travelling by bus from bogota to medellin

ColombiaBoard says on Mar 12, 2007, 18:04:

What to do? Your best option is to travel ONLY during daytime, go as early as possible to the main bus terminal in Bogota and take the first bus to Medellin, these buses leave very early in the morning, the first one leaves around 5:30 in the morning, you can buy the ticket the previous day.
I suppose you mean the "region cafetera" when you wrote "cafeteira" (sounds portuguese...).
Just travel during the day.

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getting better says on Mar 12, 2007, 18:15:

Watch your stuff Your chance of being kidnapped or troubled by guerrilla or paras is less than being hit by a meteorite. The main risks are having your stuff stolen whilst you are asleep on the bus (very common), being pickpocketed at the bus stop and the bus being held up by bandits (rare but it does happen still).

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RUV says on Mar 12, 2007, 21:14:

I looked at a Colombian map and it looks like going to Pereira then onto Medellin maybe be better. Is this right? I am curious because I want to do the same thing? Is there two routes you can take, one through Pereira and the other through Manizales?

Gracia Gringas.

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gorgonabob says on Mar 12, 2007, 23:20:

those that say you can not do the medellin - bogota bus route at night do not know colombia...

the medellin to bogota bus route is one of the busiest and safest in the country.. so safe in fact that the road that was closed for six years at night due to guerilla problems has just been reopened...nearly one hundred buses a night travel between medellin and bogota...

bogota to medellin takes about 8 hours these days... ive take the route about 30 times.. mostly at night...

these days its safe to take night time buses pretty much all over the country...

the only night bus i would specifically avoid these days is the Medellin-Quibdo-Pereira bus and the Turbo-Medellin bus...as well as the Popayan to the border bus... apart from those i would go most placess...

dont listen to these people who dont know what they are talking about.... ive talked to several thousand people who have taken the medellin-bogota bus and never heard of one problem.. not one.

also colombians are some of the last people whose advice i would take with regard to travelling in there own country... if you want to get decent info talk to hostel owners... like German in the Platypus, Bogota or Hans in Casa Viena, Cartagena....They know what they are talking about.

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utopiacowboy says on Mar 12, 2007, 23:27:

Promise us one thing. After you've taken the trip come back and post about it. I'd like to read about two gringas impressions of Colombia.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Coffeeman says on Mar 13, 2007, 09:21:

Traveling by car is safe too! In 2005 and 2006, I traveled from Bogota to Anolaima, Zipacon, Armenia, Pereira, Manizales, Chinchina, and all over Quindio, Caldas, and Risaralda. My relatives cautioned us about traveling from Bogota to Armenia, so we flew. We were glad only because it allowed us time to enjoy ourselves more. The drive from Areminia to Manizsales via Pereira is long and winding. We were tired after that drive at night. We also visited the Butterfly museum (sorry I cannot remeber the town), and the drive was most pleasant. I walked alot in alot of differetn towns and some cities in Colombia: I look 100 percent Gringo 6'1" blond hair, blue eyes. There is no secret. Use 200 percent Common Sense, If it seems like a bad idea - It is a bad idea. Be humble, polite, and friendly. Be alert / watchful. Actually, all of these principles apply to going anywhere in the world. There are places far more dangerous than Colombia.

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webmanco says on Mar 13, 2007, 09:24:

Gorgonabob
also colombians are some of the last people whose advice i would take with regard to travelling in there own country...


They could ask Carter as well.

Sadly I do agree with that assertion. My own family warms me about traveling. What can I said it is they lost, not wanting to know better Colombia, taking planes and letting people scare them.

I did Bogotá Medellín, Medellín La Guajira, La Guajira Bogotá. The only difference is that I am not blond, and I am Colombian. But many foreigners do the backpacking.

Sierra Nevada el Cocuy

Fraylejon

Vista

Laguna

Laguna

Laguna

Vista




COLOMBIA

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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wollersheim says on Mar 20, 2007, 15:30:

Utopiacowboy Here is a gringo and gringa impressions of Colombia


A Trip Report from Colombia

I should, but do not write trip reports often but Colombia has been so very special for Nancy and I,and the others out there should know the wonders of it from our perspectives. All our travels were by bus and made during the daylight hours.

