Got a few bits from the bakery in Salento, mainly things that looked new to me and interesting (later found out that it was guava-jam bread and bread with cheese) and sat on a very comfortable bus I had just booked the night before.

I thought I had to go to Pereira first and there switch bus to Medellin, turned out, there is a very convenient direct bus to Medellin from Salento already that is run by the company Flota Occidental. The ride is at 10 am and it isn’t just a bus ride, it’s a calming heart-warming experience of wonder and ‘enlightenment’. I was so enchanted and intrigued by what my eyes were fed by the window, that I barely slept and was in fact compulsively trying to take pictures of the landscape without the reflection of the sun on the glass (anyone master this art? It’s hard!)

Lush round hills everywhere dotted with coffee plantations, banana trees in every house’ courtyard, towers of bamboos, colourful houses with tin roofs, permanent fruit shops of improvised looks, restaurants, barefoot children, avocado trees, mango trees, fruit stalls, tangled electricity wires, curvas peligrosas, jeeps, plastic chairs and tables, rest areas…

I loved everything my eyes came across during this bus trip. I arrived in Medellin 8 hours later, a little thirsty and light-headed but very energised and relaxed too!