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Sean Plamondon
Sean Plamondon

Sean Plamondon

reiste i 86 land Les mer🇨🇦Ottawa
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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    You can see the fortified walls climb up the mountain if you look closely

    Krazier for Kotor - Day 2

    13. august 2018, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    In addition to the fortified old town, Kotor also has fortifications that travel to the top of the mountain that sits behind the old town and 1350 steps to reach the uppermost fort. We spent our morning ascending the wall and enjoying the spectacular views. And also trying to stay in the shade as it was over 40C. Easily the best hike and views of the trip so far.

    After that, spent our afternoon wandering the maze of cobblestone streets and taking a cue from all the lazy Kotor cats - lounging around sipping on cold drinks in the shade and watching the mass groups of tourists getting shuffled by us. First time of the trip where we had no travel agenda and while it's fun to visit a new place everyday, was great to not be rushing off somewhere too.

    We did have plans though. Our new Turkish friend Hakan insisted on taking us out for supper at a local seaside Turkish restaurant at 8pm. We were treated to red wine, raki (like ouzo), and a number of food platters with grilled meats and vegetables and delicious desserts. The owners sat down with us too and we never came close to eating everything provided. Even though we insisted on paying the bill, Hakan was having none of it. We feasted like kings all at his expense.

    Got back to old Town around midnight and finished our night watching a small band performing in one of the narrow alleyways outside a pub. Pretty sweet day. -SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Hakan outside his tapestry shop.
    Perast from just above the bell towerPerast seasideFish, mussels, squid, shrimp and a potato and spinach side. So goodI fixed that picture frame after supper

    Krazy for Kotor!

    12. august 2018, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    First, let me say what an incredibly short and easy travel day this was. After a quick blink of our eyes on an hour long bus ride, we found ourselves behind the fortified walls that protect the gem that is Kotor’s old town.

    Although getting here was effortless, finding our hotel room was no easy feat. The addressing system, or should I say lack there of, is very sporadic here. It seems as though some store fronts are labelled with numbers, but many are not. Even the handful of locals that we spoke to couldn’t guide us in the right direction.

    Insert Hakan. A man with a friendly face, who was sitting outside of his tapestry shop. When we asked for his help, all it took was a quick phone call and voila, someone was on their way to let us into our room, which was only a few doors down from his shop. Little did we know that he was friends with the hotel owner, or that he was so well connected, which proved very beneficial for us. Kotor is the first place we decided to spend more than one night in, which was an incredibly easy decision to make by the way (it’s like you’ve gone back in time into the Middle Ages, not to mention the awe that you feel as you stand surrounded by sky-high mountains), however we only booked accommodations for one night. Fortunately, not only is Hakan a business owner, but he is also a landlord so he was able to find us a room to stay in tomorrow. Not to be a broken record, but Hakan’s hospitality was rather outstanding. It was like having our own personal tour guide on speed dial, whatever we needed he assured us that he would help. He even offered to take us out for a traditional Montenegrin dinner tomorrow evening.

    As a mini afternoon excursion, we made our way to a small town called Perast, which the Lonely Planet book describes as looking like a small chunk of Venice that has floated down the Adriatic. With a population of 350, we walked down the one and only main street and indulged in some gelato, some of us more than others ;) - if you know Sean at all you know his love of ice cream.

    Upon our return we had an excellent seafood dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by one of Hakan’s friends of course, and then we spent a better part of the evening playing cards, wandering the cat-strewn streets and getting lost in the magic. KK    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Budva beach in walled city
    Cool lounge just outside walled cityOctopus in a pot with veg and dalmatian stew

    Coulda, Woulda, Budva!

    11. august 2018, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Getting from Shkoder, Albania to Budva, Montenegro typically involves going inland through Podgirica, but I figured it would be amazing to head immediately southwest and make our way north along the dramatic Montenegro coast instead through Ulcinj.

