Colombia - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 511

5 CROSSING INTO VENEZUELA: CÚCUTA

The only reason to visit the border town of Cúcuta is if you're heading by land to Venezuela. The
city is polluted, hot and crime-ridden and not a place to linger, with a dodgy bus station to boot,
so exercise utmost caution. Frequent buses and colectivos run across the border from Cúcuta's bus
terminal and also from the corner of Av Diagonal Santander and Calle 8 to Venezuela's San Antonio
de Táchira or San Cristóbal, one hour from Cúcuta (around COP$3000), or else you can take a taxi
(COP$17,000). The border is open 24hr, seven days a week. At the time of writing, citizens of the US,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and much of Western Europe do not require visas to enter
Venezuela (see p.859). You must disembark at the DAS post just before the bridge to get your
Colombian exit stamp. Once over the border, remember to put your watch forward thirty minutes
and pick up a tourist card at the DIEX o ce on Carrera 9 between Calles 6 and 7.
It's best to take as much cash in US dollars to Venezuela as you can (see p.858).
From San Cris†óbal there are up to seven overnight departures daily for Caracas (14hr),
all leaving late afternoon or early evening.

them - follow in his footsteps annually. In
addition to hot weather and cool breezes,
Cartagena boasts splendours from the
town's past role as the main conduit for
the Spanish crown's imperial plundering.
For its extensive fortifications and colonial
legacy, the walled city was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
The 1600km coast holds a wide variety
of landscapes from the inaccessible dense
jungles of the Darién Gap on the border
with Panama to the arid salt plains of the
Guajira Peninsula . If it's a tropical paradise
you're after, try the white, jungle-fringed
beaches of Tayrona National Park near
Santa Marta . The translucent waters
around the fishing village of Taganga
number among the most inexpensive
places in the world to learn to scuba dive.
Inland, travel back to the sixteenth century
in sleepy Mompox and cross paths with
coca-chewing Kogis on a mesmerizing
five-day trek to the Ciudad Perdida .
While the vast majority of travellers
come straight to Cartagena by night bus
from Medellín, it's possible to break your
journey in the appealing beach town
of Tolú and do a day-trip to the Islas de
San Bernardo archipelago .

GÜICÁN
Brisas del Nevado Cra 5 No. 4-5 T 310 629 9001. Quite
possibly the best hotel in town, complete with restaurant
serving delicious tak es on local s pecialities and private
baths in most rooms. COP$30,000
Hotel El Eden Transversal 2 No. 9-58 T 311 808 8334.
Family-run guesthouse popular with travellers, with
assorted wildlife in the garden and (mostly) en-suite
rooms filled with the smell of pine. It's a 10min walk from
the main square; turn right onto the dirt road from Cra 4
past the basketball c ourt, then first rig ht and second left.
Campsite COP$6000 , rooms per person COP$27,000

EL COCUY
Hotel Casa Muñoz Cra 5 No. 7-26 T 8 789 0328,
W hotelcasamunoz.com. Modern, not terribly memorable
hotel on the main square, with functional, clean rooms
around a flower-fil led courtyard and reliable hot showers.
Rooms per person COP$25,000
La Posada del Molino Cra 3 No. 7-51 T 310 494 5076
W elcocuycasamuseo.blogspot.com. An allegedly haunted
colonial mansion featuring a handful of en-suite rooms
with some period furnitu re and unusual bathrooms. Rooms
per person COP$35,000

Cartagena and
the Caribbean
Ever since Rodrigo de Bastidas became
the first European to set foot on
Colombian soil in Santa Marta in 1525,
there's been a long history of foreigner
fascination with the country's Caribbean
coastline, and hundreds of thousands
- Colombian holidaymakers chief among

CARTAGENA DE INDIAS
Without a doubt the Caribbean's most
beautiful city, CARTAGENA DE INDIAS offers
stunning colonial architecture, gourmet
dining, all-night partying and beaches.
Cartagena literally embodies Colombia's
Caribbean coast, with many of the city's