Villa de Leyva again
Day 304 Sat 2/7 – Day 307 Tue 6/7
If the weather in Mompos werent so hot and muggy, I would have stayed there a couple of the nights I spent in Villa. Villa is at 2000+ metres and makes for cool temperatures. It can be quite warm when the sun comes out, but not hot.
Villa de Leyva: I had been there almost a week and seen most of the place and done a few hikes. This time around, I went there to relax in the lovely hostel in the mountains, take a few walks, enjoy the food. I have a flight from Bogota in less than a week’s time, but I preferred spending my time in Villa instead of Bogota.
The fruit market was on Saturday. I had been to the fruit market during my previous stay and had chatted with a pretty lady who sells fruits. Went back there looking for her. She was working and, surprisingly, she remembered me as well. A pleasant 15 minutes of (trying to, really) flirting and catching up, while buying enough fruit to last me my stay in Villa. She gave me some free fruit after I had paid for my purchase. Maybe she took pity on my inability to flirt in Spanish. Little were she to know about my inability to flirt in any language! Free fruit and radiant smiles: life is good.
The rest of the time was spent relaxing, reading a couple of books, visiting the French bakery in town (the folks there knew me as well from my numerous trips, buying pastry), playing some chess, going on aimless walks. I didnt make much of an attempt to talk to other folks in the hostel, bar the folks who worked there. I had a private room, which the folks at the hostel gave to me at a discount! I was a repeat customer, after all.
The weekend was some sort of a festival in Villa. I was too tired to go to the village Sat night, but I enjoyed the music on the square Sunday night, while watching the people. Children playing, grandparents, parents, young couples, foreigners, what have you… A funny thing happened Sunay night at the square while I was occupied doing nothing. A young lady was playing with her dad and a friend, when a young lad of 2 or 3 joined them. After a while, she looked around and walked up to me. “Hablas ingles?”.. “Yes”; “Is this your son?” “My dear young lady, I havent laid my eyes on him before now”; “Does that mean he is your son or not?” “No, he isnt”. She walked away for a bit, stopped and came back to me: “Are you certain he isnt your son?” I nearly collapsed laughing. I dont quite think I will forget that experience for a while!
Monday night I managed to see a Tejas game. It involves throing a disk at a clay target. Different parts give you different points. They also place firecrakers on the clay target and you get extra points if you hit a firecracker and set off an explosion. The thing I noticed was that there were no women and quite a bit of beer being consumed. The Colombian men were very friendly and happy to teach me how to play. Miguel, one of them men, took it upon himslef to be my teacher to calls of “professor” fom his friends.
It was a refreshing stay.
Tags: Travel
Damu