This week was the Day of the Dead, in Mexico. Colombians, however, are more into Halloween. Either way, my experiences of the past couple weeks have allowed me to remember some long-dead Colombian inhabitants, and to experience the country’s ever-fantastic life and spirit.
Took a hint from the Bogotanos two weeks ago and got out of the city, to Villa de Leyva, a small colonial town/popular weekend getaway. Besides its cobblestone streets, wonderfully-preserved 16th century town square, and rows of simple white, clay tile-roofed shops, the town is known, of all things, for fossils. In prehistoric times, the area was covered by ocean, and to this day it’s wrought with fossils, homes are adorned with them, and you can of course see the best ones in museums. The guesthouse we stayed in – I went with Andres – even had one randomly embedded among the stones in the courtyard.
We passed the weekend wandering the streets, embarrassing ourselves trying to fit into a truly talented Saturday night salsa crowd, and falling into tourist traps. We saw what’s know as THE fossil – huge skeleton of some monstrous sea-dwelling dinosaur, a rare find, so we were told. Also checked out a ritual site of the area’s ancient inhabitants the Muisca people. Spanish missionaries named the place “El Infiernito” or “Little Hell,” in an effort to make people afraid of pagan worship. Consists of several stone pillars lined up, which created a sort of calendar for the people to keep track of the growing seasons. It’s advertise as “Colombia’s Stonehenge,” and coming in with that level of expectation, we were disappointed. But take away the comparison and it’s pretty neat. Even more amusing to me were the other ancient remnants surrounding the Infiernito – dozens of 5, 6, 7 feet high, crudely-sculpted, upright-toward-the-sky penises. How could you not giggle at least a little? The Muisca people followed a cult of fertility, hence the statues. For worship, and rituals. But come on. They ought to rent out Colombia’s Stonehenge for bachelorette parties.
Besides a bunch of really old rocks, we got a look at the natural beauty around Villa de Leyva. Saw the Pozos Azules (“Blue Wells”) – amazingly bright blue pools, super out of place in their dry, rocky setting. A thousand times more wonderous though was El Sanctuario de Flora y Fauna de Iguaque, a nature preserve/true fantasy land. Literally a site of mythical beauty. The standard hike – NOT an easy one by any means – takes you up a mountain on a steep, slippery, muddy path, first through thick, wet jungle, until you emerge into the drier, rockier, elevated landscape. But a landscape unlike any I’d ever seen, covered in shallow, pale greenery, with the oddest plantlife, the strangest flowers. And the mountains all around you, farms in the distance below but so far away it seemed they weren’t even connected to this place. If that feeling weren’t enough, the end of the trail brings you to the Lagunas de Iguaque – a series of lakes where Muisca legend says human life originated. It was easy to see why they thought there were gods here. The flowery, plant-covered cliffs dropping to the water’s edge, thick white mist billowing over the tops of them and falling down on us, the peaceful quiet. It really felt magical. One hundred percent worth the hike.
Got back to reality, and then back to Bogotá just in time to throw something together for Halloween. Although head-to-toe costumes were hard to find, street corner wig/animal ear vendors had popped up all over the city, and we went with a Nightmare Before Christmas getup – super fun. Nearly got run over by a parade of zombies Friday night – they terrorized sausages stands and even stormed the transmilenio, stopping it in its tracks. Brilliant. Saturday night was the big party, though, the full costume event. Like in the States, bars and clubs are a nightmare, super crowded, hard to get into, and mad expensive. We went with a party bus option – flat rate, cheap booze, and automatic transport and entry into 4 different places. Madness. Departing from the Candelaria, our bus was mostly a hostel crowd, internationals going nuts on rum/vodka/tequila shots, and the bars of course were what you would expect: lights, loud music, scores of drunks dancing and screaming. We couldn’t have had a better time.
And life couldn’t be more wonderful. =)
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