    Busing to Ulcinj costs 12 euros each. But I found a taxi that would do it for 35 euros and leave immediately. Pretty easy decision. By the way, this is the third border crossing we did via taxi. That's just how we roll heh. And the decision paid off as the bus ride from Ulcinj to Budva was amazingly beautiful. This entire trip has been through huge mountain chains but finally we were on the sea. -SP (to be continued)

    Arrived in beautiful Budva, and spent two hours at the beach, and watched a huge lightning storm light up the mountain chain right next to us while we baked in the sun and splashed in the warm waters.

    Wandered into the very impressive walled old town where the passage ways were narrow and only pedestrians could squeeze through the streets. Americans beware, this is not one size fits all ;)

    Had the house specialty which was an amazing octopus in a pot which we feel is the best meal we had this trip... And that's saying a lot as the food has been phenomenal. Honestly, I'm a bit sad all this amazing food at rock bottom prices is a limited time offer. Prices back home will be hard to take. We paid 50 euros for a good bottle of wine and a massive octopus feast that we came nowhere near finishing.

    Finished the night at a cool lounge outside the castle walls and staggered back to our cute guesthouse two very happy travellers. So spoiled by all the beauty and it's just too hard to even capture in photos or describe. It's overwhelming and I know we have some crazy locations still coming up. -SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Our boat driver super excited about the three hour trek

    All Shkodered out

    10. august 2018, Albania ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Plan was to take a 9am bus from prizren to gkakova and then catch a furgon (mini bus) to bajram curri in Albania and then another furgon to fierze for a 1pm ferry through the long, narrow canyon of lake komani. Supposed to be one of the best boat rides on the planet (Google komani ferry).

    Anyways that whole plan went up in smoke when we woke up at 10:15 and arrived at bus station around 11. No way would we make those connections. Asked a taxi driver how much to bajram curri and he offered 60 euros. Giddyup. After a brief stop at the taxi drivers house so could put his garbage at the side of the road, we were on our way. I'm not making that up haha.

    Did our best to sleep off the pounding headaches we earned from the prior night, until reaching the Albanian border. Arrived in bajram curri which is in the thick of the striking Albanian alps, and found a new taxi to get us to fierze. Who knew we had just hired a retired racecar driver. We barrelled down winding tight mountain roads at over 100km/h leaving fingernail imprints in the car upholstery.

    Got to ferry landing and we had just missed it and no more ferries until the next morning. And we were in the middle of nowhere. Still frazzled from the white knuckle taxi ride and the effects of night prior, anxiety levels weren't so great heh.

    Smelling opportunity, an Albanian offered to charter us a small motorboat for 100 euros. Putting our money together, we had about 110-115 euros. And we still needed transportation from the other end of lake komani to shkoder plus we hadn't eaten anything and this was a three hour boat ride. Got his price down to 90 euros, bought two bags of chips and were on our way.

    Impossible to describe, and pics don't do it justice. One of the most beautiful rides ever. Huge mountains dropping straight down to waters edge as we winded slowly through the narrow water passages. About half way we noticed a storm coming over the mountain range but fortunately never hit us.

    We were a bit concerned that in missing ferry, there wouldn't be any transportation at landing to get us to shkoder but fortunately there were furgons there waiting to go. 16 euros for our ride plus a few more for water leaving us with 2-3 euros in our pockets.

    Shkoder wasn't anything special. We knew today it was all about the journey and not the destination. Nevertheless we found a nice area of restaurants for a good meal. Hotel was a bit of a disaster though. We had choice of private bathroom and no a/c or shared bathroom with a/c. Tried the former but it was too hot and shower didn't work. Then switched to latter but bathroom was on top floor and toilet didn't flush. Eventually arranged so we had both rooms at our disposal to cover all our needs. It was a very fitting end to the kind of day we had. And perhaps a summary of sorts to the organized chaos that is Albania :) -SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Etnic and Edmund giving us a full tour of their bar
    Projecting me onto building across riverProjecting Kristin onto building across riverOne of Prizrens many many mosquesWine from high above PrizrenHeart of Prizren old town

    Praying in Picturesque Prizren

    9. august 2018, Kosovo ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After a total of 6.5 hours on two different buses, we finally rolled into Prizren shortly after 330pm. Coincidentally, we happened to arrive just in time for Kosovo’s annual arts festival known as ‘Dokufest,’ which apparently attracts documentary makers from all over the world. Fortunately, we were able to book last minute accommodations in spite of the increased number of visitors.

