Adventures by land and water pt 1.

Days 5/6
Renacer hostel, Villa de levya > Macondo hostel, San Gil

After a few freezing days of high altitude and cloudy skies in Bogota, the lower altitude of villa de leyva was very welcome. Our hostel was situated high up the mountainside and so we woke to wonderful views of the valley and blue skies, a nice change. The main activities in Villa de leyva revolve around exploring the vast and varied landscape. There were a choice of tours that we could have taken including horse riding, cycling, by bus or hiking...we bravely chose to cycle after being reassured that it wouldn't be too strenuous...

So, after renting bikes from a new local business [we have noticed that many of the businesses are quite new, perhaps due to burgeoning tourism post the fall of Pablo Estebar (the super drug-lord) in 2008/9] we set off. First stop; 7 blue lagoons about 3km away. They were a marvelous azure blue and very picturesque (again, when I get a chance to upload photos, i found an internet one..) although we didnt work out why they were so blue, biologists brains suggested algae.

Blue pools, Villa de Leyva

We then headed off again, by-passing the ostrich park (!?), to visit various other sites along the path. Predictably, we got lost and didnt visit any other sights, while the slow rolling hills stopped looking beautiful and started looking hellish. Comfortably taking third place, I left it to Lizzie and bean to find our way back, which we managed with Beans DofE skills, after a couple of hours. To make this journey slightly less peaceful, we also got a battering from the elements, with some precariously placed sunburn highlighting our poor application skills. Just as we got lost, the rain began, which soothed said sunburn but did not make the sweaty hill climbs any easier. Oh and we had not taken lunch with us so all of this on an empty stomach. For those who know me, you may have guessed that I was not overjoyed by this affair, despite feeling a serious sense of achievment for keeping up with my two energetic companions, how grateful i now am for the cycling I,d been doing back home! My food grump was taken out solely on a horribly westernised & overpriced waffeleria which chose the wrong moment to put hersheys chocolate sauce on my chicken and caper crepe. We returned to the hostel for a well deserved chill and excellent sleep.

Villa de leyva town square - buzzing by night

Day 6 was largely uneventful, a travelling day spent on a minibus heading to San Gil, our next stop. I will take a moment to comment on our perception of Colombia. We all agree that we have been made to feel at home here, walking down the streets (bar perhaps a little attention in Bogota) we are largely ignored, anyone looking for an ego boost - dont come here..! But the country is beautiful, varied and the people are so helpful, not once have we been or felt like we are being scammed or sent in the wrong direction. Of course we will continue to be careful, but it seems a real shame that Colombia has such a terrible reputation as it, and most of its people seem to be so un-polluted (in a touristic sense, its quite polluted otherwise haha) which makes it a lovely place to travel around. Apologies for the cheese but I feel we may come back real Colombiaphiles, so beware of us!

Next blog will include our waterfall/tarzan experience in San Gil. Exciting....