Hola Salento

Our day started with an early flight. Luckily, being domestic, we didn't have to get there too early. That being said, our last nightmare meant I wasn't taking any risks and we still arrived 2 hours before take off. 2 flights later we arrived at Armenia airport. Not the country but the small region outside of salento. Unfortunately, we then had the next problem, getting to the city of Armenia and on to Salento. We knew there were buses but we couldn't find much information online, due to being small towns and airports. We went to the information booth, and the guy didn't speak any English, but was nice enough to take us to the bus stop and even wave down the bus for us. Although kind, we needed cash, but given we didn't know when the next bus was, we jumped on. Luckily, we had enough for this bus, but when we arrived at the bus terminal for our connecting bus, we were sure we would definitely need more money then. However, once again, we had a local person helping us on our way, and the language barrier meant that we could hardly explain the situation. We figured he could walk us to the bus, and we could then escape to get cash. But then the people at the bus stop were telling us to board. I could do little more than show them all my cash and ask if it was enough. Through a pretty well sized language barrier, they (I think) ensured we had enough. Everyone was super friendly, and we provided the entertainment for the day as our stressed and confused state made them laugh. When it came to paying, halfway through the trip, the man said we needed more than what the men had indicated. I pulled out all that I had left. About 800 pesos. He took 400 of those, and we really barely scraped by on our journey to getting to Salento. For perspective. 400 pesos is equivalent to about 20c AUD. I had no idea what would have happened had we not enough. Luckily, we just scraped through. Once again we were reassured by some people on the bus and a nice man helped explain the bus stops when we arrived in town. Had the locals not been so nice, we may never have arrived, or at least arrived much later and with more greater difficulty. Finally, though, we arrived and could check in, drop our bags off, and explore the colourful city. All through colombia had been incredibly colourful, but Salento took the cake for most vibrant. Each building is a plethora of subtle tones, highlighted with multiple brother colours and pretty plants and flowers. Although tiny, it makes for a nice walk. All the stores are small but make their own items, creating an amazing experience that felt authentic and supportive of local people. After some time, the lack of food caught up to us, and so we headed off for dinner. Sarah had found a very nice restaurant for us. We clearly didn't get our Asian fix, as we found some more very good Japanese cuisine. We are shocked with how good it has been given where we are in the world. We got some ramen down and headed to a nice cafe for dessert before going back for bed.Read more