Road Trip to Boyaca - Day 1

We left Bogota late Friday morning after a good breakfast at our hotel (Embassy Suites) in the Chapinero region of Bogota.  We hit some traffic on the way out of town but it wasn't too bad.  We stopped a few places to buy local goodies - stuffed corn husks, fruits and arepas stuffed with cheese.  I saw a brown sign (meaning a cultural, historic or natural point of interest) about a paramo.  These are high ecological areas with the rare frailejon plant.  It was supposedly only 8 kilometers away and seemed like a simple and quick detour.  After traveling the requisite distance on gravel roads the Eslavas asked the local people for help.  It turns out to visit these places requires permission from the mayor's office and an official guide and some hiking.  Clearly not what we had time for that day.  I hope next year to visit the remote and elusive paramo, of which there are several in Boyaca.

View from our room at the Embassy Suites to the nearby mountains

The Elsavas with Coco in front of their apartment building in Bogota.  Juan Miguel was attending the three day Estereo Picnic outdoor music festival in Bogota so did not make the road trip with us.

We posed too

Some tamales wrapped in leaves.  We did not buy any of these.

The corn mashed with cheese wrapped in corn husks. We bought some of these and ate them (delicious!) for breakfast the next day.

Paula and Angela also buy the local dried lima beans which are delicious salty snacks perfect with wine

At the roadside fruit stand - Colombia is justly famous for its fruits.  We bought peaches, a few types of plums and more.

Our target was a hotel restaurant at Paipa, a small city deep in Boyaca.  We arrived and feasted well on local fish (trout for me) and meats.  The hotel was an old fashioned kind of place that seemed perfect for a quiet and refined weekend get away.  Our late lunch was ample, good and peaceful in the high ceilinged dining room.  Next, we drove the brief distance to the lake at Paipa and walked a bit.  This lake, Lago Sochagota, is mainly for recreation and was attractive if a bit run down.

Map of Boyaca at the Hotel Colonial.  Our home base of Firavitoba can been seen too along with everywhere else we visited on the trip - Tibasosa, Iza, Laguna de Tota, Sogamoso and Mongui.

Waiting for lunch at the Hotel Colonial, Paipa

My trout (trucha in Spanish) with seafood cream sauce - pretty rich

Mauricio had a massive seafood soup

Lago Sochagota

Another view - this lake is popular for boating and recreation but was nearly deserted when we were there

At the pretty lake with the clouds rolling in (but no rain came)

We drove through the quite ugly industrial small city of Sogamoso (we were to make three transits of this central city during the road trip) and went on to the village of Tibasosa.  In this small village, Mauricio's grandfather had donated a library (actually, not the building but the books) to honor the good works of a lady mayor.  The library had been moved from the main square to several (uphill) blocks away.  We found and admired it.  It was a busy place on this late Friday afternoon, full of school children using the computers, studying and hanging out.

A pretty village

Like all other towns/villages in this region, there is a central square capped by a large church

The attractive church was closed

Paula in front of the municipal building painted with figures from the village's past

The town library

School children engaging with the computers in the library

Mauricio outside the library to which his grandfather donated the principal collection of books

Next stop was our target village of Firavitoba, the family home of the Eslava clan.  They own a 250+ year old house on the main square, our accommodations for the night.  We arrived just before dusk and entered the compound.  This consists of a courtyard surrounded on three sides by house, two sides the original colonial building and the third side a more modern house of about 40 years age.  After inspecting the available bedrooms, we decided to stay in the modern house.  The bathrooms (two) are located there and to get to them from the bedrooms of the old house requires a trip up and down narrow stairs.  Plus, the bedrooms in the old house had been partially renovated but left in a state that was not that livable.  Randy and I took the downstairs ensuite bedroom while the Eslavas took the bedroom upstairs with its adjoining alcove with bunk beds (one for Paula) and the bathroom at the foot of the stairs.  We unloaded the luggage and food and walked through the town on this Friday night to buy bread and wine and beer.

Randy in the garden filled courtyard of Casa Eslava

Dinner was in the cozy living room and consisted of bread, empanadas, fruit, cheese, olives, herring, and wine and beer.  It was a break from our normal lives to spend the evening without WIFI or TV and chat around the casual dinner.  We slept surprisingly well on the traditionally thin and hard mattress and pillows.  The next morning, Saturday, we awoke to crisp air, sun and birdsong ready to explore more of beautiful Boyaca.

Randy and Paula at dinner in the comforting living room located in the "new" wing of the house

Paula and Randy enjoyed some beers including the local "Poker" brand

My tasty dinner with egg and rice stuffed empanada from the local panaderia

Enjoying good conversation and tasty, mostly local, food

I slept surprisingly well on the aged mattress after this enjoyable and educational day.  The quiet and dark sanctuary of Casa Eslava along with the fresh Boyaca air (and maybe the Chilean red wine) contributed to this sense of relaxation.