A Hidden Gem In The Heart Of Colombia

Advantages: diverse, stunning, peaceful, cheap, friendly, coffee, climate
Disadvantages: language barriers, long bus journeys

...My name is Jonathan, I am a 21 year old student at Warwick, I went to Colombia in the summer of 2006, and wanted to share a little bit of it... First of all, it was of little surprise to me that Colombia has had just five reviews on the country in general. This can probably be accounted by the fact that when you take one look at the foreign office website, all but a handful of Colombian provinces are blacked out as "no go zones." Whether feeling adventurous or just plain stupid as some would claim, I chose to kindly ignore this advice, and venture out to what has now become one of my favourite countries in the world, and despite my age, I have been to over 30 countries across all the continents. My journey in Colombia began on the caribbean coast and ended on the border to Ecuador, where my travels continued down the West coast to...

goldentouch77 19.09.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of General: Colombia

Hotel Maria Isabel Bogota

Advantages: There comes a day when you can leave the hotel.
Disadvantages: Too many to mention.

......

Joeled 09.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hotel Maria Isabel Bogota, Bogotá

Anyone for Iced Coffee?

Advantages: Lovely if you like coffee
Disadvantages: Don't buy if you don't like coffee

...Magnum Colombia Aroma Choco-Cappuccino was what faced me when I looked into the 'special offers' fridge in Tesco's the other day. Could I resist them? I would like to be able to say that my will power was strong enough - but it WAS buy one get one free (BOGOF) - which did rather tip the scales in the favour of my trying something new! That is MY excuse anyway. The box is the same format as other Magnum boxes but in a sort of caramel colour - I would hardly call it cappuccino coloured - but it is attractive even so. There is a picture in the lower left-hand corner of a coffee bean and the statement "Colombian selected coffee" and the lower right-hand corner has a picture of the Magnum ice cream that you can expect to find inside - only hopefully, you would not find one with the top bitten off as this has to illustrate...

Minha 16.03.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Wall's Magnum Colombia Aroma

Not for the faint-hearted

Advantages: Amazing cuisine; coffee; very, very cheap; locals are charming and helpful
Disadvantages: Kidnapping. Like the Sword of Damocles, a pall of fear hangs over everyone. Beggars/prostitutes. Oppressive humidity in Buenaventura.

...Columbia has recently been rated the 3rd most dangerous place in the world, and I can believe this, but the situation is not so cut-and-dried. The biggest and only real problem is the kidnapping. According to locals I met in 3 cities, the cartels will kidnap you no matter who or what you are. If you look (in their eyes) American (Gringo) i.e. Anglo-Saxon, then you are the highest risk group, because by definition, you have more money. I come from a Lancashire Irish Catholic family, and my appearance is textbook Anglo-Saxon. But it doesn't really matter - if you are worth a million dollars or just one, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you will be kidnapped. I arrived in Bogota in late July. A tropical country, I thought, better not take a heavy jacket. Well, Bogota is half-way up a mountain, so it is pretty cold. It...

MrDarcy 06.04.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of General: Colombia

Not as bad as you think...

Advantages: Beautiful country, not overrun with tourists
Disadvantages: Some risks are inevitable

...Mention Colombia, and most people think of drug cartels, kidnappings and general lawlessness. The real picture is not nearly as bad. I'll shortly be heading out to South America and making my second visit to Colombia. It is a beautiful country, the people are (on the whole) amazingly friendly and helpful, and the security situation is not nearly as bad as it was in the early 90's. Yes, there are risks. People do go missing, kidnappings and killings happen - but then where in the world is anyone totally safe. I don't believe the risk is such that no-one should consider travelling there. At the same time, don't expect travel there to be totally easy - some places are off-limits, and others are difficult to get to and not really set up for tourism. But it's worth the trouble....

lss22 25.07.2000 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of General: Colombia

Well I had fun..

Advantages: cheap cheerful and gorgeous beaches
Disadvantages: drug cartels, kidnapping - the usual

......

sparkle99 18.02.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of General: Colombia

The house of Simon Bolivar

Advantages: Beautiful house with gardens, Great location
Disadvantages: cant think of any at the moment

......

Carolena 31.01.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Casa Museo Quinta de Bolivar, Bogota

Avianca, good airline for South America

Advantages: Cheap, comfortable and friendly
Disadvantages: Advertising as direct flights when that is not the case

...Avianca is a Colombian airline that offers flights around Latin America, the U.S and a few destinations in Spain. I flew with them on two return flights, once within Colombia and once from Quito to Caracas. Avianca has the broadest connections for the northern half of South America of any airline. Flights in South America are rarely cheap and as far as I am aware there is no budget airline that would match the likes of ryanair or easyjet within Europe, however, Avianca does offer reasonable value for money. Their flights are frequently the cheapest that I could find for travel around the Andean and Caribbean region. The airline is not very useful to get from Europe over to the Americas as it's only connections are to Madrid and Barcelona. Prices are on par with any other trans-atlantic flight. The flights themselves were...

flyingllamas 20.06.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Avianca

Psst - Fancy A Hit Of Pure Colombian

Advantages: Tasty, tasty, tasty. Delicious, delicious, delicious.
Disadvantages: ADDICTIVE!!!!!!

...favourite Barbie comics) She arrived back to tell me that she couldn?t find any Really Rich, but that she?s bought me a jar of ?new? stuff. My immediate reaction was not one of unadulterated pleasure. ?What muck has she come back with now?, I thought. ?Please God, don?t let it be that awful Maxwell House rubbish!? But no. It was Kenco coffee right enough, but a blend I hadn?t noticed before, called ?Purely Colombian?. Never a fella to be accused of being afraid to try something new, on went the kettle, and a (strong) brew was quickly prepared. Well folks, it may have been bought by accident on the first occasion, but never again, as it is now firmly ensconced in the ?mad cabbies? favourite list when he does his shopping. This coffee is quite simply delicious! A true nectar straight from heaven! (Sorry, make that Bogota!) ~ ~ A bit...

the_mad_cabbie 17.05.2002 (12.12.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Kenco Purely Colombian Coffee

A BITTERSWEET SONGBOOK

Advantages: It's got the original; it's a bit of group history
Disadvantages: Whose biggest hits?

.... Although he had no musical background he 'discovered' and produced the early efforts of Marianne Faithful, co-writing "As Tears Go By". He set up his own record label (Immediate) in 1967 which produced, amongst others, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac and Eric Clapton. He 'retired' to Bogota in Colombia in 1983 but still has links with the music industry. THE ORCHESTRA Early in his career Oldham was influenced by the US producer Phil Spectre and he put together his own orchestra which bore his name. In 1964, DECCA records allowed Oldham to produce a series of singles which featured his orchestra on the 'B' side. As the Rolling Stones developed their repertoire, so Oldham used rearrangements of their songs as a different medium to help 'grow' the band. Although he could not read or write music he worked very closely with arranger David Whittaker...

Newfloridian 26.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Rolling Stones Songbook, The (Instrumental Versions Of The Rolling Stones' Big Hits) - Andrew Oldham Orchestra (The)