Quito is a little more colorful starting this month, but don’t be surprised if you fail to take notice.  Even though the new urban art project launched for 2013 covers nearly 4,000 square meters of public space (painted on bridges, cross walks, tunnels and walls), many people seem not to notice it.

The Quito Urban Art project was conceived as a way to bring the great masters of contemporary Ecuadorean art to the general public (for free).  Large reproductions of famous works by famous artists now dot the city from the north to the south.  They often line some of the main traffic arteries of Quito, so unless you are in the midst of a traffic jam (which could happen), you might not even appreciate the work that has been executed by more than 100 artists.

The project involves over 100 artists – photo courtesy of Lance Brashear

The exception of course, as is the case of many local wonders, is for the tourist – the visitor who does not suffer the tunnel vision of the residents who often dart from place to place without really noticing changes.  For the visitors, these are not changes, but merely the face of the city, which is now more beautiful, colorful, and meaningful.

Artworks often line some of the main traffic arteries of Quito – photo courtesy of Lance Brashear

The urban art project offers tourists the chance to encounter art, while exploring different areas of the city.  It seems to be intended for those who are not in a rush, but perhaps like to explore the not so beaten path on the way to stroll the parks and not-so-traditional plazas of Quito.

Below are the nine stops along the Urban Art Trail:

1. They come to give joy (Vienen a dar alegría)

Place: Sector La ‘Y’ (Intersection of Ave. América & Ave. 10 de Agosto).  Painted walls along street and exit ramps.
Author: Gonzalo Endara Crow
Area: 500 m2
Technique: Acrylic on wall
Nearby attractions: Bicentenario Park: Ave. De La Prensa & Ave. Amazonas

2. “Vidaire y Pinturagua”

Place: Pedestrian bridge & walkway, Tortuga Park (Ave. Amazonas, Parque de la Tortuga)
Author: Xavier Calderón (Skypi)
Area: 750 m2
Technique: Graffiti/Street art
Nearby attractions: Bicentenario Park (Ave. De La Prensa & Ave. Amazonas)

 3. Quito

Place: Entrance Guayasamín Tunnel (Ave. 6 de diciembre & Ave. Interoceánica)
Author: Oswaldo Guayasamín
Area: 32 m2
Téchnique: Acryilic on wall
Nearby attractions:
•    La Carolina Park: Jardín Botánico, Vivarium, Boulevard NNUU,
•    Chapel of Man: Mariano Calvache & Lorenzo Chávez
•    Museum House of Kingman: Diego de Almagro & La Pradera
•    Guápulo Lookout

4. The Creation

Place: Lateral Wall, Colegio Militar Eloy Alfaro (Ave. Amazonas &  Ave. Orellana)
Author: Ricardo Dávila
Area: 241 m2
Téchnique: Acrylic on wall
Nearby attractions:
•    La Carolina Park: Botanical Garden, Vivarium
•    Museum House of Kingman (Diego de Almagro & La Pradera)
•    Plaza Foch (dining, nightlife district)

5. Return to the Earth and Feel It (Retornar a la tierra y sentirla)

Place: Lateral Wall, Hotel Marriot (Ave. Amazonas &  Ave. Orellana)
Author: Rodrigo Viera Cruz y participación de siete artistas
Area: 180 m2
Technique: Acrylic on wall
Nearby attractions:
•    La Carolina Park: Botanical Garden, Vivarium
•    Museum House of Kingman (Diego de Almagro & La Pradera)
•    Etnohistoric Museum of Artisan Craft of Ecuador (Mindalae): Reina Victoria & La Niña
•    Plaza Foch (dining, nightlife district)

