Villa de Leyva to El Cocuy: small towns and big climbs

We lingered at the hostel the morning of our departure of Villa de Leyva. Before we knew it it was 11am and we were just getting on the road. We were heading for Duitama, but having enjoyed the back roads so much on our ride from Bogota we decided to take the long way there. We also hoped it would give Martin a chance to catch up with us so that we could head to El Cocuy together.

Winding roads on the way from Villa de Leyva

Classic Colombian imagery

We left Villa de Leyva on a gently climbing road, which turned unpaved and got steeper after crossing the main highway at Arcabuco. At first, we enjoyed a beautiful ride along the mountainside, but then the road deteriorated into one of the worst we have ever ridden! There were massive rocks, dried mud, and cobbles, meaning that even on the completely flat sections we could not reach 10 km per hour.

A great ride along the mountainside

Cyclist vs. mountains

Beautiful scenery but rough roads

10km per hour on the flat

We pulled into the tiny town of La Palma at 5pm. It was so small that there weren't even houses on all four sides of the plaza, and were assured it would be perfectly fine to camp there. As we set up our tent we had conversations with a couple of locals, including a younger guy who offered us water from his house and talked to us about the days when the village was ruled by guerillas, and also about what parts of Colombia have the best fruits and vegetables. The most interested were the kids, who asked lots of questions about our tent and cooking equipment, and visited us several times in the evening and also the following morning. Despite it being a Monday, the nightlife was in full swing with a bar full of drunk campesinos playing really loud music! Fortunately we seem to have learned to sleep through any noise and we had a comfortable night's sleep, only woken briefly when it started to rain.

The kids stopped by on their way to school at 7 am. Note the home-made horses some of them carried!

On our way out of town in the morning, we mentioned to some locals about the route we were planning on taking from Gambita to Paipa and were told that the road was closed due to obras (roadworks). They kindly called someone they knew who was working on the road, to confirm that bicycles could still pass. Now confident of our route choice, (although the locals also assured us that the road surface was going to remain in bad condition for a while) we headed on towards the stiff climb we knew was coming after Gambita. We decided to get as much of the climb out of the way that day as we could, which meant cycling until close to dark and then finding a place to wild camp.

The rough road continued after La Palma, apparently a dairy area

Stylish butcher shopfront in Palermo, before we camped

We ended up choosing a little clearing next to the road which was used for pedestrian access to the finca behind. As we were putting up the tent a woman came out of the finca's gate. She worked on the finca and told us there would be no problem at all with us camping there. Then she offered us a couple of tamales that she was carrying home—they were delicious!

Our camp spot for the night on the climb to Paipa

Morning fog before we continued the climb

The rain came very strong and sudden as we were setting up camp—I happened to be inside the tent when it started, so was privileged to have an excuse to stay under cover and dry while Alberto had to finish cooking dinner in the pouring rain. The owner of the finca then came over, in the pouring rain, and had a long and interesting chat with Alberto.

The rest of the climb was about as good as could be expected for a long, unpaved climb and we made good progress. Then it was jackets on for the descent, first unpaved and then beautiful pavement, which always feels welcome after a few days on dirt roads. We reached Paipa at about noon and immediately found a hospedaje, a bit pricey but really nice, with a large sun-filled courtyard which we set to work taking over to dry everything out. We bought some yummy queso paipa, the only aged cheese available in Colombia.

Paipa cheese - as close to a European cheese as it gets

The next day, we found that the dirt roads of the past few days had sapped a bit of our energy, so we invented the concept of a moving rest day. We would leave as late as we want, eat lots of yummy treats, and just view any kilometers we accomplished as a bonus. We took the longer way from Paipa to Duitama via Pantano de Vargas and a cafe stop for the local specialty of almojabanas with agua panela. Then a delicious almuerzo in Duitama and we set off again up route 55, which was busy at first with truck traffic, but then got quieter.

Duitama is big on cycling

We climbed to Santa Rosa as the clouds got increasingly dark, but we didn't really like the look of the town so we decided to see if we could make it to Belen before the rain started. There was a bit more climbing to be done, but then it was descent all the way. We made fast progress and we had every hope of outracing the storm, but about 2km from Belen, we got caught, bad. The streets were turning to rivers and the rain was forcing my eyes closed so that I could barely see. As soon as we hit the outskirts of Belen, we took cover under an awning to see if the rain would lighten up. Then we noticed the gas station across the way had rooms, and we decided to cut our losses and head there for the night.

Pouring rain in Belen, although it does not quite capture how soaked we got

We had the luxury of a second relaxed morning in a row as we waited for Martin to arrive in Belen. After our joyful reunion we started out on the gently climbing route 55, which was now very quiet. We stopped in El Paramo (Tutaza) for a quick snack, and the road levelled out for a while through beautiful landscapes, then descended fast to Susacon, where we stopped for the night. We had three passes ahead of us to reach the town of El Cocuy and the gateway to the Sierra Nevada there.

