COLONIAL GEMS
(Crossing Colombia Part 6)
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On January 28, we left Bogota for Villa De Leyva, a popular weekend destination about three hours away. It was a gorgeous colonial town with a very large central plaza, bougainvillea lined cobblestone streets, minimal traffic and a great selection of hotels and restaurants.
We visited Ecce Homo, a Dominican monastery from the 1620's. Unfortunately for the Dominicans and fortunately for us, it was no longer an operating monastery but was open to the public as a museum. It was located in a tranquil setting in the countryside and had an attractive central courtyard.
With a lift and a little walking we continued on to "El Infiernito" - The Little Hell. So named by the Spanish conquistadores due to the unusual monoliths that were there. It was an indigenous religious and burial site that is believed to have served as an early solar observatory. Looking at the rocks, we were not sure why the Spaniards used the word "little"!
Our next destination was a lesser known place - a house built purely of clay. We walked from El Infiernito and asked directions a few times, but managed to get pretty lost. After about two hours of walking, we reached what we hoped were the outskirts of Villa De Leyva. We were tired, hot and a little anxious so we figured we should skip the house of clay. However, as we were walking, a woman in a large SUV pulled up and asked if we wanted a lift. We were not even looking to hitch! What a wonderful offer. We told her about our day and what had happened. It turned out, she was a good friend of the mother of the architect (Octavio Mendoza) who built the house and insisted on taking us there.
A short drive later, we arrived at a most unusual sight. Except for the window panes, water lines and electrical components, literally every part of the house was made of clay - the stairs, the roof, the pillars, the furniture, the kitchen counters, everything. Maritza gave us a tour and explained that it was a green building project, funded in part by France, intended to be finished in a year, but taking more like seven. Beyond being functional, the house was totally whimsical. All sorts of animals - snakes, dogs, cats and faces were built into the design of the house. There were skylights in addition to multiple balconies and terraces. In our book, this is a not to be missed sight in Villa De Leyva. It was truly serendipitous that we got lost.
Our final outing from Villa De Leyva was to Parque Nacional Iguaque, a large nature reserve and site of the indigenous Muisca's creation myth. We started out at 10,000 feet in altitude and climbed to 12,700 feet. As we hiked toward the top of the mountain, it got very steep and windy. To compensate for the tough hike, we had beautiful views of the valley below and the flora along the trail. Almost at the top was a plateau with a dark blue lake, surrounded by succulents. According to the Muisca legend, the goddess Bachue rose from the lake with a boy in her arms and they populated the world. We were happy to reach the top, rest after the three and a half hour hike up, eat lunch and then head back down.
We left Villa De Leyva for Barrichara, another colonial town. The difference was that Barrichara was way more tranquilo and laid back. Of course, the less there is to do in a town, the more Paul likes it, so this was one of his favorites!
From Barrichara, we hiked two hours along a stone path built in 1864 to provide the indigenous people with a way to get goods to market. The path went down the mountain and then through meadows to the even smaller town of Guane. Given how hot it was, we were happy to take a bus back uphill to Barrichara! The rest of our time in Barrichara was spent in the pursuit of doing NOTHING. We did find a great Italian restaurant as well as a shop that made a fantastic fruit salad topped with yogurt and granola for about two dollars.
On the way to Barrichara, we passed through San Gil which looked downright ugly. However, there was a botanical garden in San Gil that, according to our guidebook, was a must see. So, after leaving Barrichara, we spent a couple nights in San Gil. It turned out to be a little less ugly once we actually got into the center of town (we guess that is not exactly a ringing endorsement...). The botanical garden was an excellent place to visit, especially during the heat of the day. It was surrounded by two rivers and had an artificial pond which was great for swimming. There were Ficus trees with Spanish moss hanging from their branches, flowering plants and a variety of birds.
Juan Curi waterfalls was a half an hour bus ride and then a one mile hike to see. While the trip was killer hot, as soon as we were in front of the falls we felt a cool, refreshing breeze and a fine mist of water. At the bottom of the falls was a swimming hole twelve feet in diameter, six feet deep and full of freezing cold water. Paul thought it was great to jump in but Lois declined!
Leaving San Gil, we stopped at Parque Nacional Canyon de Chicamocha to spend a few hours before continuing on to Bucaramanga. The park was recently developed to encourage tourism to Chicamocha. We skipped the six kilometer cable car down to the bottom of the canyon and instead climbed to the top of a peak with a platform that had 360° views of the canyon. Unfortunately, it was a very hazy day, but we could still see the canyon snaking along for miles. It was hard to believe that the minor little stream at the bottom had been, over millennia, responsible for carving out the huge canyon.
To get from the park to Bucaramanga, we went to the main road and got on the next bus with empty seats (it is very rare for people to stand on intercity buses in Colombia). Just as we got nice and comfy, the bus came to a lengthy stop for road construction. Of course, wherever this happens, at least in the developing world, food and drink vendors spring up, seemingly out of nowhere. The only difference at this spot was that the vendors clearly liked their creature comforts!
When we arrived in Bucaramanga, we found a crowded, congested city where you take your life into your hands crossing the street. Luckily, we were there for only a night since, in Barrichara, we had decided to fly to the Caribbean coast. It cost $140 for the two of us to fly to Santa Marta, rather than paying $70 for the twenty hour bus ride. This meant we missed out on Mompos, but we were running out of time and had to eliminate some places from our itinerary.
This brings our travelogues up to February 5. Not exactly finished, but we are getting there! Coming up is Santa Marta, Tayrona National Park, Taganga, Carnival in Barranquilla and finally, Cartagena.
Paul
& Lois
McLean, Virginia
August 15, 2010