Villa de Leiva Hotels
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Far From Phoenix
Entry 4 of 11 | show all | print this entry |
¨My witness is the empty sky.¨
····Jack Kerouac
I am drinking a Club Colombia on the veranda of a bar overlooking the central square of a town called Villa de Leiva. It´s a small pueblo of approximately 9,000 people huddled at 6,500 feet in the hills. I came here to escape the hustle and bustle of Bogota, and this is precisely what I need. I am here for a couple of days to get some fresh air and meditate. I feel like I´ve fallen off the face of the earth, and it is a interesting feeling to have.
Villa de Leiva is a relatively remote location that took some 4 hours to reach by a minibus. The route winds through the high, green mountain pastures of the department of Boyoca. Cows and sheep dot the fields. Twisting through the Andes, it is foggy and misty. Soot from the emissions of other vehicles combines with the water vapor to make a nice gel over the windshield, and our driver can barely see the road. Emissions are so bad here it would make Al Gore weep like a sad panda.
The driving is also frightful here. Some of the most dangerous I have witnessed. Our driver bears down on other vehicles and passes them regardless of how narrow the two way road becomes. He passes them on curves and bridges. I just shake my head and thank the State of Arizona for my life insurance (Jon, you´ve got $15Gs coming your way if I don´t make it out of this one!).
That being said, V. de Leiva is a charming colonial town that is falling apart in some places and being built up in others. The denizens wander the streets at night and the elders huddle on benches outside of drug and commerce stores. It´s not terribly busy and it moves at the pace I want to be at right now. Currently, it´s the office season, so many of the bars, hotels, restaurants bars and internet cafes are empty.
I walked around the town earlier in the day and saw an attractive Colombiana looking for her lost dog named ¨Tuna.¨ I joined in the search, but gave up after 15 minutes. I can´t spend the majority of my day looking for a dog named ¨Tuna.¨ Guess ¨white knight¨ is not in the job description for me.
Instead, I went to get lunch, which was the most excellent meal of the trip thus far, and probably one of my bette decisions. I asked for ajiaco, which is a big, boiling pot of iron filled with chicken, potato and vegetable soup. They serve it to you with spices, rice and a slice of avacado the size of a watermelon. So, I turn to the sky with a full belly and look forward to all the biking and hiking I will pursue in these hills.
Latest Comments (1)
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hello from Limerick (reply)
Oct 4, 2007 02:45 EST by ausiemako4
Hello Don Alan,
I hope that you end up finding out what you are looking for while rambling around the mountain trails and busy streets in S. America. It just might be one of the only places in the world where the US dollar can still hold its own.
The only person I know who has gone to Colombia stayed for months and came back with a wife. Maybe that will happen to you.
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