SaN GiL, CoLoMBia

After our visit to Villa de Leyva, we took off and went to the beautiful colonial city of San Gil, which was a lot warmer than the southern parts of Colombia that we had previously visited. It is a city with extremely steep streets and colonial buildings.
We had quite the adventurous couple of days in San Gil, to say the least! We hiked to a 75 meter (200 feet) high water fall where Scarlett and I went swimming and Scott rappelled down the face of the waterfall. It had rained the night before so there was tons of water! We met a nice couple from New Zealand who were traveling for 9 months. She is an artist and he is a writer and wanted to see South America before they had kids. When Scott got to the bottom of the fall, after rappelling, he found Scarlett and I at photo shoot (put on by our lovely selves...we were a bit bored after we got done swimming).









We hurried back into town so that we could be off on our next adventure of the day...paragliding! We didn’t have any lunch, so we picked up some plantain chips and juice and headed up to the mountains through tobacco farms to a peak overlooking farms and a huge canyon. Scarlett and I went paraglyding first and had a great time (well I did at least)...did some twirls and down spiraling but poor Scarlett got motion sickness. It was really cool being miles up in the air and being able to see the patchwork landscape of the farmlands below and the canyons and mountains. Scott went after Scarlett and I got back and on his way back down, turned gray as a gray ghost! He got a little motion sickness as well.
We then came back to the hostel and ended up talking to an Australian couple who went on the Ciudad Perdida and told stories about how the guides would take you to the cocaine fields to see how it is processed as it is in guerrilla country. Because the guerrilla make money off the tourists they protect them but if the tour guides don’t pay them their cut, they shoot the guides.






We ended up with one more day than we had expected in this sweet town because we decided not to take the long road to Cartagena by boat and decided to take a night bus. We first went to the touristic village of Barichara, which was a 40 minute bus ride. We got out and saw the village for about 10 minutes and realized that it was a waste of time because although it was pretty it looked too polished. Everybody told us it was worth going to, but we thought that Villa de Leyva was much prettier. We went to the main church and decided to get back on the bus and go back to San Gil. We then got some lunch in a run-down restaurant and then took a taxi to reserve our tickets for our night bus ride to Cartagena. After which we miandered over to a free water hole. It was a series of shallow waterfalls. A bunch of local kids were there, which Scott ended up becoming friends with. Comes to find out the three 14-year-old boys had a crush on me and Scarlett, which is why they started talking with Scott in the first place! One of them told us we looked like models...funny.
We ended up walking the mile back to our hostel and passed by some waterfalls and beautiful landscape (as we almost got hit as every car and truck passed us - so what if we were walking on the "freeway"). We showered and then went and got pizza and bought a tres leches dessert. There was a drunk guy at the pizza place that really wanted to talk to us and buy us beer. This was, I think, the only person that we thought was annoying in Colombia.



As we waited for our bus to board, Scarlett bought us a suprise! She bought ANTS! Yes, giant ants that you can eat (gross)! They were mostly for Scott cause he kept telling us how much he wanted to try them. So he and Scarlett indulged in the tasty creatures. I decided I would just watch. I have tried a lot of weird stuff, but opted out on the ants! We then got on the bus, which first stopped in Baranquilla (the birth place of Shakira) before the final destination - Cartagena. During our bus ride, we whipped out the tres leches cake that we had bought before hand. By the time it was gone, we all ended up with stomach aches, but it was SOOO worth it! They also cranked up the AC so everyone was mummified with blankets. Scott was the best...he ended up putting his arms inside his shirt and jacket and wrapping another shirt around his head in order to prevent hypothermia. It seriously was an ice box in there! We watched a sweet movie about a illegal immigrant from LA-turned soccer star in England. And then we watched some sweet Colombian music videos. We then tried to sleep, but seeing how it was SO bloody cold, this was IMPOSSIBLE!

