We spent a few days in a medium sized, non-touristy town in the hart of the ‘coffee triangle’ called Armenia. This was a friendly town with a huge number of cafes and ice cream shops. We hired a guide and driver to take us to what turned out to be a very cheesy coffee plantation tour, and to a the nearby town of ‘Finlandia’ (see photos). We learned that Colombia is struggling to compete with Brazil and Vietnam for coffee production, and they barely make a profit. Don’t be surprised if Juan Valdez goes away.
Armenia was having an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of a large earthquake that killed over 1000 people. And we went to a fun Karaoke bar, where thankful no one butchered any songs we actually knew, and some of the singers were quite good.
Link to photos here.