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Mo & Co

@walkinggals

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On the Go🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏻‍♀️
A day in the life of 2 silly backpackers🌍
@monzutt
@imsocorny

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This city made us very thankful for AC

📍Cartagena, Colombia

Mo & Co here,

There finally came a time when a bus ride was too long, so we flew up to the northern coast to see one of Colombia’s most popular cities. We started our time here with one of our weirder free walking tours, we were the only two there and the guide seemed like he wished there were more of us (oh well). Starting at one of the old walls within the city, we walked through colorful streets learning how old this city truly was. But after about 30ish minutes the tour just kind of ended and the guide promptly said our two hour tour was completed. We had to check the time to confirm this guy was actually trying to scam us. We gave him an appropriate tip for the time (he wasn’t happy) and did a bit of our own exploring, checking out the Getsemani neighborhood. It was a lively little area full of crowded resultants and music. After grabbing something to eat we hung out at our hostel to do a bit of socializing.

Next day we wanted to learn more about the history here, so we headed to the San Felipe de Barajas Fortress. Built in the 1600s, it overlooks the city and coast as it once played a key role in defending the country from attacks from the Caribbean Sea. Now you can admire the city view and explore the fortress’s complex tunnel system. We also wanted to check out the Bocagrande, an island-like promenade with hotels and beaches, but it was pretty boring so we quickly headed back to our hostel. But the day wasn’t over yet! Because we still had to partake in our favorite pastime: a hostel bar crawl. So we bopped around the city some more to immerse ourselves in the nightlife.

We spent our last 24 hours in the city eating, hiding from the heat and humidity, and getting vaccinated. We learned fairly recently we needed a Yellow Fever vaccination if we wanted to see the Amazon rainforest. So we found a place that provided them for free. The catch? No one spoke English and weren’t super keen on helping us, but we figured it out like we always do. by @walkinggals

Here for the salsa, not the edible kind💃🏻

📍Cali, Colombia

Mo & Co here,

We decided to go out of our way to hit this salsa-loving city (literally called the salsa capital of the world), and try our hand at some salsa dancing (spoiler: we are not about to become elite salsa dancers). Our hostel conveniently had locals teaching it so we both signed up for a few classes. Our next sign up was for a party bus🎉, party bus is a loose term for the windowless bus we all crammed in to while one person mixed a giant vat of alcohol as we all passed solo cups around. We had a great time!

The next few days were spent learning how to salsa dance and taking multiple walking tours around the city. One of which was a food tour where we got to try the best shrimp ceviche we’ve ever had and will most likely ever have in our lives. The tour also included cheese, coffee, yucas, tamales, and no joke about 15 different types of fruit.

Our last evening was spent at a local salsa block party, where we danced with new friends, hitting up more bars on the way home (also a small 3am pit stop for late-night snacks). We’ve never listened to so much Raggaeton before!

Accommodation:
• La Palmera Hostel and Coffee Shop 4⭐️
Highlights:
• Anamaya Indian Restutant
• Galería Alameda - market with an insane amount of different fruits by @walkinggals

☕️🚴🏼‍♀️🌴

📍Salento, Colombia

Mo & Co here,

Soon we were in the Colombian region best known for their coffee beans (Co was very excited)! The town of Salento is very small and quaint and you can walk anywhere you need to, except for the coffee bean place. To get there we needed to take public transportation - and by that we mean we were told to find the shed in the public square, ask the person inside for a ride to the farm, get pointed to a semi-closed in taxi-like truck, where there was so many people squeezed in Monica had to hang off the back (pic #7), then we got to the plantation. We took a tour around the place and learned how they grew, picked, sorted, and roasted the coffee beans to perfection. We then made our own coffee and tried (very bitter) samples. Once back to the public square we headed to the Mirador Alto de la Cruz, which has a long staircase to get a wonderful view overlooking the town.

The next day we did something Monica was excited about but was a little out of Courtney’s comfort zone: we mountain biked through Valle de Cocora. The scenery in this famous park is known for lushes greenery and its many (very) tall palm trees. Co made it about 20% down the mountain before calling it a day and riding in the truck the rest of the way (for the record she is not ashamed of admitting defeat, but she did laugh from the truck when Mon had to bike through a bunch of mud😂). That night we went out with a group from our hostel to a local bar that has one of Colombia’s most unique games: Tejo (it’s kind of like corn hole except you throw orange-sized rocks and you’re trying to hit a mark filled with gunpowder and if it explodes upon impact you win!). It’s really hard but a lot of fun!

We spent our last day in this cute town moseying around and doing a bit of shopping. Later we hung out at the hostel bar and said bye to more new friends before heading off to the next city.

