This was not a city I’d planned visiting or even heard of prior to my trip. A fellow traveler was interested in going and after seeing a few pictures I was game to join her. The city was nestled in the cool, green, beautiful Andean mountains in the zona cafeteria region of Colombia. It’s really hard to describe how beautiful it was, so the pictures below will try to do it as much justice as a photo can.
After dropping our bags at the hostel we began walking around the town. We returned to a beautiful little coffee shop we passed as we headed into the town. The antique espresso machine immediately caught my eye. We ordered some lattes so we could see this beast in action. (Check out the link for a video)
It was also “feria” the week visited, so the square was blocked off for stages and restaurants / dancing areas. There was much more activity than usual as Colombians from all over came to visit for the festivities.
We decided to do the Cocora Valley not just once but twice. The first day was also Ada’s birthday so we also brought some cake along to celebrate. We didn’t exactly find the trail we intended to hike the first day, and our luck hadn’t changed the second day, but we did hike a lot and as the pictures show the views were breathtaking.
Jeeps, or Willys as they are called here, is the method of transportation for small groups of people in the zona cafeteria. Sitting in the back wasn’t quite as fun on the first day, but on the return trip on the first day the inside was full, so I got to stand on the back. The view was amazing. It’d say it’s similar to riding a motorcycle where you have no roof over your head and you have an unobstructed view in each direction. On the second day of hiking I stood on the back both ways.
We wished we could have stayed a little longer, but with the festival everything was booked. Our final day consisted of hanging around town and dodging the pouring rain that started right after we finished our lunch.
Photos & Videos: Salento and Cocora Valley, Colombia
Instragram photos from that trip:
Michael's Journey 