6. Nature and Her Diversity (La naturaleza y su diversidad)

Place: Villaflora Trolebus Station A (Ave. Rodrigo de Chávez & Ave. Maldonado)
Authors: Isabel Ullauri, Fausto Villalba, Estiven Mera, Carlos Revelo, César Simbaña, Wellington Duque
Area: 320 m2
Technique: Acrylic on wall
Nearby attractions:
•    Chimbacalle Train Station and Museum (Quilotoa & Sangay)
•    Interactive Science Museum (Sincholagua & Ave. Maldonado)
•    Lineal Park Machángara
•    Panecillo Hillside

7. Ecological Quito

Place: Estación Trolebús Villaflora B (Av. Napo y Av. Maldonado)
Authors: Luciano Mogollón, Mario Cicerón Pazmiño, Amílcar Fonseca
Area: 317 m2
Technique: Acrílico sobre pared
Nearby attractions:
•    Chimbacalle Train Station and Museum (Quilotoa & Sangay)
•    Interactive Science Museum: (Sincholagua & Ave. Maldonado)
•    Lineal Park Machángara
•    Panecillo Hillside

8. Symphony of Life

Place: Quitumbe Condominiums (Ave. Teniente Higo Ortiz. Exterior Wall, Plaza Quitumbe)
Author: Nelson Román
Area: 447 m2
Technique: Acrylic on wall
Nearby attractions:
•    Plaza Quitumbe
•    Las Cuadras Park

9. “Humanados”, “Equilibrio”, “Biciandante”

Place: Wall of National Brewery (Ave. 5 de Junio & Rodrigo de Chávez)
Authors: Fausto Villalba, Steep Mera & Colectivo Kespues
Area: 360 m2
Technique: Acrylic on wall

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By day, the upscale Recoleta neighborhood is a top destination for visitors to Buenos Aires. The residential area is famed for the sprawling Recoleta Cemetery, a walled maze of elaborate 19th- and 20th-century crypts and mausoleums. Aside from the architectural wonders, the cemetery has historic appeal, as well: former first lady Eva Perón is buried here. On weekends, the nearby Plaza Francia, which sits adjacent to the cemetery, buzzes with a large open-air market. You can find traditional leather goods, jewelry, and other souvenirs here.

Milion

For a neighborhood so well known for its cemetery, Recoleta is surprisingly lively at night. On warm evenings, young professionals meet for cocktails and wine at Milion, an upscale bar housed in an early 20th-century mansion. The mixed drinks are inventive and delicious, but most visitors are drawn by the gorgeous backyard garden; arrive by 7:30 p.m. if you want to  nab a spot on the 2nd floor balcony.

Recoleta gets lively at night – photo courtesy of LWY

Cumaná

A few streets away, Cumaná is one of the best spots in the city to sample traditional Argentine fare. Start off with an order of empanadas for the table to split; the pastries— typically filled with beef, cheese, corn, spinach, chicken, or some combination—are made to order in a wood-burning oven on display in a corner. For the main course, move on to a bowl of locro, a hearty Argentine stew made of pork, beans, and vegetables. This place fills up nearly every night of the week, so arrive by 9:00 p.m. if you want to beat the locals and avoid long waits for tables.

Shamrock

Late night, the Shamrock becomes the neighborhood’s go-to dance joint. During the afternoon and early evening, this beloved Irish pub is a friendly, low-key beer-sipping joint— if not, occasionally, somewhat fratty in feel. But past midnight, a DJ starts spinning, and the lower level transforms into a frenetic nightclub. Come well rested if you want to experience this place at its peak: It doesn’t really get hopping until 3 a.m. or later.

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The world often associates luxury and class with speed and sleekness. But along a 447 kilometer stretch of railway that snakes through the Andes Mountains and coastal plains of Ecuador, high class travel has begun to be redefined.

A symbol of man’s triumph over nature, the Ecuadorean train was a nearly forgotten, historic achievement until it was resurrected and enthusiastically restored over the past four years by the national government.

Over a century ago, the Ecuadorean train connected Ecuador’s largest city, the port city of Guayaquil with its Andean capital, Quito. With over 400 kilometers of track snaking through the mountains–riding as high as 3,700 meters–the railway changed commercial life for many decades, until finally the airplane and automobile overtook it for convenience and speed. The train eventually became obsolete.

