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VillaDeLeyva

Table of Contents Getting there and away. Places to stay. Mid-range places. Places to eat & drink. Things to do. Websites. Trekking Walk towards Tunja. Walk to Sagrado Corazon. Trek to Laguna de Iguaque.

Villa de Leyva is a perfectly preserved colonial town north of Bogota, and the surrounding mountains are stunning too.

• Incredibly beautiful colonial town, with decent tourist infrastructure but not overrun by tourism yet. You easily can see the entire village in a few hours, but you'll want to hang out longer.
• Hiking in the surroundings is great, and you can go camping too.
• It's safe.

Villa de Leyva was declared a national monument in 1954, and has been preserved almost perfectly: houses are whitewashed, streets are cobblestoned. The town is small, but the surrounding area will make you want to stay and hike and perhaps camp out. The weather is nice (fresh at night, 18 degrees C average).

Most tourists here are Colombians, and people from Bogota (mostly in the weekend). During the week you'll find the town nice and quiet.

You'll notice (as of December 2006) that half of the houses (including the church) around the plaza mayor are no longer white - they've been painted in various colors for 8 months (until June 2007) for the filming of a motion picture called La Espada y La Rosa (the sword and the rose) - an adaptation of the Zorro story. After that they will be restored to their previous state. If you go during the week (Mon to Wed), you can witness the filming activities.

If kids ask you for something ("me invitas a una gaseosa?") say no, and if your Spanish is good enough, tell them kids shouldn't be asking things from strangers.

The whole area is one of the safest in Colombia. There are a bunch of fast internet cafes all over town.

Getting there and away.

Bogota. Buses from Bogota leave twice a day at the Bogota terminal, and take about 4 hours (6 US$). There are nice views along the way. There are also 2 buses a day to Bogota, one leaves from the Villa de Leyva bus station at 5am and one at 1pm. The alternative to a direct trip like this is to take a bus to Tunja and change there.

Tunja. There are regular minibuses to and from Tunja - 45 minutes, US$ 2. From there you can move on to Bogota.

Buses to the ecce homo convent leave at 8:00am, 9:00am, 10:00am, 13:00pm and 16:00pm (2500 pesos - US$1).

Taxi prices: to El Fosil 17000 pesos (US$ 7), to El Fosil + Infiernito + Ecce Homo convent 47000 pesos (US$ 20). There is a paper with official taxi prices posted at the bus station.

Places to stay.

(Research updated November 2006.)

There is lots of good accomodation in Villa de Leyva. Prices in the high season (December, or during the weekends) might be somewhat higher, or less negotiable than in the low season.

The cheapest way to stay is to camp, there are a bunch of places within the town that offer camping, and it's a good way to meet students from Bogota (in the weekends and holidays).

Zona de camping (for lack of a better name, on the corner of Calle 10 and Carrera 10) is just a big grassy square with a wall around it. You just put up your tent, and someone will come to collect 5000 to 7000 per person. There's a shower and basic bathrooms.

Casa Molina del Balcon (Carrera 12 # 11 - 51) is on a similar terrain, but with lots of trees and a house (it's like a big park). At the entry (there's a sign), pull the chord at the door to ring a bell. They charge 5000 per person for camping, there are showers, bathroom and you can cook.

There are also some places with dorm rooms and affordable double rooms.

A brand new budget place (from December 2006 onwards) is EL Solar, 1 block from the main square. Run by a friendly lady called Martha, it offers camping (8000 pesos), dorm rooms (15000 per person) and double rooms. She has an outside shower in the garden, surrounded by plants, that could be fun.

2 other cheapies 1 block from the main square are Hospederia Colonial and Posada Don Blas (next door, tel: 987 320 406). Both charge 30.000 for a double, 15.000 for one person. Hospederia Colonial is slightly nicer, but none of them are great.

