Vamos a Barichara

Our first weekend in Bucaramanga we spent by going to Barichara a kind of town that Hollywood filmmakers dream about. It is a city that full of Spanish colonial houses with big windows and doors from the woods. It also boasts with cobblestone street and whitewashed buildings.

It took us two hours to go there by bus. It was also our first experience traveling by public transportation in Colombia. We took a bus to el Terminal del Transporte de Bucaramanga, around 15 minutes by taxi from our house in Soto Mayor. The terminal was pretty good, it is clean, quite big, and organized. The bus is better than what we had in Indonesia but without an air conditioner and it is smaller. 

The ride was a little bit awful because the road has so many curved that made us feel sick, but the view was amazing. It contains beautiful mountains, hills, and clean air. These mountains are called Cañon de Chicamocha. 

Canon de Chicamocha 

En El Birigadier El estacion de Gasolina 

So after two hours long were got off the bus to a petrol station called El Brigadier. From there we walked for about 15 minutes to hotel Villa Lucy. This hotel is an ecotourist hotel located in Curiti, Santander. This hotel becomes a new ecological and tourist object. All lights that are used in the hotels are made from electric power generated from solar panels. 

Estamos en Villa Lucy Ecohotel in Curiti, Santander 

This hotel also promotes and educates people to protect the environment by developing and implementing several ecological systems which run permanently in its activities. 

We spent two nights in this hotel. On our first day, we went to Barichara a colonial city with lots of Spanish-style houses. It was like we're back to the time of Zorro or if you like telenovela Esmeralda or Esperanza it's exactly the same. 

In Central Barichara 

Spanish Colonial Houses 

Spontaneously was hitchhiked in the back of a truck to go to Barichara? It is only a 15 minutes journey but it was really funny. We will never do that back home but hey we're here in Colombia there's nothing that we can not do. 

Were just got off the truck!

We arrive in the city center where there is a big plaza in the middle with a park on it that is surrounded by old colonial buildings and a big cathedral. This is the perfect place for us to take photos as much as we can. The town's natural beauty, temperate climate, and bohemian lifestyle have attracted many tourists including us. 

After taking tons of pictures here we went to other cities San Gil and  Villa Nueva by renting a car. It was only 10 minutes long to get there and it was almost the same ambient as each other. 

On the next day, we went to El Parque Gallineral in San Gil to go rafting in the Fonce river. It was also the same day as the independence day of our beloved country Indonesia, so we took a photo with our national flag. 

Feliz día de la independencia a la república de Indonesia

We took a car to go down to the river and started listening to all instructions that we need to know for rafting. Then we started crossing the river and enjoying the beautiful view this river offered. The flow of the river was not as swift as I had experienced before but it was pretty fun because we're doing it in Colombia. With heavy spanish accents, the instructors gave us instructions to paddle the boat and gave us a little bit of information about the river. 

The most exciting part for me it when we swam in the river. All of us were jumping through the water one by one, it was so refreshing. The water was cold and actually, the river flow was quite strong that I don't have control of my own body while swimming. It took me to the riverside and my Chinese friend Bin decided to drag me back to the center of the river.

Rafting en el Rio Fonce 

Let's go rafting

After 15 minutes our instructor asked us to get on a boat and this is the hardest part. It was really hard to lift our bodies back to the boat. Thankfully Bin one more time helped me and the rest of us. He was pulling us hard to get on the boat. I remember I just resigned drawn to the boat I don't have any energy left. Then all of us started to laugh as much as we can, especially when all of us tried to pull one of our pretty heavy friends. 

After a tiring rafting trip we went to a restaurant to have some lunch before heading back to Bucaramanga. It was Monday and it was a national day off, when we tried to buy a bus ticket it was full of people in the queue. Well, it was our lucky day after a few we get a ticket and were ready to go back to Bucaramanga.

It was a great trip and a nice experienced for me to explore Santander. It was a nice first trip to Colombia. Can't wait to go to other cities. 

Well because I'm here in Colombia to study Spanish from now on I will try to write all my trips in bilingual languages. It's a good opportunity to practice my Spanish. 

La Iglesia Inmaculada de Barichara

La semana pasada mis amigos y yo fuimos a Barichara. Esta una ciudad pequeña. Se encuentra en el noreste de San Gil y necesitan dos horas de viaje desde de Bucaramanga en caro o autobus. Barichara es una ciudada bonita, su arquitectura esta llena de casas y antiguos edificio como la pelicula del Zoro. Las calles son hechas de piedra y tambien son estrechas. 

En el centro de la ciuada hay una antigua grande iglesia y a tras de la iglesia hay un espacio grande para admirar el paisaje. El mirador es maravilosa; luego , fuimos a un restaurante a almorzar, comimos carne de cordero. Creo que la porcion de la comida era tan grande que me llene. 

El Mirador

Despues del amlorzar tomamos un paseo por la ciudad para tomar muchas fotos. Para mi viajar a Barichara fue una buena oportunidad para conocer mas a Colombia, su gente, sentir y experimentrar su cultura.