We started our journey in Jan. in Cartagena, from there to Santa Marta, back to Barranquilla and down to Mompos. From Mompos, we headed for Tolu/Corvenas via Sincelelo and from there to Medellin via Monteria. We spent a good amount of time in Medillin and the surrounding towns of Rio Negro, El Penal, Guatape. La Ceja, El Retiro and Santa Fe de Antioquia.

A big journey from Medellin to Bucaramanga and from there we took 2 weeks to get to Bogota, spending time in Giron, San Gil, Curiti, Barichara,Villa Nueve, Villa de Leyva, Raquira and finally Zipaquira and Bogota.

We were a bit nervous going into Bogota but our 5 days there were most magical and wonderful. We toured the whole city via public transportation, ate great food and drank good beer and at all times were prefectly safe. It certainly will be a destination when we return to Colombia next year.

It was a long trip from Bogota to Manizales, our first stop in the Zona Cafeteria so we split it into two days, stopping overnight at Honda, a decision we would not make again as the town is very hot and not so friendly as the rest of Colombia.

We were about 3 weeks in the Zona de Cafateria, spending time in all three big cities, Manizales, Pereira and Armenia, doing day trips from each of them. The hotsprings at Santa Rosa, between Pereira and Manizales was one of our most favorite parts of Colombia and it was a day to splurge as we stayed at the hotsprings for one night. What an incredible beautiful place. Also, Salento and Cocora are very special places out of Armenia.

Our flight home was out of Cali and we were getting close, so spent a couple of nights in Buga, a small city that we liked very much and then finally into Cali for a couple of days and yesterday we came home.

Nancy and I have travelled all over the world these past 10 years and finally we have just discovered our favorite place to spend time, Colombia. Not once over the 70 days we were there did we feel threatened or unsafe. Not once did someone have their hand in our pocket, or try to open my frontpack which over the past few years we have just come to expect such happenings in other countries. That I am aware of, not once were we charged gringo prices, only the same price that everone else pays. That includes taxis, busses, hotels, and markets. Except for Cartagena we were not hasseled at all to buy this or that, just a polite no was sufficient to sent the street sellers on their way.

We cannot count the number of times we were helped in big ways, from being offered full room and board at no cost, to people taking us by the hand and going out of their way to get us to a place we were heading, to a policeman who, with no strings attataced, led me all over the town of Barichara, helpng me find the best hotel to stay in and the list goes on and on.

I have often said that Guatemala has the best public transportaion system in the world. We have changed our mind as Colombia's system is superior. It has an equal amount of busses going from anywhere to anywhere, and they pick and let you off at any place. But the busses are nicer and the roads are much better than in Guatemala. It is a bit more expensive but you travel more kms in the same amount of time. We travelled over 100 hour by bus, never made a reservation and I dont think we ever had to wait over 15 minutes to be on our way. And in those 100 hours we were only stopped three times for miliitary checks and as foreigers we were always treated with the utmost of respect.

We stayed healthy the total time and no doubt has to do a fair bit with the fact that the water is good to drink in most of Colombia. Mostly internet service is good, we used Skype almost on a daily basis, and the beer is excellent and cheap. I dont have it exactly figured out yet but the daily cost of our journey was about $70US a day for both of us. It could have been done much cheaper or much more expensive. A problem that we did have was finding middle range hotels. It seems Colombia is awash
in very small $15/$20 US a night places and some very expensive ones but not so many that are in $30-$50 range.

Besides all this the country is physicaly beautiful and we only saw a fraction of it. The bus trips just flew by as around each new corner or over each new hill brought new picture taking opportunities from the window of the bus. We have grown to love it and will certainly return in another year.

I have tons of specific information about the various places we stayed, ie names and costs of hotels and getting from point a to point b. Feel free to email us, ron_wollersheim at hotmail.com or PM me for any specifics you may want.

Do come and enjoy the wonders of Colombia.

Nancy and Ron Wollersheim

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adrimm (☼Travelguide writer) says on Mar 20, 2007, 18:18:

absolut says on Mar 21, 2007, 10:49:

TRIP BOGOTA MEDELLIN the route its safe. Go to the terminal and go to Rapido Ochoa or Brazilia counters. The price of the tickets is 40 thousands pesos. Ask for Scania Bus, dont travel in buseta it´s uncomfortable

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