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Getting around: travel in Colombia by bus, boat, train, ...

Bicycle, bus, plane, train, boat.. you name it - you can even travel by scooter in Colombia.

Selfpropelled (Bicycle).

If you're going on a bicycle, we have some good stuff right on this site, check out our guide.

Boat.

You can take a sailing boat from Cartagena to Panama, going through the San Blas Islands. It costs about 180 US$, highly recommended. Taking a plane is slightly cheaper. You might be able to get on a cargo boat, but don't count on it. Also, sometimes you can get on a cargo boat that goes to el Choco: don't take it. That area of Colombia (Capurgana, ...) is too dangerous.

You can arrange this trip in the Chalet Suizo or the Viena hostel (Hans is a nice guy) in Cartagena (both on the Calle Luna). It costs about 180 $. They work with the owner of a yacht that goes to the fantastic San Blas islands.

To go to Panama from Cartagena by sailing boat: it takes about 2 days to reach San Blas Island and 3 days sailing through the islands until you arrive in Porvenir , the main Island of San Blas where you can get flights for 27 US$ to panama city. The sailing boats cost about 185 US$ one way and 250 US$ return ( 10 days ) , without food.They need a group of minimum 5 people.

(by Miguel) I traveled by cargo ship from Leticia to Iquitos in Jan. of '99:

Leticia is a friendly little town with hundreds of mopeds buzzing around. Cargo ships ply the Amazon on a daily basis. My cost was $20US for the three day journey, including food (bring water). You will need your own hammock. There was also a "speed" boat that took twelve hours and cost about $75US. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at mikeclutter at yahoo.com

Crossing the Darien Gap.

You can go by plane or sailing boat. Do not go overland through the Darien Gap. It is too dangerous (more info on other pages on the site). The sailing boat is the coolest option: it goes trhough the San Blas Islands, and costs about 180US$, slightly more than the plane. It is highly recommended, and can be arranged through Hans of the Casa Vienna in Cartagena.

Ecuador - Colombia: How to best get to Colombia from Ecuador.

Bus The classic way is taking a bus. The only thing to remember is to make sure the Colombia bit of your trip (until Cali) gets done by day. There are too many robbers on that part of the panamericana at night.

Bargaining at bus terminals

You can save money by waiting until the bus is about to depart and then bargain for the price. You should be able to get 10 percent off.

General prices.

A few prices for you in 1999: (2000 pesos is about 1 US$)

Bus Medellin - Cali: 31.000 Plane Medellin - Quibdo return: 298 US (too much) Plane Medellin - Bogota 1 way: 125.000 pesos (The main companies for checking out inland flights ae Avianca and Aero Republica)

Getting cheap plane tickets out of the country.

Trotamundos (trotamundos at col.net.co ) is based in Bogota and is about the only place to get cheap (student) tickets to Europe, NY, ...

Their phones: 566 50 24, 566 55 46, 281 01 77.

Some example student fares (January 2000): Bogota - NY - Bogota: 390 US $. Bogota - Brussels - Bogota: 560 US $.

If you fly you should always order more than 21 days in advance. This way you are able to get almost any destination in Colombia for 250.000 return.

By Peter (Moderator) on Nov 17, 1999, 10:30 in Friendly Talkzone.

Peter (Moderator) says on Nov 11, 2003, 10:32:

Quito - Cali By Andrés, tres76 at hotmail.com 2003-03-23
From Quito to Cali by bus:

From Quito to Tulcan you take th bus PANAMERICANA to the border. There you take a Taxi to Ipiales.

From Ipiales to Cali, the best way ist to take TAX BELALCAZAR. It has little Colectivos.

In the bus terminal of Cali, you have many possibiities to travel to other cities., like Expreso Palmira, Empresa Arauca, Expreso Bolivariano, etc. There are very good buses.

I have made this trip many times

By plane:

You can fly with Tame, the Ecuadorian Airline, it has a fly Quito-Tulcan-Cali, tax free.

Poor but snappy

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Peter (Moderator) says on Dec 17, 2003, 07:48:

colombia I don't know much about colombia. But I have been doing some revews about colombia.There life is not good than it is know. I read about what peter was saying. colombia poor but happy in there own way. Nobody know how bad life is but colombia.I give thank to the people in colombia.thats all I hae to say.

Poor but snappy

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lola says on Feb 5, 2005, 21:08:

driving from costa rica to ecuador hi there-

so, i'm considering driving down to ecuador from central america. i understand that driving through the darien gap is not possible. i hear that one can take one's vehicle on a cargo ship into columbia. is this true? where do i find said cargo company?

thanks!
leandra

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lola says on Feb 5, 2005, 21:09:

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outy5000 says on Jun 10, 2005, 15:29:

bus travel in Columbia Hello,
I´m currently in southern Brazil and am planning to bus up into central america. I hear Columbia is fairly dangerous, but as this trip is quite difficult to complete without swinging through I think I will try it. From the other comments I´ve gathered that the most dangerous areas along a direct route through Columbia are in the south from the border to Cali, and in the north along the Panamanian border. I wonder if I will be alright as long as I travel these areas during the day? Can I even cross the northern border into Panama? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Adam

Adam Breed

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