Villa de Leyva 2/6-2/8

From Bogota we decided to check out a little village called Villa de Leyva. The buses to this place were inconvenient in terms of leaving super early, but we still decided to go. I guess our friends, Kutman-Levy aka the 'early risers', had helped us make this decision. We woke up at 5 to catch the 7 am bus. However, when we arrived to the bus station, after much running around, we learned that the bus is not going today. We purchased tickets for a bus about an hour later. What was supposed to be an easy 3 hour ride, turned out to be a painful six hours. For the majority of the time, the bus was traveling through some villages, mostly by unpaved roads. It also stopped often to pick up passengers.

We finally arrived to the town and it was pouring rain. We decided not to bother with getting wet and took a cab to the hostel.

The hostel turned out to be a little ways from center but otherwise really cool. Very clean, beautiful location with views and gardens and it had hot water. The latter is such a rarity in Colombia that it is worth mentioning.

We waited for the rain to subside a bit, put on water proof clothes and umbrellas and headed out to town.

The town, is really a colonial village that has been perfectly preserved. It's been declared a Colombian heritage site which helps keep it's authenticity.  

It is also known for its arts and crafts which are very different from the regular touristy knick-knacks.

And the nature is just stunning!

We roamed the town in the afternoon and then again the following morning.

We thought about staying there an extra day or two. But we had already made reservations in San Gil. Looking back, we all agree that Villa de Leyva deserves an extra day of hiking.

In the afternoon we took a ride to San Gil, our next destination.

2012.02.06 Villa De Leyva