    After settling into Prizren’s old town, we made the small trek up to the fortress wall, from where you could easily view 7+ minarets/mosques all lined up in linear fashion.

    I have to make special mention of the outpouring of kindness/hospitality we received here. From a local restaurant owner that personally walked Sean to the bank to make sure he found his way, to a passerby that so eagerly shared all of the attractions Prizren had to offer, the care that everyone showed to us is definitely what made Prizren such a charming location.

    With this in mind, it’s no surprise that we made our first friends here. The streets were flooded by people visiting the many bars and cafes, so we decided to pop our heads into a bar called Te Kinezi (named after the Chinese restaurant that was there before it). It was here where we met Edmond, Etnik and the rest of the staff. After spending several hours sitting at the bar, chatting and getting to know each other, they invited us to an outdoor DJ event that was part of the local festival, and we danced the night away until the wee hours of the morning. KK    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia

    Not horrid, its Ohrid!

    8. august 2018, Nord-Makedonia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a mountainous 3 hour bus ride from Skopje, we arrived in the beautiful lakeside town of Ohrid. The lake is huge and feels more like a sea/ocean.

    After checking into our waterfront accommodations ($35cad), we found a lakeside restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat and sample some Macedonian wine, then ventured off to see the sights. Ohrid has a fantastic old town with narrow cobblestone streets to wander through that lead you to quaint authentic Macedonian restaurants and eventually to tiny pebble beaches backed by rock cliffs.

    Exploring a bit further along and eventually above the water you stumble upon picturesque orthodox churches perched atop high cliff walls that drop to the water below. Climbing even higher leads to a huge stone fortress with amazing views of the town, mountains and lake. An ancient amphitheatre completes the loop as you follow the cobblestone roads back into the old town.

    We enjoyed some more Macedonian wine at a restaurant in a pretty cobblestone lane and eventually found a stunning waterside establishment for dinner. Finished our night at a jazz club and left around midnight as we had a very early bus ride to catch.

    It's hard to think of a more perfect place. Mountains that drop to the azure waters, a gorgeous cobbled street old town, waterfront establishments, and ancient fortifications. A bit sad to leave after such a perfect day and place. Fantastic last day in Macedonia. SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia

    Skopje - Bizarre and Bazaars

    7. august 2018, Nord-Makedonia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    All aboard the yellow limousine! Yes you read that correctly. Unfortunately we misread the bus schedule, so we didn’t leave Plovdiv early enough to backtrack to Sofia, and then catch another bus to Skopje as originally planned. However, have no fear, when in doubt just call the taxi man! That’s exactly what we did, so we ended up taking a 4 hour taxi ride to Skopje, yes 4 hours!!! But let me tell you, it was 100% worth it.

    As soon as you enter the Macedonia Square, towering warrior statues and other supersize monuments/fountains can be found no matter which direction you look in. It’s really rather entertaining, as absurd as they may seem you can’t help but wear a permanent smile on your face. Not to mention, how small they make a person feel (and in case you haven’t already noticed Sean and I are not tall people) so you can imagine how minuscule we felt.

    The Turkish old town was magical. You can’t help but be drawn into the narrow streets, it’s a shopper’s paradise. Ladies fashion boutiques, jewellery stores and other artisan goods are just some of the offerings here, but you can also find traditional coffee and pastry shops, mosques and...craft beer, but of course. What could possibly make a couple of beer nerds happier?! I have to admit, the feta cheese that has frequented our meals might be a close second, mmmm feta!