Luxury Train through the Andes – photo courtesy of FEEP

But four years ago Ecuador’s national government set about to change all of that. With an investment of $280 million the entire railroad has been restored with a new luxury train service being launched this summer that travels the entire route.

Train Crucero

On June 4 of this year, the first “Tren Crucero” (Train Cruise) began service between Quito and Duran (coastal city near Guayaquil): a 4-day luxury ride aboard four specially designed coaches.

“This is a first class train…we are going on a trip for four days-three nights, making stops [and] the passengers will stay in hotels,” says Jose Luis Quintero, Commercial Manager for the Ecuadorean Railway.

Tren Crucero Luxury Riding – photo courtesy of FEEP

Centuries old haciendas

As the train crawls through the Andes, an accompanying bus will follow to meet passengers at arrival stations to transport them to local attractions and their hotels. Passengers will often stay in traditional haciendas, which predate the train by centuries, giving the trip an even greater sense of history and tradition. Tourists will also visit rose plantations, local markets, communities, and historic sites.

Over the course of the trip, the Tren Crucero will alternate locomotives – some portions of the trek will be pulled by electric-diesel engines, while the most emblematic links will be led by the 19th century steam engines. No matter the source of power, passengers will travel the entire railway route through one of the world’s greatest mountain ranges in a way never before experienced.

For more details or reservations, visit Tren Crucero.

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Brazil has historically been a few steps behind the modern spa movement – it wasn’t until very recently that you could even get a rubdown in many of the country’s upscale tropical resorts (and if you could, it was usually outsourced) – which makes it all the more impressive that Lapinha Spa located about 55 miles southwest of Curitiba, originally opened its doors in 1972. It wasn’t called a “spa” then but it was way ahead of the wellness/medical spa game. Today, it has won numerous destination spa awards – Best Spa in the Americas, etc. – and has become the go-to spa to light a fire under your pants, shake those bad eating habits and turn you into a whole new you. So what’s it like? Here’s my 10 cents.

1. Upon arrival, I had a doctor’s consultation, which, in all honestly, was more thorough than my general practitioner in São Paulo and way more caring than pretty much any doctor I ever saw in 35 years in the USA. We talked diet, we talked health, we cracked jokes. The Brazilian way of indirect communication and dancing around the main point usually frustrates me, but in cases of healthcare, I loved not to be rushed. I’m cleared for a normal diet, sauna use, low-impact exercise and receive the best prescription ever: Relax!
   

   Lapinha from the outside – photo courtesy of Lapinha Spa

2. The food at Lapinha – all vegetarian, organic, low fat, low salt, low everything-bad-for-you – was the first thing that struck me as great. We had a great veggie feijoada (Brazil’s national dish, but usually loaded down with pork, salt and fat), pinion gnocchi, the best honey I have ever had in my life and scrumptious soups. Each day I looked forward to meal times and didn’t miss a thing about my normal diet. Flavors were subtler, but I was cool with that. One thing that took me aback: No drinks are served during meals – liquids dilute your naturally occurring digestive enzymes and stomach acids  – which I found odd but quickly got over it.
3. There is no alcohol or coffee at Lapinha. For a country absolutely obsessed with cold beer and strong espresso, that is surely a death sentence. I was no exception. I adore my Nespresso machine at home as well as the Brazilian coffee culture of cafezinho – a little coffee here and there throughout the day. The caffeine-deprived headache hit me hard on day two and it took 1500mg of Tylenol DC to tame it (which of course contained 195mg of caffeine). Whoops!
   

