Rail maps/info Colombia

[lkz]

Hello

New on the forums, soaking up the colombian sunshine in Santa Marta right now!

We gonna move on down to Bogota soon its around a day by road, heard theres a freight network but cant get any info.

If any one knows any latin american yards or just general info on where the rails run to, it would be appreciated!

Cheers

 

[wizehop]

Colombia is the shit...love that place...freight wise there are trains but not a lot..up in your neck of the woods there is a line but it doesn't go to far and its heavily guarded. A buddy of mine rode it a few years back but had to pay off security and they didn't let him ride to far. At least with that line they ride with the train so...
There used to be more trains but when they put in better roads it pretty much killed the system. If you ever go to Medellin you can go see an old factory there with some rusted out trains. Pretty cool but again heavily guarded.
If your travelling around Id strongly recommend you check out Solento and do the mountain hike there..fucking amazing.

 

[lkz]

cheers for the reply I went down to the yard and spoke to one of the workers, i basically got the impression its not worth it between the coppers and security.

yeah im loving colombia should be here a good few months thinkin about headin to venezuela for a bit aswell, have heard its dead sketchy though...

 

[wizehop]

Ecuador is worth checking out if your in that neck of the woods too. I'm sure you've been to Cartagena already..love that city. Also if your not too broke you can get a sail boat to Panama that goes through the Sandblast Islands..which are amazing.
But really man head to the coffee region (armenia) and from the bus station in Armenia its a 30 min ride to Solento. From there you can get a jeep in the town square for a couple bucks that will take you further up..amazing hike. If you do it though leave super early so you have the day.
Head up to the humming bird sanctuary and then on the way back take the other route through the wax palms. Cant spend that much time in Colombia without checking it out.

 

[lkz]

yeah man will do. In venezuela at the moment, theyre dead strict with random passport checks here didnt stop us jumpin the border unstamped to get some essentials tho!

Will defo check out Armenia area, you got any recommendations for around Medellin? gonna try and get some hostel work there.

Cheers

lkz

 

[wizehop]

Ya man, Medellin is pretty fun as far as cities go...about a 30 min bus ride outside of the city is a town called Guatape which is a Colombia vacation spot. Its nice but beyond that the real reason to go is to see this giant random rock called EL PENON. ONce you find a place to stay in town its an easy and really nice walk. Its just a giant rock, but you wont regret checking it out. Make sure to go to the top.
While there you can also get a boat to check out one of Pablo Escabar's bombed out houses. Also you can go see ( not much of) a sunken town. A few years back they flooded the valleys to make it easier to get around by boat. They completely flooded a whole town except for the cross on the top of the steeple (go figure). Not much to see but the boat tour to both is nice..negotiate hard on the price though.

As far as the city goes IM not sure what you guys are into but its a pretty happening place so you shouldn't have a hard time finding something worthwhile..make sure to check out the community "chair lift" they have that goes up the mountain.

If your busing it from Medellin to Armenia you need to head to the South station, not the main one that is attached to the metro. Once at the station in Armenia you need to walk out to the parking lot where all the buses are and near the end will be a mini one labeled "Solento". You pay on the bus and they leave every half hour.

In Solento check out the THE PLANTATION HOSTEL.

 

[Az Tek]

Hey there, read the post title. Not sure if your 'looking' for a guide to the rail system there but if you are give me the area your in Country/State/Province, where your heading, and I can give you an up to date Rail Atlas for the network in that area. I ran across some really great info a few years back, would be more than happy to share. It lists Inbound and Outbound Networks, Systemcodes, Track LoniLati, Company/Commercial listings, etc. Has saved me tons of time and disappointment.

 

[lkz]

Thanks for the info wizehop guatpe looks sweet and like theres plenty of decent camping to be had. were gonna be heading down there after carnaval in Barranquilla which should be the shit.

Aztek - that would be sick if you could get me the info in particular for Colombia, ecuador and Peru

 

[ceege]

No shit, I've hit up the carnaval in Barranquilla. Exactly one year ago I was up there. It was alright, lots of party. But let me tell you, you have to check out the carnaval of Campeche, which is a small town south. WAAy fucking better to spend time partying with the smaller townsfolk, you'll be the only damn outsider. Anyway though, fuck, it's probably too late. Hope you enjoyed Barranquilla. Ecuador hitchin is superb, and lots of good diversity. Misahualli has monkeys in the little square. Peace

 

[ceege]

I got info on peru trains. Aint any boxcars here--that's the important point. However, the mineral trains all have a small open-air flatbed caboose with two foot high walls. You can probably hop in those, but hide yourself good cause they do search sometimes. I haven't hopped any trains here, though. I waited a day and night in La Oroyo, east of Lima in the mountains. That train came, but it came in the wrong direction. But it was all mineral cars, purely mineral cars. Can't fuck around hopping the outside of those in the winter because it's damn cold in the Andes. Hell I almost lost my fingers waiting that one single night. Anyway, another place you'll find a train is Cusco-Puno. That's hoppable, but same deal; mineral cars and flat cabooses. I would recommend just hitching a semi and asking to sit on the cargo, gotta love those lax laws.

 

[lkz]

weeeepppaaa! Barranquilla was the shit we ended up chillin with a crowd of colombianos so it got pretty messy haha. I only remember seein 1 or 2 gringos so it felt really Colombian.

Yeah its a bitch hitching here now since its prohibido to sit in pick up beds unless its really rural police look down on it aswel probably cos of security/Farc issues. Looks like Colombias the end of the line though, as it conspires were not gonna make it to Ecuador or Peru, gutted!