{"id":4358,"date":"2024-01-10T22:57:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T22:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=4358"},"modified":"2024-01-13T23:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T23:25:52","slug":"sabbatical-week-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=4358","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 37"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I thought I’d get more time post school, it turned there were just too many things kept me from finding time hence resulting in such a delay in posting updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Time to say goodbye to Medellin, a city in which I have officially stayed the longest outside of anywhere in NA\/China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The bus was pretty solid – not a quality Colombia usually has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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in seat entertainment <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After many waitings for road repairs, in a bit over 7 hours, I got to Salento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Doping? <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There were a few Western tourists so we figured we actually stayed in the same hostel and became friends for the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I booked a few nights in a private room as part of the Black Friday sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I even had my private balcony – for $30US there’s not much complain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upon arrival, we figured to go out for dinner to try out some local delicacy. All of us were guys, I took the lead as most of them were easy going. Girls usually have stronger stance on where to eat and such, it’s nice to hang out with guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Local Trucha (a type of pink trout)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s Christmas month, so the streets were lightened up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was extremely tired after the long bus ride, so went to bed early given that we wanted to get up to conquer the Valle de Coco hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Good morning from my beautiful private room <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vamos! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are the coca trees. very majestic <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everywhere feels like in a wonderland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, pretty horses too! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mirador 1 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I am sure it’s windy <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Finch <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We actually got a bit lost despite being a seemingly easy loop trail. It got pretty warm midday and I definitely overestimated the amount of water sources I could get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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on the way back. Girls (chicas) get seats and boys have to hang outside <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Met some new friends <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cheapest menu del dia in town. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was at this venezuelan restaurant in town. Lovely people, but food wasn’t too impressive despite the presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I actually didn’t realize I had breakfast included with my private room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today was just to walk around town<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lunch was lovely. The owner was very patient and she’d be the best Spanish teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later was to visit this coffee farm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The farm had lots of animals too <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Coffee nursery <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dinner I made some carbonara <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also met with some adorable Argentinians who shared their food with me as well<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Didn’t do much but an interview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Had dinner with this Japanese girl from New York. Nevertheless, I don’t know why many North Americans felt it’s necessary to sell me their anti-vaxx conspiracy theory amongst anti covid measure rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later we went to play Tejo. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last breakfast before heading to Cali<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the bus <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nicest bus I’ve had in Colombia <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My lovely guesthouse <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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View from the park next to the guest house <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Quick dinner at a nearby restaurant. Strangely no one was in the old town <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While getting a beer from a shop, this 18yo girl who spoke perfect English chatted with me a lot. I told her to go travel more nevertheless. There was another local lady said she loves English but her English isn’t the best, still gave me great recommendations regarding the local cuisine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Breakfast was at the guest house with some lovely guests and beautiful terrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The owners were a Polish and Colombian couple<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later I went for a free walking tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later after the fruits, I got the Sancocho with my tour guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second tour wasn’t too bad on its own, but I just don’t understand why our guide had us soaked in downpour for hours when there are easy shelters available. Maybe he thinks foreigners are immune to rains?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I didn’t take too many pictures even though the night view was nice. Trying to get Uber and a taxi back to our accommodation was also a nightmare. No one was available. The one we managed to get in kicked us out after knowing where we wanted to go. It’s only 2kms…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and stroll around town a bit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later I went to eat at this lovely pacific restaurant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I ordered the most expensive item on the menu. In retrospect, always order what others order!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After lunch I walked back to town<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Met someone and told him about the menu del dia restaurant I was planning on going <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was at this Peruvian restaurant. Finally some real food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chilled a bit at my guest house before calling it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Week 37<\/td>Currency:<\/td>COP<\/td>3936.5<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td>Day total<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>$20.30<\/td>$35.56<\/td>$22.70<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$78.56<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>$23.52<\/td>$35.56<\/td>$2.29<\/td>$6.60<\/td>$67.98<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>$14.05<\/td>$35.56<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$11.69<\/td>$61.30<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>$14.28<\/td>$35.56<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$7.24<\/td>$57.08<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>$13.46<\/td>$32.21<\/td>$14.43<\/td>$0.38<\/td>$60.48<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>$8.26<\/td>$32.21<\/td>$3.56<\/td>$24.13<\/td>$68.15<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>$34.88<\/td>$32.21<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$4.28<\/td>$71.36<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>$128.74<\/td>$238.87<\/td>$42.97<\/td>$54.32<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$464.91<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
For all private stay, it was surprisingly affordable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I’d get more time post school, it turned there were just too many things kept me from finding time hence resulting in such a delay in posting updates. Day 1 Time to say goodbye to Medellin, a city in which I have officially stayed the longest outside of anywhere in NA\/China. The bus… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 37<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4358"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4453,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4358\/revisions\/4453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}