Saturday, March 10, 2018

Saturday March 10, 2018 Day 3, Salento, Colombia



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Saturday March 10, 2018
Cristina already had the day planned that we were going north, to a tourist area called Salento, which is known for being "cold" and will be full of gringos.
So off we went and 2 hours later we were passing through Armenia, where I have already visited so that whole route looked familiar and inviting.
Colombia has really beautiful new highways in this province and you are always fighting for space on the roads with hundreds of motorcycles, at least 40% seem to be driven by women.  And then there are the 4-trailer sugar cane trucks that seem so very long. 
The photo with the gas prices are in pesos, around 2800 pesos to a dollar, for an American gallon, so gas is one of the expensive items here, as are utilities.
Now, the word "cold" is relative to what you are accustomed to...  However this date we left about 90F to got someplace higher that was also 90F.  So I certainly didn't find it cold at all.  I have yet to find a comfortable city in Colombia.  All the Colombians were keeping to whatever shade was available.
However Salento is a really beautiful little town geared entirely for the tourist trade, with Jeep rides, and horses available, hundreds of shops and fantastic art.  I am always blown away by detailed and inventive art.
We ate in a second-storey restaurant and I basically had the "country-sampler" with, bacon, beans, rice, eggs, salad, avocado, arepa, hot spicy meat and delicious sausage.  One thing is for certain, I love Colombian food as compared to the bland offerings in Ecuador.
We drove up to the "MIrador" lookout above the town and took the panoramas up there.  Awesome views of the magnificent green valley (Colombia is much greener..).   I enlisted the aid of a couple of girls from Berlin to take a couple of photos of our group but I don't know why the background is so washed out.
All photos taken with the Lumix today.
Update:  I took a chance and ordered an extra charger with 2 batteries for the new Canon on eBay and had them sent to our address in Colombia.  Guess what???  They actually arrived... something that I could never do in Ecuador in a place without a recognizable address.  Yippee!!!
I hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day’s excitement.
Cheers, Al
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