52. COLOMBIA

Colombia, my last South American country on this trip for now, is a special place with special people. I think along with the Philippines, I met the happiest people here. Colombians are in a good mood with a big smile nearly the entire time. The country with long coasts on the Caribbean & Pacific Oceans is full of interesting cities, ways to have fun, beautiful natures, delicious fruits, salsa & cumbia and social people. I don't remember a single day I spent alone there.

I have entered Colombia from the South via Ecuador into Ipiales and traveled around the departamentos of
Nariño & Cauca. The very South of Colombia doesn't really have any international tourism at all and it took 2 weeks in the country until I met the first gringo in Cali. In Ipiales I sampled my first Colombian dishes (Colombian cuisine is much better than people told me, even though it lacks spices and is overcooked & fried many times) and visited the most beautiful church I have ever seen. From there I traveled to the city of Popayan, where I lived for a while with Vanessa & her family and volunteered to teach English in a school.

Cali, the world's capital for salsa dancing, was my next stop. I enjoyed 3 days in the city wandering around the different barrios, attending a salsa event and enjoying a spa day with my host Monica. Cali's atmosphere is very special; there are fiestas, street dances and people singing all day and night.

Pereira, the university city in Colombia's Zona Cafetera and world-famous Medellin followed and I started to like Colombia more and more. It's super easy to travel around, prices are still somewhere low (higher than many other countries in South America tho) and everything feels safe & convenient. Medellin is one of the most hyped cities among digital nomads & world travelers right now and in some areas the city reminded me of places like Chiang Mai, Budapest or Bali dotted with co-working spaces, fancy cafes, Western food and bars & clubs with English menus. It's not my thing at all and I found many foreigners/ex-pats (shouldn't we just call them immigrants too?) quite annoying in their behavior. Medellin was super cool though, a very green city with a wonderful climate (slowly rather the "city of eternal summer" than "eternal spring"), a quite ugly grey centro but pretty suburbs and surroundings.

Via Monteria, I arrived in Cartagena on the Caribbean coast of the country, which is for some explicable reason the most visited place in the country. Yes, the old center of the city is impressive with its old buildings listed on the UNESCO list but honestly, as soon as you step into the historical center from other parts of the city it just feels like Disney land full of American cruise ship tourists, annoying street vendors (I think the only annoying sellers I have seen in entire South America) and overpriced & dull tourist stuff. The rest of Cartagena is quite unappealing and lacking the most basic things. The next time I would probably just skip Cartagena.

That was completely different with Taganga and Santa Marta, my next destination. They do receive many tourists (more national tourism tho) too but I totally enjoyed the city, the beaches outside and the small fishing village Taganga. In Taganga I couchsurfed an empty wooden house with a palm tree roof while the owner was out traveling and in Santa Marta I stayed with Laura & her mom Chela, some of the nicest people I met in South America. We went to some beaches out of the city to enjoy the sunset, climbed random stuff and played games.

My last stop in Colombia was the capital Bogotá where I stayed a couple of days in two different barrios. I was lucky enough to stay in Laura's second apartment there and spend more time together. Bogotá is a vibrant metropolis with all the amenities, international food and possibilities many capitals in the world offer. Located on 2,640 m it's quite high and therefore pretty cold but sunny. The city is full of energy, always awake and wandering from barrio to barrio to sense the huge contrasts was my favorite activity there. On my first day, I walked 32,000 steps :D

Colombia has been an awesome time and also marked the end of my time in South America for now. After 3 years in Asia, I was always wondering how South America would be and feel compared to Asian countries and honestly, I was quite critical whether I would like it as much or not. In the end, it's always nonsense to compare different countries, regions or even continents with each other. Every region of the world is different with its own pros and cons. My time in South America has been nothing else than amazing, I met so many beautiful people, saw some of the prettiest landscapes of my life, totally enjoyed each country's diverse culture and it has been a huge plus that they all speak Spanish and you don't have to learn basic phrases again after every single country.

If you ask me the biggest plus of Asia compared to South America are cuisine & security. But when it comes to socializing with people South America is the easiest region in the world. It has been much more difficult to spend a day alone than constantly meeting new people and they are super easygoing without caring too much about strong social etiquette. I think it's easy to say that people in South America are the most fun of all and I can't imagine traveling to South America without having a good time. And in case you get robbed: Relax and see it as part of the cultural experience, bandidos can be cool people too!

3 Highlights:

- aspiring Medellìn, one of the coolest cities in the world

- Santa Marta and Caribbean beaches around

- Popayan in the South and teaching English in a school