KIRAN GOES PLACES
1. Horse riding through the countryside
If you want to see the real Salento, saddle up. Horses aren't just a tourist attraction here, they're how locals have travelled these mountains for generations. Our guide Nicolas looked like an actual Colombian Clint Eastwood, and led us out through the streets, past coffee farms, and into rolling valleys as we climbed higher into the cloud forest. The trails were muddy and wild, and at one point we literally rode upstream through a river, water splashing over our legs. Then Nicolas turned round and shouted "Kiran, rapido", and before either of us could answer, the horses were fully galloping through the countryside. It was one of the most memorable things we did on the whole trip, especially for Sam, whose first ever horse ride somehow turned into a full blown rodeo.
Horses aren't just for tourists here, they're how locals have travelled these mountains for generations.
2. Visit a coffee farm
After the ride, head to a finca. We visited Finca El Ocaso, one of the most picturesque coffee farms in the region, set right among the hills, to learn how Colombia's most famous export actually gets made, from bean to brew. You start in the fields with a basket tied around your waist, picking ripe red coffee cherries by hand, then head inside to see how they're pulped, fermented, washed and dried on wooden patios. The tasting is done the old fashioned way, through a cloth filter shaped like a sock, literally called the abuela's sock, with hot water poured slowly in circles over the grounds. The first sip is bitter, the second smoother, and by the third you finally get the true flavour, rich and chocolatey, and somehow better for having seen exactly how it got there.
Finca El Ocaso, picking ripe coffee cherries by hand before they're pulped, fermented and dried.
3. Visit Plaza de Bolívar
Back in town, everything centres around this main plaza, and it isn't just the main square, it genuinely is the heart of the place. Colourful colonial buildings, balconies bursting with flowers, and at the centre the Church of Our Lady of Carmen, its tower gleaming against the mountains behind it. Families having coffee, kids playing football, old men chatting on benches, the smell of arepas drifting through the square. It's properly buzzing, especially in the late afternoon.
Plaza de Bolívar, the genuine heart of Salento.
4. Walk Calle Real
From the plaza, head up Calle Real, the town's most iconic street, full of colour and sound, every door a different shade, every wall hand painted. It dates back to the 19th century, when Salento was a stop on the Camino Nacional, the trade route linking Bogotá to the west. Today it's lined with craft stalls selling woven bags, painted souvenirs and coffee grown just down the hill. Climb the steps at the top to Mirador de Salento for a view over the whole valley.
Calle Real, every door a different colour, every wall hand painted.
5. Get lunch at Coco Bowl
After all that adventure, recharge at Coco Bowl, Salento's plant filled, sunlit cafe. We had an excellent cold brew, some colourful Buddha bowls, and some of the best acai in Colombia, and if you've seen any of my other videos, you'll know I have a bit of an acai addiction. This place filled it completely.
6. Play tejo
When night falls, you start hearing explosions in the air, and it isn't fireworks, it's tejo, Colombia's national sport, born from the indigenous Muisca community and still played with exactly the same enthusiasm centuries later. It's a genuinely bizarre mix of precision and explosives and beer, you throw a metal puck at a clay board with a ring in the middle, surrounded by small paper triangles packed with gunpowder, and try to land inside the ring to trigger the bang. Everyone plays with a beer in hand. It's unlike any sport I've ever come across.
Tejo: a metal puck, a clay board, gunpowder, and a beer in hand.
7. Hike in the Cocora Valley
A short ride from Salento is Colombia's most breathtaking landscape, the Cocora Valley. You get there on vintage Willys jeeps from the main square, standing on the back as it bounces up and down winding roads until the valley opens up. It's home to the Quindío wax palm, Colombia's national tree and the tallest palm in the world, growing to nearly 60 metres, trunks vanishing straight into the mist. The trails weave through farmland, forest and streams, and it's worth stopping at viewpoint two for a cup of steaming passionfruit tea from a tiny hut on the hillside. If you're lucky, the clouds lift on the way back, revealing the palms piercing the sky like needles, it's the kind of view that makes you forget time altogether.
The Quindío wax palm, the tallest palm tree in the world, disappearing into the mist.
Salento might be small, but it genuinely captures everything Colombia is about, coffee, colour and community. From galloping through rivers to hiking through cloud forest, drinking coffee made completely by hand, and playing a sport that quite literally explodes, this is Colombia at its most authentic. If you're planning a Colombia trip, make sure it's on the list, because once you've been here, you'll never drink coffee the same way again.