Hotel Heliconias Armenia

... jacuzzi'ing and hammock'ing we were shown the whole process by Raphael. First we picked the ripe red berries from the small plants (there are around 100 on the farm) which are then run through a machine that strips the red outer, leaving only the yellow, wet bean inside. The beans are then washed in a large tub and left outside for several days until completely dry. Another machine is then used to strip the bean of its dried husk, upon which they're ready for ...

... walk along this street towards the city centre which we did. There was nothing really to see except we did go past a really big soccer stadium, which is where the team Once Caldas play. They won the famed Libertadores Cup a few years ago. We also noticed on Calle 23 that every 200 metres there would be a multi coloured statue looking at you, bulls, pigs, and men of some famed time. We walked for what seemed an hour, and probably was, until we arrived at a ...

... br><br>There were several options to choose from. For $48mil pesos each you could do all the rides. Some rides you could only go on once. The rides included go karts, there were the faster go karts where you had to at least 1.5metres tall, or double go karts for the smaller ones to ride with parents. There was a big drop, called rin rin, a roller coaster, bumper cars, some water bumper boats, a water log ride, and several rides for smaller children. They had stables with about ...

... br>Well we arrived in Armenia at 10-30pm. We grabbed our bags and went to the front of the bus terminal whereupon Jody noticed immediately a Hotel about 100metres away. We marched over and found to our delight a room available with two double beds, a TV with a million fox channels, and hot water. Yes, real hot water, for the first time in nearly two weeks, and for a gob smacking $36mil pesos, too good to be true, but it was true. Hotel Jazmin if anyone&#8217;s interested.

... and among them are Cera Palm Trees, which are huuuge and breathtaking. There really is something special about this town. i feel good here. everyone in town is happy, you greet everyone that passes by, hellos and goodbyes. Salento still feels like a Spanish town, at times i really felt like i was in Spain walking through one of their many old towns, yet with a different culture, and better music! <br>everyday we just sit at the hostel, or in town, and talk for ...

... it gives the town a nicer feel i think. yesterday after traveling all day by bus, crossing the mountains...which is a crazy drive to do in bus, soooo many turns..i arrived here and right when i got off the bus i immediatly felt at peace in this town. not too many travelers at all, and the locals are amazingly nice. and to top it off, you get around every where in old jeeps! <br><br>well tomorrow i continue, and ill post more...its dinner time and im starving.<br><br>

... of up to 70m. After an excellent trout lunch we walked out into the valley and admired the scenery. Horses are also available and exploring the valley on horseback is also very popular. I´m now in Cali, the party capital of Colombia, so I think I will have to reaquaint myself with the nightlife here tonight... It´s a dirty job but someone's gotta do it :-) Tomorrow on to the colonial town of Popayan. - Dave

Zona cafetera del país, los paisajes son durante las largas jornadas en los autobuses son magníficos y fácil de comprender como es posible que se escondan todo tipo de guerrillas. Visitamos el parque del café y descansamos un día. Coffee zone, amazing landscapes and long journeys by bus. We paid a visit to the Coffee park (a mix between an amusement park and a thematic park about coffee)

... to see the Show del Cafe - lots of dancing! It was raining all morning, but the sun came out in the afternoon and it was great. We got picked up at 5.30pm and then we were taken on a tour of the city of Armenia. We had been told by the lady we are staying with in an email that it was 30,000pesos for the night, but when we went to pay today she told us that it was 30,000 each per night! This has thrown our budget a bit and also been a bit of a sour note really. We only came ...

We crossed into Colombia in a city called Tulcán. tulcan was not a very hectic or crazy town as many other border towns have been, and we were lucky enough to find a man that drove us from Ecuador to the bus station in Tulcán. Normally, when you get a cab, it is a long drawn out process of stopping at one immigration, catching another taxi or walking to the next immigration then trying to find your final ride into Tulcán. We were also lucky enough to find a bus that ...