After visiting Jerico in the last post, we were ready to see more of Colombia. The next destination in the same area was a town called Jardin that we heard so much about. But for reaching Jardin, we had a windy dirt road in the mountain ahead of us.
And this road was just breathtaking. There are so many things about the roads in Colombia that make them unique and probably in the top 5 of the most beautiful drives we’ve done so far. First of all, Colombia is clean! We haven’t seen any rubbish which adds to its beauty comparing to what we witnessed in central America. The small villages and farms in the most remote area are clean, tidy and tastefully decorated like they are prepared for a movie set. And it is pretty much consistent, anywhere in the mountain range that we are currently in. Villages are also lively. There are always people sitting in cafes and bar and waving at us as we pass.
The natural beauty is out of this world. Will the rolling green hills, low clouds, coffee and banana plantations, exotic trees, flowers and birds, there’s always something stunning around the corner.
And probably the most important one is the quality of the dirt roads. Yes there are potholes and these roads are narrow but so far the quality of the roads are really good. The combination of all these factors, make the Colombian road trips unforgettable. Here are some shots from Jerico to Jardin route.
After few hours of a scenic drive, we’ve arrived at Jardin. At the first glance, it looked more popular for Colombians as a tourist destination and more crowded than Jerico but we arrived on a Friday and it could be the reason. We were lucky with the camp spot and found a great place out of town in a big grassy area with some horses around and only 1 minutes walk to the town center.
Amir had some work to do and we decided to call it home for a few days. The truth about overlanding and probably any kind of long-term travelling is amount of work and effort is required to keep things going. It is a full time job! From planning the route, doing grocery, checking the safety, weather, planning for car maintenance, sorting out insurance for the next country and so on, the list is endless. So if we move a lot for few days, we have to sit and work on our long list of to dos to stay afloat.
We are still learning how we should manage our pace to avoid burn downs and still enjoy the adventure. But when we find a nice place to stay with good amenities, close to a beautiful town and lots of nice tracks and waterfalls around, we definitely call it home for few days.
Jardin was beautiful and full of life and color like all the other towns that we’ve seen so far in Colombia. It had more tourist infrastructure and more local colombian tourists. It was a busy weekend at Jardin since it was a big cycling competition going on in and around town.
I don’t think that I had a chance to mention how much colombian love cycling!! There are cyclists everywhere on the roads and there is a culture around cycling. More on this later as we get deeper into Colombia but so far it was a pleasant surprise to see so many Colombians are doing serious cycling.
Jardin was another gem like Jerico and we loved its vibe. One of those places that we could envisage ourselves have a house on top of the hills with easy bike ride or horse ride to the town center.
And like the other towns that we’ve been so far in Colombia, using horses for everyday commute is very popular and it adds more character to the town vibe. Here are few shots to show the Jardin vibe.
After few days in Jardin, the plan was going to another town called Salamina via another town called Aguadas. Our plan for going through another narrow rural road and skipping the main road didn’t go well due to the landslide the night before. We were lucky to know about it just ten minutes after we were on the road. A car coming from the opposite direction told us that the road is closed and saved us few hours! Unfortunately that won’t be the last one for us in Colombia. The combination of narrow shelf roads and a lot of rain in these areas, make theses events quite frequent.
We had to turn around and use the main road but the good news in Colombia is the fact that even main roads are stunning. There are just more traffic and more road work than we like.
We were quickly learning how much time we need to cover short distances in Colombia. Each drive was a series of windy climbs to the top of the mountain range and windy drops to the bottom of the valley before climbing up again.
That day of driving from Jardin to Aguadas and Salamina was one of our slowest days.
We first stopped at a beautiful town of Aguadas for lunch.
Then we headed toward Salamina. We normally can see these town in the distance and know how many more mountains we need to cross to reach there. It is literraly close but so far at the same time. We got to Salamina really late and just before sunset. We didn’t plan to drive all the way through to Salamina that day, but we are not alway lucky with the camp spots and that day was one of our unlucky days. We parked the car in a truck car park on the edge of town. We knew that it won’t be a peaceful night sleep but that was the only option we had.
We parked the car and went out for a quick drink and dinner before it gets too dark. The town was beautiful like the others that we saw so far but its vibe was different. Its pace was slower and it wasn’t lively as others. There was some presence of army and police in town too. We haven’t noticed it anywhere else in this region. We finally found food and drink and head back to the truck stop and called it home for the night.
It is part of living on the roads. some days, we stay in perfect spots and some other days, we drive long distances, get disappointed at the end and have a worst place to stay for the night. We never know how a day ends in this lifestyle. Normally the best epic camp spots are shared but the truth is there are nights that are not glamorous and we are just too tired to even take a photo of ourselves stuck between trucks.
Here are few shots from Salamina below. We had a great time in this part of Colombia and absolutely loved it. In the next post, we have another exciting stop before traversing to eastern mountain range in Colombia and exploring Sartender area. Till then take care and have a great new year in 2026!