Welcome to Villa de Leyva, Colombia

Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia, and was declared a National Monument December 17, 1954 in order to preserve its architecture. I loved this little place! There were no tourists here at all! And we stayed in the cutest little hacienda that is on a hill overlooking the beautiful military barracks, which made it very safe for us to walk around (despite how I feel about the military - yes, they intimidate me here!). Overall, the village just had such a nice feel. It seemed small and tucked-away, but is apparently a pretty popular vacation spot among Colombians. Oh and the food that we ate here....to DIE for! I had the most INCREDIBLE bean soup! WOW! I seriously could retire to Colombia! It is my type of place for sure (despite sticking out like a sore thumb! yes, this is the place where i was "spotted"...cute, old Colombian lady thought I was a movie star! haha).




Scarlett was hilarious...every little shop we walked by on the way to dinner, we just HAD to stop and get traditional foods...by the time we reached dinner, I was already full!





Maracuya en leche....AMAZING! Seriously, the juice down there is incredible (of course cause it's freshly squeezed juice, but then put it in their sweet milk and you have the most amazing dessert!).


The next morning we woke up in our beautiful hacienda. We ate huevos pericos, which are scambled eggs with tomatoes and onions with some tea and hot chocolate, rolls, and freshly squeezed orange juice. We then met up with up with Raul, an older gentleman who retired from his computer technician job to become a tourist/horse guide. We took a horse ride (one that Scott said was "romantic" but i'd beg to differ!) that went first through the cobblestone streets of Villa de Leyva to the Pozos Azules, which are blue pools in the middle of the desert. We went swimming in the cool, bright, blue water. Scott was pretty excited to learn he could still do a back flip into the water. The owner of the pools - who usually charges $2 for the entrance and swimming - after talking to the ladies, decided to let us swim for free. He said that he has never had any problems living there except that he has made enemies of his neighbors because they were jealous of his land and one day fired their guns on his land. He said that he lived alone and was happy to talk to us...I'm not going to lie, I might have had a bit of an old-man crush on him! :)
We then climbed back on our horses to head to the next stop. Let me just give you a little background about our horses and the ride first though. Remember how Scott thought this horse adventure was "romantic"? Well he had a lovely,well-behaved horse! Makes all the difference in the world! Me, on the other hand, did not. When Raul was assigning us horses that morning, he asked who the most experiences rider of all of us was. Scott and Scarlett had never been. I have been riding quite a few times, but that hasn't been since my family had neighbors that had horses (so maybe a good 12+ years ago!). So seeing how I was the most "experienced", I got the black stallion named “God of the Wind.” Oh yes, he was God of the Wind!! A fiesty, jealous thing, that is for sure! Raul told me time and time again that I was very brave and a warrior for daring to jump on that horse (as if I knew any different at the time!). Well, my ride was fun from time to time, but a bit of a challenge with two other horses nearby! The jealousy and feistiness would overcome my dear stallion any time Caramelo, Scarlett’s horse, would try to pass...or even get close! Poor Scarlett got run off the path so many times that afternoon! At one point, as we were riding side-by-side, my horse began to veer into Scarlett's (despite my honest attempt to direct him elsewhere). All the sudden, Scarlett and I were very close to each other and without even thinking, Scarlett pushed me out of frustration! I had to grip hard to stay on my horse and we both busted up laughing! She had realized what she had done as I was yelling back, "Scarlett, pushing me off my horse isn't going to move my horse out of the way!!" It was pretty funny!
Our next stop was El Fossil, a museum built around a huge fossil of a dinosaur. After this, we then hopped back on the horse and went to an ancient indigenous phallic garden and observatory of the stars. The Spanish missionaries called it “Little Hell” because of the enormous sculptures of penises (yes, you heard me correct...large penile structures ALL over the place!). The indigenous thought that when there was no shadow from the sun that the sun had come down to fertilize the ground and it was time to plant.
Our last stop, before heading back was the mud house styled after Gaudi type architecture. The entire house is made from mud and then hardened by liting it on fire...including the beds!
We then went to lunch and had a lovely four-course meal for $3, after which we jumped on our bus and headed to San Gil (saving that for the next post!).