Accommodation:
• Viajero Hostel Salento 5⭐️
Highlights:
• Coco Bowl - we have a serious açaí bowl addiction
• Cancha De Tejo Los Amigos - where to drink and play Tejo
• Donde laurita en Salento - Colombian cuisine by @walkinggals

Part✌🏼

Our last day with Sarah we participated in another walking tour to see downtown Medellin. The best part was seeing Plaza Botero, where Botero’s art is available to see and touch (if you don’t know who we’re talking about, you should definitely Google him). We checked out a local contemporary art museum before heading to El Castillo Museum and Gardens to see an old house (yes, that’s our best description).

The cherry on top of our Medellin trip was Co and Sarah getting tattoos on top of our hostel’s rooftop while Monica joined a salsa dancing class right next to it😂.

We still had two more days in the city after Sarah left (spoiler: her flight was cancelled and she ended up waiting forever to find out she had to leave the next morning). Once Sarah officially left we went back downtown to see the National Palace Mall which had 4 levels of art for us to peruse through. We also visited the Parque Explora, a science museum/aquarium that’s definitely meant for kids so we obviously had to go.

Thankfully we’d be back to this lovely city, so it was a goodbye for now.

Accommodations:
* Airbnb
* Viajero Hostel 5⭐️ - one of our top favs! (It has a rooftop bar)
Highlights:
* Pergamimo Cafe - great food & coffee
* Alambique - garden-themed restaurant
* Gringo Tuesdays - a night where tourists can listen to non-Spanish music by @walkinggals

Part☝🏻

📍Medellin, Colombia

Mo & Co here,

It’d been awhile since our last super long and terrible bus ride so we hopped on a 11 hour bus to our next favorite city. We chose to stay in another Airbnb near a huge mall, it’s always cool see what a shopping center looks like in another country.

Our first real day in the city was so fun, we started with checking out El Poblado neighborhood before joining the Comuna 13 walking tour. Comuna 13 was once the most notorious neighborhood in Medellin, but is now a community with a rich history in resilience, showcased by its vibrant street art. Another unique feature in Comuna 13 is its many outdoor escalators that help you get to the top!

After the tour we rushed to make it to our next big event, a Medellin football game! We found this local online that gets tourists together to help navigate the pregame/game time event. We had a blast making friends, cheering on the local team, and trying not to get crushed by the intense fans (there were a couple close calls😅).

The next day we partook in a full day tour to Guatapé, a beautiful resort town. Famous for a giant rock and Pablo Escabar’s burnt down house. The Piedra del Peñol (the rock) has 740 steps before you get the pleasure of a breath taking view of green and blue landscape. We dubbed it a tourist trap but honestly still worth going to. We then paid for a guy and his motorcar to drive us around the small town nearby so we could see all the colorful buildings and shops. Finally, we took a boat tour through the surrounding lake to see Pablo Escabar’s house, left there in all its burnt down glory. by @walkinggals

Tried Capybara, not bad.

📍Bogota, Colombia

Mo & Co here,

Who would’ve thought we’d make it to South America (not us!). Once we arrived our friend Sarah met up with us in the capital city of Bogota. We started our time here at the Gold Museum, where we learned how gold was used to shape economics and culture over time. The cool part was some of the gold came from the lake thats a part of the legend of El Dorado.

Next day involved a great panoramic view of the city at Cerro de Monserate, also we can’t pass up the opportunity to ride a funicular. We ended the day with authentic tamales at a tiny shop where there may or may not have been some confusion on what was inside the tamales (the first of many times we would wish we spoke Spanish).

To make the most of our time here we did back to back walking tours. The first was about the history of Colombia, how they fought for independence from Spain in the 19th century, and how the city became known for its emerald trade. The next tour was a food tour (guess which one we were most excited about). We had arepas, obleas (a wafer dessert), grilled corn, ajiaco (soup), hot chocolate and cheese (this was an interesting combo), and capybara (it was surprisingly good, tasted like pork). We finished our day with dinner at Andres D.C., a restaurant that was highly recommended to us because of its theatrically entertainment and different themes.

Only a couple nights in this bustling metropolis before we headed to one of our soon to be favorite cities!

Highlights:
* Cafe Monstruo - cute brunch spot
* Andrés D.C. - a unique restaurant experience
* La Puerta Flasa - the tamales👀
* Las Autenticas - the best arepas
* Rosario Market - where the professionals unofficially trade emeralds by @walkinggals

A vaca from our vaca🍹

📍Maya Riviera, Mexico

Mo & Co here,

Finally it was time for the reason we travelled half way across the world (again), for our friends, Niki and Ryan’s wedding! Only a short 30 minute collectivo (bus) ride to the resort, we donned our giant backpacks and walked right in to the hotel - just kidding! They stopped us at the gate station where it proceeded to take them 30 minutes to prove we were staying there (I know we looked rugged but we didn’t think it was that bad). Thankfully after all that someone picked us up in a golf cart and we were able to check in.

