"Colombia - an undiscovered treasure" Colombia by sjvessey

From the cool, high mountains of the Andes to the hot Caribbean coast, Colombia is a country of great natural beauty and rich cultural heritage, and Colombians are friendly and likeable. They hate the way the world perceives them, and will go out of their way to show you that things are different. There's something here for everyone, indeed you will often hear it said that this country has everything.

I spent about 9 days in Colombia in early 2003, mainly in and around Bogota with a 3-day excursion to Cartagena in the middle, plus a day trip to the amazing Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira. You'll find a lot more photos and more specific information about each place on my Bogota, Cartagena and other Colombia pages.

Zipaquira

So Colombia is billed. And when you see pictures of Afghanistan on TV, with tribesmen wildly firing their AK47s from the back of a pickup, you shudder to think what a country even more dangerous than Afghanistan might be like. 'You must be crazy', I was told, when I announced where I was taking my next vacation.

Colombia is a 3rd world country, and it has more than it's share of problems. But walking around Bogota, and even driving through the countryside, the overwhelming impression is simply one of normality. This is a normal place, with normal people going about their business - working, shopping, eating, drinking, partying, dancing, laughing and crying. Most visitors to Colombia are surprised at what they see, and Colombians themselves enjoy showing their country to foreign visitors, to try to dispell some of the bad publicity the country has received over the years.

Botero

This was my first trip to Colombia, indeed my first to South America. I was lucky enough to stay (and tour round) with a couple of Colombian friends, which greatly enhanced the whole experience and let me see and do things that many tourists will never encounter - staying in a middle class suburb of northern Bogota and driving through slums on the city's outskirts; sampling the marvellous Colombian cuisine, from fried whole red snapper with coconut rice and fried banana at one end to home-baked arepas bought from a toothless 'campesino' at the other; experiencing Bogota's vibrant nightlife, and attending evening mass in a 17th century church; spending a night (or two) in the best hotel in Colombia as well as in a traditional 'finca' on the side of a hill in the countryside; seeing Colombia from both the perspective of the city and the countryside, the mountains and the coast.

• Pros:Lots to see, and very very cheap
• Cons:Not for the faint-hearted
• In a nutshell:Far better than you ever would have imagined