Train to Zipaquira

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No dinner last night.  We were so full from our day of cooking. Broke into the mini-bar for a few snacks, watched an episode of Poldark and went to sleep. The sun is out again this morning – lucky us. Breakfast was pretty quiet.  The OAT tour folks have gone to Medellin. Walter and Patricia were waiting for us at 8 am to take us to the train. They were driving up.

The train was as funky as I thought it was going to be but it was a hoot and quite entertaining. There was a French tv crew shooting a show about trains. Then the band came through and the gal in front showed us her salsa steps. It was exactly a 2 hour ride   the town – and I must say, probably a lot more comfortable then sitting in traffic.

We all met up at the station and headed to his salt cathedral. This place is amazing. It follows the stations of the cross, which in Colombia are 14. Everything is carved out of the salt.

The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá  is an underground Roman Catholic church built within the tunnels of a salt mine 200 metres (220 yd) underground in a halite mountain near the town of Zipaquirá, in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is a very popular tourist destination and place of pilgrimage in the country. The name "Salt Cathedral" is mostly to attract tourists - while a functioning church that receives as many as 3,000 visitors on Sundays, it has no bishop and therefore no official status as a cathedral in Catholicism.

The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá  is an underground Roman Catholic church built within the tunnels of a salt mine 200 metres (220 yd) underground in a halite mountain near the town of Zipaquirá, in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is a very popular tourist destination and place of pilgrimage in the country.The name "Salt Cathedral" is mostly to attract tourists - while a functioning church that receives as many as 3,000 visitors on Sundays, it has no bishop and therefore no official status as a cathedral in Catholicism.  

The temple at the bottom has three sections, representing the birth, life, and death of Jesus. The icons, ornaments and architectural details are hand carved in the halite rock. Some marble sculptures are included.

The Salt Cathedral is considered one of the most notable achievements of Colombian architecture, being described as a "Jewel of Modern Architecture". The cathedral represents for the Colombian people a valuable cultural, environmental and religious patrimony.

After the tour, we drove into town for some lunch and a coffee before heading up to Villa de Leyva where we will spend the night.  We made a couple of stops along the way.  One was a photo-op of the river and the other was the Puente de Boyaca:

To understand what this place represents, it is necessary to go back to August 7, 1819, when near Tunja on the Teatinos River, the Royalist army led by the Spanish José María Barreiro and the Patriot army commanded by General Simón Bolívar, gave start to the historic Battle of Boyacá, a fact that triggered the independence of New Granada. Yes, that quiet and peaceful place that radiates a certain peace, was at that time the scene of one of the most important battles in Colombia, in short, a war camp.

It all began on August 4, 1819, when Simón Bolívar, after the battle of the Pantano de Vargas in Paipa, made a skillful maneuver with his troops at night, taking over Tunja and cutting off the advance of the army of the Spaniard Juan María Barreiro. which was intended to connect with the reinforcements of Santa Fe (Bogotá). The royalist commander, when surprised, went to the capital by the road to Motavita, but Bolivar left to prevent him from marching on the Boyacá Bridge. There, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the two armies met. 

It was a fight that lasted two hours and gave the victory to the forces of the Liberator. The royalists, seeing themselves defeated, gave in to the attack and began the retreat. The majority of the members of the royalist command fell to the patriot army, around 1,600 soldiers with their weapons and all the war material. 200 royalist soldiers and 13 patriots died. Among the officers who were able to escape, two of them ran to take the news to Santa Fe. 

From that moment the Boyacá Bridge, that cold and immensely peaceful place, became a historical place, a monument that although small in dimension is visited daily by hundreds of tourists, who cross it with a heart full of patriotism or simply out of curiosity .

We arrived into Villa de Leyva around 4:30, settled into the hotel and made a plan to meet up with Patricia and Walter at a Peruvian restaurant at 7pm.  Although the wifi is a bit iffy, the hotel is great.  It definitely has old world charm. The room has lots of charm and a special someone over the bed.  

We showered and made our way to the square -- this is a very beautiful place, surrounded by mountains.  We took our time walking through the shops and admiring all the wares.  Arriving at the restaurant early, we did everything possible to try to contact Walter to meet us earlier than 7pm.  No luck.  We ordered the calamari just to hold us over.  It was awful!!  Immediately sent it back.  Not being too happy with the place, we were pleased to know that when P & W showed up, this was not the restaurant that Patricia suggested.  However, that one was closed.  


We settled the bill and left for somewhere else.  The restaurant on the corner was lively and the food was great.  The couple next to us ordered the pasta in cheese.  They literally toss the pasta in this huge roll of cheese.  Never saw anything like it.  Walter ordered Colombian tea, which was quite elegant.  There was even a cool dude doing some live music.  All in all we wound up having a lovely meal with some good conversation. 

I know there was a lot of talk about what to do tomorrow before we go to the airport to catch the flight to Cali, but I am still not sure what was decided.  I guess I'll find out tomorrow.  Until then, buenos noches.

Next time... Leaving Bogota