The first stop was of the Village of Barichara. It's a quaint Village, and since we there during the off season there weren't any visitors. It's described as the most beautiful village in all of Colombia. It was a treat just to wonder around, taking in the local culture. It's located on a bluff and has beautiful valley below. 

One morning, I came upon the local kids practicing for the Christmas day parade.  It has a great vibe about it. There are local crafts people with little shops around, and the restaurants were excellent. 

There was so much charm about this village. It hasn't been over done or over touristy, so I could definitely have spent a few more days here,  but it was on to our next stop. 

The next village was Villa de Leyva. On the way there we drove through what must have people preparing for some type of Rodeo. We must have seen nearly 1000 horses and countless people preparing. They were just along the main road through town. This was definitely horse country as we also came across a few cowboys on the main road, with their donkeys caring supplies. 

Villa de Leyva is a village not to far from Bogota, and we saw quite a few people on touring motorcycles. It was obvious this is a more touristy city. There were people on road bikes, mountain bikes and it was definitely busier.   We spent a few days exploring and I was luckily enough to come upon the Saturday market on my way to a walk above the village. 

Villa de Leyva definitely has it's charm, so I can see why people from Bogota come to this Village. 

Next Stop... Lake Tota: This is the highest elevation lake in all of Colombia at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. Although it was a good stopping point I wouldn't call it a tourist destination. It's a agricultural town, growing just onions. All the locals wear ponchos and ride around on motorcycles, as the roads are pretty rough in this area. 

After a few days we were off to the Hato San Pablo. Since there was a lot of wild life there, I will continue this on another blog.