Salento

From the Tatacoa desert into the mountains! Salento is said to be one of the most beautiful little towns in Colombia, and even though we cannot judge that (yet 😉), it really is a very pretty spot with its many nicely decorated, colourful houses! As a very touristy spot it also sports many craft stores selling the typical colourful sombreros and ponchos of Colombia, among a lot of other, (supposedly very Colombian) souvenir stuff. The town is both a hotspot for national and international tourists, making it very busy but also resulting in a very lively and lovely latin vibe around Plaza del Bolivar (the town’s center) in the evenings! 💃🏻
Due to its location in the midsts of the Coffee region of Colombia, coffee is also a very big thing in Salento (making it hard to just simply order a coffee without having to decide for the preparation method, temperature, coffee bean etc.) and a visit to a coffee farm seems to be a must - but as for many ‚must-do‘ tours, we happily missed out on this one 🙃 Instead, and as we really craved a proper trekking tour, we decided to go for a 3-day guided trek to the los Nevados national park which will get its own footprint.
We timed our 3-say trek perfectly, coming back to town just for the beginning of the parade for the Colombian Independence Day on July 20th. It was very cute and very local, but we were surprised to find out that no big party was happening at the Plaza Bolivar - may have been because it was a monday? Who knows!
Still, we highly recommend Salento to anyone who wants to feel the Colombian spirit but also have the comfort of the international touristy infrastructure - it is a beautiful mix of both and definitely worth staying for a couple of days! 🥰En savoir plus