Blogs from Villa de Leyva, Colombia, South America
May 2nd 2012
Day 197 Wednesday 25th April Woke once more to the sound of bells, and had me wondering if the priest had heard word of heathens in town and was trying to flush them out. Should find out where he lives and park out the front revving a motorcycle all night and see how he likes it. No chance of sleeping in here so we got up and walked down to the main plaza in search of a good coffee. Discovered another small café and Shelley finally got a coffee she regarded as drinkable. I know she is a real “coffee snob” and is hard to please, but I’m not and I can confirm the coffee in Colombia is crap. You would have better chances of finding a snowman in Fiji than a good cup ... read more
Golden Bogota and Colonial Villa de Leyva
Published: April 16th 2012South America » Colombia » Villa de Leyva
April 16th 2012
Bogota was a bit of a shock to the system on arrival...it took us over an hour, nearly two once we were in the city to get to the area where our hostel was. The city is huge and the amount of traffic was incredible, after catching a bus around midday from Armenia we got to Bogota in the evening and in the darkness which always makes cities seem more intimidating. We got ourselves taxis to the hostel and when we arrived the taxi driver told us to be careful as it was dangerous around there...not what you want to hear when you arrive in a capital in the dark after a 9hr mini bus journey! The area we were in was La Candelaria which is the Historic Centre and also a popular tourist place. In ... read more
Villa de Leyva: cheap, good food and relaxing place in South America
Published: July 30th 2011South America » Colombia » Villa de Leyva
July 29th 2011
When time seems to lose its rhythm White walls seem to come to life in the cozy nights of Villa de Leyva when as quiet witnesses of our history, hundreds and hundreds of yellow butterflies alight, spending the night flapping their wings occasionally while they wait the first ray of light that wakes up the overwhelmed activity of “La Villa”, which paradoxically pass in the most longed calm. At 2143 meters above sea level and in the side of a big mountain range known as “Macizo de Iguaque”, we find this beautiful town with a magnificent weather that some people describe as Mediterranean. “La Villa” is a cultural and historic Paradise of the center of Colombia, declared national monument in 1954 and thanks to that and its dedicated architecture, it offers pleasurable living condition for its ... read more
March 12th 2011
Villa de Leyva, bless this little mountain town. What should typically take only four hours from the big city took me 6 unfortunately, due to road works however the Colombian buses are extremely comfortable so it wasn't all that bad, that and the fact that I am used to 20 hour stints on buses nowadays so 6 hours is nothing!! Back to the cute little town; I wish I could have stayed in for longer. Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia and was declared a National Monument many hundreds of years ago to preserve its architecture and it has certainly done this. Gorgeous architecture adorns every street, cobblestone streets stretch on forever throughout this beautiful tourist attraction. Not the easiest for walking on but it definitely adds to the ... read more
December 11th 2010
Everyone we've spoken to who is Columbian or has visited Columbia recently has enquired to check that we will be visiting this pretty little colonial town. Having seen a wealth of them through the continent this was little draw. However it was on our route north to the Caribbean coast and we needed to break the journey somewhere. We arrived in the town with its cobbled streets and white walled, terracotta roofed buildings. We were struck by just how beautiful it is. They are no modern looking buildings in the town, anywhere. Even the bus station is in the colonial style and blends in beautifully. We spent 2 days exploring the narrow streets and lively court yards filled with shops, restaurants and bars. We climbed the hills behind town to enjoy the vista, looking out over ... read more
October 18th 2010
Hallo zusammen Nach Bogota bin ich nach Villa de Leyva gegangen. Villa de Leyva ist eine kleine Kolonialstadt auf 2140m. Wirklich noch herzig, inmitten von Bergen. Alles ist schoen gruen, man kann ausreiten, trekken, zu den Wasserfaellen gehen..... einfach ein Ort zum entspannen oder ein bischen Sport machen. Dort habe ich einen 1 Tagestrek gemacht zum Santuario de Iguaque, zum geheimen See (the secret lake:-). Der Trek war zwar anstrengend, da der Weg recht schwierig war. Wir liefen auf Steinen und in Matsch. Es war recht rutschig, ebenfalls war das letzte Stueck recht steil, man musste fast klettern! Doch die Landschaft ist wirklich schoen und wenn der Nebel nicht gewesen waere, dann haetten wir eine super Sicht gehabt! Oben auf 3600m war es recht kuel und windig, zum Glueck hat der Wind den Nebel fuer kurze ... read more
Villa de Leyva, Columbia 27th - 31st August 2010
Published: August 31st 2010South America » Colombia » Villa de Leyva
August 31st 2010
We've just come down from a high in Villa de Leyva. Oh and not the sort you might automatically think of when Colombia is mentioned. At the suggestion of a well meaning local, we've just climbed 300m above the town to get a bird's eye view of it - see the first photo. Well with dark clouds off to the South and rumblings of thunder every now and again - why not ? I put my Sergeant Wilson voice on and asked Felicity "Do you think that's wise?" (Google Dad's Army if you are lost at this point) - but to no avail We made ourselves into mountain goats and ascended the rocky climb, being told in Spanish near the top that God loves us. Given that we got up and down without issue and without ... read more
August 13th 2010
With Julio I explored the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira. Villa de Leyva I explored on my own. ... read more
February 23rd 2010
It's been a couple of days since my last update and there's a fair amount to fill you in on, so I'm going to do this update in two parts. I guess that the last time that I wrote I was enamoured with Villa de Leyva and its laid back way of life. It really would have been too easy to stay there, but on Monday night I was sitting in a bar on my own overlooking the square which was totally empty. There was a heavy thunderstorm and webs of lightning streaked across the sky - a silhouette of mountain etched into the distant landscape. Beautiful. I noticed that the lightning moved across the sky rather than heading towards the earth - is this normal? It was interesting to watch but that it was interesting ... read more
