Expert: Juan Carlos Valencia - 11/23/2008

Question
QUESTION: I want to travel from Bogota to Pasto, early February. Here are my questions with A L L due respect and NO intention to offend anyone:
1) How many hours is the trip by car???
2) Is it safe to travel???
3) Any danger to be kidnaped as a foreigner?
4) How many miles is the distance???
5) How much it costs a gallon or liter of gasoline in Colombia??
6) How much would it cost me if I go by plane at that time of the year??
7) What kinda clothes should I bring with me??
8) Any fears of being kidnaped at the city if you look like a Yankee??
Thank you

ANSWER: Dear Han,

no offense wahtsoever. Hope that my answers dont ofend you either...

:-)

1-By private car, driving safely and only stopping to eat and go to the toilette, the journey from Bogota to Pasto could take you 18 to 20 hours. It may be too long. You could stop in Cali or Popayan and sleep a night.

2-Safety is always a concern in Colombia, but things have improved a lot, at least compared to the situation in the 1990's. I would recommend you to travel in daytime, along the main roads without taking side roads. Try to travel over the weekend or even in holidays where there's more police and surveillance. Dont wear fancy clothing and jewelry, dont pick up unknown people, dont stop unless you are requested to do it by army or police personnel. The possibilities of something bad happening to you would be fairly low. Nevertheless, check the local news when you are about to start the trip.

3-Kidnapping statistics are very low now, especially if you stick to the main roads. There could be some danger in some other areas of the country, but not particularly in this route. Just stick to the advice on answer No.2.

4-The distance is nearly 800 Km.

5-A gallon of gas costs aprox. 2.5 US.

6-February is an off season. If you buy airline tickets far in advance you could get a one way fare for about 150 US.

7-Bogota is 2600 m above sea level. Pasto is even higher. This means the weather will be fairly cold for tropical standards. Bring a sweater or a light raincoat. Maybe a scarf. If you do the trip by land you will go down the mountains and the temperature will be really hot.

8-If you are not looking for trouble, dont go to bad areas, dont get drunk or drugged and start swearing in english in the middle of the night on the street, nothing will happen to you. There are areas in L.A, Philly, Detroit or New Orleans that could be more dangerous.

Be kind and gentle and you will be treated in the same way..

Good luck!

JC

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My dear friend
I dont know who you are but I find you and what you do here excellent. You REALLY help your country by doing this. I had no intention to offend anyone; I m just scared from all the info that we hear here. Exactly because I dont want to trust only what I hear by one side, I contacted you to get the opinion of the other side as well.
I found your tips very useful and I appreciate you took time to answer me. You have NOT offended me AT ALL. Here we have the same problems on what concerns our big cities so what you said was simply the truth and not an offense.
I have some follow up questions if you dont mind:
1) I dont wear jewels or swear in english but if my clothes are you know like jackets or shirts that show that I am american, would that attract the... desires of thieves down there in Pasto to attack me while let s say I am on the road???
2) You have any other cheap airlines to recommend besides Avianca??
3) How much could they charge you for a hotel room (with a private bathroom and heat of course)??? I tried to find prices on the internet but they had no information over Pasto.
Again, THANK YOU for the information you provided me. May God bless you and your family and keep up the good job.
All the best


Answer
Hey Han,

I'm glad that you found my answers useful. Here is the next set of tips to your follow up:

1-Most people in cities like Bogota and Pasto wear modern western clothes like t-shirts, jumpers, cotton sweaters, jeans and snickers. If you wear the same clothes, you would not attract much attention. If you are blond, blue-eyed and 2 meters tall, people will look at you with curiosity and if you dont speak spanish, they may try to ask you for higher prices, thinking that you are a "rich" american tourist. But it's not that they will become violent or anything like that. Pasto is relatively safer than most other colombian cities.

2-Avianca. I just hate that monopoly. They bought most of their competition with the complicity of the government and charge outrageous prices for short distances. The only other option that you may have is Aerorepublica, but if you check their web site, they charge basically the same prices and have less flights. On the other hand, Avianca's service and punctuality has improved in the past few years.

3-Are you familiar with the Lonely Planet travel guides? They are the best for budget oriented travelers and Colombia's does have a section on Pasto. You should expect to pay about 35 to 45 US for a decent hotel room there. Pasto is located in a very beautiful region but it's not a pretty city. If your idea of this trip is to continue south to Ecuador, you may get instead to Ipiales or to a resort area around the lake of La Cocha. The lake area has some excellent accomodations.

The Bogota yellow pages have a section at the end in green paper with good hotels in all of Colombia's major cities, including Pasto. You may check it over the internet. Here's a link:

http://www.laguiahotelera.com/pagamanet/web/companyCategory.aspx?ipa=1&npa=Colom

The main page is: http://www.paginasamarillas.com

Select Colombia and hotels.

Good luck!

JC