know when you visit columbia let's get into it

all right guys let's talk about things  to do and places to see so uh right now  

we're in cartagena this is a coastal uh  caribbean city probably the most popular  

among the uh mainland attractions if you wanted  to go get a more caribbean caribbean-style island  

you can go to san andreas which is actually  closer to nicaragua than it is to where  

we're at here in colombia but it's in the  middle of the ocean it's owned by colombia  

if you want a high altitude town one of the most  popular places they come to is medellin okay  

next to medellin you can go to el pinol which is  the big rock and guatope now if you go to bogota  

that's mostly for business people so those are  the main attractions that you'll find there's a  

couple other places around like cali you know  the famous cali cartel people like to go over  

there just to see what that place is like but  the places i just outlined there are the big four

all right let's talk about the weather out here in  colombia so most of the interior of columbia the  

big cities bogota medellin uh going to be up above  5000 feet thereabouts so you get this tropical  

climate 74 year uh degrees year round here in  medellin but you can see right now it is raining  

so when you come here because it is so green it's  going to rain a lot make sure you bring clothes  

for the rain that includes a rain jacket but it  doesn't get to the point where it snows because  

it's in the tropics so the clothes you're going to  wear yes summer clothes short sleeves shorts but  

also a pair of pants and a rain jacket in other  words it has rained in medellin or in colombia  

every single day i've been here so with that being  said the dry season in south america because it's  

the southern hemisphere the summertime is going  to be december and january so that's when the  

dry season is if you want to try and get away  from that colombian rain that's going to be here

let's talk about affordability in colombia i've  now traveled to five different countries here  

in the last couple months and i would say colombia  by far and away is the cheapest let me explain  

if i wanted to go from medellin to cartagena for  example the flights are 35 dollars one way okay  

so cheap flights hotel rooms on average 65 a  night 70 a night to stay at the hampton inn hilton  

or to stay at the four points by marriott so those  chain hotels that you usually pay 150 to 200 a  

night in america here in columbia 65 to 85 a night  i found that to be really a great thing now they  

do have high-end hotels like the marriott like  the main marriott that goes for 150 a night but i  

still found it to be very affordable today we just  ate what i consider to be fine dining meal at an  

italian restaurant it cost a total of 22 dollars  for two meals and that included the soda and  

chicken cordon bleu and another gourmet meal so  22 that's usually what it costs just for one meal  

in the united states at a fine dining restaurant  so i don't know who's saying that colombia isn't  

affordable to me that's crazy because this is  a very affordable place even the tours we went  

on yesterday these tours in the united states  or in hawaii or anywhere else would it cost a  

hundred to two hundred dollars it cost twenty  five dollars to do the tour that included food  

so here's something to know about colombia bogota  the capital is not the main tourist hub but it is  

worth arriving in bogota because major flights  go into that international airport now the main  

areas that tourists like to go are medellin cali  or cartagena so those areas are where most of  

the tourism goes bogota is the industrial business  capital of the country as well as the governmental  

capital the medellin and the surrounding areas is  really where most of the tourists go or down to  

the coast in cartagena so that's something that  you'll want to know if you're looking to fill  

out your itinerary for colombia let's talk about  the colombian culture in the colombian people so  

there's a variety of different indigenous  tribes that originated from here uh the karib  

people you know where the name caribbean comes  from they're called the karif it's not caribe  

then there's also the toronto people and there's  several other tribes in the interior in the andes  

as you go up towards ecuador and brazil now  there's also african people who came here  

on those ships they were slaves originally  and now they are part of the colombian culture  

just as much as anyone else and you also  have spanish people people from europe who  

came over as well who are also just a part  of the colombian culture and these three  

different ethnic origins make up the colombian  people so you have the european spaniards the  

portuguese and that type of european africans and  then you also have the local indigenous people

let's talk about safety in colombia you know  because of narcos and pablo escobar people  

are scared to come here let me tell you something  if it was dangerous then and i understand it was  

it has changed a lot now so i would say that  walking around medellin bogota was safe of course  

you have to exercise caution in certain areas  but overall my experience with colombia is it  

is a safe place for solo travelers because i've  seen many solo travelers i've seen some couples  

not many but i think a lot of people associate  colombia with pablo escobar and the cali cartel  

from in the 90s and i can tell you things have  changed a lot and the colombian people are not  