    I’m also happy to report that the people in Skopje are much brighter, which leads me to believe that Ohrid will be kind to us too. I spent some time studying the Cyrillic alphabet on the train yesterday, and it’s really paying off! To my surprise, I’ve been able to piece together words here and there along the way, so I’m hoping to pick up the momentum as our journey continues. KK    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia

    2000 years of Plovdiv

    6. august 2018, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    According to my lonely planet book, Plovdiv is the longest, continuously inhabited city in Europe.

    To get there, we had the option of a two hour bus or three hour train. We chose train since there won't be many of them on this trip. Which was a bit of a mistake because it turned into 3.5 hour milkrun of riding in an old ricketty, sauna-on-wheels. I would have paid $20 for a glass of cold water.

    On first arrival, we didn't really understand the town's charm, but it became much clearer with every hour that passed. We visited the ancient roman theatre built 2000 years ago, and then found ourselves wandering aimlessly through the pretty maze of cobblestone streets, littered with cute cafes, restaurants and wine bars.

    Spent some time at a craft beer pub where they also make their own beer, katka i mishka (cat and mouse) and then hit up a tiny wine bar to sample the local wineries. I didn't realize how big Bulgaria was into wine making. And then found ourselves at an upscale restaurant where two mains and a nice bottle of red came to $50CAD.

    The food has been fantastic so far. There's tons of pizza and pasta places, but if you look a bit harder for more traditional fare, it's so worth the effort.

    The people in Sofia were bizarrely miserable. No one ever smiled in our interactions and seemed annoyed with the effort required to breathe. But Plovdiv redeemed bulgarians for us as just about everyone there were friendly, chatty and helpful. I'm glad we didn't limit our Bulgarian venture to just Sofia. SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
    Serdica ruinsTraditional cellar restaurantChallenging train scheduleAngriest statue ever?

    Sofia at last

    5. august 2018, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Just a quick note for mom that we got in ok. Super tired but only have one night here so gonna go explore the city. Will add more to this entry tomorrow. SP

    Sophia doesn't really have an old town but it does have a number of impressive cathedrals and ruins. When they were putting in a new metro station in 2010 they unearthed a roman city from 5 BC called Serdica. Which is right by where our hotel was. Ruins we're a bit underwhelming but pretty crazy how far back civilization here goes.

    There's a fantastic pedestrian street in the center that must have 100+ restaurants and very lively. We headed back to our hotel on Sunday night at 11:30 and it was still packed everywhere. And judging by how little was open Monday morning, I get the impression people don't work very early. My kind of town.

    We had an awesome meal at an authentic Bulgarian styled restaurant down in a cellar decorated with ale barrels and kerosene chandeliers. The traditional music was interesting but I don't think it will be making an appearance on my playlist.. ever.

    Cyrillic has been challenging to say the least. It's a completely different alphabet with some crossover with Greek. I'm starting to get the hang of it somewhat but Kristin is totally lost haha. Check out the image I'm attaching from the train board schedule. Can you figure out which one is our train to Plovdiv? SP    Les mer

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  • Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia

    Three more days until departure woohoo

    1. august 2018, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    17 days wandering through the balkans. Plan is to venture through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia. Flying into Sofia, and back home from Sarajevo.

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  • Colombia

    Panama City

    13. april 2018, Panama ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Arrived in Panama City mid afternoon and was a bit too late to make our way to the Panama canal so we wandered around the hotel area to find a restaurant for some food. Found an interesting place and settled in for some food and drinks. Then both of us were exhausted so we wandered back to our hotel room for a nap. Unfortunately we woke up around midnight and our day was done. Clearly some late nights in Cartagena had a lssting impact. Will have to return someday and pick up where we left off.....
    -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Cartagena - Day 2

    12. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Last day in Colombia :(

    With a full day in Cartagena, visiting the dominating fortress felt like a must. Have i mentioned how ridiculously hot it is in Cartagena? You are essentially a walking and talking fried egg. Which greatly impacted our enjoyment of the fortress. It was impressive, but all i could think of was not wanting to melt into the pavement.