Pozos Azules
I have to say, this photo was one of the most awkward photos ever! I am not sure why, but Raul decided to do a photo shoot before we went swimming, so he told all of us what to do and then would take the picture - this was the outcome. Rather entertaining!




The official name is Parque Arqueológico de Monquirá, but everyone calls it El Infiernito. This Muisca site was an astronomical center—and, according to archaeologists, a bit more. They state the Muisca (1000-1550 A.D.) believed when the sun cast no shadow of observatory’s twin lines of 36 stones each, then it was busy fertilizing the earth. Planting would begin. At this time, too, the women would be fertile, and perform rituals amongst the forest of phallic statues, hugging and caressing them to ensure pregnancy.

Welcome to CoLoMbiA!

I had the opportunity to spend eleven days in Colombia during June. I was supposed to go down for a wedding, however the wedding was called off. So instead I got to backpack around the country with two of my good friends, Scarlett and Scott, who are also former grad school classmates of mine. We had a really great time and having a Colombian with us (Scarlett), we were really able to experience the best of the country!

As Scott and I sat in the airport in SLC, we kept saying, "who goes to Colombia!?!?" Despite our excitement, we were a bit nervous to venture into a country that is known as the kidnapping capital of the world and genius here booked Scarlett's ticket for the wrong day! Up until a few days before we left, I thought we were all on the same flight. Unfortunately, I got dates mixed up and booked Scarlett for the day after us. Arriving in the country a full 24 hours before the one that knew everything about what we were doing, made both me and Scott a tad bit uneasy.

After arriving in Bogota and snagging a cab into the city, our uneasiness quickly came to rest. It was late...but our cab driver was AWESOME and made us feel at ease about being there. His Spanish was really easy to understand, but I was grateful to have Scott, who is fluent.

We got to our hostel, which might I add, was $5/night (which Scarlett's dad had more than enough to say about) and spectacular! We literally did not hear the end of the $5/night though from ANY of her family the rest of our trip! In fact, when we came back to Bogota, they wouldn't let us stay in that same hostel. We of course were welcome to stay with them, but Scarlett really wanted to experience the different side of Colombia that she doesn't regularly get to while she is there, so she insisted we not stay with them and we stay at the cheap place we'd found. Her family down there are all very well-to-do and treated us wonderfully. We eventually decided to stay with them that last night (something that was finally decided into the wee hours of the night haha)! I must note that Colombians are probably the most AMAZING hosts!! At the drop of a hat, they have everything PERFECT for their unexpected guests. We wined and dined on their tab that night, had an amazing breakfast the next morning, a ride to the airport...and the the best part? Scarlett's aunt is a Goddess! She gave me some cream for my sun spots/melasma, and they are gone! Wow. What an amazing country, amazing people, and above all amazing friend that I was able to share the experience with!

And of course...my pics from Bogota (which I do believe is my new favorite city), with more Colombia photos to come in the next few posts!










BOTERO MUSEUM - How can you not LOVE the work of Botero?!? Isn't it great?? Yes, he is an abstract artist that uses all obese people in his work.



Can you imagine having her hang in your dining room!?!

Monserrate rises to 3,152 metres (10,341 ft) above the sea level, where there is a church (built in the 17th century) with a shrine, devoted to "El Señor Caído" (Fallen Lord). The hill is a pilgrim destination, as well as a tourist attraction. In addition to the church, the summit contains a restaurant and many smaller tourist facilities. Above all, it gave us a beautiful view of Bogota!

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS SCARLETT!

Scarlett's birthday was the day after she got into Bogota, so Scott and I had a little surprise birthday party waiting for her at the hotel after we picked her up from the airport. The best part of the gift we got her...the bracelet that said "Francy" on it. We abused her taxi driver's services before she arrived and enjoyed every time he called her Francee, so we thought the bracelet to be appropriate.