   Lapinha offers over 40 treatments – photo courtesy of Lapinha Spa

4. There is a bit of a religious element to the spa – it’s the world’s largest Catholic country, after all – so if that’s not your thing, you can skip the occasional prayer sessions and the like. There is a prayer before meals, which I found a little bit hokey myself, so I just politely looked down and thought about what next exotic Brazilian location I might write about for this blog.
5. Minimum stays are 5- or 7-days depending on your program (Basic, Detox, Relax, Slim, Anti-Smoking, etc.) and packages include $180 in spa credits (enough for three 50-minute massages, more or less). I was all over that, choosing a Tissue Massage, Reflexology Massage Therapy and Muscle Release Massage from the long and tempting list of over 40 treatments. Some treatments were better than others  (I have had at least 500 professional massages and routinely cover spas for other publications), and I was annoyed that I kept getting the same therapist, but I definitely left with a little more spring in my step than usual.
6. The peaceful grounds – all 1360 acres – are pretty extraordinary, bound by gorgeous Araucaria groves and flush with scenic walking trails, cow-grazing pastures and organic gardens, all soundtracked by a continues chorus of singing birds and nightcapped by stunning sunsets. It’s pretty idyllic.
7. There is always something to do but all activities are voluntary. So, you can hit up Nordic walking through the forest, Hydro Power exercise in the pool, pilates, lectures on chewing your food or meditation, field trips to Trappist Catholic masses or the nearby historic city of Lapa; or, stow away in your room between massages with the latest Dan Brown novel. I mostly chose the latter. After all, I was ordered to, “Relax!”
8. The facilities are pretty great as well, though I was bummed not to have a bathtub in my room. “Calgon…Take Me Away…” is still my idea of how best to relax! One Brazilian complained to me that some of the buildings seemed dated, but I didn’t notice. The indoor/outdoor pools, medical clinic and therapy rooms were all modern and comfortable.
9. It’s probably best to come to Lapinha with a partner. Seating arrangements at meal times are assigned and unchangeable, and there’s no inter-mingling. If you’re solo, you will eat a lot of meals in relative solitary confinement.
10. Though there are no TVs at Lapinha, they did manage to show the Brazil-England friendly that took place at Rio de Janeiro’s new Maracanã, the debut of Brazil’s centerpiece stadium for next year’s FIFA World Cup 2014 (Brazilians can live without coffee and beer, but certainly not soccer! Who are you kidding?). Watching it without chope – ice-cold Brazilian draft beer – was kind of torture, though.

LATAM Airlines Group operates nearly 50 flights per week between Miami, New York and Orlando to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. TAM Airlines operates domestic flights from either to Curitiba. Five-night packages at Lapinha start from $1498.

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Every Monday night, Buenos Aires’s Abasto neighborhood plays host to a raucous music concert by La Bomba de Tiempo, a group of about seventeen musicians. The band’s percussion-fueled music is high energy, with Latin- and African-influenced rhythms. You can hear clips of their drumming performances here.

Crowd at La Bomba de Tiempo – photo courtesy of Ricardo Moraleida

La Bomba de Tiempo’s weekly show is held at the Konex Cultural Center, an open-air venue that used to be an old cooking-oil factory. Konex is now spruced up with large art installations; sculptures and murals hang above the stage. The Monday night La Bomba concerts have become something of a tradition at Konex. The group has been playing there each week for more than four years, and as word of mouth got around, the concerts have grown in popularity. La Bomba now regularly draws about 1,500 people to Konex every Monday: a mix of local fans and foreign visitors who come to mingle and dance.

That said, you can always buy tickets on the day of the show at Konex.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and the music begins around 8 p.m. Wear comfortable shoes: You’ll want to dance and enjoy the great music!

LAN Argentina has eight nonstop flights per week from Miami to Buenos Aires. For more information, click here.

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If you think party buses are the exclusive property of North America, think again. Though they may not have invented the party on wheels, Colombians from Bogotá to Barranquilla have found an ingenious way to recycle old, traditional vehicles and turn them into a rollicking good time. I present to you… the chiva!

What’s a chiva?