    From there we visited the renowned covered market that stretched across a ridiculous distance. Had some.. interesting lunch there and then found our way out of the labyrinth and got ourselves to Cartagenas old town, which is really beautiful with all its pristinely kept colonial style buildings. Kristin did some shopping while i enjoyed a few beer in a hectic city square where its impossible to only people watch. The locals want to interact with you, although not always for the right reasons.

    Later on met up with our Colombian friend Alejandro who we met in providencia, for some drinks. Then we made our way back to the pub where we left off with our new cali friends from night before in the hopes they might be there. They were :) This turned into a very late night of many beers, laughs and friendships where we eventually left with several email addresses and invitations to return and stay in their homes someday down the road. Hugs were in great supply.

    And with heavy hearts, we went back to our hotel room to sleep one last time before starting the long journey home. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Cartagena - Day 1

    11. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    This was a looong day.

    We made our way back to the palomino townsite via (mom, earmuffs) riding the back of two motorcycles, which we were starting to get pretty accustomed to now. And from there we stood on the side of the road until a bus came by. An hour later we were in Santa Marta again at the bus station trying to find passage to Cartagena. At this point we really hadnt dealt with bus stations and all our rides were either hired vehicles or hailing a bus passing by. As soon as we got there we were ushered into a line and into buying a ticket. What we didn't realize was that there are several different bus lines all with different prices, schedules and.. yes, speed. We chose..... poorly.

    We should have arrived in Cartagena in about 4 hours. But we did it about 7 due to our bus company choice. Saved a few pesos and lost a few hours. Arrived at the outskirts of the city and found a taxi to the old town. Our driver picked up a friend along the way which felt a bit concerning at the time but was just giving him a communal lift with us.

    Didnt arrive in old town until around 7 or 8pm. We had some places earmarked but they were all full. Settled for something pricier but felt very safe there. Kristin spotted a tavern advertising craft beer, which drew us in like flies to poo lol. Ended up meeting a Texan guy there who knew of a great restaurant nearby with great local food, so off we went. He was 100% bang on, and probably the best meal of the trip. The one thing colombians do really well is a stew-like soup. Amazing.

    The three of us headed back to the craft beer place, and this time it was far more lively with a big group of guys dominating the noise. I forget how, but we infiltrated this large group and discovered they were all in Cartagena for a brewers convention from Cali, Colombia. Before we knew it, we were best friends, taking over the bar, and pouring our own pints. They lead us to another craft pub that also made their own beer and thats where we finished the night. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Palomino

    10. april 2018, Colombia

    Took a short bus ride up the coast to a town called Palomino. The town itself was nothing special but as we hiked from the townsite to the oceanside, its charm become very apparent very quickly. Miles and miles of pretty sandy beaches in both directions with hardly anyone around. In fact the hour long ride from tayrona to palomino was one massive long beach and almost no one to be seen anywhere.

    Walking along the beach there were a smattering of small rustic hostels and hotels mostly made of wood and thatch. We settled on a nice looking spot with a seaside restaurant and bar and got into our bathing suits immediately. The waves were pretty good, so i rented a boogie board and had fun for a few hours battling waves while kristin took in the rays. Later in the afternoon, it became a surfing party as mostly locals showed off their skills.

    Evening was pretty quiet. Enjoyed some food snd beer by the ocean as the sun went down then walked up snd down the beach checking out a few other establishments before calling it a night.

    I really loved Palomino's laid back surf town feel and felt i could have easily spent several days here learning how to surf and being a beachbum. Hopefully will find my way back here some day. But flight home was fast approaching and cartagena felt pretty far away. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia
    Sloth

    Tayrona - Day 2

    9. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C

    We had an ambitious plan for day 2 to enter a lesser known gate into the park; hike over and through some mountains, through some actual indigenous villages and finish up at the park's feature attraction: Cabo San Juan beach. Which is about as picture-postcard-perfect as it gets.

