Salento

We spent the next three or four days in the quiet, colonial town of Salento. At 6500 feet, the town affords beautiful views and hikes, making it a popular destination for Colombian tourists seeking some down time from the bustling cities.

Salento was our second stop in the heart of the coffee growing region and it didn't disappoint.

The charming little Pueblo sat on a hilly little bench with dramatic peaks and valleys on each side.  The countryside was truly stunning, and the town had amazing old colonial architecture.  It's a tourist town, with most of the visitors coming from inside Colombia.

The area is known for its trucha (trout) and is one of the only items on the menu of most of the restaurants.

The edge of town drops off into a lush valley.

A walk out of town.

The valley sits between 6000 and 8000 ft with surrounding mountains soaring up to 15,500.

The 250 steps up to the mirador - looking down to Salento town

The pictures above are taken from right in town.  You just walk to the edge of town, on one side up 250 steps to a mirador (viewpoint), and on other sides just to where the roads dead-end, and you have dramatic views of the valleys and the Andes mountains.  Simply stunning!

This gentleman was kind enough to pose for the perfect picture.

The above gentleman was hanging out in a coffee shop, helping the owner clean up tables.  This place actually had decent coffee.  The funny thing about Colombia is they're known for some of the best coffee in the world, and they take great pride in their coffee farms.  However, they export all the best coffee, and don't know how to make a decent brew.  We heard this before we came, but didn't really believe it until we experienced it.

country road....

We took a walk down a country road on the south end of town one afternoon.  The road headed to a few coffee farms (Fincas) that had guest houses.  This was kind of gringo road - all the tourists walking to these farms were Americans.  We stayed in town, and hardly saw a single norte Americano.  We really liked staying in town, it was lively, convenient, and there was lots going on.

Stunning views on gringo road (not it's real name).

Salento town, with the official working vehicle of the coffee region, an overloaded Willys Jeep.

Every town and city in Colombia has a Plaza de Bolivar - the town square.

Colombian tourists enjoying Salento

There were lots of old Cabelleros working as tour guides in Salento.

Grandpas and babies have universal appeal

So far we've absolutely loved our stay in Salento and are glad we came here.  The people are incredibly friendly, the views are amazing, and the food is.... edible.

Winding up Pereira

The stay in Pereira treated us quite well. We didn't have the opportunity to venture out the way we would have liked. Turns out the stomach flu kicks you down pretty hard. Instead, we spent time around our hotel relaxing and recovering, taking in very small meals. (We both lost a bit weight last week).

Fortunately, the hotel was beautiful and the staff was very patient with our strange requests for basic foods not found on the menu: plain white rice, etc. They also had great internet and a few English TV stations--not exactly what we had in mind coming to Colombia, but we just kept reassuring each other it was temporary and we would soon have enough energy to get out in the world. 

Our last day we went into the city/town and experienced a bank holiday with the locals. It's so western and modern and generally normal feeling here, sometimes, you don't really remember you're in Colombia. As far as feeling safe--it's kind of become a joke between us. We're getting all sorts of street cred or travel cred, I guess, for coming to Colombia when, in fact, it's a very mellow, normal seeming place. Everyone has been so kind and helpful to us, and very patient with our lack of Spanish.

It's a strikingly beautiful country, everywhere you look, with lots of relaxed, friendly people. It's very easy to be here. It's very easy to feel comfortable here.

After we said goodbye to all the kind folks at the Sazagua hotel, we found a driver to take us up to the little mountain town of Salento. It was a gorgeous drive through some winding roads. With the windows rolled down, the wind on our faces felt amazing.

The pics below are mostly of our hotel grounds where we spent about 80% of our time. I promise better pictures for future posts!

Justin listening to the Seahawks game on the patio off our room

The grounds of the hotel where we spent our days.

The first walk we took! A momentous event!

Apologies for all the hotel pics!

Quick Update - Pereira

We've been in Pereira for a few days.  We're staying at the nicest hotel we'll be at the whole trip, and it's lovely here.  The birds, geckos, iguanas and tropical sounds are amazing.  Just in the grounds of our little hotel we've seen more brightly colored birds than you'd see in a year back home.  We're still laying low, and are finally feeling much healthier.

One thing we learned while we weren't feeling well is that Colombians are possibly the warmest, most helpful people in the world.  We love them!

A "little" friend who dropped down from a tree right outside our room.