I decided to fly into Bucaramanga, as it was the last large city in Colombia that I had not visited. I caught the aero-republica flight, which took about 1 hr. The arrival at the airport is spectacular, as it is on a plateau above the town and when looking outside the windows, you almost feel as though you will hit the side of the mountain.

The ride into town is about 40 minutes, and you pass the town of Giron, which is a small colonial town almost joined to Bucaramanga. I stayed at the Hotel Balmoral, near the Parque Santander. It was a right bargain at only 25,000 pesos a night, with a large room, cable, central and hot water.

The city is known as the city of parks and has been established since 1662. There are not too many tourist sites here, but I met up with Paula and she showed me some churches, her work and the Museo Casa de Bolivar , where Bolivar stayed for several months in 1828 (Bolivar ‘’freed’’ Latin America from the Spanish).

One of the main traditions in Bucaramanga is to eat large fried ants called Hormiga Colonas. They are sort of like a delicacy here and people eat them as one would eat nuts in the Pubs in the UK or Australia. They actually taste pretty bad, but we had to give them a try. Not as bad as the cockroaches we ate in Thailand!!!!!!!!!!

On my second day, Paula took me to Giron. This is a great little colonial town about 10 kms from Bucaramanga. The buildings etc are totally painted white, and it is well worth a day visit. I met some of Paula’s family here who were great people and had phone/hairdressers business. They, like all Colombians, are very family orientated and mix extremely well.

I stayed a couple of days here and then caught the bus to San Gil, which is about 2.5 hrs away. This is an adventure sports capital of Colombia, and has rappelling, para-gliding, white water rafting etc. I stayed at Casa Mocondo, which is a hostel run by an Australia. It was a nice town, mountainous etc and the route from Bucaramanga was spectacular as you drive along the crests of mountains, with valleys on both sides.

From here, I went to Barichara. This is a colonial town that is beautiful and about 1 hr from San Gil. It was founded in 1705 and seems to have almost stayed in that time period. The streets are all paved with great flat slabs and it is probably the sleepiest place I have been in Colombia. The LP actually states that it is named from the Barachla, a Guane Indian word for’’ A great place to rest.

From here, I caught the 7 or 8 hr bus ride back to Bogota. I never speak to the touts out the front, but this time I did, and of cse I got screwed. They sold me a bus ticket for a superior bus that was to come in 30 minutes. Of cse the bus that arrived was crap, and the good bus was not until 9. I gave the guy as good as a mouthful as I could in my limited Spanish and ‘’was happy that this was going to be the limit of his life – selling bus tickets’’ - I have no time or patience for people who scam tourists (or other people).

Anyway, a great trip.