Alright… back to Colombia.
Day 3 in Colombia I was in San Gil – which is in the northern part of Colombia right in the middle of the Andes. It is a well known spot for backpackers for an adventure travel spot. And there is nothing I love more than adventure. It is considered the adventure capital of Colombia, filled with whitewater rafting, paragliding, caving, bungee jumping and more. I wish I had more time to spend there – I only spent one day there but I got a lot of adventure while there.
After my first day in Colombia – I made my way 3 hours north to a historical town called Villa de Leyva. It was a must see for me – because I just love historical towns – and I kept reading about Villa de Leyva as a good stopping point.
I was extremely happy to have stopped off in Villa de Leyva too. Considering that I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning so I could catch a 5:30 bus to Villa de Leyva. I happily slept on the bus -and when I arrived in Villa de Leyva – it was a beautiful gorgeous day.
Villa de Leyva is everything you expect a historical town in Colombia to be – filled with cobblestones, churches, Spanish architecture, arches, and old men with cowboy hats. It is settled in a high altitude valley in the middle of the Andes – and all I can say is: Gorgeous!
When I got to Villa de Leyva – I had my giant backpack and I didn’t plan on staying in Villa de Leyva but for a few hours. So I was on the lookout for a hotel/hostel that I could keep my backpack safe until I left again that afternoon. While roaming the town – I ran into an older gentleman (in his 50s) and he introduced himself to me – Mauricio. He asked if I was looking for a hostel – and I told him only for a few hours. He replied that he owned a hostel and that I could keep my bag there for the hours that I needed to. I think I trust to easy – so I said yes and followed him. He proved to be honest and trustworthy – and for $5.o0 I was able to get a small room to keep my backpack safe.
Mauricio then took me for a tour of Villa de Leyva – which wasn’t long because it’s not a big town at all. I went to the main plaza called – Plaza Mayor – with a non-working fountain and surrounded by churches and stores… he took me to a local restaurant for breakfast, a local food store for snacks and introduced me to the locals. He also showed me around the museums. He was really a great guide. So very nice. And he didn’t make fun of my bad Spanish.
Later on – I walked around the town and took pictures (that’s all I do really) and just relaxed. It was a sleepy old town and it was a nice stopping point since I had such a busy two days with traveling, biking and touring the big city of Bogota. I got to enjoy the outside air, the heat (it was hot but not humid) and enjoy the small town Colombian culture. I would definitely go back to Villa de Leyva if I had more time and probably do some hiking that it’s known for and visit some waterfalls in the area.
For now, I’ll just reminisce by looking at the photos that I took. I hope you enjoy them!
Bogota – what an amazing city.
I really only spent two days there – and I consider it an adequate amount of time to see it – but that’s me as I’m not a city person.
Bogota is the third highest capital city in the world and one of the most populated cities in the world as well. And I’m not surprised by that at all after being there. It is an extremely crowded city. For those who have been to New York City or even Washington, DC and you say it’s crowded and dirty – those cities are very clean and those cities are like suburbia compared to Bogota. More info on Bogota at the Wikipedia site.
I’m not saying anything bad about Bogota at all – because I enjoyed the time I spent there – and the architecture is amazing – with the Spanish Colonial architecture prevalent throughout the city.
I’ll dedicate this post to my first day in Bogota.
My first real day in Bogota – I took a bike tour of the city – and it gave me more than enough to see the city. I was there on a Sunday which was actually a perfect day for it because Sundays in Bogota – they close off a lot of the streets and open it up to bikers, walkers, runners, rollerbladers – in an effort to make for a more active city. And it was definitely active. Sundays from 7a-2p is called Ciclovia.
The city was definitely crowded with active Colombians – I don’t even want to know what the streets are like when filled with cars!
Ciclovia en Bogota
But Sundays are not just for Cicolvia but also for festivals, markets, both flea markets and farmers markets. But that Sunday was also a gorgeous day – sun shining, not too hot – as I was wearing jeans and a sweater – but still warm enough that I didn’t have to wear a sweater.
I got to see the huge Plaza de Bolivar – filled with pigeons and people. I saw impressive cathedrals, the giant presidential palace, countless parks, statues (Colombians love their heroes and statues), and the national cemetery, and the Red Light district. I even got to participate in the national sport of Colombia – a game called Tejo – which involved throwing giant iron rocks/balls at a mud pit that contained envelopes filled with gun powder. The point – was to hit as many of the envelopes, so it would explode. Yup – that’s the national sport. It also involves a bit of drinking.
In my first day in Colombia, I really learned even more that the history of Colombia is very violent one. I always knew this of course, but being there and seeing it was very eye opening. And sad as well. While it is stable now, you are still able to see it and Colombia still has a lot of healing that needs to be done. The people, however, are so friendly, you would never have guessed that just 10 years ago that they were in the midst of a drug war. It made me much more appreciative of my life and freedoms.
Not once did I feel in danger, especially since I was traveling by myself. I did not see any drugs while there, nor anyone doing drugs. I did see prostitutes in the Red Light District – where it is legal – this was seen on my bike tour. There is a lot of poverty in Bogota – and you see it much more openly.
Overall, I had a blast my first day in Colombia. Bogota is a beautiful city and I was in awe of the architecture. It is such a historic city filed with so much culture and amazing food and people – despite its recent violent past – I was still charmed by the city.
Enjoy the pictures of the city!
Wow! I’m here in Colombia and I’m in my 5th day!
So much has already happened since arriving and I can scarcely take it all in.
First – I arrived in Bogota late Saturday night and it took nearly two hours to get through customs, immigration, and money exchange.
I went to bed tired and got barely any sleep as I was so excited and then got up early Sunday to get my day started.
I’m typing this on my phone so I won’t go into too much detail.
But I did a bike tour of Bogota, traveled to an amazing historical colonial town called Villa de Leyva, made my way to San Gil and went paragliding, took a 19 hour bus trip to Cartagena, toured the city and am now sitting in the common room of my hostel exhausted!
I will go through more detail later when I’m at my own computer.
I’m resting now and looking forward to sleeping in a bed after sleeping in a bus. But tomorrow I will be taking a boat ride to some nearby islands and then snorkeling at the beach.
For now, hasta luego!
The post of the day suggestion from yesterday was “what job do you want if you could have any job…”
That’s a hard one for me…
But these are the requirements for me…
Travel required….
Writing of some kind…
Photography…
And Fun.
I guess I could just be a travel writer and take my own photographs… but I also want to make sure I’m making a difference. Whether that be learning about different cultures and sharing it with people, and or making some kind of impact with people.
I’m not asking for a lot of money – if someone gave me the opportunity to do this and paid me enough to live on in that environment – I would be happy. I love to travel, I love to write and I love photography. But I also love being around people and constantly learning.
Is this too much to ask for? I hope not, because I sincerely hope that one day I will be doing this. 🙂
But for now, I will travel on my own dime, take photographs of it and write about it on this blog. That’ll keep me satisfied for now.
New Modern Millie 