A short while later we were in the pool piña coladas in hand, hanging with our other friends also there for the wedding. Then the night got very interesting, we ate dinner at the hibachi restaurant (it might be impossible for a resort not to have hibachi), then to a…haunted house? Yes, for some reason this resort was so big they had a mini downtown area and we actually paid money to go in. They also had a club, fun times.

The next day involved more pool time before getting ready for the big event. The following evening was filled with dancing, drinking, tacos, piñatas, two pillows that looked like cats, and a beautiful couple tying the knot.

Our final resort day was, you guess it, hanging out in the pool. We did spend a little time playing beach volleyball before we had French cuisine for dinner. Unfortunately, Co got a bout of food poisoning the last morning at the resort which made it a close call getting to the airport. But we made our flight, officially starting our South American adventure.

Accommodations:
* Barceló Maya Riviera Resort by @walkinggals

You better believe we brought our Costco bag of chips to Mexico with us.

📍Tulum, Mexico

Mo & Co here,

Time to head back to our home hemisphere! To do that we had a nice long flight from Seoul to Cancun, Mexico (with a quick layover in SF - which didn’t count as stepping foot back in the US technically!). Once we arrived in Cancun, there was a miscommunication on our shuttle arrangement (their fault not ours this time) and we had to get a way too expensive car to the hostel. Oh well at least we made it. Then we proceeded to fall asleep very early when jet lag came to say hello (but not before we had tamales for dinner of course).

The next day we took a tour with our hostel to Cenote Casa Tortuga, where we explored the natural sinkholes filled with water, jumping in and having a grand ole time. Afterwards, we went exploring for some good street elotes (they was delicious of course). Then back to the hostel where we promptly fell asleep, jet lag was at it again!

We couldn’t go to Tulum and pass up the ruins, which were cool but when you’ve been to Chichen Itza before it’s kinda hard to compete with🤷🏻‍♀️. There were tons of iguanas (best part of Mexico really) and we mainly chased them around before heading back. Then we proceeded to have the best Mexican food at Antojio La Chiapaneca (where we would go back for a second round the next day).

The last thing on our agenda was getting our nails done💅🏻. We know, very unusual of us but we had a big weekend coming up: our friends were getting married! Hence why we were in Tulum so we could get rid of our jet lag before then. Getting our nails done was our attempt to not look like we’ve been wearing the same 7 pieces of clothing for the past 9 months (spoiler - it didn’t work).

Accommodations:
* Mamas Home Hostel 5⭐️ - literally the best hostel breakfast we’ve ever had
Other Highlights:
* Don Taco - taco truck with tamales
* Taqueria La Chiapaneca Antojitos La Chiapaneca 🤤 by @walkinggals

Seoul Part ✌🏼

📍Seoul, South Korea

Mo & Co here,

And we’re back in the city of Seoul, but not before missing our bus back from Busan (Co’s fault) and then being stuck in traffic for 8 hours. But that’s the backpacker life.

We decided to stay in a new part of Seoul this time so we booked an Airbnb in the SW district. We had an unusual but very helpful host, who showed us some local restaurants and a late night karaoke spot (with our own room to sing in, too)! But we still moved to a regular hostel a couple days later.

Next we went somewhere we were extra excited to visit: Costco! Because yes, your Costco membership works worldwide and we proved it by buying a family sized bag of chips there. We went at dinner time so we could compare hot dogs and see what else they had on the menu (no, we did not get any pizza).

Now for the activity we both were actually waiting for, a trip to the DMZ! Otherwise known as the demilitarized zone, aka the closest you can get to North Korea without getting arrested. You can only go with an official tour company and they make you get there at the crack of dawn. There were lots of serious, official looking military people and they had to take our passports while we were there. It was such a weird but very cool experience, especially getting to peep on North Korea through binoculars. Fun fact: both North & South Korea are supposed to have people living in their demilitarized zones to help keep the peace (sounds like collateral to us), but North Korea only keeps an empty house, turning the lights on and off every evening to pretend people live there.

That night we explored more Korean night life with new friends, wondering how Koreans can stay out so late (& that’s saying something from us). Our last day was spent finding thrift stores and shopping at a local mall which had a super cool library and movie theatre (where we had to see a movie of course). Unfortunately, our time in Korea ended with a bit of drama - a guy at our hostel got very angry with Co bc he thought she was messing with his shoes on purpose. Obviously, Co was not, an argument ensued and we had officially met the worst person on our trip.

