Barichara, another old colonial town

Moving to Barichara

As public transport from Villa de Leyva to Barichara involved two changes, totalling maybe 7h, we booked a car and driver that would take us.

With a pick-up time of 0930, we managed to get a walkaround of the traditional markets before departing.

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The route took us via Santa Sofia, Moniquira, Soccoro and San Gil before reaching Barichara.  Less than an hour after departure, the temperature and the vegetation felt tropical already.

The ride took a total of 4h15, a little less than expected.  Barichara is at 4209 ft compared to Villa de Leyva at 7051 ft.  It felt warmer and more humid.

Exploring Barichara

As it was around 1400 by the time we checked in at La Nube Posada, I was more than ready for lunch.  A menu del dia place set in a small courtyard proved to be the right choice.  We followed up with dessert near the church by the main square.

Barichara is another well-preserved old town with mainly one-storey homes.  They’re usually white-washed with green or wooden-coloured shutters, and a handful with powder-blue ones instead.  The hilly streets are made from huge cobbles.

We rested first and saved our exploration till the late afternoon when the weather had cooled down.

We walked uphill to the northern edge of the town where the Santa Barbara church was located.  Most people had tuk-tuk’ed up to this point.  There is a path that starts from here and runs along the western edge of the town, with most of the route overlooking Rio Surez valley.

At this time, the light was all wrong as we were looking into the sunset.  There were a couple of nice viewpoints including one selling drinks.

Having had a late and substantial lunch, we settled on a light dinner of a club sandwich.  It turned out to be more like a pressed panini but was generously filled and delicious.