San Gil

Saturday 5th February 2011

Nice plums.

We left Villa de Leyva at 10am. We had time for a quick look round the weekly market, buying some plums for our trip to San Gil.

Anyone else for Arcabuco?

Disregarding the guidebook, we took the advice of the locals and got a small bus an hour to Arcabuco and then caught a more national bus for the remaining 4 hrs up to San Gil. This was a great plan except for misinformation from the first company meaning we we stood in the wrong part of town waiting for the bus. Rule no 1: don't believe what the bus driver tells you. The lost hour did at least allow us to meet a nice Colombian family doing a road trip. A half a km walk to the edge of the town later and we were in prime spot for catching the bus.

The ride itself was uneventful, however, just outside Socorro, you had to wonder what caused the left side of the carriageway to disappear down the mountain. This, it seems, is not unusual having seen 2 roads in a similar state the next day!

Unusually an empty bench in the plaza.

San Gil itself is quite a lively little town. In the evening the locals gather in the square in the centre and eat ice cream. We of course watched this from the comfort of 'Donde Betty', a nice little bar/cafe/shop on the corner of the square under our hostel.

Our hostel upstairs, Betty´s Cafe downstairs.

We called it a night early at around 9:30. At least we thought it early. We felt slightly bad when our landlady appeared at the door half asleep. Obviously not someone for a late night.

Sunday 6th February 2011Following more eggs for breakfast, we headed to Barichara, about 45 minutes on the bus from San Gil. From there we undertook a 9km scenic walk through the hills along the Camino Real to the local village of Guane. For us this constituted being in the middle of nowhere.

We're on the road to nowhere...

For the first time on the trip we encountered a restaurant where the request of no meat was met by complete shock. The lady didn't understand, which led to believing that tripe was acceptable for a vegetarian. It goes without saying that James ate well while Emma eventually got a nice plate of salad, yuca and fried banana.

After lunch we acted as locals. This basically involves sitting in the square doing absolutely nothing. It's the UK equivalent of watching a soap opera omnibus. Luckily for us, a bus came along and we were able to work our way back to San Gil.

After a peaceful evening in and around the square, we witnessed our first trouble from the comfort of our room. Some youngsters had obviously drunk too much and took to beating each other with their motorcycle helmets. Considering the number of police you see around, it took a good 15 minutes for one to turn up. We're now convinced that they are mainly for show. Having got over the late excitement, we took ourselves off to bed ready for another early start.

Monday 7th February 2011Today, after yet more eggs for breakfast, we went white water rafting, a first for both of us. Using Colombia Rafting Expeditions, we headed off to the Rio Suarez for some class IV rapids. We had a great afternoon backed up by the constant smile on Emma's face in all the photos.

Can't stop smilling.

No-one fell in, although we did get into the river for a swim a couple of times. We'll definitely be doing this again. As an aside, the guys from the company have been chosen to represent Colombia in an international competition in Costa Rica later in the year. They were a great bunch of guys and we wish them well.

After being out all day and not having lunch, we really looked forward to a big feed in the evening. Sadly Colombians generally eat their main meal at lunch and so in the evenings there's hardly anything available. This is particularly stark in San Gil where a slice of pizza or a street kebab is all that's easily available. So we were glad for the recommendation of Gringo Mike's, a sandwich/Mexican cafe serving well into the evening. Run  by an English girl and American guy, this is highly recommended if you ever find yourself hungry in San Gil. Watch out for a franchise near you soon.

Observations:Ice cream and beer: it is acceptable to eat ice cream and drink beer at any time of day, both have been witnessed soon after breakfast.

Further Study:The 'Camino Real'. We don't really know anything about its history, but it was a nice walk!

And finally, a random sign in Guane gives an alternative to those of you who use Viagra:

Don't take viagra, drink goat's milk!