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Ruta de Sugamuxi - Discovering more of Colombia ! Boyaca

From Ruta de Sugamuxi

From Ruta de Sugamuxi

Who would have known, that this beach is hidden amongst all those onion fields, and crappy roads.

From Ruta de Sugamuxi

We decided to go to Boyaca over the weekend, and wanted to do some adventure (Ruta de Sugamuxi ) seem to fit the bill. Boyaca has an abundance of mines, where vast resources of coal and emeralds are found, taken and sold. It also boasts a lot of great places to eat arepas and albojabanas. They also pride themselves on serving and eating large portions of food, which I absolutely love. The portions are really pretty big. Most of the places that we tried, from roadside restaurants, to eateries in the main cities en route in the region are absolutely squeaky clean. That alone makes me happy ! Trucha, capaz, are easily found in all restaurants in the area. In fact on the way to Lago de Tota, one can buy lots of trucha by the pound, in numerous casas by the lake.

The landscape and views are spectacular, Boyaca is no exception to departments in the Andean states. It is blessed with lush vegetation, great land for farming, very nice and accommodating people. Once you get to the farming area of Ruta de Sugamuxi, past Sogamoso, the landscape got even better. A lot of the little towns, that we passed by, where absolutely charming, and could have easily spend the night. But, we are headed far into the route of Sugamuxi, so that we can visit it's secrets.

The route we took is as follows: For those people that are familiar with Tunja, and of course, Villa de Leyva. Sogamoso, then Paipa - which is really the starting point of points of interest in Ruta de Sugamuxi. If you are coming from Bogota. It is about 3.5 hrs to Paipa. It all depends on road conditions, ie ( traffic, following a big rig, road work, checkpoints, etc ). The total toll road, we had to take and pay for was 4 on the way to Paipa, and 3 on the way back to Bogota. I have to say, the road conditions were about 50/50. It is a great drive from Bogota all the way to Paipa, but there are stretches, where the roads are absolutely pulverized, and you have to drive slow. It reminds me of an election year, where politicos seem to be giving some infrastructure work, to make it seem that they are doing something. But, in all honesty, there were a lot of work being done. The roads got worse, past Lago de Tota, I will detail that saga a little later.

Route we took - ( Paipa, Pantano de Vargas, Duitama, Tibasosa, Sogamoso, El Crucero, Aquitania, Playa Blanca, Tota, Iza, back to Sogamoso, and back to Paipa )

to follow more excerpts and view more pictures and videos from this trip.............................

Log into : http://frederickandnataliaslife.blogspot.com/2008/09/ruta-de-sugamuxi-...

Regards,

Freddy

By fullpopfreddy on Sep 21, 2008, 15:37 in Travel tips.

island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 16:25:

no way ... is that tropical looking beach really located in some remote Andean lake? Really?

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fullpopfreddy says on Sep 21, 2008, 16:55:

Absolutely island girl. Only in Colombia ! Great place, great vibe, and great people all around. Hopefully, you've checked the videos at my blog at the same time.

Regards,

Freddy

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island girl says on Sep 21, 2008, 17:59:

just checked your blog freddy. great pics and vids and thanks for adding another few places to my "must-sees in Colombia" list! wow!

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Portena says on Sep 21, 2008, 18:39:

Nice trip report! How long has that man-made lake been around?

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Bill Turley (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Sep 22, 2008, 16:24:

When I went to the Laguna de Tota I saw extensive fields of brilliant green I couldn't figure it out until I got up close----Onions. That beach really is beautiful. There are sailing cruisers on the lake too at least one 32 ft

Mr. Bill Somondoco

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