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Barichara
View from our hotel of the CatedralDay 197 Wednesday 25
th 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 of coffee here. With Shelley now happy that she has finally got some caffeine we returned briefly to our room to prepare for our day.
Today we have decided to get off our butts and go for a walk to the next town of Guane along an ancient stone pathway called El Camino Real. The pathway was built “way back when” by the
local indigenous Guane people and the path was restored and declared a national monument in 1988. The path is either 6km or 9km depending on what page of the Lonely Planet you believe and is mostly downhill, and you can get a bus back so that had us hooked.
We wandered uphill from our hotel to the start of the trail and discovered a great lookout over the valleys and mountains to the west of town. This is a really beautiful country with some amazing scenery. Unfortunately we had trouble discovering the start of the El Camino real and it took us nearly 30 minutes before we were underway. The path was very steep to start with and a lot of the rocks slippery but the trail soon levelled out and we were wandering through lovely countryside. The path itself is very rocky and can be hard going at times especially for people with bad ankles (me), and either side is enclosed with a loose rock fence, so it is easy to follow.
After 2 hours we reached the tiny town of Guane, where a local who was very happy (ie drunk), gave us a run down on
Barichara
Our Local drinking hole where to get a feed, where to get the bus and a whole lot of other stuff which we couldn’t understand. He didn’t appear to understand us at all in particular the repeated words of “no Espanola” but was content to just keep discussing the town’s history. We eventually got away from him by going to the restaurant he kept flagging us towards and ended up getting a great feed. Shelley got a feed of goat while I stuck to good old chicken and both were sensational. Whilst we had been eating a black dog had walked into the restaurant and we were soon sneaking it snacks under the table and when we finished and left she decided to follow us around town. Guane is a tiny little place and only has a population of 1500 so it only took about five minutes to walk. It was now 2 and we had another hour to wait for our bus and so decided to do our usual thing and sit in the park and watch the world go by. Our little black friend stayed with us and we were soon joined by a larger male dog that had obviously got the
word that two gringo suckers were in town and came over for attention. They must have been the only dogs in town because I am sure if there were more they would have come running.
At 3 our bus arrived and we got the short drive back to Barichara, where we returned to our room. In what has become a regular routine we ended up back at the convenience store for a beer before dinner, and tonight we had the shop’s cat on our lap whilst we drank, so we must now officially be regarded as locals. The café up the road which made great pasta was closed and when we went looking for somewhere else to eat we discovered nearly the whole town was shut. Had to resort to a fairly ordinary burger at a Colombian fast food joint.
Day 198 Thursday 26
th April
Shelley was crook all night and even worse by the morning. Not sure if it was the meal last night, lunch yesterday or just one of those random things, either way she now had a good dose of Diarrhoea. When she was finally well enough to get out
Barichara
Our Hotel Verandah of bed we wandered downtown to see if she could stomach breakfast, and discovered the answer was no. Poor Shelley ended up spending the rest of the day in bed, but by the afternoon she felt slightly better and so we had back downtown for a coke and a light snack.
Day 199 Friday 27
th April
Shelley’s stomach bug just seems to be getting worse so she hit the hard antibiotics that we had been carrying with us. While she stayed in bed I arranged for yet another extra day at the hotel and then headed downtown to pick up water and breakfast for myself. Whilst Shelley slept I sat on the hotel terrace and did research on our next destinations as well as start back into studying Spanish. Late in the afternoon Shelley was well enough to get out of the room so the woman running the place could clean it. The woman is so lovely and she even made Shelley a cup of herbal tea. This is probably the worst sickness Shelley has come down with on our travels, and it is a first that she has spent a day in bed,
Barichara
View of the mountains but fortunately we are not on any time schedule and at least this is a good hotel and town to be sick in.
At night she was finally feeling a bit better so we walked the three blocks to our café for some pasta. Shelley couldn’t eat all her meal but at least she was feeling well enough to eat something. Although she is on the mend I can’t see us getting out of here until Monday morning which is fine.
Day 200 Saturday 28
th April
Shelley was feeling slightly better in the morning so we wandered down to the café for breakfast. Because she was feeling better we went for a walk around town in the sunshine and enjoying the ambience once more. Had to spend a bit of the afternoon back at the hotel because her energy levels were ebbing, but it was good to see her up and about again.
For dinner we decided to head out and find something different, and when we got down to the main plaza we found the place teaming with soldiers. On the first day of our arrival we spotted the town policeman
Road to Guane
El Camino Real who was busy fixing someone’s motorcycle, and that sort of gives you an idea of the feel of the place. It was by far the safest place we have been to in the whole of South America and you couldn’t imagine a crime being ever committed here, so it came as a rude shock to discover a battalion of machine gun totting soldiers on every corner of the plaza. We stopped first at our little convenience store where I had a beer and Shelley a coke. On the television the news had a story that was obviously about the FARC rebels and the 4 young soldiers that had been camped outside came running in to watch it. People who join the army in Australia only hold a small chance of seeing combat (although those odds certainly have increased for them over the last ten years), but the guys in Colombia face that prospect every day. Recently the FARC rebels have started a small campaign in an effort to prove they are still a force to be reckoned with and to force the Government to the peace table. We have been constantly keeping tabs on the activity and trying our best
Road to Guane
Barbas de Viejo (Old man's beard) the moss in the trees to avoid the hotspots which are in the remote areas that are not on the tourist trail. Tourists used to be prime kidnap targets but fortunately for us that is no longer the case and instead FARC have increased their attacks on Police stations and army personnel. The worried looks on the young recruits said it all as they watched footage of the latest attacks, and you know these guys must live with the fact that they are targets every time they hop into their uniforms. Hopefully for these guys and the entire country of Colombia some sort of peace agreement can come into place and this war will come to an end.