    However, my Santa Marta ice infused margarita was starting to rear its ugly head. Popped a bunch of counter-montezuma meds and headed back to do same route as yesterday but try to get much further. Far less monkeys this time but did reach idyllic cabo san juan beach and spent the bulk of our day enjoying the white sands against turquoise waters. Didnt feel so great and thoroughly enjoyed a lazy few hours in the sun instead of more intense jungle hiking.

    On the way back, another trekker spotted a sloth in a tree. I walked up to it and i scared it unintentionally. So it very slowly tried to get away. By the time circled the tree taking 25 shots of it, its arm has raised a few inches up haha. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia
    Endless views of endless vacant beachesHowler monkeysOur hut for tayrona stay

    Tayrona - Day 1

    8. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    The bus ride to Tayrona National Park was only an hour. Checked into our hotel on the edge of the jungle and made our way to the park gate. Within minutes of entering the park we were startled by the bizarre sounds of howler monkees in nearby trees. They sound like ferocious monsters and not a furry primate.

    Tayrona is a mountainous jungle region that straddles the ocean and has several remote beaches but you have to hike a long ways through the jungle to reach them. With the late start we hiked about 90 mins in, enjoyed some time at a few different beaches and hiked 90 minutes back again before it got dark. And saw tons of monkeys along the way. At one point a family of monkeys were moving in the canopy above us eating something from the tree and dropping the remains on top of us.

    We also passed some indiginous people in the jungle along the way. These people had nothing and were using potato sacks for clothes, and selling homemade juices to hikers.

    Ate supper back at the hotel and had an early night. I unwisely had a drink the night before in santa marta with ice and the effects of that were starting to kick in. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Santa Marta - Day 2

    7. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C

    We decided Santa Marta seemed like a place worth experiencing on a Saturday night so we descended the mountain back to SM, checked back into the super cool hostel from a few days prior and then took a taxi to Taganga for a day trip.

    Taganga was a nice seaside town with lots of of waterfront establishments, a small beach and nice views of mountains everywhere, but it was missing charm. Stayed for a few hours and headed back to Santa Marta. I think our taxi was about $10 each way.

    My favourite meal of the entire trip was here in the large street food market we stumbled across. I got a quart of beer, a huge soup, a chicken and potatoes dish all for about $5 total. Kristin found a poutine on steroids that was amazing. We didn't even eat half of it but wow was it good. The swarm of cats that surrounded us were in full agreement.

    From there we checked out a bunch of the local nightlife. Drinks at a rooftop lounge, street level cocktails and eventually dancing at another rooftop spot where we met a couple of nice Colombian guys that we spent the rest of the night with. They wanted to cap the night with some drinks on the beach but i was getting a weird vibe and we called it a night. Also because the next day we were heading to the famous Tayrona national park and it was already 3am. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Minca - Day 2

    6. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    For our second and last day in Minca, we opted to seek out a tour company to hike to a private waterfall that was *much* bigger. We ended up with our own private tour guide Camillo who took us off road almost immediately and right into the jungle canopy. Hiked through tons of banana trees and avocado trees, eating some along the way, eventually descending down to a river cutting through it all.

    We followed the river and reached the approach to the waterfall which was in a bit of a canyon. From here to get closer you had to swim hard against a fairly strong currently to get to the base of the falls and again really hard to get in behind it. Kristin opted out for that last stretch which was pretty challenging and I barely made it.

    On the way back stopped and had a few beers at a cool cantina literally on some rocks in the middle of the river. If that wasn't enough, we decided to seek out a third waterfall since the day was still relatively young. Hiked uphill what seemed like forever and reached a picturesque tall cascading set of falls. We probably should have enjoyed it's beauty a lot more but we were exhausted, sun was starting to go down and we were a bit waterfalled out I think. Still, incredibly pretty.

