On the subject of cathedrals of salt, Zipaquira, and toilet paper vending machines.

This is a Colombian toilet paper vending machine. For some odd reason, Colombia still hasn't figured out the concept of free public bathrooms, or the concept of free toilet paper. You want to use a public bathroom? That'll be a thousand pesos. You want some toilet paper? Pay up sucker. As you can see, Haley and I have resorted to carrying toilet paper with us. That way we don't have to pay (for the paper at least). We do that because we are poor.

Today started like many others. We hopped on a bus that took us to the town of Chiquinquira, then hopped onto another bus that took us to Zipaquira, a pueblo just an hour outside of Bogota. Both buses were vomit comets, but we made it with our breakfasts in the same places as they were this morning. Whew!

We came to Zipaquira to see the Salt Cathedral. Zipaquira lies on top of a massive salt deposit, and several companies actively mine the area. Back in the later 1800's a group of miners decided to make an underground cathedral that they could worship in. When the old mine grew unstable in the 1970's, Colombia decided to construct a new and improved cathedral in the guts of a more modern salt mine. It's somewhat of a tourist trap (they even charge foreigners double the typical entrance fee) but it's still quite remarkable. 

The experience begins with following a white line as it winds its way up the mountain. It's a good thing we had this white line, or we would have been lost in a heartbeat. It was really hard to spot the giant, touristy complex (equipped with a rock climbing wall and zipline) that was up the hill in front of us. 

Once we paid our double fee we were able to descend into the cathedral. The cathedral's various rooms and carvings are located in large caverns that remained after miners completed extracting salt. Each cavern is large enough to hold a 747 with the wings cut off.  

 There are dozens of carved crosses down here, each representing part of Christ's journey to the cross (as interpreted by the Catholics). 

It was a pretty remarkable space. We saw the main cathedral, the baptismal font, and several other fun rooms and carvings.

In spite of the crowds we enjoyed the church-like feeling that was there. This is a functioning Catholic church that performs a weekly mass and everything. It was almost spiritual...until we hit the stores.

You see, half of the cathedral was dedicated to selling you something. There were salt statues, ice cream shops, and even a place for massages--all located several hundred meters underground. Nothing screams "this is a working cathedral" like this:

Back on the subject of toilets, we have found it pretty funny how different things can be down here. You already have to pay to use the bathroom, and you have to pay for paper. Did I mention that they don't believe in toilet seats down here? Keep in mind that this is considered one of Colombia's premier tourist destinations. I'm not trying to bash Colombia--just saying that it's an odd cultural difference.

Overall we had a great day. We exited the cathedral and followed the white line down to the main plaza, where we had a nice dinner before retiring to our apartment. Tomorrow we'll be in Bogota, but only after visiting with some friends in the pueblo of Chia. Come back for more!

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

On the subject of Villa de Leyva and nice suites.

For Colombians, lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day, with dinner (usually eaten at 9 PM) being infinitely smaller. In fact, lunches here are almost three times the size of a normal lunch in the states. They can be delicious, but sometimes it's just too much food. Because Haley and I were riding the bus today, we knew we'd need a good lunch. We instead bought a bag of chips. We couldn't really afford lunch. We are too poor. 

We left San Gil bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for our next adventure. We skedaddled on over to the local bus terminal, bought a pass for the town of Tunja, then caught the next bus to arrive ten minutes later. The scenery was beautiful, transitioning from hot, semi-tropical forests into high altitude greenery. In fact, if it wasn't for the Spanish copy of "Paul Blart 2" that was being blasted over the bus's speakers it might have been perfect. 

Tunja is cold, much like our destination: Villa de Leyva. Like Bogota, these towns sit high in the Andes mountains, meaning that in spite of our vicinity to the equator, the weather around here hovers around a permanent 70 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Villa de Leyva is another colonial village that seems lost in time. A popular destination for Bogota's well-to-do, this town is full of simple, white buildings that line cobblestone streets. Haley and I almost twisted an ankle or two carrying our heavy packs, but we made it just fine. The main square was full of people flying kites. 

We had arrived fairly late, so we opted to grab some dinner and head to the hotel. We opted for some "American Fried Chicken" which was served just like it is in the states. And by that I mean it was served with lots and lots of honey and hot sauce. Plastic gloves were kindly included.

Villa de Leyva is the one place where we really splurged on accommodations. We're actually staying in a suite about 3 miles outside of the city, one with incredible views.

Well, this is a really short post, but we'll have a lot more good stuff tomorrow. We've got a full day in Villa de Leyva planned, so there will be lot's to see and do. Be sure to come back tomorrow!

Konner & Haley

On the subject of eating ants, colonial pueblos, and green mango.

This is Haley holding a giant, fried ant. Known as "hormigas culonas" (which literally translates to "big a-- ant") these ants are common in the Santander region where we've been traveling. Colombians will harvest the ants by the bag full, pluck off their wings, then fry them in butter. Haley is only holding the ant's butt. We had considered going to Gringo Mike's again (see yesterday's post), but we decided to go cheap today. We are too poor. 

Before our adventures with the bugs we headed to Barichara, a beautiful little village about an hour away from San Gil. Barichara was founded back in the 1700's when a farmer in the region had a vision of the virgin Mary, leading to a rush of Catholics to the region. A large church was constructed, and the village prospered. Colombia now maintains the village as a national heritage site. Every house has red tile roofs, whitewashed walls, and green doors and windows. This, combined with the cobblestone streets, makes Barichara look like a village lost in time. 

There are two really old churches in Barichara--a cathedral and a smaller chapel. Both are constructed out of reddish-orange stone, and both have wooden roofs. They were really pretty. 

Above the second, smaller chapel we found an interesting little park full of stone sculptures. The sculptures came from all over the world, including Europe. There was also a really nice overlook that let us see the surrounding countryside. It's gorgeous here!

We wandered the streets for several hours, admiring the houses, and stopping to try some local food. We enjoyed pineapple turnovers, bagged water (a Colombian specialty), and even green mango served with lime juice, salt, and pepper. 

All seemed to be going well. Haley was quickly becoming enamored with the place, even going so far as to propose living here permanently.  

That is, until we stumbled across the shrine to the local delicacy. 

That's right, giant, flying ants! I've mentioned these a couple of times so far, but this time I knew that I had to convince Haley to try some. I tried them before (I don't really care for them), but Haley needed to become a true Colombiana. At the next store we stopped at I bought two tiny bags of the little fried creatures. Yum!

We then returned to San Gil, stopping by the local mall for some more fresh fruit and then heading back to the hostel for a quick nap. Haley was a good sport, and agreed to eat an ant for the camera. Enjoy:

Oh yeah, remember how I said that the ants were for dinner? Well, I lied. We went to Gringo Mike's again. I had a BLT with a Lulo and Basil juice, and Haley had a Philly cheese steak with a coconut limeade. We'll be back on rice and beans tomorrow I'm sure!

Tomorrow we'll be coming at you from Villa de Leyba, another beautiful little colonial town a few hours outside Bogota. Be sure to come back for more!

Konner & Haley