Our first stop after Bogota was Villa de Leyva, a national heritage site in Colombia. Founded in 1572, almost of all Villa de Leyva is still from the 17th century, it's not stuck in the past - they just got it right the first time. We arrived on the outskirts of town after a bumpy 4 hour bus ride in a colectivo; an informal bus/minivan that shuttles between local places, scouring the streets for extra passengers and making frequent stops along the route on request.
La Plaza Mayor
Heading into the centre of town (we thought our hostel was there - it wasn't) we noticed the roads change from tarmac to stone-paved and, in a 'movie moment' as we entered the main square, the background noise changed from traffic to the strains of a Colombian Brass band in full swing playing to a seated audience. With some help we found our hostel and were treated to the warmest welcome by Marta, the owner.
Us and Marta, owner of El Solar Hostel
We also got good value from the hostel, making full use of all it's facilities. These included hammocks, great views, hammocks, free wifi, hammocks and the local fauna - three week old kittens (see kittens post for
too many photos) and vampirous insects. Following an evening of heavy biting (by insects not kittens...) Spike has been left with, in his own words, "one cankle". It is his right cankle.
Following dinner in a fixed menu restaurant (easily the cheapest way to eat, you get 2 courses of traditional Colombian food and fresh juice for £2-3) we made a new friend in the main square - Carlos. He made a great show of giving us each a string bracelet as a present (he gave Spike a pink one) but seemed disappointed when we didn't reciprocate his generosity with cash monies...
After dinner
(note Carlos in the background)
The next few days were spent wandering around Villa de Leyva. We took in religious artefacts in the Museo de Carmen; but were most blown away by the revelation that the seminary inhabitants take a vow of silence for a YEAR. After walking for 25 minutes to the palaeontological museum, with assurances from the tourist office that it was open, we found it was shut for the week. We got over our disappointment after spotting a sweet fossil in the street paving - also included is the cankle.
Ignoring wise words from Spike that the way might be past the large signs (my bad) and instead following local directions (gesticulated with wielded machete) we climbed the hills above the town to get a good view. The hill was right above the football pitch, so we also got to watch a youth football session - it seemed unconventional; featuring in addition to players, up to four balls and a horse on the pitch.
In an effort to improve our spanish we've all started learning new vocabulary, some have questioned the usefulness of various words on our vocab lists. Most notably was Katrina exclaiming "Bajar de peso? Why would I need to say I've lost weight?!"
Chris
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