The family Fitata doesn't run an official hostel but they rent out rooms anyway at Calle 12 # 7 - 31, tel 7320 574. Prices are negotiable around 15000 per person.

'The Renacer Guesthouse'' (732 1379) is out of town (quite a walk, or go to Colombian Highlands and they might take you there), in a very nice house. It's run by Oscar Gilede, and it's connected to the Colombian Highlands tours. It's one of the only backpacker-y places. Dorm beds are 12000, rooms are 18000 per person (more in high season), and they have a "suite" (a big double room) for 24000 per person. Breakfast is extra at 5000 pesos, and you're unlikely to walk all the way to town to have breakfast there. You can also camp there for 7000 per person (12000 in the high season).

Mid-range places.

There are a lot of very nice mid-range hostels.

One of the friendliest must be Posada San Martin. It's located in a beautiful historic house, and the friendly couple (that lives there too) will make you breakfast beyond the usual eggs-n-toast. It charges 50000 for a double with bathroom and breakfast. Rooms are very clean and well kept.

Hospederia La Roca seems to have raised its prices, it now charges 50,000 for a double without breakfast. It has a great location on the main square, and a lot of rooms.

Dino's is listed in the Lonely Planet but no longer exists - the house has changed owners and is no longer a hostel.

Posade de Los Angeles (Cra 10 No. 13-94 Tel: 987 320 562) is a step up, they have a variety of very nice rooms at 35000 (US$ 15, US$ 20 in the high season) per person.

Hotel Plaza Mayor is even more expensive. 1st floor rooms are 176000 for a double, 2nd floor rooms have a king-size bed and are 198000 for a double, and 3th floor rooms have a real bathtub and are 220000 (US$ 100) for a double.

Hosteria del Molino La Mesopotamia (US$ 50 for a double) is a fancy hotel in an old flour mill on the border of the town. They have a natural swimming pool (with healing properties) where you can have a swim for 4000 pesos (take a towel), or they might forget to charge you. Careful with the mosquitos.

Places to eat & drink.

As usual, most restaurants serve a decent meal at noon with everything included for about 5000 pesos (US$ 2). Your hotel will usually serve breakfast. There are also a bunch of fresh bakeries in town, as you walk around just follow the smell of freshly baked bread.

Sazon y Sabor, on the Plaza Mayor next to De La Cava (on the corner, a good place to drink) serves the best lunches for 5000 pesos (a different menu every day).

Casa Quintero, on the other corner of the Plaza Mayor, is a type of 'shopping mall' - a large house filled with small shops and restaurants. There is a good Lebanese place called Zarina, a healthy ecological restaurant called Xirrus with some Indian specialties (try the lentil wrap) and a brilliant bar whose owner "El Pote" is a local character. The bar is filled with writing on the walls and chairs, and the floor is full of eucalyptus leaves. It's probably the most bohemian place in Villa de Leyva.

There are a few more of these 'shopping malls' on Carrera 9 where you can find other interesting restaurants.

Don'd Bill, a great place mentioned in the Lonely Planet and other guides is closed. The owner, a drummer who used to drum with Elvis Presley, died recently.

There are 2 'discos' to dance, Latin Dreams Disco Bar (Carrera 10 1 block from the Plaza Mayor) and Cava del Marquez (on Carrera 9, 2 blocks north of the plaza mayor), which is downstairs and seems more popular. In the weekends, the action is on the main square.

Things to do.

Villa de Leyva is a town for walking. You can just stroll through the streets (it's pretty small), sip a coffee on the main square, drink a warm wine in the evening.

The market on Saturday is a must of course. It's locals selling fruits and vegetables (no handicrafts), and you can eat there too. There is an older gentleman who uses a particularly hard-core selling method to sell overpriced cheese - be warned. He's friendly but insistent!

Apart from that, there are lots of stores that sell very nice warm clothing and handicrafts, just walk around the town, especially during the weekends. The ruanas (warm woollen ponchos) are particularly nice. Not all of them are made of real wool or handmade, so shop around.

