Holidaying in Colombia

Nobody much comes to Colombia which is something of a shame. It's a rich and diversely beautiful country which is home to some of the most engaging and welcoming people I've met in all the Americas. Perhaps it's their realisation that with 'the kidnap capital of the World' moniker sullying the country's tourism efforts, it's all the more important to make the right impression with those intrepid travellers who do still come.

Colombia certainly has some pretty major problems. Aside from a 40 year civil war being waged with more than one 'left-wing' guerilla group, there is the problem of other paramilitary forces run on a sort of vigilante basis to protect landed interests, and then the problem that all sides are more or less implicated in the illegal but lucrative cocaine business, which supplies more than 80% of the cocaine sold in the US. Unsurprisingly, the US are deeply involved in funding a drugs eradication programme here and back the tough anti-drugs stance of the President of Colombia, who's just been re-elected. President Uribe is popular for his no compromises approach to the country's problems and you can watch footage of coca fields being burned by government forces on the TV of an evening. Still, there doesn't seem to any great hope that all this conflict and violence is about to come to an end, so Colombia looks set to remain the unvisited country of South America a good while longer.

All of which seems a world away when you're actually in Colombia. There are plenty of no-go areas and even the locals choose to travel internally within the country by plane. However, the safer places seem as safe as anywhere I've been since Mexico. You don't get hassled much and people go out of their way to assist you with no hint of an expected reward for their efforts. It's the repetition of a scenario that I've observed all over the World. The more of us that come to visit a place the less respect we receive as tourists and the more difficulties and hassles we encounter. No doubt a great deal of this is the fault of the tourists, not the locals, when it comes to making a bad impression. The less visited countries are invariably the most pleasant to experience in terms of dealings with local people, even if there are sometimes sacrifices to be made in terms of hotel standards and general tourist infrastructure.

In the case of Colombia, there is no sense in which a derth of foreign visitors has inhibited the country's modern development however. Walking around the posher parts of Bogata you could feel yourself to be at the heart of an affluent European city, with smart restaurants, pavement cafes and delicatessans that would give Harrods' food hall a run for its money. Consumerism is booming in Colombia, and the people seem smart and articulate, well versed in their own problems but dealing with them with a wicked sense of humour - after all, we were greeted by our guide in Bogata with a cheery 'Thank you for being brave enough to visit us here in Colombia'!