The association was started by some of the owners of the first backpacker’s hostels in Colombia. German from Hostel Platypuss, Bogota, Urs fron La Iguana, Cali, Oscar from Colombia Highlands Villa de Leyva, Hans from Casa Vienna, Cartagena and Shaun from Macondo, San Gil, to name a few.

Remember, back in 1991 when German opened Platypuss in La Candelaria area of Bogota, Colombia was a very different place. These guys have worked tirelessly to show you the best of what Colombia has to offer for almost 25 years.

Lunch at Tavolo

The original idea of the association was to create a network of hostels in Colombia that would provide a high quality level of service and information throughout this beautiful country. They wanted travellers to have a friendly face and access to good quality hostels wherever they were in Colombia.

Now with over 40 hostels in 25 different destinations in Colombia you could say they have achieved their goal.

However the association is still growing and adapting to the new challenges that have come with Colombia becoming one of the major up and coming travel destinations world-wide.

The meetings are now a great opportunity for all the members of the association to share ideas, information, best practice and a beer or three to ensure we all stay at the top of our game when it comes to hostelling in Colombia.

It was our pleasure to host these founders and the new generation of Colombian Hostel owners and get a chance to show them our favorite spots in and around Bucaramanga for a week.

We spent the week staying in a beautiful finca just 20 minutes from the hostel in Piedecuesta and had a good mix of social activities and meetings planned.

The Finca

After receiving all the members at Kasa Guane on Monday morning we had a great lunch in one of Bucaramanga’s best new restaurants, Tavolo. Thanks to Gustavo and his team for the great food and service, we’ll be back soon.

We then headed to the Camara de Comercio for a meeting with the guys from Portal Santander, a website aimed at promoting tourism in the region. After the meeting we went back to the finca for a great BBQ prepared by Tyler from The Humback Turtle en El Valle, El Choco.

Serious Asado!

Tuesday and Wednesday saw full days of meetings with a range of topicsdiscussed and good progress made. We headed out to explore Giron on Wednesday night, with a meal in La Fritanga and a pub crawl CHA style.

The first time we’ve seen 2nd plates ordered!

On Thursday we met in La Casa Del Libro Total for a really productive meeting with ProExport about their impressive new marketing campaign. Keep an eye out in your home country soon.  We then took a walk through the centre of Bucaramanga, arriving for lunch at Mercagan.

ProExport Casa del Libro Total

Leaving 2 hours later suitably stuffed some headed up to Ritouque to check out Richi’s hostel, The Nest,  to fly Parapenting or ride horses while others went back to the finca for a well-deserved rest to recharge batteries for the party in the newly renovated El Centro Cultural del Oriente.

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They range in price (usually between $ 5,000 and $12,000) and quality but here are a few ones that we think are good to get you started;

Sazon Arte

The traditional ‘corriente’ of soup, main course, juice (ask for the napa, free refill) and small desert. They do it well here especially the chatas (sirloin steak), it’ll cost you about $8,000 cop.

Arepiz

Another good corriente spot, they usually have 4 options but they get busy so try not to get there too late as they run out.

Govindas

Sick of all that meat and fried food? The Govindas offer a good veggie almuerzos.   BBQ’d tofu or vegie lasagne are worth a try. 2 restaurants one in the centre and one in Cabercera close to Kasa Guane.

Bianco Wok

One of the most expensive Asian restaurants in town does a great lunch menu for 12,000 cop. Salad bar, soup, massive juice, main course, spring rolls and ice cream; they have a different menu each day of the week so ask us if you want to know what’s on today.

Giai

Also do a decent lunch menu. Just walk out of the hostel down the Carrera 28 one block and you’ll see it on the corner.  From $7,000-$9,000 for the set menu with soup juice and tiny dessert.

Burrito 72

Choose from pork, beef, chicken and a massive range of other ingredients to make up your burrito. Good value and good size up on the Carrera 36 with Calle 36/37.  There are lots of other good options in this area too from sushi to Mexican have a wander and see what you feel like.

As always if you have any questions or know any good spots please let us know. 

Saludos

Kasa Guane

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They do a range of flavours and strengths, Pilz (4.5%), Weizen (7%), Festival (7%), Cacoa (7%), Coffee (5%) and the mighty Bok at a serious 11%, there are 6 types in total along with occasional guest beers and Krug import all the ingredients, bottles and recipies from Bavaria in Germany. 

The Menu

From Bavaria to Bucaramanga

The Krug project is headed by Edgar Krug, a German master brewer who has imported all the brewing machinery and equipment to his place in Pidecuesta. It’s not huge but they’re really friendly guys who are proud of what they do and more than happy to show you. It’s a great chance to taste a few cold beers on a hot afternoon and see how a Bavarian beer is really brewed.                                                                                                                                                       

The Master at work

They also do a german curry sausage with chunky fries which goes down a treat after a couple of bottles of Pilz. Just make sure you ask for it, it’s the only place you will find it here so depending on Edgar’s German supplies it can be pretty valuable stuff. 

