March 2017 archive

2 Days in St. Petersburg (Old Sankt Pete)

2 Days in St. Petersburg is just enough time to get a good taste of the city.  Ideally there would be time for more, but on this trip I had many days on the Transsiberain railway on my way to Mongolia and China and only a month to do it. Amazing Architecture Driving into and …

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Long Layover in Helsinki (A Hel of a Time)

Had a beautiful flight over Iceland to land in Helsinki.  Followed by a Long Layover in Helsinki before catching my overnight bus to St. Petersburg, Russia. Met Jakko, a guy I met in Cali, Colombia. It was cool to check out the art deco buildings in Helsinki. Tonight, I will take an overnight bus to St …

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Cali Festival Colombia (!SALSA! all day and night)

Cali Festival Colombia is one of the worlds’ great festivals and it’s not on the typical traveler’s radar.  As a traveler, I was treated like a celebrity! Cali would be my last stop in Colombia.  I had planned it this way so I could spend 5 days in the city to attend the annual Salsa …

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Salento Colombia (Wax Palms, Trout & Back Pain)

Salento Colombia is a quaint little touristy town.  I had e-mailed ahead a reservation to the one hostel listed in the Lonely Planet.  My 3 friends from the bus also tried this hostel but it turned out it was completely full due to the upcoming Christmas holiday.  Colombians and tourists alike commonly travel over this …

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Manizales Colombia (A White Pre-Christmas in the Tropics)

Manizales Colombia is located in the center of Colombia, in what’s known as the Coffee Region.  I stayed in a nice hostel in the city and got a private room.  I hadn’t been feeling very well.  I had sores on my feet from the heat of the coast and small cuts on my hands were …

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What to Do in Bogota Colombia

I was feeling homesick by the time I got to Bogota Colombia.  The heat of the coast had worn me down.  I was missing my boyfriend back home.  So, I decided to see some sites in Bogota and possibly see if I could fly home early. I found plenty of things to do in Bogota. …

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Santa Marta & Tayrona National Park (How I really lost my swimsuit top)

Marie, Hank, and I were going to Santa Marta for two main sites – Tayrona National Park and the 5 day “Lost City” trek.  But first we had an afternoon in the pleasant town of Santa Marta Luckily, we decided to go to Tayrona park first, and that was enough to convince me the 5 …

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Muddy on the Coast (Destination: Cartagena, Colombia)

Before researching for my trip to Colombia, I didn’t know a lot about Cartegena.  As a youngster, it evoked images of the film “Romancing the Stone” where the sister was kidnapped and held in Cartegena.  My friends Marie and Hank had flown directly to Cartegena and I met them there in the morning. We took …

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Bright Lights, Big City (Destination: Medellin, Colombia)

Planning my itinerary around Colombia would be tricky.  I had preferred to start in the north and head south to end in Cali for the annual Salsa festival.  However, in using frequent flier miles, I could only fly to Medellin, Cali, or Bogota.  So, I decided to fly to Medellin and make a backwards “S” …

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Los Roques Venezuela (Caribbean Paradise)

A Caribbean Paradise in a chaotic country is Los Roques Venezuela. Los Roques Venezuela is accessed via a short flight to Gran Roque from Caracas. There were incredible views while flying into the islands. This would be my first time in the Caribbean and it did not disappoint.  The sight of the islands, beaches, and …

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