After our drinks we wandered up to the top of the nearby hill to a pizza restaurant. The pizza was really nice but unfortunately our meal didn’t come with smiles as we encountered some of the saddest sack waiters in our life. Shelley was now well and truly on the mend, except the antibiotics she is taking are making her queasy. She is now feeling well enough to be on the move again so we will try to escape Barichara tomorrow.
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Guane
View of the town of Guane normal;">Day 201 Sunday 29
th April
I am back on the road again and although it is sad to leave this town it is good to be well and on the move. We had breakfast at the café and then went back to the hotel, which has been so good to us. The Hotel Curata would have to be the cleanest hotel we have ever stayed in and the woman running it (and cleaning it) was really lovely and made us feel like we were staying at a friend’s house (albeit one who couldn’t only speak in Spanish). It felt sad to be saying our goodbyes but we had to start moving and so we grabbed our bags and walked back to the main square to catch the bus which tested my strength out. As we arrived there was a bus waiting so the first connection for the day was easy and we were on our way to San Gil at 9.30am which is about 45 minutes away. From the local bus terminal we jumped into a taxi and went to the main terminal and were told the bus was leaving in about 10 minutes to Tunja so the second
Guane
Santa Lucia Iglesia connection worked out. The trip is again through beautiful countryside and of course the landslides and bad roads which are everywhere in Colombia.
As we entered the outskirts of Tunja our bus stopped just before a roundabout for what appeared to be no reason so everyone just sat there until the driver came up to us and said “Tunja”. Out we got looking around at the few taxis and a minivan nearby, it seems that the bus does not go into the main terminal to save time as it is going onto Bogota. The driver pointed to the minivan and we explained our final destination was Villa De Leyva so we piled in with our bags and were taken to the bus terminal which is in two parts, big buses and minibuses. Here at the minivan section the new driver called over to another driver who confirmed he was heading our way. The backpacks were thrown on top and the driver asked if we wanted to sit up front which of course is a yes as the van was already packed. The drive to Villa De Leyva is beautiful and the road even more dodgy often the van would
Villa de Leyva
Iglesia Parroquial turn a bend and half the road would be missing down the mountainside with the guardrail and the area would just have some tape to warn you, this is the reason we have not been travelling at night in Colombia. The driver was lovely and we had a bit of a conversation in Spanish as we are getting better at guessing what is being said and can give some brief answers.
We arrived in Villa De Leyva at 4.30pm which is pretty good considering all the connections, from the terminal it is a three block walk to the hotel we have chosen. The streets here are also traditional cobblestones which are very hard on the feet so you have to be careful not to twist an ankle especially while carrying backpacks. The hotel is more expensive than we expected but it is a major tourist attraction and the town is full of people from Bogota, South America and a few international ones. After settling into the hotel we hit the town which is based around the huge Plaza Mayor this is 120m x 120m making it one of the largest town squares in the Americas. A lot of the
Villa de Leyva
Iglesia del Carmen restaurants are positioned around this area so after a walk around to get our bearings we settled on a place to eat facing onto the plaza. While sitting there we were entertained by some street performers until a storm hit town and it started to bucket down sending people and dogs running for shelter, although the restaurants soon were trying to shoo the later away. After dinner and when the rain eased we went back to the hotel for an early night I am not quite up to full speed.
Day 202 Monday 30
th April
It was a slow start to the morning as we don’t have much planned other than wandering around the town. Had breakfast at the hotel which is OK and then went looking at the shops around town starting with two antique shops. Thankfully we brought nothing although there were a set of large scales that were interesting, but from the last blog you can see nothing more will fit in our packs. The town is full of shops with some great stuff so I had a great time wandering through them all while Scott waited outside. There are some
Villa de Leyva
Plaza at night wonderful handbags that are tempting, they are pricey but for the quality are reasonably priced.
About 12.30pm we stopped for a coffee and cake at an outdoor café which is located in courtyard which is a tranquil spot for a break. The weather here is very changeable it started out very cool this morning and by 11.00am it was getting hot and now it is starting to look like rain. We continued to walk around and then went back to the hotel for a few hours.
For dinner we have decided to see if the Zarina Lebanese restaurant that the Lonely Planet suggests is still operating and yes it is. As my taste buds are nearly back to normal we both went the Arabe Mixto which made a nice change from the usual meals in South America after 6 months. It is now raining again so we only did a short walk around the plaza before going back to the hotel.
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traudy glasencnik
non-member comment
thats better!.
Sounds like your on the mend Shell, poor darlin, those are the worst hey. Also sounds like you got a decent coffee, what the ? xx