Ipiales and Salento - Colombia (June, 2014)

Before I begin, I would first like to apologise to all of our avid followers (haha!) for not posting any updates for so long. Blogging has taken a backseat as we have been getting settled in Bogotá, getting back into the swing of working and actually having some kind of a routine.  Below is an update of the first two towns we visited in Colombia when we arrived in June.

After our rushed week in Ecuador, we headed north into Colombia as my brother needed to fly from Colombia back up to the US and onto Australia.  Our first stop over the border was Ipiales: a small, fairly nondescript, border town that is only really visited due to its proximity to the magnificent cathedral of Santuario de las Lajas.  This Roman Catholic cathedral, built deep in the canyon of the Guáitara River, has been used as a sight of pilgrimage since the 18th century, though the modern church was rebuilt between 1916 and 1949.

After staying a night in the small town of Ipiales, we caught an all day bus to arrive in the city of Cali.  We only had one night here, and really only saw a small amount of the old-town area, and hence, we did not take any photos worth blogging.  Our next stop was the small town of Salento in Colombia's central Quindio region, which retains its traditional/colonial feel and where the main tourist attraction is the Cocora Valley.  The Cocora Valley, part of the larger Los Nevados National Park, is famous (mainly on the backpacker trail) for having Andean wax palms - Colombia's national tree - which can reach up to 50m in height.  

The 'Willy' is the main form of public transport in many smaller towns in the Zona Cafetera (Coffee Zone).

Our attempt at showing the height of the wax palms - not overly successful.

After spending a few lazy, rainy days in Salento eating trout and fried-plantain, we boarded another bus and headed towards Medellin in time for Brendan to fly out to the US.