If you’re interested give us a shout and we can put you in touch. One tip from us though is take a taxi there as it’s good beer fresh from the factory and we’ll be very suprised if your don’t leave at least a little prendido (tipsy).

As well as trying the bottled version in Kasa Guane you can also go and have a draft beer at the Zum Krug bar on the Carrera 36 #42 – 40. Here you’ll usually find Omar, a Bucaramanga local heavily involved in the project who is a great friend of Kasa Guane and will be more than happy to answer any questions about his beer or his beautiful city.

Omar with some more happy customers!

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There are lots of options when it comes to finding a good breakfast in Bucaramanga, Colombia. You can get bags of freshly cut mango or pineapple for $1,000 every few hundred meters. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous here are a few of our favorite places;

Pan Baguette

A great bakery and sandwich shop, fresh baked bread (without sugar), really good quality cold meats and cheeses (blue, smoked, gruyere) sold by weight around $2,000 for 100 grams. Definitely worth checking this place out and they do a really good breakfast omelette for $5,000. Same direction as Kirama but keep walking up the Carrera 29 until you hit calle 45 turn right on that corner and it’s a couple of shops along.

Kirama

Fruit salads, juices, empanadas, arepas and loads more. Decent food, decent value. Just go left out of the hostel and left again at the Davivienda bank walk up the Carrera 29 past the little police station   it’s on your right hand side, just up from the Bancolombia.

Panderia Europea

Really good cheap bakery, good ham and cheese croissants and the best mil hojas (vanilla custard slices) in Bucaramanga.  Walk out of the hostel to your left and cross the road and follow the corner round, it’s 30 seconds from Kasa Guane.

Empanadas, fruit salads and juices right next to the hostel

Only there for your morning empanada or arepa, cheap and filling the lady does a really good aji (chilli sauce) right next to the hostel just look right. Anther neighbour also does great juices and fruitsalads.  They’re reallyy cheap and  it’s always good to support our lovely neighbours.

PanPaYa

Opposite the hostel. Decent option but expensive and the service isn’t great. Good coffee and you can check their board that shows what times the different items will be ready to get fresh bread. The set breakfasts are good.

Viejo Chiflas

Want something more traditional? Head to this popular spot to eat what the locals eat.  Big servings of caldos (soups) sworn by Santandereanos to cure even the worst aguadiente induced hangover. More one for on your way home from a big night out. On the Carrera 33 with Calle 34.

If you have any suggestions for good places to eat in Bucaramanga please let us know in the comments 

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Cathedral, main square Giron, Colombia

It is really easy to get to from Bucaramanga, either do it like a local and take a bus from the Carrera 33 which will cost $1,700 or take a taxi from hostel Kasa Guane which will cost around $12 ,000.

The town isn’t that big but it fills up on weekends and holidays and has a really nice lively vibe about it.

There are often bands playing and various things going on from circus dispays, street artists and musicians. The church is beautiful and the cobbled streets and colonial houses really make you feel like your moving at a different pace from neighbouring Bucaramanga.

Around the main square there are lots of street food vendors and familys enjoying a stroll in the sun or a super sweet snow cone from one of the many stalls. Giron is a few hundred meters lower altitude than Bucaramanga and you do feel the extra couple of degrees.

Snow cone lady, Giron Colombia.

You can grab great home made ice cream just by the Parque las Nieves.

They have loads of flavours from passion fruit to bocadillo and they’re home made prices too.

seriously sweet

If you’re feeling hungry there is a really famous and traditional place to eat in Giron. It’s called Fritanga or The Palace of Colesterol. We have to warn you that you probably should’t eat here too often. In true colombian style it’s heavy, fried and defintely not posh (we’re not suggesting this as a first date spot) but it’s sooo gooooooood.

A plate of pork and potatoes from Fritanga, Giron, Colombia

For around $7,000 a person (the price goes down the bigger your group) you get a huge platter of different cuts of pork, loin, ribs, belly, chorizo, blood sausage, the list goes on. All this is heaped onto a pile of deep fried ‘papas amarillas’ potatos and stuffed platanos, means you’ll be trying to eat more even when your stuffed.

Wash it all down with an ice cold club colombia and your away.

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Watch this video on YouTube.

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Kasa Guane Music Nights, Bucaramanga, es un proyecto dirigido desde el Hostal Kasa Guane en la ciudad de Bucaramanga, el cual busca promover y apoyar talentos musicales locales, nacionales e internacionales y al mismo tiempo compartir los actos en vivo a toda la comunidad, preservando la idea de tener un plan o alternativa interesante de diversión para pasar un rato agradable todos los Sábados de cada mes.

En el mes de febrero contamos con cuatro presentaciones muy interesantes donde deleitamos desde sonidos de la cumbia hasta la candencia de ritmos del Caribe fusionados con el Reggae.

