December | 2012 | Rule #2: Don't Die.

Archive | December, 2012

A quick trip to San Carlos

On our way to leave Guatapé, we decided to stop by an even more rural mountain town called San Carlos. San Carlos is a small town with an adorable main square and truly helpful locals. It had recently been reclaimed by the locals in the middle 2000’s after some intense bloodshed with the FARC. There is a pretty monument to the families affected by the guerrilla/paramilitary/narco trafficker conflict in the square.

H was drawn to San Carlos by both the history, which is fresh and mind blowing, and the nature, which is breathtaking. We went with some fantastically fun people we met at the Lakeview Hostel, and since they knew some musicians in town we were lucky enough to be taken to a sweet tree house in a local backyard to chill out with juice and 70’s rock and roll.

We enjoyed the local fried food (they actually had vegetarian options, and they gave us some seriously good sauce combinations) and the homemade ice cream that was actually flavorful and only $1,000 COP for two scoops! Needless to say, we went for ice cream multiple times. The best part about the town is that after an easy 20 minute walk from the center of town we ended up at an impressive, stacked, warm waterfall, hidden down an a flower-filled canyon.

We stayed only one night at a local hotel off the main plaza, and then we moved along to Medellín in hopes of gathering my (still) missing passport. Good news is we are hot on the trail and if luck is on our side it will be in our hands tomorrow!

Tags: Colombia, San Carlos, travel blog

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Categories Colombia, Our Travel Stories
Author R:

The time I spent two weeks staring at a rock

12 Dec

So… This is late. I’m still adjusting to life outside of the novel writing, and not doing a good job getting myself back into normal life. In fact, I have not even been what one would call stable, neither mentally or emotionally. But that has been all part of the fun of our travels.

We have been volunteering at Lakeview Hostel for two weeks, daily cleaning and general sitting around waiting for something or other to happen. In fact, I spend most of all day here, watching the lake in front of a large rock.
View from the hostel of the rock:

I also spent a ridiculous amount of time being ill, writing a novel, and generally waiting for someone or something to arrive while watching the rock that it had become something of an obsession. So the first chance I got, I walked to the large rock and climbed to the top.

Largely we kick about town, B hiking to waterfalls, jumping off bridges into lakes, biking around the area, and participating in large group meals every night.

It’s a quiet life we are living out here, and today we are moving on from it. It’s bittersweet, there have been fantastic people, great conversations, and I am incredibly excited to see if a change in location can shake the remaining cobwebs out of my mind. I apologize for the short post, but at least I hope you enjoy the views, I definitely have!