proud of the past with the cali cartel in pablo  escobar but they are proud of the fact that  

the modern colombia is a safe place look how  beautiful medellin is i mean it's so modern  

it's like a jungle in a city very safe place

now because there are areas that are not  necessarily the safest areas you know you will  

have people saying watch your phone especially  in some communities if you go into one of those  

communities you can go on a tour with a tour guide  who will help guide you through that and those  

people can be easily found all across the  country tours okay so you can go online to  

book them but if you want to just come to this  country and stay safe guaranteed no problems  

just book a tour and you know some people like me  i used to be the guy who used to say oh i don't  

go on tours and i used to be all proud about it  i actually like going on tours you meet people  

and you get some additional insight  into the country it's a fun experience

you know i went to singapore they say  singapore is a garden inside of a city  

or a city inside of a garden medellin is  even more impressive garden inside of a city  

but the whole city is tropical and  sometimes it feels like you're in  

the wilderness or in the jungle as you can  see right here you go this way same deal  

it looks like a jungle right here in the  middle of the downtown area of pueblado

let's talk about street vendors so when a street  vendor comes up to you whether they're singing at  

you or they're dancing or they're going to give  you a massage whatever the case may be they might  

say it's going to be free but after time goes  by they're going to eventually try to get you  

on the hook before the service age is provided  even though they'll tell you that it was free so  

this is mostly a thing in cartagena it's not so  big in medellin although when you do go down to uh  

poblato in medellin you will notice they have  some more street performers than other places  

or camino 13 possibly also in bogota they have a  little bit different street performers like the  

llamas which they don't have here in cartagena  so as you uh go around columbia there's going to  

be different street vendors offering you services  but eventually they want money off you so if you  

start talking to them you're pretty close to  getting uh to a point where you're gonna have  

to pay them something because they're gonna  keep hassling you until you give them money

let's talk about transportation in colombia so uh  one of the best ways to get around if you want to  

save money is uber but also for safety uber is  better than a taxi in the sense that you pay  

less and you also uh get that record uh tracked  you know who you rode with and all that so it's  

documented with the uber app so i recommend uber  for getting around although taxi cabs sometimes  

can be more convenient because if you're waiting  sometimes for 15 minutes for uber but there's a  

taxi right in front of you and you feel like  you could trust the taxi driver obviously  

you're going to just take that so as a matter of  convenience now when it comes to flying around  

getting around 35 45 flights from medellin to  cartagena or medellin to bogota or even going  

from cartagena to san andreas the island 45-50  now it obviously goes up from there depending  

on availability of the flights but there's also  boats to get around when you go from island to  

island you can charter a boat private boat or  you can get on a catamaran so that's the kind  

of transportation that you're gonna have available  no trains that i've seen you can also ride buses  

so if you want to go from cartagena to bar aquila  you could also do that on a bus although the roads  

getting around are a lot slower one more thing  i do recommend taking tours if you get a chance  

go on a tour whether you go to guadatepe or one  of the santa marta to the national park over  

there wherever you go try to get a tour because  that seems to be the best way to see the country  

and a lot of the tours all inclusive  food included as well so that's good  

so let's talk about one of the subjects  that's a bit taboo here pablo escobar  

you know a lot of people from the united  states or other countries that come here  

wanting to talk about it or see a tour or see  where he used to live but actually in colombia  

they do not appreciate what he did or what  he stood for so it's a bit of a controversy  

so when you come here try not to take too much  of an interest in that even though there are  

tours that like to talk about it or show you  around but at the end of the day it is taboo  

it's controversial the colombian people are not  proud of that history even though netflix makes  

series like narcos and you know there's plenty of  movies that have been made about his life colombia  

they want to move on beyond that okay colombians  want to be known for the beauty of the country the  

safety and they want you to feel safe when you're  here they don't want you to feel scared or worried  

about narcos or cartels that's really what they  stand for a safe uh family-friendly kind of place

all right guys that's gonna conclude this  episode of things to know about visiting  

columbia hopefully you guys enjoy this  trip uh overall i would say come on down to  

columbia check it out great place to be i really  enjoyed medellin that was probably my favorite  

cartagena is a nice place as well bogota more  of a business center i hope to go around more  

of colombia the next time i come here so  hope you guys see you guys down here enjoy

you