Hotel Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal Pereira

... did we do? We went to the center of town and climbed up to the top of a church tower.
Cathedral of Manizales is supposed to be the 5th largest steeple in the world. I cannot confirm that. However, that did not stop Leo and I getting the tour and walking up all 464 stairs. We paid out $2.50 and got to go in the church and take pictures. Mass was going on bellow us. We stopped to take a few pictures and headed to the stairs. The church was great and it ...

... Colombia borders on the suicidal. Bus drivers, in particular, are only recruited if proven to suffer from severe psychosis, demonstrating no fear of death nor concern for passengers. In addition travellers should note that bus drivers often have delusions of grandeur which frequently manifests itself in the overtaking of oil tankers on blind corners while chatting on a mobile phone."

We had the misfortune of experiencing this (repeatedly!) first hand as we ...

... have a new fav! Then we went for a short hike in the forest, next to the river. Luca was very knowledgeable about the local area and he was a great guide. Another sign of amazing Colombian hospitality.

Even though Luca and his Mom insisted that we stay with them we decided to camp for the night in our beautiful surroundings. We had a restful night´s sleep listening to the river flow.

... at 9:30am! This was the first time Christina and I had ever done this type of repelling and I’m sure it won’t be the last. The guide took us on a half an hour hike into the jungle and I soon released this was the real deal. The first waterfall was about approx. 10-13 meters. The guide connected the karabiners and figure 8-ring, which we used to repel ourselves down the waterfall. We all had the best time and I have to say it was pretty ...

... and checked the internet.
Lance my best mate had emailed me and told me he has booked to come over in Feb. I had an email like 3 days earlier from Allan my brother saying he was coming over at the end of October until March. Its going to be so good to have Allan here for that long, and then to have my best mate here for a month also, it will be amazing to share some of the experience with them both and im sure things are going to get pretty mental when they arrive!

... Manizales.

The trip was $3mil each, and we arrived in Periera around 9pm. We looked around the bus terminal and weighed up the options before finally deciding that we would find a hotel in Periera where we would leave our bags. We would return to the Bus Terminal and go to Manizales for the day, as we have now found out it is just an hour and half away so we will be returning here to sleep and head south the next day.

The hotel, El Mirador, was ...

... onto the roof and rode with the bags and one other guy.

When we got back into Solento we went to a place called Lucies which served up one of the best Menu Corrinete’s we have had on our trip for $6mil pesos. We found a place that sold a good poncho, my present for father’s day. We went back to the hostel, we were planning to leave early tomorrow, so we needed to pack. Later we went for our last coffee at Jesus Martinez café before returning to slumber.

... at high speed along. Two got past us but our host managed to halt the progress of one of them and entered into a very intimidating dialogue in Spanish of which I could make out very little. He explained afterwards that some very wealthy motorcyclists are trying to use the pathway for motorcross fun and he was doing what he could to hinder them, the pathway has been officially declared a pathway for pedestrians and horses only. We helped ...

... I would prefer not to share our most intimate moments, or most unsavory habits, or indeed listen to others as we did on some occasions. Well I guess that’s hostels for you. We waltzed into town for a quick look around. The plaza was extremely busy with portable eating kiosks everywhere. We grabbed some Patacon, which was a bit like a pizza, very tasty so we went back for more. The square was very busy with many locals out strolling, it was Saturday night after all ...

... small chilled back town, everbody sitting in their rocking chairs, playing billiards and drinking the local spirit aguadiente (as cheap as water here). Really nice hostel where the owner just left at 7 at night and nice kitchen where we spent most of our time cooking with the other French and Swiss guests.

Then we ventured to a ...