bicrom abroad

after a couple of days of being underwhelmed or uninvolved by bogota, during which time the credibility of the statistic that february was colombia's least rainy month had also been cruelly undermined, we were ready to get moving and eagerly boarded our twin prop to armenia on tuesday morning. i'm not a massive fan of small propellor driven planes at the best of times, having once suffered a particularly hairy bout of turbulence in one when flying from goa to mumbai, and my confidence was further sapped by the presence of an array of mechanics who continued to work on the plane up to and for a good half hour or so after our take off slot whilst the pilot paced around looking nervous. still we eventually set off and the flight was fine; a short bus journey later we were in salento.

salento only warranted a short entry in the current edition of the lonely planet but i fully expect this to have significantly expanded by the time the next one rolls around. picture perfect with a pretty central plaza and surrounded on all sides by rolling green hills, towns like this are redolent of everything which is good about rural south america. this was also a town where you felt completely secure wandering around any of the couple of streets which, in stark contrast to bogota, meant that all day and well into the night locals, gringos and stray dogs were happily ambling around. as such, the apparent desire to head home as soon as the sun sets is not a colombian one, but rather one which afflicts the middle classes of bogota. the hope remains that this malaise of the bogotonas is a consequence of the security situation and, as this continues to improve, bogota will become the kind of all hours people filled metropolis that i felt it was struggling to become.

the main draw in salento is its presence at the mouth of the valle de cocora, a forest of wax palms dotted throughout deep green valleys, and we were all set to go on the day hike the following morning. my mood however darkened as the heavens opened at dusk and my night's sleep was constantly punctuated by what sounded like ever more aggressive bouts of rain, coupled with the wistful howling of miserable damp dogs. still, when we woke in the morning the rain had dissipated, albeit having left the landscape glistening with water, and we set off on the hike hoping against all odds that it did not decide to make a matinee appearance during the day.

the hike was difficult, though not overly so, and wonderfully scenic. we wandered through the forest, over precarious log bridges spanning gushing rapids, under thundering waterfalls and by gentle streams and eventually up to a small log cabin surrounded by furiously quick hummingbirds; stunning, amazing creatures, but utterly oblivious to the needs and desires of amateur photographers whose cameras and reflexes could not even hope to maintain pace. following a hard slog up to just under 3,000m we were right in the clouds at the top of the treeline. as we began the gentle descent down to the bottom of the trail we began to see the wax palms for which the valley is famed, at higher altitudes standing wreathed in mist and splendid isolation before at lower climes they rose to totally dominate the surroundings, their lanky thin trunks peppering the lower slopes. an almost mystical sight and one of the most beautiful, ethereal things i have seen on the continent. bar a return to my indian roots when i in gentlemanly fashion opted to hang from the outside of the jeep rather than sit inside it on the way back, a decision rendered a little dubious by the numerous bends in the road and inertia, we got back in the late afternoon content with a sight well seen.

we were a little sore the next morning so set off to pereira, a larger town in the zona cafetara which was the jumping off point for the thermal hot springs near santa rosa. thursday morning bought welcome sunshine but as we reached santa rosa and commenced the 15km ragged dirt road up to the thermals the clouds once more took control and specks of rain started to pepper the windshield. the setting of the baths is spectacular, deep in a tree lined valley with the mist once more giving the whole scene a slightly unreal atmosphere. we pottered around for a bit in a murky warm pool which it transpires was an algae pool, although the title seemed a useful excuse for the slightly slimy green water, before going for fairly poorly administered massages. as a consequence of the copious amounts of oil used by the masseuses we were slipping around in our havainas and struggling to stay on our feet as the rain once more came down. as it was only light drizzle we decided, more out of pig headed value for moneyness than anything, to finish off in the final pool which in fact was so hot that the rain was actually something of a relief. sitting in the steaming geothermal pool looking up at the forests which enveloped us, watching the drops of rain fleck up off the surface of the water, for all its failings and grubbiness, the termales de santa rosa were in fact deceptively beautiful.

anyway, we have had enough of altitude and rain so the time has come to head off to the caribbean coast. a couple of flights and we should be in taganga for friday night before heading off for some hopefully unspoiled beach time.