Colombia. It´s really nothing like you think it is.

I´ve now been here in sunny Colombia for over a week, so apologies for neglecting the blog. Sometimes it feels like a real obligation to write rather than something I have a choice in.

In my week, I´ve crossed the border from Ecuador, spent a weekend in Cali, did some mid week resting on a coffee plantation, then spent last weekend in Medellin before boarding a very long night bus all the way up to the Caribbean coast at Taganga, where I am now.

The one thing that has marked all my experiences in all these different places? How utterly different Colombia is to how it is portrayed to the outside world. I haven´t felt this safe since I´ve been in Japan, I haven´t met people this genuinely friendly since I don´t know when, and I haven´t seen this level of clean, developed cities since, er, Tokyo.

If I were a Colombian, I would be constantly annoyed at people presuming I´m a drug trafficker or guerrilla, or that any visitor here will get kidnapped. I highly advise every single person I know to come here - the cities are safe, the nightlife is *amazing*, the people always smile, the buses are better than anything on the trip so far, the beaches are beautiful, and we have a beachfront room with amazing views for 10USD each.

Wonderful British Airways have helped me out again, and I have added 2 new flights to my itinerary. I´m flying from Bogota to Lima in about 2 weeks, saving myself 4 days on a bus or 350USD on buying the flight properly. I therefore have 2 weeks of Caribbean, and don´t have to take a bus journey of more than 3 hours for the whole time! I cannot remember how long it has been since I´ve been able to say that.

One final hello to my lovely yet swine flu stricken friends in East London - I honestly thought it would be me getting it not you, hope you´re all ok.