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Barichara was a place that was recommended to us by the nice Colombian family we met on the trip to Playa Blanca, so we thought that this was probably a recommendation worth following up.A few hours south of Bucaramanga, Barachara is perched on the side of a spectacular valley in the north central highlands.The whole region is stunning and the views out of the bus window on route were similar to what you might expect to see in Scotland or New Zealand.The town itself was outstandingly beautiful and had no modern architecture; just street after street of 300 year old houses, all freshly painted and looking like new.The pavements were lined with terracotta tiles, complementing those on the roofs of the houses, and every few metres there would be a tile carefully engraved by hand with the name Barichara and the town emblem.The only buildings not whitewashed were the town's three churches which were built from sandstone, including the grand Catederal de la Inmaculada Concepcion standing at the top of the sleepy town square filled with blossoming trees.A stroll uphill to the top of the town brought us to a ridge looking down upon a huge valley, with rows of mountains in the distance behind which the sun set.
This was such a lovely place to kill a few days, relax, do some laundry and update the blog.The only drawback was the food, ironically.Despite the town being a popular weekend destination for Bogotans escaping the city, the locals haven't yet cottoned on to the idea of opening up a few nice restaurants.The one place that was there was an 'Italian' that unashamedly served up meals straight from the microwave, with a little blast of the blowtorch to give the cheese topping that 'just out of the oven' look! That aside, a gorgeous place to visit.Check out the photos!
On the way to Bogota we stopped for a night at a town called Villa de Leyva, which was very much like Barichara only bigger and much more touristy.For that reason we liked it a little less than Barichara, but it was still a beautiful town with a large town square - the Plaza Mayor - and gorgeous cobbled streets.Yet another great place in Colombia; there seems to be a running theme here.
R&M
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