The bus arrived in Armenia more than 2 hours early. Usually transport arriving early is a good thing but not when it’s a night bus and you end up having to wait in the bus terminal for local buses to begin their day. Luckily I met 2 German guys and a couple from Quebec heading in the same direction.
We all boarded the local bus just before 6am and it took around an hour to reach the small coffee town of Salento. It is nestled in mountains which are home to many coffee farms.
As expected we couldn’t check into the hostel until 3pm. The German guys and I went for breakfast. Later in the day I made my way to a coffee farm. You have to take a small jeep from the main square in which they cram 6 people in the back, 3 in the front and 3 standing on the back.
The tour of the coffee farm, called Acasi, was really interesting. We were a small group of 4 and we were taken on a loop of the plantation. The guide was really good and explained the whole process of coffee making and shared many facts about the Colombian industry.
Back in town, after chilling in the hostel for a bit and appreciating the amazing views I decided to go on a horse ride. It was really fun even with the tropical rainstorm that came from nowhere.
Later that night I went for dinner with the quebecan couple and we joined some other travelers from their hostel in a live music bar.
Another early wake up on Tuesday. Emil, from Sweden, and I were keen to get the 7.30am jeep to Cocora valley, so we could start the hike before the masss. Cocora valley is the main thing that draws tourists to Salento and you can see why. It was incredible - a beautiful landscape full of palm trees, other exotic plants and birds. We started by visiting the main palm area and then looped back round through the forest which consisted of many hanging bridges, little streams and slippery rocks.
Back in town at 1pm, we had a well deserved lunch and then rest at the hostel.
I met 4 Dutch people and a German girl. First we played cards and then later made our way to a traditional tejo hall. Tejo is a national game in which you have to throw heavy rocks towards a metal target which is covered in little packets of explosive power. The more explosions you provoke the better you are doing. Really fun evening.
Carynm
2019-03-07
Looks like a couple of fun days. Great picture of you and the pancakes-very smiley. Also like the thoughtful one of you and the palm trees. Glad you were able to go horse riding. Cocora Valley looks like a stunning place and the coffee tour sounds interesting xxx
Daf
2019-03-11
looks good fun, nanny was amused by the tall palm trees saying that they looked very bare with branches only at top!, and by your very special pancake The exploding game sounds interesting, throwing rocks at explosives (don't think this would be allowed in the UK) So nice to hear your making yet more international friends, and that it looks like you remember which way round to sit on a horse! Keeep on having fun, and blogging XX