On the subject of cobblestone streets, hikes, and massages.

This is our bathtub in our current hotel. As you can see it is filled with clothes. You see, since we've been backpacking this thing, we've found it necessary to pack light and wash often. Washing services are usually available, but we are too poor. We wash by hand in bathtubs.

A serious note on money here in Colombia. Haley and I have been extremely blessed by an exchange rate that is very favorable. During my mission, one US dollar equaled about 2,000 pesos (for context, a bottle of soda would cost about 1,500 pesos). Now, however, one dollar is about 3,000 pesos, and prices haven't risen here in Colombia. That means that everything is dirt cheap. Want the 45 minute massage that costs 55,000 pesos? That'll be 15 bucks.

Today we spent the majority of our time in Villa de Leyva, but only after having an awesome breakfast delivered to our room with a view. Like I explained yesterday, Villa de Leyva is an old colonial style village with whitewashed buildings and cobblestone streets. The village's central plaza in the largest in Colombia, and just like the streets it is all cobblestone.

We spent a good amount of time wandering the streets, checking out the local artisan shops, and grabbing a few fun things to eat. We enjoyed some authentic empanadas as well as frozen yogurt made out of guanabana (soursop--look it up, trust me) and feijoa, two common Colombian fruits. With it being a weekday, the village was nearly empty, making it one of the nicest places we've wandered around so far. It's gorgeous here!

We then returned to our hotel, which sits on top of a hill about 3 miles outside of the city. The room is awesome, consisting of a king-size bed, a Jacuzzi, and enormous windows that give us an incredible view. There are also a few fun hikes that depart from the hotel itself, so we took advantage of our time. We were treated to an awesome overlook of the village itself, as well as a "waterfall." 

This was our place to splurge, so with the exchange rate easing our minds we went ahead and got a couples' massage for a grand total of like 30 dollars. As you can see it left quite the impression on both of us. 

After our massages we were treated to a romantic dinner in our room.

 In other news, I recently read an article that stated that the most common reason millennials travel was to "one-up" their friends. I hope that's not the impression that we're giving off. I mean, sure, we've been hiking in the jungle, found a lost city, slept on the beach, and...uh oh. I'm becoming one of them. 

Konner & Haley