There are three major cities who are part of the Eje cafetero; Manizales, Pereira and Armenia. All of them are part of what is known as "El triangulo del cafe" (Triangle Coffee); After doing a little searching about this amazing area and finding the way to get there, we were ready to go for the adventure!
In Medellin there are two bus stations, terminal south and north; to go to Eje Cafetero we had to take a "buseta" (small bus) to our first stop in Manizales at the terminal south. No need of making reservations, just go to the terminal and you will see the signs to Manizales or some guys on the hallways announcing the departure... "Salida a Manizales!" :O)
These buses are very cozy so we felt like in a can of sardines, that wasn't the worst; the road was very curvy and the bus driver drove like a maniac... I felt like a pig in one of those trucks we see sometimes on the freeway... OINK OINK OINK! hahaha
It was a four and a half hour ride from Medellin to Manizales, going through the mountains and having some amazing views paid off for the crazy ride experience... which was part of the adventure!
We arrived at the bus station and took a taxi to our hotel situated in the "zona rosa" (pink zone); then we found out that this is the upper scale neighborhood in town. We stayed at Hotel Estelar El Cable, a very modern, comfortable place with great staff and service; the best part of staying at this hotel was that everything was within walking distance.
Manizales is a beautiful university city up in the mountains and in the heart of Colombia; walking around gave us the feeling that we were in the city of San Francisco with the streets going up and down the hills.
Zona rosa is the area that has all the cute outdoor cafes and international restaurants, this is the perfect location to hangout and be seen. The students love to be around the main square, specially in the afternoons after finishing with school.
Downtown is about 30 min walking distance from the zona rosa, so we decided to take a walk and explore the historical district; as we walked through the main avenue, we didn't see anything to be impressed with but the view changed once we got closer to the center. We found an impressive main square with a beautiful cathedral surrounded by other nice spots and buildings.
Not far from downtown there is a lookout called " El Chipre" this is the highest point in Manizales; the views of the mountains from here are very nice. By the time we made it to this point, we had been walking for about three hours; we were tired and hungry so we decided to enjoy the view while having a well deserved and delicious lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants.
Manizales has beautiful parks to visit and spend time in the outdoors. We visited park Los Yarumos, this is a beautiful place overlooking the city where you can just go for a walk, appreciate the amazing metal sculptures, relax by reading a book or you can have an exciting time by doing some ziplining.
Our experience in Manizales was excellent and we would've liked spending more time here and explore more of what the city offers but, we had other places to visit within the Eje Cafetero, specially a charming little town called Salento... To be continue!
Safe Travels!
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