During our time in Medellin we caught a 6 hour bus to Salento (the place we were originally trying to get to from Popoyan). Salento is a coffee district in the middle of nowhere. The streets of the little town are lined with brightly coloured stores and houses making it feel like a toy village. For our first two nights, we stayed at La Serrana which is beautiful accommodation set on a ridge overlooking the surrounding valleys. There are a number of different accommodation options but we chose one of the three canvas tents – very cool. While in Salento, we took a tour of a coffee plantation and did a 6 hour walk through the stunning Cocora Valley. The walk began with us picking up a yum packed lunch from a restaurant called Brunch, and taking a jeep 30 minutes out of town. Throughout the walk we went through a number of different terrains including beautiful farmland, hills covered in palm tress, picturesque rivers, and lush jungle. It was a stunning walk we highly recommend.

We also ate some great food; juicy burgers and the biggest brownie you’ve ever seen at Brunch, and some delicious curry at La Eliana. So good. In the evening we bought a bottle of red wine from the local market and drunk it on our deck at La Serrran overlooking the sun setting on the valley, not baaaaad. For our last night we moved to a place called La Eliana which is run by the sweetest man called Jesus ( no relation)…( i don’t think…). La Eliana is a really awesome hostel, super cute and clean accomm, but it also has a fantastic curry restaurant. We have been missing curries, and in particular, spice, so this was a much welcome surprise.

On our last night in Salento we went to a ‘bar’ called Las Amigos to play a traditional game called Tejo. I include the inverted commas on bar because it was just a massive dirt floor with some lanes separated by wood and a fridge with beers in it in the corner. Tejo is pretty much Pentanque cowboy-style; instead of boules you throw clay discs and instead of a cochonnet you are aiming at little triangle of gunpowder which explode when/if you hit them. Yay Colombia.