The first question that people generally ask when it comes to Colombia is: is Colombia safe?
As far as we are concerned we believe that today Colombia is a fairly safe place to visit.
Of course, as a tourist, you might want to make sure you follow 4 basic rules such as:
1) avoid to travel at night
2) avoid to show off valuables
3) make sure you do not leave the beaten track and if you do it, hire a local guide
4) If unsure, always ask the locals. They know better
People have always been extremely friendly and helpful. When we asked for directions or suggestions, people always gave us the right answers. Nobody ever hassled us or threatened us.
We were stopped by the police only once, (near Cali) they were very friendly and just wanted to make sure we were OK. On the other hand we approached the police several times and once again they went the extra mile to help.
On the roads you will often see patrols/check points from the army. They will wave at you and show their thumb up. The reason dfor this heavy presence of the military forces on the roads is very simple: The government wants to make sure that they have full control of all major roads so that the guerrilla is relegated to the outskirt of the country.
It took over 30 years of tough actions to bring security in the country and we can say that they have succeeded.
We asked the locals a very crucial question: what is the guerrilla fighting for?
The answer is of course very complex:
Some say that everything started with the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala in 1948.
Gaitan was leader of the liberal party; he was the leading opponent for the use of violence and had determined to pursue the strategy of electing a left-wing government.
He had repudiated the violent communist revolutionary approach typical of the cold war era. His assassination directly led to a period of great violence between conservatives and liberals and also facilitated the rise of the currently existing Communist guerrillas.
Over the years from political the conflict became economical too as the money from the sale of coca gave the guerrilla leaders also political influence.
However, we have been told by several people that in particular in the last 10 years the government refused to compromise with the guerrilla and fought hard to marginalize it.
It is clear that the government priority in the last 30 years was to bring stability and security to the country.
Now that stability has been almost achieved, Colombia can look forward and focus on its economical development.
The potential is massive!
This is a country the size of France Germany and Italy put together.
They have abundance of natural resources.
Tourism could be hugely exploited too. They have a beautiful Caribbean coast, the Amazon forest, mountains, deserts, rivers, waterfalls, volcanoes, you name it
And the food is not bad either.....
Unfortunately they seriously lack in info structures.
Roads are very basic. Even the main arteries are a 1 line road, with huge holes and often gravel replaces the asphalt.
They do not have trains. All goods transport is made over the road with huge trucks clogging up the already slow roads.
To give you an idea in our 1500 miles tour we could only travel at an average speed of 34 miles per hour!
During our permanence in the country we bought lots of bottled water from different brands and eventually we spotted something very interesting: guess who is in control of bottled water in Colombia?
I attach a picture showing the 2 main brands of water in commerce in Colombia.......
The close relationship between Colombia and the US is evident, not only because a US company is selling back to Colombians their own water. (which by the way is tap water purified)
Travelling across the country we heard stories of US government buying even volcanoes in order to extract Uranium.
Whether this is true or not the reality is that Colombia is exporting its row materials and importing finished products.
Wherever we went we noticed that everyone would make an effort in protecting and preserving nature.
We can only hope that in future Colombia will be able to find the right balance between economic development and natural preservation.
Price for 1 litre of petrol = £0.7
Avg speed on the road (on motorcycle) = 34 miles per hr
Avg price for midrange hotel = £40
Avg price for dinner for 2 = £15
Hotels
Following is the list of the hotels we went to.
The factors we have taken into account are:
1) Value for money
2) How clean was the hotel
3) Noise and sleep comfort
4) Shower (hot water)
5) Breakfast
6) Bike parking
7) WIFI
8) Helpful staff/owner
9) Location
Name Hotel | Town | Price per night | Vote | notes |
Ibis | Bogota | £45 | 8.0 | Clean and comfortable. Good breakfast and free WiFi. 10 mins walk to centre. Good VFM |
Casa La Fe | Cartagena | £67 | 6.5 | Clean but a bit noisy. Good Wifi. Problem with water 1 night. Decent breakfast. No bike parking |
Calle Real | Aquachica | £22 | 6.0 | cheap and cheerful. A bit noisy. Nice owner. Good parking facility inside hotel + pool. No wifi |
Posada Familiar | San Gil | £20 | 7.5 | very clean and quite. Great helpful owner. Washed clothes, mended clothes. Slow wifi. No breakfast. Bed uncomfortable. Bike parking not included (next door) |
Posada Villa de Alcala | Villa de Levya | £24 | 6.0 | Clean and quite. No wifi. Owner not too friendly. Good breakfast.Price Include parking and breakfast |
Santa Maria de Leyva | Villa de Levya | £110 | 4.0 | Very expensive. No wifi, thin walls. Very noisy. Breakfast late. Not worth it. Bike parked entrance. Bad VFM |
Bella Epoque | Honda | £35 | 9.0 | Very stilish, comfortable bed, air con, pool, great breakfast. Great owner. Parking next door in school |
Posada del cafe | Salento | £34 | 7.0 | Good bed, good size room, clean, fairly quite. No wifi, breakfast ok but not huge.Hot water sporadic. Nice owner. Bike parked inside garage |
Hotel Camino Real | Popoyan | £35 | 8.0 | Very central. Good bed, good size room, clean, fairly quite. good wifi, good breakfast and excellent restaurant. Hot shower. Bike parked underground garage |
La Maison Del Ejecutivo | Pasto | £40 | 8.5 | Great bed and very big room (with little kitchen) , warm shower (but not always hot) very quite, good wifi, good breakfast, bike parked in garage, clean |
Town | Miles covered | Hrs | AVG miles/hr |
Cartagena | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Aquachica | 323 | 10 | 32 |
San Gil | 173 | 6 | 29 |
Barichara (rtn) | 30 | 1 | 30 |
Villa De Leyva | 135 | 3 | 45 |
Honda | 202 | 7 | 29 |
Salento | 142 | 5 | 28 |
Santa Rosa SPA (rtn) | 75 | 2 | 38 |
Popayan | 217 | 5 | 43 |
Pasto | 158 | 4.5 | 35 |
Ipiales | 50 | 1 | 50 |
Totals | 1505 | 44.5 | 34 |