    Finally back in Minca, we sought out camillo, who was now bartending and we met his boss who took a shine to us and we ended up going out for dinner together. This guy was quite the character. He seemed to have a connection with every single person in town, like the mayor, but had everyone in his back pocket too. At the restaurant he chose, I asked what was a good local dish, so this guy asked the waiter to bring out the chef, and then asked him to prepare a special meal off menu just for me. Haha, and he agreed. He insisted on paying for the bill but had no money lol, and somehow he sweet talked our way out of there without paying a single peso. Very weird but amusing evening. Followed by 236 stairs to bed. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Minca - Day 1

    5. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today we were off to the mountain village of Minca. We followed the lonely planet guide's directions through santa Marta's chaotic, bustling streets to where a bus could take us there. But we never found it and instead hired a van to take us. Only about an hour drive, but all of it winding up twisting mountain roads through dense jungle high above the urban center of Santa Marta.

    The night before we booked a really cool looking tree house hostel, but we didn't realize there was no road to get us to it. Our driver dropped us off at the bottom of a trail going up the mountain. So with backpacks on (this is where you truly realize you packed too much), we tredged up and up and up like mules with supplies.

    After checking in, we found some recommended hiking trails to waterfalls, picked one and headed off. You'd think hiking to a waterfall would be downhill towards water, but you'd be very wrong in Colombia. We were on a dirt road most of the way, but the thick jungle all around and exotic bird calls felt more like the Colombian adventure we were looking for.

    Along the way, a local who owned an organic coffee plantation invited us to join him for a cup. Never had coffee like that before - black and zero bitterness. Amazing.

    The waterfall itself was ok, but perhaps a bit underwhelming. But the trek was a good start to future treks in northern Colombia. We hiked back to Minca, and back up to our treehouse in time for a fantastic sunset. Then back into town for some food and back up the 236 stairs again to bed. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Travel day (to Santa Marta)

    4. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    After a late night hanging out with other backpackers at Roland's rustic, yet stunning beach bar, we got up at 5:45am to get a taxi to the ferry port. Ferry left around 7am and got us back to San Andres island at 11am. Had 4 hours to kill before the flight back to mainland Colombia so grabbed some lounging chairs at nearby beach bar and enjoyed some cold ones. Pretty sweet way to kill a few hours before flying. The beach bar was literally a 10 minute walk from the airport.

    Unfortunately we had to fly all the way back to Bogota and switch planes to Santa Marta which meant we'd be flying past our destination on the way to Bogota. Booo.

    With two hours layover, it should have been loads of time, but our flight was a bit delayed and then eventually we figured out we had to switch terminals.. but how? There was no signage and everyone we asked gave us a different answer. Literally 8 different answers. Once we found the bus and switched terminals we didn't expect to have issues finding the gate but once again nothing was marked for us to go upstairs for that particular gate so we ran all over the place looking for clues like we were on the amazing race. Seriously, it was pretty frantic.

    On the second flight, Kristin was sitting next to an incredibly friendly and chatty Colombian guy .. while I caught up on sleep :). On arrival, we had nothing booked and our plan was to get downtown and ask the taxi driver for a safe area to stay, near or in the old town.

    Appropriately for our day, our driver spoke zero English.. but he was incredibly kind hearted and spent a ton of time driving us around to find something and understand what we wanted. I think we walked into the hostel around 10pm? Looong day. 1 boat, 3 taxis, 1 bus and 2 planes later, we were finally there. Btw super cool hostel with cabanas on 4 levels and a pool and bar on top level. Ventured out for a bit of food and some beer to unwind after a somewhat stressful series of transportation switches. Probably doesn't sound like much fun but I swear it's days like this that sometimes puts the bigger smile on your face later on. All part of the adventure. -SP    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Providencia - Day 3

    3. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Can you think of a better way to spend a holiday than going on a 4 hour hike?! Our mission of the day was to climb to the top of the Peak, the highest point of the island, and enjoy the summit. With a mere 2 hours up, and a little less than 2 hours back down, our tour guide Orleus pointed out lots of interesting plant life along the way i.e. clove leaves, mango trees, cotton trees etc. The view from the top was unforgettable, definitely worth the effort.

