Continuing from my previous post. After Jardin, I traveled to Pereira with a short stop at Riosucio. I had breakfast at Riosucio bus station. The lady at the restaurant showed me the coins she had from different parts of the world but Indian currency was missing in her collection. I gave her INR 5 coin and that made her so happy. She even gave me a small discount on breakfast. These kinds of encounters always made my day during travels. Pereira is a city in the Coffee region of Colombia. The coffee region is famous for growing and producing the majority of Colombian coffee which is considered to be one of the best in the world.
PEREIRA
I stayed in the city centre. I met an ex-army guy where I was staying with whom I explored the city centre at night. The guy was too vigilant and overly protective of me. He is the kind of guy who likes to look over his shoulder at regular intervals. Clearly the trait of an army person. Next day, We explored the city together. He taught me many things about the city. It is a cosy city with positive vibes. Due to the pandemic, several places were still closed in the city. In the Post-Quarantine world, things were still opening up slowly. The next day, I decided to visit the Hot Springs(Termales in Spanish) in the nearby town of Santa Rosa de Cabal.
SANTA ROSA De CABAL
I took a bus from Pereira bus station to reach Santa Rosa de Cabal. Half an hour later I reached the quiet town of Santa Rosa de Cabal. From the town, I took another bus to reach Hot springs. The entry fee to the Hot springs was 49000 cop per person which includes access to the waterfalls, washrooms and swimming pools. This hot springs is quite different from the one I visited in Rwanda, East Africa. The amazing thing about this Hot springs is the water of hot springs has been collected into swimming pools. Water in the swimming pools is coming from the hot springs located in the mountains. Since the water of hot springs is too hot, it is mixed with cold water in the swimming pools to make it lukewarm. The nature walk to the origin point of hot springs was closed though due to the Pandemic. It is a great place to relax and rejuvenate even though the entry fee is a bit expensive. After spending half a day there, I returned back to the town of Santa Rosa de Cabal and had a delicious meal at the Mexican restaurant. That meal made my will to travel to Mexico stronger since I was really missing flavourful food in Colombia. Well, I am no fan of Colombian food haha.
LA FLORIDA, PEREIRA
The next day, I traveled to the La Florida neighbourhood of Pereira. Half an hour bus ride from the city centre. It is a peaceful and beautiful neighbourhood close to nature. I explored the town and surrounding nature by walk. I went to the nearby river and it started raining heavily. I had a hard time finding a shelter and got almost drenched. Once the rain stopped, the coffee break was a must. I am no big fan of coffee in general but that was one tasty coffee. Subsequently, the sun was out and an hour walk in the sun was sufficient to dry my clothes. I totally recommend visiting this neighbourhood when in Pereira, I wanted to visit Otun Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary but it was closed due to the pandemic. Sometimes, it can be disappointing to see things still closed up but I guess I got used to it as it was way better than being in quarantine. On the following day, I traveled to my next destination in the coffee region.