El primer acto, y donde se realizó la apertura de el proyecto, fue gracias a la presentación de el artista SONIDERO SELEKTOR, haciendo su debut bajo el concepto de la noche: CUMBIA SIDERAL Y OTRAS ONDAS SELECTAS.

El Sábado 2 de Febrero de 2013 SONIDERO SELEKTOR, pseudónimo que ha adquirido este selector, estuvo dándonos su cátedra musical durante un set de casi 2 horas.

Siendo originario del oriente Colombiano cercano a las cumbias y el sonidero de las calles de la ciudad ha incursionado en la onda de la cumbia y su vertiente más envolvente la sideral, rescatando y poniendo a sonar el sabor de las cumbias con una fusión que está dando de qué hablar; se viene mostrando los sonidos que retumban en los andes y unen al continente al son de las cumbias.

CUMBIA SIDERAL Y OTRAS ONDAS SELECTAS es un set cargado de muchas influencias sonoras, comenzando por la evolución de la cumbia colombiana y su auge trópico sideral, fusionando con ritmos de los pueblos andinos, la cumbia villera de la argentina, marcando el paso con la cumbia mexicana y sin dejar atrás al Perú y su cumbia andina.

El sábado 9 de Febrero de 2013 Haciendo las cosas aun más interesantes, figuramos en una noche donde una reproducción de beats singulares de JAMMAN MIGHTY LOOPS, artista colombiano que estuvo dando su completísimo repertorio musical en un excelente LIVE ACTO con sintetizadores, cajas de ritmos, samplers y pedales.

El proyecto de JAMMAN nace en Londres en el 2008 junto al rio Támesis. Después de presenciar una presentación de THE PETEBOX, un reconocido beatboxer inglés, que tenía enloquecida una audiencia de más de 1000 personas haciendo uso únicamente de un loopstation (que es un pedal loop) y un micrófono (para su voz). Decidí que eso era lo que quería hacer. Inmediatamente empecé a investigar acerca del beatboxing y así descubrí grandes iconos del live looping y el beatboxing como Beardyman, Dub Fx, Mc Xander y Ricoloop. Gradualmente fui comprando el equipo que sería finalmente mi herramienta de trabajo. Este equipo incluye kaoss pad 3, microkorg xs, gt 10b Boos, loopstation rc 50. Con la ayuda de estos “juguetes” puedo crear en vivo beats sobre los que puedo cantar o rapear.
Reggae, d&B, disco. etc.

Seguimos calentando el ambiente y ya para concretar nuestro tercer acto, tuvimos la oportunidad de presentar a RAS MILTON acompañado de DJ TRUCHA.

El sábado 16 de febrero 2013 Desde la primera canción la pista se encendía en baile y admiración por gran talento en el micrófono por parte de RAS MILTON.

Ya motivados y a la espera de más actos en vivo, EL SABADO 23 DE FEBRERO de 2013 KASAGUANE presentó  PAPATUMANKA, artista chileno que estuvo durante 1 hora y media compartiendo con los asistentes temas auténticos de Reggae y Dancehall. También Covers de otros artistas importantes como BOB MARLEY.

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In a student area of the city called Real de Minas there is a big shopping mall called Acropolis. It houses all the usual suspects, Juan Valdez, clothes and fast food shops but they have converted the basement car park into a more than respectable karting and mini moto track.

It’s a proper set up with around 6 karts of decent speed and the same number of mini motos.  They change the track design regularly, record and print off your lap times to settle any arguments and even have a podium for you to celebrate victory.

The cost of the taxi down to Acropolis should be the minimum fare in Bucaramanga ($4300) and the Karting costs $9.000 for 5 minutes. It doesn’t sound like much but we guarantee you’ll be sweating by the end of it.

You can even grab a beer in one of the student spots after your race and take a chance to practice your Spanish with some sure to be interested, local students.

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THE es una banda de rock bogotana que desde 2006 se ha hecho presente en la escena nacional, con un sonido característico que se puede clasificar dentro de varios géneros como el Indie o el New Brit Rock.

Lo cierto es que la THE ha probado tener el carácter y la calidad necesarios para posicionarse como uno de las mejores bandas de los últimos tiempos en Colombia.

Nominados a numerosos premios como los MTV music Awards Latinoamérica, Abriendo conciertos a numerosos artistas internacionales en el país como Wolfmother, Aerosmith, Gwen Stefani, con una gira por Europa en 2010, un disco lanzado en Francia y dos excelentes trabajos musicales Aim at me (2007) y The Hal effect (2010) The Hall Effect es sin

duda alguna uno de los mejores exponentes de la Buena música hecha en Colombia.

No queda más que desearles muchos más éxitos en su prometedora carrera musical y esperar que nos vuelvan a visitar muy pronto en Bucararock.

Los estaremos esperando con los Jaggerbomb de cortesía en la terraza Bar del hostal y una Botella del tío Daniels para despues del toque.

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