Published: 31.08.2022
We arrive at Plaza Mayor in Villa de Leyva on 22.08.22. Our booked hotel is just 100 meters away. There, we have the choice between the booked standard room or the even nicer room with a freestanding bathtub for an additional €3 per night. You can imagine which room we chose 😍
As it is getting dark, we only go into the town to have a meal with the others. Even now, we can see how beautiful Villa de Leyva is - especially at night when the streets are illuminated by the gentle glow of lanterns.
The next day, we explore the town and especially the local shops, as Villa de Leyva is not very big. The town is surrounded by a magnificent mountain panorama, which we explore in the evening together with the others using a so-called "Chiva". A Chiva is an old, medium-sized truck that is brightly painted and also drives around with flashing lights and loud music. Party is guaranteed and since it's Timo's birthday today, it's perfect! So, we are picked up by the Chiva (with a Colombian delay of one hour) and we drive at night to a viewpoint in the mountains with a great view of the city and the stars. There is already a bonfire burning, we can grill marshmallows and warm ourselves up with a kind of mulled wine with cinnamon. However, some of us quickly get cold and we finally start our way back.
The next morning, we have to get up early because the next event is waiting for us: quad biking over rough terrain to the Pozo Azules. These are turquoise-blue small lakes located in the middle of the dry landscape. Unfortunately, we are stupid enough to voluntarily join the back of the quad line, which results in us being covered with a thick layer of dust in no time... But other than that, quad biking is a lot of fun! At the hotel, we brush off the worst dirt and set off for the next adventure: with a small Chiva, we drive to the La Periquera waterfalls. On a short hike, we visit three waterfalls and can even cool off in one of them. We notice a little bit that we are hiking at an altitude of over 2000 meters here and that we get out of breath a little bit faster than in Norway... A beautiful day is crowned in the evening by a great dinner with our funny group before we say goodbye tomorrow morning because we are heading to the Caribbean coast!