Chivas, also known as buses escalera (ladder buses), are somewhat rickety-looking vehicles made of a wooden frame constructed atop a typical bus chassis. The interior is covered (though all the windows are open) and often has benches or seats for human passengers, and the roof, accessible through the ladder that gives the chiva its nickname, can be used for transporting any goods that will stay put up there. Traditionally, chivas have been used in rural zones of both Colombia and Ecuador to carry produce, animals, plants, travelers, family members and anything else that needed to be brought somewhere else. The trucks are usually painted bright colors (often the red, blue and yellow of the Colombian flag) and given unique names by their drivers, which are painted on the front above the driver. Though the advent of more secure transportation methods have rendered chivas mostly obsolete as far as the economy is concerned, they’ve staged a comeback as popular party vehicles, and it’s not uncommon to spot several of them during a night out in the zona rosa (nightclub area) of one of Colombia’s major cities.

Party on Wheels – photo courtesy of I.D. R.J.

Where can I find one?

Though chivas are traditionally from the coastal region, their second life as a nightlife attraction has brought them to cities in the interior, particularly Bogotá. They still have names painted on them, but most belong to companies rather than individual drivers, so if you’re looking to hop on, you’ll have to go through the company. Chivastours in Bogotá and Mary Tours in Cartagena both offer chiva rentals (be careful the Chivastours site doesn’t burn your eyes). While tour chivas simply charge you the fare for your seat, party chivas are typically rented at a flat rate, so it’s better to have more people to split the price. The more, the merrier!

What do I do once I manage to climb on?

That depends on the chiva and your fellow bus-mates. There’s a range of chiva activities, from straightforward city tours to bass-pounding mobile nightclubs. Cartagena does a booming business in chiva tours of the old city – it’s not uncommon to see one rumble by on the main oceanfront road every few minutes. These rides are your typical sightseeing journey, although they usually involve much louder music (sometimes even from a live band!) and a lot more dancing. Due to the slightly chillier climate, Bogotá’s chivas are almost exclusively for people who arrive with a slight alcohol blanket to keep them warm. If you’re riding one of those, plan on drinking a lot of aguardiente, making a concerted effort not to fall while dancing on a moving vehicle and soliciting cheers from bystanders every time you’re stopped at a red light. Party chivas will normally drive passengers around for an hour or two, then arrive at a predetermined destination so that guests can continue the party on a slightly more stable surface.

No matter where or how you choose to ride a chiva, remember one important thing: Party hats are not optional.

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Aside from steak and maybe red wine, Argentina’s most famous export is tango— a sultry dance that originated in the port communities along the Río de la Plata, near Buenos Aires, in the 1890′s. Today, the dance and music are enjoying newfound popularity with young Argentines, infusing fresh energy into Buenos Aires’s nightlife.

In clubs in upscale areas like Palermo, DJs spin tango tunes infused with electronic beats, and at dance schools across the city, tango classes are seeing a surge in enrollment. Tango is still very popular with older Buenos Aires locals, toom so in hotspots across the city, you can find a mix of ages dancing, singing, and enjoying the tradition together.

Argentina’s capital is filled with schools, but a few I’d recommend are:

• DNI Tango School, where classes for beginner, intermediate, and experienced dancers are held in a three-story French-colonial house, in the quiet Almagro neighborhood. Classes are taught in Spanish and English, and the first Saturday of each month, DNI hosts a tango party for beginners.
• La Catedral, an 1880 church-turned-concert-hall, which is a few blocks away from DNI. There are group dance classes here seven nights a week, but it’s the Tuesday milonga you’ll want to mark in your calendar. At 10 p.m., for $40 pesos (or about $9 U.S.D.), you can attend walk-in group lessons, followed by turntable music and dancing.
• La Viruta, a popular dance hall, in the Palermo neighborhood, that’s actually located on the ground floor of an Armenian cultural center. La Viruta offers classes in tango, along with milonga (another traditional Argentine style of dance), swing, and even rock and roll.

