Villa de Leyva, Colombia

After spending a few days in Bogatá, I took the bus to Villa de Leyva which sits in a mountain valley about three and a half hours to the northeast.  I really enjoyed my time there, a great combination of walking around a pretty colonial town surrounded by natural beauty, relaxing at my quiet hostal in the foothills, and a bike ride to a waterfall along country roads.

Oh yeah, and eating at some really excellent restaurants.

Villa de Leyva was founded in 1572 and its huge Plaza Mayor and whitewashed buildings with red tile roofs have been well preserved, making the town a great tourist destination for both Bogotá residents escaping the city and foreign visitors. Most of the streets are paved with large cobblestones and are mostly free from vehicle traffic, making them great for strolling around. Almost all of the buildings have been converted to tourist-serving businesses – restaurants, bars, cafes, gift shops.  Villa de Leyva reminds me of my hometown Sonoma Plaza in California, only it’s much larger, over two centuries older and lacks Sonoma’s excellent local wine. Plenty of good imported vino, though.

The town is situated at an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,150 meters) and the mountains that surround it rise above another 2,000 to 3,000 feet. The topography results in quickly changing weather and varied microclimates including near-desert, lush fields, forest, and rainy, high altitude jungle. There is a lot of natural beauty to be explored and appreciated.

During my visit in early March, the mornings were sunny and cool, the day heating up in the afternoon as clouds massed for the daily afternoon rainstorm, often accompanied by thunder and lightning. The rain made for cool evenings and even cooler nights. Very pleasant weather, as long as you can dodge the afternoon deluge.

I stayed at Hostal Renacer, a 12-room finca (country farm house) with dorm and private room accommodations located about a mile from town. I stayed in a pleasant little cabana with a private bath and a nice patio for sitting outside – very private, very peaceful – which cost me about $42/night with breakfast. The staff is really friendly, the breakfasts are good, and the setting is just great. It’s a pleasant, safe walk to and from town. I ended up spending a fair amount of time at the hostal as it has good internet access and is a nice place for getting some work done. (Yes, I do work. Occasionally.)

I did some walking around the countryside. I visited Pozos Azul, blue pools located in the desert microclimate terrain. My walk along backroads with beautiful scenery was better than the destination, the pools few, small and nothing much to look at. I also stopped at El Fosíl, a 120-million year old kronosaurus fossil, a huge alligator-like dinosaur. The 23-foot long fossil (the actual beast was 39 feet long, but its fossil is missing some tail) is pretty impressive, especially the mouth, which I could easily fit within lying down. What I really like, though, is that the fossil is preserved exactly where it was found in 1977. There is an interesting human story about the efforts the landowners made to preserve the fossil and expose it properly. The area around Villa de Leyva is strewn with marine fossils, many of which have been incorporated into rustic stone walls before locals became aware of their scientific and touristic value.

The highlight of my explorations was a long bike ride from Hostal Renacer to Cascadas La Periquera, waterfalls about nine miles to the north. It was a tough uphill ride to the waterfalls, but I made a lucky choice which made it an easier and much nicer ride than it could have been. Google maps shows two walking routes to the falls, a shorter one along the main road and a longer one on a backroad. I took the backroad route to the falls, which turned out to break the long climb into a series of uphills with flat portions in between. This route goes through some really beautiful countryside with virtually no car traffic. Had I taken the main road to the falls, I would have had to make a near continuous uphill climb with quite a bit of traffic, much of it along a very dusty dirt road.  I did enjoy my downhill return along the main road, though, a high speed descent that required virtually no pedaling, but I did have to endure clouds of dust from passing traffic.  It was a tiring, but beautiful ride, well worth the effort.

The Periquera falls themselves are quite pleasant. It’s about an hour roundtrip walk with a guide from the roadside along a nice trail to get to the falls. The guide was twice as informative about the natural and human history around the falls as what I could understand in Spanish, which was quite a bit.

My three favorite restaurants in Villa de Leyva are Entrepan, Mercado Municipal and Restaurante Savia. All three were excellent.

Entrepan (“between bread”) services a huge variety of delicious sandwiches on fresh-baked bread. The owner recommended the roast beef, so I relaxed my normally near meat-free diet to try it. The meat, was perfectly cooked, the baguette around it had a lovely crunchy crust, and it was garnished with a fresh slaw-salad and house made mustard and mayo.

Mercado Municipal is an upscale restaurant where you eat in a beautiful courtyard garden. I started off with a Hendricks gin martini “botanical”, one of their signature cocktails, garnished with fresh herbs right from the garden. A nice drink that also counts as a salad.  My appetizer was a large portion fresh guacamole served with housemade plaintain chips. The main course was a delicious barbequed piece of lamb, slow-cooked, super-tender, served over a tasty rice pilaf with vegetables. (My diet continued as relaxed with respect to meat.)

Restaurante Savia is my most favorite of the three. I ate at a table outside under the covered patio surrounding a large courtyard which the kitchen opens onto in full view. From what I could tell, my server was also one of the chefs and she seemed to appreciate my interest in the food. I started with a sopa de Patacon, a traditional Colombian soup, based on a vegetable stock thickened with potatoes. My entrée was an artichoke soufflé, served piping hot in a small terrine, the cheese bubbling, the egg light and airy, the artichoke leaves giving texture and flavor. This was washed down by an ice cold, fresh lemonade with jamaica (hibiscus). I treated myself to a desert, Sopresa India, a mixture of nuts, dates, figs, dried fruit and coconut in a light syrup, accompanied by a hot chai. What a delicious meal for less than $25!  And this time, no meat…but plenty of calories.

I would say that if you are visiting Colombia, Villa de Leyva is not to be missed. Lots to see, nice weather, good places to stay, great places to eat and easy to get to from Bogatá.