Dos Club Colombias y una agua por favor

I'm in Colombia! After a few months break in Seattle, I saved some money to continue the dream of not working and seeing the world one city at a time. This trip aims to speak some Spanish and try different types of travel. I'm still backpacking but with a shorter timeline and less of an urge to meet people. Not that I have anything against making friends, but the chase for international friends was fulfilled by spending two and a half months with some Germans, and it seems hard to beat that.

The first stop on the trip is the lush mountain city of Medellin. After not watching much of Narcos, I knew little about the city's offerings. My first impression was how large the city is; having close to four million people in the expansive valley, it's easy to find yourself in a busy train station looking a little lost. The first stop of any trip is always overwhelming for me, knowing no one and not the area. I felt like Medellin was a little more than I bargained for, and I fled to a southern town called Salento.

The vibe change was off the charts. This incredible mountain town was perfect for getting into the groove of why I like to travel: markets, old women-owned restaurants, and local beer.

I was rolling with the punches of my hostel, saying they were full after I confirmed my booking. A man drove me around town in his '93 Volkswagen to find a room for me on a busy Easter weekend. After mixing English and Spanish, he set me up with a private room for the same price.

The next few days were filled with coffee tours and hiking through Corcora Valley, home to the tallest palm trees in the world. My lack of a hostel meant I spent evenings helping the owner's 8-year-old with his Spanish homework, which aligns perfectly with my college-level Spanish knowledge.

The first stop was Finca Ocasos for a coffee tour. Colombia is the third largest coffee exporter in the world and uses unique processes to extract the most flavor out of the coffee bean. I do not enjoy a nice cup of joe, so this was more about the experience and finding out how this cup of coffee differed from Folgers.

Hanging off the back of a jeep is the best form of taxi service I could imagine, competing with TukTuks and scooters. The guide explained how coffee was grown and processed into different categories from the same plant. Most of the dark roast consumed by hardcore black coffee drinkers is just a second grade, and the bitterness is not something they want to get out of a bean. Their A-tier beans are sweet and chocolaty but still sell the B grade as the caffeine properties are the same.

After a caffeinated night's sleep, I headed out for the more popular Cocora Valley hike. I opted for the longer cloud forest route, which led to a hummingbird sanctuary and ended with the tallest palm trees in the world. Strava tracked the six-mile hike as a full ten with plenty of incline. The break of a hot coco and cheese, watching a group of hummingbirds have lunch in the bird feeders. The hike crossed a river with rope bridges winding up the valley of the mountains. The palm trees were hectic as most people opted for the more direct route, and I looked like I worked a little too hard for the same views.

During this hike, I passed a trout farm. I had to get a celebratory Trucha, a Salento specialty. For around $13, I got a whole trout in cream sauce and two Club Colombia, a terrific local beer. I also had the privilege of getting hooked up with a friend of a friend who had visited the same town before, and we continued the night with quite a few beers and a game called Tejo or Colombian Bowling.

Tejo consists of tossing small boulders the size of bean bags into a mound of clay, and similarly to cornhole, there is a ring in the middle that you are attempting to be the closest to. But we are in Colombia, so they make it more fun as the center metal ring has paper triangles filled with gunpowder, so when you make contact, you can hear it!