If you’d like to devote your entire vacation to tango, there are a number of trip operators in Buenos Aires that can help plan it. Companies like Tango Focus and Tango Taxi Dancers, both based in Buenos Aires, coordinate private lessons and milonga visits for foreign visitors.

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As you walk beneath the Maldonado Street bridge at the lower end of Morales Street, commonly known as La Ronda, a plaque dedicated to the Ecuadorean poet Hugo Aleman reads:  “Undoubtedly Calle de la Ronda symbolizes the absolute bustle of disoriented humanity.” 

But after the city’s intervention in this neighborhood seven years ago to rescue it from decay and abandon, the word “bustle” would have been best replaced with “boredom,” at least during daylight hours.

Though weekends can be a hive of activity for night owls with bars and restaurants and live music, La Ronda’s cobblestones are lightly treaded during late morning strolls along what centuries ago was the southern boundary of Quito.  (The official name of this pedestrian walkway is Morales Street but the more common name derives from the Spanish verb “rondar,” which means to patrol. La Ronda  was part of the patrolled perimeter of Quito).

But since December, about a dozen artisan craft workers have begun to occupy the store fronts and the spaces that formerly sat idle, injecting a little more activity into the otherwise tranquil corner of old town.

El Rabel – photo courtesy of Lance Brashear

Hands of La Ronda

Known as “Hands of La Ronda” these artisan workers represent the winners of a competition sponsored by the Quito tourism office.  As part of an agreement the winders agree to  open their stores and workshops from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. offering demonstrations and explanations of their craft.  In return, they receive city support in the form of reduced rent and free promotion (such as this article).

“Besides the architecture, Quito is magical because of the people and what we want to show with this project,” said Pablo Ponce, city council member, when Hands of La Ronda first began in December.

Luz Elena Coloma, Manager of Quito Turismo, the city’s tourism branch, says the object of the program is to allow visitors to La Ronda – both local and international – to get to know the city’s intangible heritage, express in traditional, hand-made, occupations and respond to the need to offer tourists new opportunities during their stay in Quito.

Hand-crafted, homemade goodies

Today, a stroll through La Ronda necessitates a stop at four different houses where visitors find hand-crafted, homemade goodies and really cool stuff:

Quito invites you to visit La Ronda, which is also home to street entertainers, traditional games for kids, and the La Ronda Bookstore with more than 100 works about Quito’s history, cultural, and traditions.

Chez Tiff Chocolates – photo courtesy of Lance Brashear

House 989

Home to Chez Tiff, maker of chocolates and desserts; Catzo, a traditional jewely designer; El Rabel, makers and restorers of musical instruments; Panaderia San Juan, famous for their “quesadilla” pastries and traditional “helado de paila” ice cream; and , Humberto Santacruz’s workshop for restoring pianos.

House 925

Site of Vulgomaestre, contemporary artisans and makers of ethno-urban clothing and accessories; Api Real, traditional products made from honey; and Zabalartes, specializing in wooden toys.

House 707

Host to Humanizarte Cultural Foundation of dance and music and Imaginaquito, a photographic workshop.

House 762

A home that preserves the traditions of hat maker Humacatama and tin maker Hojalateria Silva, the first artisans to occupy spaces in La Ronda since the city intervened seven years ago.

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Once I heard that the best time to be had when traveling is when you wake up before anyone else to enjoy an unforgettable sunrise. When I did this in Chaparri, Moche Sacred Mountain, and I saw it reddened by the sun, hidden in the fog, I understood why shamans still invoke it in their sessions and why the pre-Incan civilization Moches did too.

Located in the rich valleys of Lambayeque and La Libertad in northern Peru, this ancestral culture is noted by their painted ceramics, iconography, gold work and its monumental  architecture. Among all the places you can visit in these touristic corridors, here are my favorite:

Lord of Sipan

It was the biggest discovery of archaeology in its time. The world was dazzled with its luxurious ornaments ans jewerly and was even featured on the cover of National Geographic. Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan (The Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan) is a must if you are visiting northern Perú. Located 10 minutes from Chiclayo city, it is opened from Tuesday to Sunday and the entrance fee is only US$5.

The Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan – photo courtesy of Enrique Castro-Mendívil

The Tatooed Lady

Located 45 minutes from Trujillo, El brujo site (The wizard) holds Cao Museum where  the nummy of the women who ruled the Chicama valley now rests. Before Lady of Cao was found, it was beleived that only men had high status in ancient Peru. Yet all the jewels, costumes and decoration they found on her confirmed the opposite. In Cao Museum you will immerse yourself in the life of old inhabitants of the area. For more info click here.

Spectacle Bears in Chaparri

The territory of the Moche also has unique flora and fauna. Chaparri ecological reserve, founded and managed by the local community of Chongoyape, has protected the area since 2000 and has an amazing lodge with Moche-style cottages. A conservation project for spectacle bears and white-winged guan is also developed in the area. I recommend you to stay at least two nights. For more info check their site here.

For more information on the Moche route check the complete catalogue here.

To get to Chiclayo or Trujillo, LATAM Airlines Group offers daily flights from Lima.

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Like most Latin American countries, breakfast in Colombia revolves around carbs. There’s a bakery on practically every block in every city or town, packed with all manner of rolls, panes and other droolworthy pastries. The most ubiquitous of all is the humble arepa, a breakfast staple across the country and in neighboring Venezuela as well. Though arepas can be found in every corner of Colombia, not all arepas are born equal. In fact, depending on who you ask, there are between 70-100 varieties in Colombia alone.

Each region has its own specific twist on the flat bread template, and they’re so different that it’s worth arranging a road trip just to sample them all!

One of 70-100 varieties – photo courtesy of Natalie Southwick

Here are a few of the most popular versions:

Arepa paisa con huevos pericos: The arepa itself is nothing to write home about – just a flat, white piece of bread with no salt or seasoning. Luckily, it isn’t left to suffer alone, serving as an accompaniment to breakfast plates and, in the western Andean region, with just about any meal. The best way to consume these is from one of the street vendors at the busy intersections in major cities – in under two minutes, they’ll whip up a breakfast sandwich of huevos pericos (scrambled eggs with tomato and onion), ham, cheese and an artery-clogging quantity of butter. After one of those, you’ll never want a boring breakfast sandwich from a fast-food chain again.

Arepa boyacense: As the name suggests, these hail from the central department of Boyacá. Appropriate for the region’s chilly mountain climate, these arepas are thicker and sweeter than their lowland brethren. Made from a combination of corn and wheat flour, then mixed with cheese, butter, salt and a little panela (Colombia’s native sugar product) and baked in a small oven over a fire, these melty, gooey, slightly sweet snacks are just the thing to keep the chill away.

Arepa de huevo: Like everything else on the coast, the arepa de huevo is fried within an inch of its life – and boy, is it delicious. A complicated art that involves raw eggs and perfect timing, the arepa de huevo is filled with meat or chicken, cheese and an egg, rolled, and deep-fried until the egg is perfectly cooked. You can find them at just about any fast-food joint or busy street on the coast, but the best ones are in Cartagena. Don’t forget to grab an extra napkin to soak up the grease!

Arepa de chócolo/choclo: No, it’s not chocolate, but it’s still pretty tasty. Arepas de chócolo are originally from the western Andean region (from Medellín on south), but their popularity has spread across the country. Made from cornmeal rather than typical flour, these hearty treats taste like a not-too-distant relation of American-style cornbread, and are delicious with cheese or arequipe (Colombian dulce de leche). The best one I’ve ever eaten was the size of my head and I bought it, still hot off the grill, from a vendor on a bus outside of Medellín for about US$1.50. If you have time, I strongly recommend riding buses until you find that particular vendor and his arepas. They’re worth the effort.

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