There is a lot of great hiking around Villa de Leyva - see our separate Villa de Leyva hiking guide.

There are also a number of sights to see in the surrounding area. You can take buses there (ask at the bus station), taxis (who offer tours) or hike (not to all of them). Sights include:

• Ostrich Farm (about 5km southwest). You can visit and eat ostrich meat at the restaurant.
• El Fosil. A baby-kronosaurus fossil measuring 7 meters.
• El Infiernito. A kind of stonehenge of the Indians.
• Convento del Santo Ecce Homo: a convent founded in 1620. The monks will show you around.
• Santuario de Iguaque: see our hiking guide.
• The architect Octavio Mendoza has built an interesting, Gaudi-like mud house. It's a short walk from the town.

For friendly tourist information, tours etc try Guias y Travesias (732 0742 guiadevilladeleyva@yahoo.com), run by the friendly and knowledgable Enrique Maldanado. He has lots of maps (6000 pesos for a map of the region) and information, and rents bicycles (30000 for a day, 17000 for 6 hours) and tents (15000 for 2 people). He also does tours to various sights and can help you organize custom hikes.

Another good option for tours etc. is Colombian Highlands (732 1379 colombianhighlands@hotmail.com), which is connected to the Renacer guesthouse.

The atmosphere of the village can get touristy in the high season and on bus weekends. During the week in low season it's pretty quiet.

Some of the dates when it gets really busy:

* June 12: this is the "birthday" of the town and the market is held on the main square for once.
* July 16: fiesta de carmen: this is a big local event, tourists don't really come here at this time, but all the campesinos from the surrounding area have a big event.
* 7-8 December: festival de luzes (big party with fireworks).
* The whole of December is tourist season.

Websites.

* http://www.villaleyvanos.com (in Spanish)
* http://www.villadeleyva.net (in Spanish)
* http://www.randales.com (rafting and hiking, Spanish)

Trekking

One of the best things about Villa de Leyva are the walks and treks around it. It's very safe and beautiful. In this guide we have 3 treks - 2 you can easily do in half a day, the third one takes an entire day. For all these walks, use sunscreen. It's not hot but the sun can be strong.

You can share your treks (there are many more) and experiences in the comments.

Walk towards Tunja.

The walk towards Tunja is beautiful (much nicer than the walk to Sagrado Corazon below, really) and not too hard. It takes about 3 hours in total, perhaps 4 if you hang out a bit. It's displayed at the bottom half of this map.

(This map is not to scale.)

You start at the market (Calle 12 and Carrera 6), walk on Calle 12 towards the school, then you cross the square there and follow the road east. There are some more houses along the road, and then it becomes just trees and nature. The walk is easy, just follow the path. You'll cross a small stream, then another small stream and then you'll see a closed gate. Follow the path turning left (don't go through the gate).

A bit further you'll get to a valley, and at your left you'll see a finca (little farm) and perhaps some donkeys. Walk a little bit further and you'll see some cactuses and incredible views. You've arrived at the end of the walk, this is a great area to relax a bit.

It would also be a good place to camp. If you do, ask the people in the finca whose land this is and offer to pay perhaps 10000 pesos if it is theirs. After relaxing, just walk back. Note you might see a few lost shoes along this way. I have no idea why.

If you wanted to, you could continue on this trail and walk all the way to Tunja (10 hours), but you'd need a guide because there are a lot of intermixed trails. An alternative way to continue this walk (this would take all day) is to move on to the left and go steep down the hill, and then follow a trail to Chiquiza, a beautiful village consisting of a church, a central square and about 8 houses around it. Interestingly, the square of Chiquiza is not square-shaped - one of the few in South America that isn't.

