Bucaramanga: "I'm beginning to like Rancho Bucaramanga!"

Bucaramanga is a big city with 10 universities and not a lot to really see in terms of historical interests. Nonetheless, we had a great time there. Our hostel, Kasa Guane, was incredibly nice and modern, with the vibe of an upscale hipster hotel. With our group expanded now to six with the addition of Karin, we were able to take over a six bed dorm room on our own. The rooms were pretty basic, but the rest of the place was awesome, with patios everywhere, a comfortable open TV area, nice bathrooms, and an upstairs pool room with a rooftop patio. I'm still not sure where the place is located in relation to the rest of the city, but it was surrounded by a lot of upscale apartments, hotels, banks, and businesses. Up the street the vibe was more bustling, with people selling things on the streets as a ridiculous number of buses, taxis, and motorcycles crammed the streets.

The first highlight of our time in Bucaramanga was the nightlife. Since there are so many colleges in the area, there are always a lot of people out and about. The first night we were there was a Wednesday so it was pretty quiet, but on Thursday night we headed out around 11pm with our little crew to a local club. The place was absolutely packed with people dancing and having fun and the music blasting. As usual when we are out and about, the reaction by the Colombians is crazy, like we are celebrities. Everyone wants to meet us and if they speak English, the conversation is sure to include, "What are you doing in Colombia?!?".

Friday night was more laid back, but on Saturday night the owner of the hostel, Richie, invited us to a club called "Mi Pais" (My Country), which was three floors of the same madness we had encountered on Thursday, but more upscale. It was a ton of fun. We didn't leave to go out until almost 1am, which is typical here, and as we walked back to our hostel, the sun was coming up.

The other highlight was checking out the paragliding, though once again Russ and I aren't really into doing that type of thing first hand. We like to keep our feet on the ground and our heads in the stars. Anyway, Manuel and Cecilia wanted to go so we went with them to check out the place. The same guy who owns the hostel also owns a fantastic paragliding school in the mountains outside overlooking the city. The views from up there were so great, with the city sprawling out below and huge mountains across the entire horizon.

We've never seen paragliding up close, and it is really crazy to see, with people flying all over the place in every direction and at staggering heights. Manuel and Cecilia both really enjoyed it, and we enjoyed watching it too. The sunset from up there was amazing, and as the night set in the city lights below took over the view, sparkling gold and white.

On Monday we parted ways with Manuel and Cecilia, the last remaining members of our little travel gang, and got on an overnight bus to make the nine hour trip to the city of Santa Marta and the small fishing village of Taganga on the Caribbean . We can't wait to see the beaches - after seeing so many photos online from this place, we are finally going to be experiencing it for ourselves.

View Photos from Bucaramanga