Galapagos to Quito and onwards to Bogota by bus – 400+ miles in an upright seat for over 24hrs, next to a missonary intent on spreading the word!

At 4.30am the bus dropped us off at the border and then dissappeared, leaving us to guess which direction Colombia was in the pitch black of night. Thankfully a lovely couple saved us from wandering towards the riverbed (we seriously had no idea where we were!) and directed us towards the bus whilst repeatedly telling us in Spanish that it was very unsafe for us. Sometimes its better to be oblivious!

After another lengthy adhoc stop to retrieve a small truck load of suspicious looking ‘packages’ from the bus luggage store we were on our way again through lush green stunning deep valleys, the road teetering on the edge of dramatic drops.

Bogota is a hazy memory now, partly due to our meeting a lovely couple Dan and Georgina who shared a mutual appreciation of beer. We did at least manage to fit in a free walking tour which highlighted places for us to drop into later – the Museo de oro (gold museum), San Agustin and the policy history museum which included some interesting pieces about Pablo Escobars capture. We also learned that the Colmbian police uniform design is taken from the West Yorkshire police, it was funny to see such a familar sight so far from home!

Medellin was to be our next calling point. we had pre booked a hostel which kindly upgraded us to the most fantastic suite after a booking error. We were on wind down now so probably didnt see half of what Medellin has to offer. Once one of the most dangerous cities in the world due to drugs and violent crime the government have worked to clean the city up. Much like the pacification projects in Rio you still have to wonder where the problem has been moved to.