After this, you could go back to Villa de Leyva, but taking the same steep hill back would be hard so you'd need a different trail along "Pinturas Rupestres de Sachica". The trail ends on the road, where you can walk or catch a bus to Villa de Leyva. You should get a map or a guide if you want to do this part of the trek.

Walk to Sagrado Corazon.

(See the same map above.)

This is a short (3 hours return) but steep walk to a statue of Christ on a hill with a great view of the town. The locals call this walk "subir al sancto" ("go up to the saint").

First, go to where the Saturday market is held (Calle 12 and Carrera 6). Walk along Calle 12, a little further is a school. Straight ahead, you'll see a gateway that looks closed, on a path. Walk towards it and just walk around the gate. You're on a sportsfield now ("polideportivo"). On the left, between some trees, there's a path starting. Go up the path between the trees, there's a sign pointing in the wrong direction that says "Sagrado Corazon".

Go up the hill between the trees. There's no clear path. You'll cross a little river with a tiny bridge. Continue to go up, a bit further on the left is a hole in a fence, go through it. Go right after that and continue to go up the hill.

There are white arrows now and then pointing up. After a while, you come to a rocky hill. You have to climb it. Stay out of the shrub, go on the rocky part (that's the "path"). Soon you'll see the statue, just move towards it.

Enjoy the view. If you walk down behind the statue for 3 minutes, there's a river where you can refresh.

When you get to the statue, you'll notice a small alter behind it. On the left-hand side of the altar, there is a box hidden under a few stones that form a little pile. You can dig it up if you find it - it contains messages from people who've found it. Read them, add your own message (take a pen and some paper) and bury it again with some stones on top.

Trek to Laguna de Iguaque.

This third trek takes all day and is much harder than the previous 2.

(This map is not to scale.)

Iguaque is a national park north-east of Villa de Leyva with mountains and a bunch of lakes. This trek goes to the Laguna de Iguaque lake at 3800 meters altitude, which was a sacred lake for the Muiscas.

Take good walking shoes (you'll be on rocks and mud) and something warm (the temperature can be around 12 degrees C - chilly!). A few layers work best: t-shirt, another t-shirt, a sweater ... Take a picnic too, and enough water to drink.

First, take a bus from Villa de Leyva (13 kilometers) at 7am to go to a place called Los Naranjos also known as La Casa de Piedras (which is a small shop). You could take the next bus at 10am, but then you'd run the risk of not completing the trek before it gets dark at 6pm and that is no fun. Better to start on time, so get that 7am bus. If you are late, you'll also miss the last return bus to Villa de Leyva at around 5pm. You can ask the people at Casa de Piedras to call a taxi in that case.

Then, walk from La Case de Piedra up to the park's office, the entrance to the park. It's a nice walk, perhaps 45 minutes, through a beautiful area.

At the parks' office, foreigners pay 20000 pesos entrance (US$ 8), Colombians pay 6000. There's a bathroom there, and for a fee you can camp, but the park no longer provides rooms to stay.

From here you start the trek. The first (easy) part goes through some forest, then over a bridge and then there are some houses where there used to be facilities to stay overnight (which are "temporarily closed"). Walk around and behind the houses, to the left, and enter the path between the trees.

This is a long walk uphill between trees. It can get slippery with the mud and the tree roots. There are a few benches along the way to rest.

At the end of it, at your left, you'll see a mountain. You have to climb up it (it's rocky), this part is called "La Pared" ("The wall"), it's very steep. It's easy to loose your way on the mountain. Go towards the signs (there are 2 signs), there's a path there.

Follow the path, it goes around the mountain to the other side. There are great views, and the vegetation is interesting. You're pretty high up now, almost 3700 meters. On the other side, you'll move along the path, down to the lake.

The lake is pretty small, take a while to rest here because you'll have to take the same route back. Touch the water for good luck. Don't leave too late or you'll get stuck in the dark (at 6pm).

From the lake, with a map or a guide, you could decide to visit some of the other lakes in the area if you have time and energy, before returning.

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