Villa de Leyva - Colonial Colombia
Today we move from the big, smoky, bustling city of Bogotà to the little, cute, colonial town of Villa de Leyva. It’s only 4 hours away but this is the first bus of this journey, so quite special. We feel amazed and puzzled to find again similarities between South America and South East Asia. We know exactly what is going to happen, from the stops to let people jump in (literally jumping) to the shouts of the driver assistant every time we approach a bus station.
We don’t understand how cities, houses, transportation, food stalls etc. are almost identical between these two worlds so far away.
Letting these thoughts soaking in, we arrive in Villa de Leyva. First thing we notice is that there is almost no trees on the mountains surrounding the town. That’s a bit disappointing after the lush vegetation of Bogotà’s heights. But on the other hand the houses architectures looks like coming from a 1800s cowboy town. As soon as we step out in the square in front of the bus station, we feel like in another era, If it wasn’t for the yellow taxis and rusty 4WDs. Also the hotel is quite peculiar with a little court in the middle and the rooms all along the sides.
We take a long stroll around the town, paying equal attention to the lovely buildings and to the dangerous stones that cover the streets. Surprisingly, weak-ankle-Erika is still walking without any auxiliary device.
The central square is for sure the main attraction, even though for someone (read Marco) this is too empty to be classified as something extraordinary, someone else (read Erika) really enjoys the view. We also end up being “scammed” for a tea at 3 times the normal price (at least), but, except for that, all the other meals are tasty, satisfying and reasonably priced.
On a last note, we were expecting more people dressed with local clothes but, judging from the number of pictures Marco took of men with hat, we think were at least enough considering we have just started travelling in Colombia.
