Cali - Cucuta with bus

juanalejo says on Aug 4, 2006, 17:52:

Long, very long a quite a curvy ride.

Gator says on Aug 4, 2006, 18:50:

Daylight Only Not a particularly safe area
"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

billyb says on Aug 4, 2006, 22:45:

Unless you want to sightsee.. why not fly? It's not that much more expensive and you save a day or two on your trip.

BillyB

william_andrew_channell says on Aug 5, 2006, 09:10:

It's perfectly safe and a great way to check out some beautiful landscapes, escpecially between Bucaramanga and Cúcuta. Why not break the trip into two? Stay a few days in Bogotá, so the trip doesn't seem so long.

Miguel says on Aug 6, 2006, 00:12:

Uff That's one long assed bus ride! Fly!

dennisre says on Aug 6, 2006, 14:52:

Acutally I will go from Manizales to Bucaramanga. Its only 10 hrs. I think. I could make a break in Honda, but I heard there arent any good restaurants in Honda. The travel time by plane will be almost 10 hr (with stop in Bogota) so I prefer the bus.

adrimm says on Aug 6, 2006, 21:35:

It's a beautiful ride -but do it in daylight The ride between Bucaramanga and Cucuta is one of my favourite drives anywhere becuase of the changes in climate/elevation - agree with William Andrew there.

I also agree Gator on safety, especially with arrival in Cucuta. Make sure that you arrive in Cucuta in the daylight, and don't linger there (it's not such a great place) if you don't have to.

Juanes says on Aug 8, 2006, 08:30:

Cucuta area hey a follow on from the threads by adrim & gator. could you guys tell me when i am travelling through colombia where else is definately a no go area at the moment ? Does it make a difference in these areas if you have a high degree of spanish at all ? Apart from the border areas with panama and ecuador where else would you not asvise a brit to visit on his own with a rucksack ? cheers

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Juanes/

adrimm says on Aug 8, 2006, 22:15:

Cucuta The best place for good Colombia info is at the hostels in Colombia. If you can land at Platypus or anywhere else that others on the road congregate, you will get the best and most current info from staff and others. PBH doesn't really have much of a backpacker crowd.

Links you might enjoy (people I met on my last trip to Colombia this past Feb):
http://www.mikethenomad.com/
Another Blog
Jason Howe Photography

I qualify safety/ok-ness in Colombia in 2 ways: rural and urban. Note that this is my opinion and way of looking at things only.

Rural: In general alot of the areas with problems are rural (ie Putomayo, Caqueta, parts of Norte Santander). These are places that actually see armed conflict, or take-overs where one group or another rolls into a region. These events typically end up pushing alot of locals out of their homes - they become internally displaced people (IDPs). There are other spot problems on some roads that result in vehicular traffic being funnelled through a checkpoint, or flagged to stop. One sometimes doesn't know who is running the checkpoint. This is more apt to happen on minor roads, and at night.

Urban: Large cities in Colombia are generally on par with other large latin american cities in terms of safety or perhaps even safer. Of course, most cities have parts that are better or worse than others and Colombian cities are no exception. ie. the north end of Bogota is generally considered better than the south, etc.

The whole city/rural thing is why most people stick to cities there, and the combined long drives due to incredibly tortous roadways is why flying was often reccomended.. you also have to factor driving styles in... they drive like idiots there (but it is better now than it used to be).

Lots of IDPS wind up in the cities, where for a number of reasons the transition to city life is enormously challenging. They arrive with nothing, often have little education, and end up living in huge shantytown settlments on the outskirts of cities. Many people become quite desparate (understandably so).

Cucuta has the misfortune of 1) being host to a substantial IDP population, 2) Suffering the economic woes of changes in the Venezuelan economy and 3) A place with a sickeningly hot climate.

Petty crimes happen alot in Cucuta , it's hot, it's smelly.. so it's just not a good place to be (especially if you have most of the whole country to choose from).