotel room, $50 food voucher at the hotel, shuttle to and from, $150 each off our next flight and as an added bonus they just upgraded us to first class. Not bad! Since we faired out OK we thought we would post some helpful tips…

#1 Don’t be an asshole

We had a few reasons to be upset, we paid for a hotel at our destination that we weren’t going to make on time, we will also miss our car rental, we had some family members on a flight ahead of us with not much travel experience. It sucks. Another fellow missed an important business meeting. A solo mother was dealing with her 3 year old melting down. But at the end of the day most flights are cancelled for safety reasons and we shouldn’t expect any different. There are strict guidelines that airlines need to follow, thank god. The job of airport staff is not easy. In our case the same three Avianca staff that checked our baggage, also met us at the boarding gate, and were the only “on-site” staff dealing with the whole delay. Some travellers were demanding there luggage back immediately, the Avianca staff member was politely explaining they could get it back but it would be a few hours as he would have to personally find it for them once he accommodates the other travellers at the hotel. We chose to go with the flow, we levelled with the staff, showed some understanding and that’s why we are currently writing this blog from the comfort of first class. Ya get more flies with honey than vinegar.

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Finally on our flight, first class!

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First class meal! Good Karma

 

#2 Be mindful of your connecting flight

Remind the flight staff of your connection and inquire about the potential wait at your next stop. The accommodations may be better or worse depending on your layover. A traveler on our plane opted to stay longer in Toronto rather then San Salvador which is probably a wise choice. Your airline should know this but things can get overlooked in the process. When asking staff about tip #2 refer to tip #1.

#3 Take what you can get

Any decent airline will accommodate you in the case of a cancellation. Accept the flight change, the hotel, the meal or whatever they offer, but don’t expect the world. If you feel its truly not enough then be kind and assertive and ask for what you think is reasonable. Bottom line, you’re not getting to your destination when you thought you would, let it go. Leave the extra perks to the families, elderly, disabled, if you don’t fit that bill don’t expect the same. Sure you could fight for another $50 credit or nicer room but assess the situation, if you don’t need it, is it worth arguing over? Call the airline hotline if the on-site staff cant provide enough for you. Heck, call it if they did provide enough, thank them and mention the name of the staff who kept their cool while other travellers broke tip #1.

#4 Stay ahead of the game

If the staff give you word that you will be staying at _____ hotel or your flight will now be at _____ terminal, be the first one there. That next stop whether its a shuttle, hotel or boarding area is gonna have a hundred peeps rolling in and waiting for the same thing as you. When we heard the hotel name they were putting us up in we left, started heading to the pick up area and took the shuttle to the hotel ahead of the rest of the gang. We were sipping a drink and waiting on our meal while the other travellers were still in line to check in.

#5 Have a drink

If that’s your thing. We can’t promise this idea will work out the same as it did for us but it’s a worthy tip none the less. Airport drinks are $10 on average. Most boarding terminals have a duty free. We found a carton of wine for $10 at the duty free. We cracked into it and had a couple glasses worth at the terminal, on the shuttle and back at the hotel. You might have to break a few rules for this illicit drink but hey, its been a long day, you deserve it.

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Pouring duty free wine into clear water bottle… discreet?

We think thats it. You could probably refine this whole post down to go with the flow and don’t be an asshole. Keep that in mind and things will work out. Thank your airport staff, it’s not easy job.

Special shout out to Avianca staff, you were great!