Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [104]
The airport handles flights to most major Colombian cities, including Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Cartagena.
There are no direct flights from Cúcuta to Venezuela. Across the border, San Antonio del Táchira’s tiny airport has sporadic flights to Caracas. Better yet, continue 50km further to Aeropuerto Internacional de Santo Domingo south of San Cristobal, which has regular flights to Caracas.
BUS
The notoriously chaotic, disgusting bus terminal is on the corner of Av 7 and Calle 1. Watch your belongings closely. If you are arriving from Venezuela, you might be approached by English-speaking individuals who will kindly offer their help in buying bus tickets and insuring your money. Ignore them – they are con men. Buy tickets directly from bus company offices or drivers.
There are frequent buses heading to Pamplona (COP$12,000, two hours), Bucaramanga (COP$40,000, six hours) and Bogotá (COP$80,000, 16 hours)
To Venezuela, take one of the frequent buses or shared taxis running from Cúcuta’s bus terminal to San Antonio del Táchira (around COP$1000, in either pesos or bolivares). You can catch colectivos and buses headed to San Antonio from the corner of Av Diagonal Santander and Calle 8, in the center. From San Antonio’s bus terminal, there are six departures daily to Caracas, all departing late afternoon or early evening for an overnight trip. There are no direct buses to Mérida; go to San Cristóbal and change. Colectivos to San Cristóbal leave frequently.
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VILLA DEL ROSARIO
7 / pop 52,000 / elev 280m
About 10km southeast of Cúcuta on the road to the Venezuelan border, is the sedate suburb of Villa del Rosario. Here, Colombia’s founding fathers met in 1821 to draw up the constitution of the new country of Gran Colombia, and inaugurate Simón Bolívar as its first president.
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Sights
The site of this important event in Colombia’s history has been converted into a park, the Parque de la Gran Colombia. The park’s central feature is the ruin of Templo del Congreso, the church (built in 1802) where the sessions of the congress were held. The congress debated in the sacristy of the church from May to October, before agreeing on the final version of the bill. Then the inauguration ceremony of Bolívar and Santander as president and vice president of Gran Colombia took place in the church. The original church was almost completely destroyed by the 1875 earthquake and only the dome was rebuilt. A marble statue of Bolívar has been placed in the rebuilt part of the church.
The park’s other major sight is the Casa Natal de Santander ( 570 0741; admission COP$1500; 9-11:30am & 2-5:30pm Mon-Fri), a large country mansion, which was the birthplace of Francisco de Paula Santander and his home for the first 13 years of his life. The house was also damaged by the earthquake of 1875 and restored in a partly altered style. It now houses a modest exhibition of documents and photos relating to Santander’s life and to the congress.
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Getting There & Away
To get to the Parque de la Gran Colombia from Cúcuta, take the bus to San Antonio del Táchira, which passes next to the park on the way to the border. Don’t take buses marked ‘Villa del Rosario’ – they won’t bring you anywhere near the park.
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Caribbean Coast
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CARTAGENA & AROUND
CARTAGENA
ISLAS DEL ROSARIO
PLAYA BLANCA
LA BOQUILLA
VOLCÁN DE LODO EL TOTUMO
MOMPOX
NORTHEAST OF CARTAGENA
BARRANQUILLA
SANTA MARTA
MINCA
TAGANGA
PARQUE NACIONAL NATURAL (PNN) TAYRONA
CIUDAD PERDIDA
RESERVA NATURAL EL MATUY
LA GUAJIRA PENINSULA
RIOHACHA
CABO DE LA VELA
PUNTA GALLINAS
SOUTHWEST OF CARTAGENA
TOLÚ
ISLAS DE SAN BERNARDO
TURBO
CAPURGANÁ & SAPZURRO
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Sun-soaked and stewed in culture, Colombia’s 1760km of Caribbean coastline is home to both the country’s best beaches and the highest coastal mountain range in the