Next up: Mexico! by @walkinggals

✋🏼Busan, Busoff🤚🏼

📍Busan, South Korea

Mo & Co here,

Our first full day spent in this beautiful coastal city involved checking out Haeundae (the downtown area) and hopping on a local bus to get to Songdo Bay Station. This station wasn’t like the usual ones because here we purchased tickets to ride the aerial tram! But first we had to wait a couple hours for our turn so we meandered through Songrim Park and the Songdo Cloud Trails to kill some time. Then we were off cruising through the air in our own little bubble with a view of the city on one side and the ocean on the other. The sky tram dropped us off at Amnan Park which was full of… dinosaurs? Yes, there was an area full of animatronic dinosaurs - Korea is full of surprises.

On our way back we stopped at the Lotte Mall. It was an online recommendation and it was just a really big mall so we left pretty quick. Then we went looking for food at the Haeundae Traditional Market, where we proceeded to have the best ramen with dumplings. Then was our new favorite dessert: ice cream with honey combs (we had a few of those in this city).

The next day started with a walk through Taejongdae Park, checking out the ocean view in a lighthouse! Then off to Gamcheon Cultural Village (known as one of the most colorful places in the world)! It was so fun walking around the small streets and little boutique shops. We stopped at another street market on the way back for some food and shopping.

We somehow packed our last full day in Busan with even more activities. We went to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, where we wrote our wishes down on golden leaves and tied them to the trees so when they fall off our wishes come true😊 We also brought our books so we could take some time to enjoy the nice area. Our last stop was to Haeundae Blueline Park, got on ✨another✨ tram (this one was on tracks) and got a nice evening view of the bay.

Accommodation:
* Kimchee Guest House Haeundae 4⭐️ - it was so close to the water!
Other Highlights:
* Biff Street - outdoor market
* Honey Hombi - delicious honey comb ice cream by @walkinggals

Don’t eat the Cheetos

📍Seoul, South Korea

Mo & Co here,

It was quite the trek getting from Bali to Seoul, because although we looked at a map beforehand we still weren’t expecting two flights totaling 12 hours to get there😵‍💫 We first had a layover in Kuala Lumpur, Maylasia where we rushed to a hostel at 4am so we could get a whopping 4 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport on an 8 hour flight to Korea.

Thankfully, Seoul has a fantastic public transportation system so it wasn’t too hard to figure out our way around the big city. We started with the best view of the area at the Seoul Tower, a bit of a climb to get there (if you’re cheap like us and didn’t take the lift), but a wonderful view of the city once you make it. That evening we checked out Myeongdong Street to grab some dinner, we had the best dumplings, chicken skewers, and odd desserts (why is it always street markets that have the most amazing food?). We didn’t know what kind of food we were looking at half the time but it was delicious.

Next day involved more of Seoul’s history, as we took a tour through Changdeokgung, a cultural and historic landmark where the Joseon dynasty royals lived. It was refreshing to see new architecture and designs, built in the 14th c. (it was burned down and rebuilt quite a few times). We then made our way all the way up to Samcheong-dong street, a picturesque neighborhood full of boutiques and cafes to meander through.

We heard Seoul had a great night scene so we couldn’t wait to explore! We made friends at our hostel and went out in Hongdae. Our night was full of adventure as we club hopped, ate the world’s worst Cheetos, and found a 24/7 Photo Booth (we absolutely need these in the US) - all while it was pouring rain🌧️

The next day would’ve been a nice day to sleep in, but Co had to go and make herself another tattoo appointment (worth it). The rest of the day was a bit more relaxing while we planned for what we’d do at our next stop: Busan! by @walkinggals

Apparently we took almost no photos here, but we did eat a lot of smoothie bowls so here’s some pics of those instead

📍Seminyak, Indonesia

Mo & Co here,

We ended our long stay in Indonesia in the coastal city, Seminak. Our first night there we found a restaurant that delivered sushi to you via conveyer belt so we thought that’d be a great idea before we spent another night out on the town (spoiler… it was a great idea😉).

Our next couple days before leaving the country were spent getting as many massages as we had time for, along with the best facial. We had a wedding coming up in Mexico that we were both attending, so we took some time to shop for wedding attire - which became a lot harder task than we were expecting. On our walk back to the hostel we decided to take what we thought was a shortcut (it was on google maps ok) but we now think was someone’s backward, as two dogs decided to basically chase us out of there😅 Thankfully, this was the first (but not the last) interesting animal encounter we’d had on our trip.

Our last day was spent getting to the airport extra early because we didn’t have anything else to do. Good thing we did too because not only was the check in and security line the longest we’d seen, but we may or may not have gotten in a bit of trouble with Customs. We accidentally went one day over our visa (oops) and were taken to what we considered was tourist time out. Thankfully, we only had to pay a fee and they gave us our passports back🙌🏼

Accommodation:
* My Capsule Bali 4⭐️
Other Highlights:
* Bali Wasabi Sushi Train - 🍣🤤
* La Favelas (again) - unique outdoor nightclub by @walkinggals