Day 172 - 173 : Salento

Salento is located within the coffee triangle region, between Armenia and Pereira.  Not being a big fan of coffee, this was not an originally planned stop, but having heard nice things about this town where one can do other things beside visiting coffee plantations, and as a fellow hostel mate that I knew in Popoyan had also just arrived here 1 day before, I decided to stop here for a day enroute to Medellin to check it out. 

The bus ride from Cali to Salento was of a little adventure, with the 1st bus ride of 4 hours in a hot and stuffy bus (aircon wasn't working and could not open windows), and then being stopped along the way by police, where the police asked all the men on the bus to get off for a body check. 


By the time I got into Salento, after changing another bus at Armenia, it was already dark, and though I could see alot of activity in the main square, I decided to check this town out the next day, . 


View of Salento town



The major things to do in Salento was mainly trekking the Valle del Cocora, visiting some coffee plantations and also horseback riding through the valleys. 

The town itself was rather small, but with a lot of shops with very interesting finds, and with the festive season, lots of activity going on.  Some great view points in this town too!   

 

The people here are also extremely friendly and warm to tourists, and some of the vendors also went out of the way to try and speak to you in English when they realise you are a foreigner! 



Streets of Salento



Live band playing



Unfortunately the weather was not as great, as apparently it had been raining the days before I was there, but I managed to catch some sun and less rain on the 1 day I was in the town, and took advantaged of it and went for horseback riding.  Would have been much better for sure if there was no rain!