Barichara is the coolest town I have seen in Colombia (so far). It’s in the department of Santander, and is a 7-hour bus ride from Bogota. Now, seven hours is not bad in certain buses, and we (Mark, Jose, and I) went with a company called Berlinas. We had gone to the bus station a few days in advance to buy the tickets (cost equivalent to about $20US one-way), but then we were able to actually catch the bus at the Berlinas office on Autoposta Norte at Calle 184 (just across the street from Santa Fe).
The bus was totally full, but the seats were comfortable, and they showed two movies on the trip. Also, we stopped for half an hour about four hours into the trip for dinner. So overall, it was not bad. I’m planning, with Jose, to take a 19-hour bus trip to Santa Marta in Semana Santa, so I was curious to see what it’s all about. The return trip, on Copetran, however, was a nightmare, but that’s another story.
We had spent the first night in San Gil so we could go rafting the next morning, and in the afternoon took a taxi to Barichara. The taxi cost $18,000 (about $7.50) and took half an hour. We could have gone on a bus for about $1.50 each, though.
The area is nice and warm, Florida-in-the-winter type warm. We had reservations at a place called Casa del Marquez (Calle 7, #7-51, telephone 7-726-7036). It’s in a converted colonial house, like lots of the hotels in Barichara are, and included breakfast, which is pretty standard. The room and the hotel were charming, like those old colonial houses almost always are. It was just a couple blocks off the town square, and we paid about $55 per night–not a bad price but certainly not a bargain either.
Charm and More Charm
The town itself is a great place to spend a weekend, or even a week. Beautiful town square with all kin
ds of flowers and trees, a fountain in the middle, and by Colombian standards exceptionally clean. The streets are stone, but unlike Villa de Leyva, they’re large stones and cut flat, so walking or even driving isn’t too bumpy. Stone cutting is one of the major local industries.
All the buildings near the center of town are whitewashed tapia, with barrel tile roofs, of course. Tapia is a kind of mud-concrete that’s poured into molds. The typical colonial style house has a courtyard open to the sky with rooms all around. The town is built on some kind of steep hills, so there’s a little workout involved in walking around.
Since it’s not yet a tourist trap (I hope it won’t be in five years , either, but don’t bet on that), there aren’t a ton of restaurants, but there are enough. We ate one night at a fairly new Spanish place right across from the church on the hill overlooking the town. Not cheap, but great food. Apparently the owner lived for years in Bogota, and has a following of people who come to see him.
Walking (??? No, HIKING!!!) to Guane
We spent a day hiking to an even smaller town called Guane, and even though the guide books call it a “walk,” it’s actually a HIKE. Over a couple mountain ridges on a cobblestone/dirt path, and the sun sometimes beats down pretty strong. But it’s a beautiful hike and well worth it. We took a car back, however. The guidebooks call it an hour and a half walk, but my friend Mark explains it this way: Lonely Planet calls up somebody in town and asks how long the walk is. The answer: una horita (one little hour). Lonely Planet knows that all Colombians exaggerate in whatever direction makes them appear best, so they call it one and a half hours. But it’s every minute of two hours–and we are not slow walkers. Take water.
Guane was quaint, and relaxing. We hung out in a general store type place and drank water and gaseosas, walked around a bit. There’s not much else to do. There were a few artesenias shops where everyone sold basically the same merchandise, and most of the vendors look pretty down and out. It’s the small town version of the street vendors you see all over the streets of Bogota.
All in all, just so long as you avoid a Copetran bus, this is a great, great place to try to get to. Bogotanos are starting to hang out there on puentes, but it’s not out of control. I would think a regular weekend there would be even more relaxing, and spending some time there on weekdays would be worth twice the rest and relaxation you could get anywehere else.
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