Viva Colombia Day 6 - Autobus to Medellin (8/3/16)

Heading out today, so we settle up with Majid after breakfast and then pack our bags and head into town with Wes as he heads to a wifi spot to do work as we head to the cable cars to head back to the bus terminal to catch a bus with empressa arauca to Medellin. The road out of town was under construction at various places so our ride out was slowed down a bit. Stop after a few hours for lunch at a random roadside restaurant place. Was a little rough ordering and figuring out the system but we got fed which is all that mattered. Bus had AC and wifi, however the front seats drove with the windows down which led to hot, humid air rushing to the back and negating much of what the AC was doing.

Saying bye to el gato. 

Saying adios to our hostel.

Eric is ready for the next leg of our trip. Waiting for the bus into town so we can head to Medellin.

A picture from the bus trip to Medellin. Beautiful countryside.

See some kids up ahead pulling a marty to make it up this giant uphill battle (I cant imagine trying to bike up it, especially on bikes that small)

Teamwork. When they got to a check point, they detached, pedaled through and reattached after the check point.

As we were climbing the mountain to get through the pass to Medellin, we noticed 2 kids on bikes pulling a Marty McFly (holding onto buses as they drove uphill so they didnt have to pedal - was pretty impressive). As we eventually get into Medellin, you notice you are finally in a city as there is traffic everywhere, and lots of it. Finally get to the bus stop, and walk our way to the hostel (Black Sheep Hostel) to check in. Put our stuff in our room and then walk towards the zona rosa so that we can get money from an ATM and some dinner from somewhere. Wind up getting a hotdog loaded with crap (including this sweet pineapple salsa among other things) and then some arepas (con queso and con chocoho, the latter of which was amazing as it tasted like a cornbread with cheese). Then we walked around the little market there and I have Eric get a sugarcane/lime juice as he has never had it before and how can one not love it? He loves it and then we watch the people and performer in the park right there before heading back to the hostel where we chilled with some of the other guests watching some WC matches and then off to bed.

Viva Colombia Day 5 - Clase de Colombian coffee (8/2/16)

Had another delicious breakfast at the hostel and then our new dutch friends and us wait at the hostel for Aly (the girl who is traveling for months on end) to finish with her chores so we can head to our coffee class which is directly south from us, but since we live in the mountains, we have to go into town, take the cable cars to the bus terminal, and then get a bus heading out of town in a different direction to get there - makes for a long trek.

Mountains as far as the eye can see.

Looking out at downtown Manizales.

Going down the hill on the gondola and see how the city bends with the hills.

City nestled among the hills.

Getting on/off the gondola looking back at the city.

Tell the bus where to stop (hoping I read the instructions correctly), dont see the shuttle to Hacienda Venecia, so we have lunch on the side of the road at Las Palmas. As we are eating shuttle shows up so we have to scarf down our food/drink before he leaves us, then get in the shuttle and get to the finca so we can take our classes. First one is the taste/sensory profiles of coffee class where we start with flavor extracts before moving on to dry grounds, wet grounds, then stirring the grounds in hot water. Smells in each of the stages is different and its interesting to chronicle this change. Its a quick class but fun. Then for the big kahuna - the barista class. They show you the different coffees made with a espresso machine (latte, cappuccino, americano, etc.) while giving you a chance to handle the machine (not as much hands on as I expected but still a load of coffee). Best part - our group, including our amazing instructors, was just constantly cracking up and having a great time.

Lets follow this guy into his van. There are many great stories that start off this way.

Entrance of the finca. Good idea me thinks!

Clouds dont look promising. 

Surrounded by nature.

Different aspects of perceiving aroma in coffee on the wall.

Maybe we should rethink drinking this coffee?

One of the wall decorations. Now we know what to look for.

First instructor explaining the set up and welcoming us to the classroom.

Happy to be learning about coffee.

Trying to get all the grounds out of there. Harder than it looks.

Working on our coffee senses. 

Lets get this started.

Starting to stamp the grounds.

Tre SMASH! 

So many steps. This is why people go to coffee shops to have this done for them.

Watching it drip out. Why doesnt this go any faster?

My handmade espresso. Like a boss!

Look what I did. Nah jk I would need much more practice for that :)

So much coffee; everything is becoming a blur.

Our group with one of the instructors once everything else was said and done.

Our group with the other instructor.

We go to the main area to pay and it takes a little longer than expected and they are about to have a bus of employees going back to town so they offer to just take us back to the bus terminal near our place which saved us probably an hour (maybe more) of commute time which was incredible of them. We realized as we were heading back we were going to miss the sunset tonight :(, but we get back and have dinner then hang out a bit more with our awesome group before going to bed.

The Finca had a pool. Seems inviting.

Bird feeder being good at its job.

Lots of birds around.

Beautiful day for a walk eh?

Looks like a jungle out there.

Saw this hummingbird flying around and it finally settled down. Beautiful little creature :)

Went to go look out over the field. Not sure where the smoke is from but not a bad view.

My little dude was still around. Love hummingbirds.

Viva Colombia Day 4 - Caminamos around Manizales (8/1/16)

Had breakfast at the hostel, delicious as always. We had planned to go to a local coffee finca to do some coffee classes today but find out they are closed on Mondays? There go our plans! We then realize that Eric needs socks so we head into town with Wes on the bus and go to the mall where we can get socks and a coffee to walk around the city.

View from the mall of the city nestled among the mountains.

Rum in bottles and in juice boxes. Why not?

Walked by the gondolas that help people traverse this steep city quickly and get to the bus station directly.

Walked by this beautiful white church as we walked around the city.

The contrast of the white building with the dark wood doors was gorgeous.

One of the streets we crossed. So steep, the sidewalk is steps not a sloped sidewalk.

Entrance doors to the main cathedral in town.

Stunning church inside.

Beautiful view from the cafe of the square in front of the church. Will be checking out that statue in a bit.

Just came up that street. Clouds over there tell a different story then what we are currently seeing where we were at.

Got out in front of the cathedral and posed for the camera :)

Alright lets check this guy out. Devil bird with a protruding face?

Devil bird is a male devil bird.

Full look at the statue from the front.

Those glass paneling made pictures up there rather difficult.

Wanted a full picture of the church as we were walking away. It is a beautiful building.

Statue and the church in all their glory.

Has a nice, easy-walking downtown area, but some of the streets just disappear due to the slopes; you get to the intersection and you realize that the drop off is no friend to vehicle or man. Arrive at the Basilica Cathedral and go to the top for a snack and to take in the view. It is nice but has plastic guards in places so pictures are hard to take of the surroundings. Find the bus and make our way back to the hostel as we are supposed to meet our host for a ride to the market but we got back too late and he had already left. So we used this time to figure out some details for later in our trip while hanging around the hostel. Walked to the village at some point and bought some drinks for later in the night and meet some new guests as we arrive back. Wind up talking all night while watching the sunset and then ordered a pizza from a nearby place that actually delivers. Was not the normal pepperoni, so the flavors were weird but wasn't too bad. I had bought some Colombian rum earlier when we were at the mall (they sell rum in juice boxes here hahaha awesome!), so decided to break it out with our new friends as we hung out for a while longer before turning in for the night.

We are on our way back to the hostel after walking around the city for a little bit.

Eric selecting the sunset tunes for maximal enjoyment.

Taking in the view as the sunset begins.

Just a nice little haze to start the sunset.

The valley during sunset.

Humans aren't the only animals that enjoy sunsets.

Sun setting over the mountains out yonder. Nice soft shades.

Panoramic view of this sky.