We headed off from Bucaramanga early the next morning for a brief stop in San Gill, another quaint colonial town, and decided to treat ourselves to a room with a TV....sadly for us it turned out to only have badly dubbed foreign channels...The Simpsons in Spanish just isn't the same.

In no time at all we were back on the bus and on our way to Villa de Leyva...yep another quaint colonial town only this time with the largest central square in South America....oooh. This wasn't all the town had to offer though. We trekked out into the surrounding area, saw a pig, a big fossil and a field full of phallic shaped rocks. Our rather odd day was going to be topped off with a visit to an ostrich farm but the heavens opened and it absolutely chucked it down leaving us drenched. We decided dry clothes and a hot shower were a million times more appealing than a field full of large gangly birds.

A refreshingly quick jump on a bus brought us to La Capital, Bogota. Once again we opted to stay in the old town and whiled away some time wandering the streets and eating cheap food. We had intended to see a Bullfight whilst in town but by the time we arrived all the cheap seats had gone and we were left with the £80 options. We weren't that keen! Instead we took a day trip out to Zipaquira to see the famous salt cathedral, literally a cathedral carved out of the salt rock deep inside a salt mine. It was pretty impressive although Sam wasn't as taken by it since on the way down we had met a guy roasting an entire pig and he had given us a taster....from that point on all Sam could think about was food!

After Bogota we took the very long road to Cali which, although arduous, took us through the Andes and some spectacular and at times scary vistas. Cali itself is famed for having the most beautiful women in Colombia, largely because of the easy access to plastic surgery. Sadly we saw no evidence of this. We weren't stopping long and so stayed at a 'love' hotel near the bus station. Our room came complete with curtain ties attached to the bed posts and a neighbour who spent the evening sprawled out on his bed with only his big white Y-fronts on and his door wide open.

We were glad to leave in the morning for Ipiales, another long and twisty road through the mountains. Unfortunately though the twists and turns got the better of one of the passengers who vomited everywhere. In such a small minibus the smell was awful and we were climbing over each other to hang our heads out the window for some fresh air...the lady next to us turned a colour most associated with brussel sprouts but in all fairness to her she kept it in!

Our last site before leaving Colombia was Santuario De Las Lajas in Ipiales, a Gothic looking church built into the side of a cliff. However the real highlight of Ipiales had to be our meal the previous night. Struggling to find some food we happened across a lady selling salchipapas, roughly translated as deep fried chips and saveloy sausage. It was like going to a chippy at home....greedily we had two servings each although in our defence they were only small!

The following day we headed to the border. Colombia had been a pleasantly surprising country. We had expected danger at every turn but everyone had been amazingly friendly, falling over each other to help us. Overpay for something and you will be given the money straight back, stop on a street corner to look at a map and within seconds people from all walks of life will be offering you assistance for nothing more than a thank you...we even had one guy with his son walk us to our hotel door to make sure we were ok. The locals, having lived through some less than savoury times, still feel unsafe and as a result had a real concern for us, the bumbling tourist.

Whilst in the middle of the country we met a Jehovah's witness from Ilford (they get everywhere!) who had lived in Colombia for thirty years. He warned us in all seriousness not to travel to the North as it was dangerous and we may well be kidnapped. He had himself never been there because of this. He was shocked to hear we had already travelled through the North and considered us very lucky despite us explaining it really was ok now.

And so that was Colombia. We were now hovering at an altitude of between 2600 meters (the point at which altitude sickness sets in) and 3000 meters. Things are starting to get a bit wheezy and it's only going to get worse as we head to Ecuador famed for its indigenous markets, towering volcanoes, and the Galapagos Islands....oh and of course providing us with an opportunity to try the local specialty in a socially acceptable situation...Guinea pig!