    Although Providencia felt distinctly more Carribean than Colombian, we would both agree that it was one of the highlights of our trip to Colombia. We met a bunch of other backpackers at Roland’s Roots Bar on our last night. The reggae/dancehall beats were booming out of the beachside speakers, and before we knew it, it was time to fly back to San Andres and continue on with the next leg of our trip. This was definitely a unique, once in a lifetime experience. -KK    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Providencia - Day 2

    2. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Happy Easter! After fuelling ourselves with a Colombian staple called arepa, (a type of food made of ground maize dough, served with cheese, cuajada etc.), we were all set to start our day.

    On our walk to Manzanillo Bay, it was very easy to see that the infrastructure is not well-maintained here. For instance, we’d be walking on the sidewalk, when out of nowhere it would come to an abrupt end and continue on the other side of the street, so we kept zigzagging back and forth. We also saw several unfinished buildings on our short 40 mins. walk to the beach. Of course the extreme heat and historical lack of investment play a role here. It’s not easy to get to, which on the one hand is why large-scale tourism has never taken root, but at the same time it’s also what allows Providencia to retain its astounding beauty and state of preservation.

    In addition to the copious amounts of bright blue lizards that we saw on our walk to the beach, there were also tons of hens and chicks clucking along the roadside. I should also mention that Sean was a bit like Snow White, if there was a stray dog around it was sure to be following him. One even cozied up to us and found shade under our loungers on the beach.

    We were completely off the grid. We claimed our beach space and enjoyed the better part of the afternoon soaking up the sun. The sand here was as soft as icing sugar (if you didn’t already know I like to bake, then I’m sure my sugary sweet reference was a dead give away). Sean also taught me how to play chess, which reminds me that we’ll have to play again soon so I can solidly the rules/kick his butt!

    As there wasn’t much night life here, we too adopted the slow-pace lifestyle of this rural paradise. We had a seafood dinner at a restaurant down the road from where we were staying (which we walked to there and back in complete darkness), and then we spent the rest of our night in playing rummy 500. - KK    Les mer

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  • Colombia

    Providencia - Day 1

    1. april 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    With an early 6am start to the day, we made our way to Toninos Marina in order to catch a catamaran to Providencia.

    First, I should explain that getting there is no easy feat: the only two options are a rickety 20-seater plane or a rough three hour catamaran ride that has a reputation for causing passengers to keep their heads in sick bags the entire time. Plane tickets were already sold out, so sadly seasickness was our only option. As we tried to prepare ourselves for a rocky ride, other travellers started to arrive. This is when we met our friend Alejandro. We learned that he is an engineer in Cartagena, so we made plans to see each other again during the latter part of our trip, as our flight to Panama City was leaving from Cartagena.

    Upon check-in for the catamaran we were given tablets used to treat motion sickness and nausea, they really weren’t messing around! Luckily, as Sean already mentioned, we stopped at a pharmacy the evening before and purchased some Dramamine of our own, so we were ready to take on the sea! I am extremely happy to report that we were only awake long enough to feel a few whirls in our stomachs. The drowsiness had taken its toll and we slept for nearly the entire trip! Phew, what a relief! (Thank you Dramamine!)

    On another positive note, considering that Providencia is such a pain to get to meant that we only had to share this island paradise with other travellers who were daring enough as we were. And if Dubrovnik taught us anything, we definitely prefer to avoid the masses.

    We were officially on island time. We adopted the same “carefree” aura as the locals, we shared a delicious seafood platter for dinner, and we began to explore the beaches this wonderfully remote island had to offer. - KK    Les mer

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