Reunion with Martin, who we met two months ago in Ecuador

Great to be three on the road (photo courtesy of Martin Andexer)

The children of El Paramo were surprised by the arrival of three cycling gringos (photo courtesy of Martin Andexer)

The 55 becomes quiet and scenic past El Paramo

It rained the next morning so we waited around until 10:30am before the rain stopped. We descended to  the river valley at 1300m, to start climbing again—it was hot down there! The climbing was tough in the heat, but beautiful. We saw rain clouds in the distance and wished they would come find us and cool us down, but alas, the rain would wait until we were in the middle of cooking an alfresco dinner before hitting.

We dealt with all sorts of road traffic...

Then we saw the town of Soata getting hit by hard rain as we climbed to Boavita

Just before Boavita we passed a restaurante campestre and asked if we could camp there. David, the owner, didn't even hesitate, just said 'of course,' and then, because the restaurant wasn't open for dinner, offered to sell us trout, meat, and vegetables so we could cook. It was a cycle tourists´ dream come true, and although we got soaked when the rain came down, we were then able to shelter under the open-air dining area which made a world of difference.

El Eden restaurant, where we camped, had great views of Boavita and La Uvita

Cyclists feasting on fresh trout after getting soaked

The next day was election day in Colombia, which meant quieter roads but busier towns than usual. We continued our climbing to La Uvita, then descended again to another valley before starting the next climb at about 2:00 in the afternoon—why do we always do that? Nearing the top of the climb we stopped to check out camping opportunities, and fell into conversation with an older man who gave us his opinion on elections (not worth voting), the environment (energy companies are ruining it), and many other topics. He was one of the only farmers living in the area and said we could camp in his fields. It was a lucky break, because as we headed over to the field I found I had a puncture (my first of the trip)—much more convenient to fix it while we were stopped for the night.

The buses were incredibly busy on election day

There's always religious motifs on top of the mountains

Night cooking at 7 pm

It rained overnight and we waited to dry the tents out before getting started with a tiny bit left of our second pass, then the descent to Guacamayas, and our final climb to El Cocuy. At the top of the pass we caught our first glimpse of the Sierra Nevada and stopped to chat to the man running the mirador there about the mountains and the road ahead. 

The last big climb before El Cocuy, at 3000 m, where we saw the Sierra Nevada for the first time

Great Police signage to prevent accidents

Quick descent to the valley before El Cocuy

Then it was the long descent to Guacamayas. The plan was to get some bread for a snack later up the road, but the men drinking in the panaderia (at 10:30am) had other plans. One of them had just lost the election for local government, and they were drinking to commiserate/celebrate. They were totally taken aback by the appearance of three gringos on bicycles into their little village, and especially with Martin. They insisted on buying the boys beers (I got a Coke) and chatting to us about any number of things. We ended up in the panaderia for an hour and a half before prying ourselves free to tackle the final climb and reach El Cocuy.

Martin, a racing cyclist back in Austria, broke the speed limit

Free beers and friendly locals at noon in Guacamayas generated a lot of laughs

The climb was tough in the afternoon heat, but  laughing about the Guacamayas beer experience made it pass more quickly. Soon we were in El Cocuy getting ready for a few days in the National Park of the Sierra Nevada de El Cocuy.

And finally, our destination of El Cocuy

El Cocuy is Alberto's most favourite town with its green and white houses

Bogotá to Villa de Leyva: taking the back roads through the Colombia´s colonial heartland

Despite our enjoyable stay in Bogotá, we were eager to get out of the big city and off of the main roads as soon as possible. Some route planning and consultation with Rafa and Eneida led us to choose to exit the city via La Calera, a popular weekend route for cyclists, although we would be going mid-week. A few short kilometers of manageable, if hectic, traffic, and we were waving at the morning traffic jam headed into Bogotá as we climbed away from the city.

The road to La Candelaria takes you out of Bogotá in no time from the calle 85

The Cundinamarca countryside reminded us of our beloved Scotland

It was amazing how quickly things started to feel rural again. The traffic died down even more after La Calera and we were left on our own cycling through rolling hills towards the Embalse de Tomine. We stopped for lunch in Guatavita, which had been rebuilt when the original town was flooded to form the Embalse. 

Guatavita main plaza

The artificial embalse de Tominé

After lunch, we were walking around town seeing the sights when a passerby started asking questions about our trip. Mauricio turned out to live near Sesquilé, about 15km down the road, and had a cabaña and a camping area on his property which he offered that we could use for the night. He told us how to find his house, and how to calm his guard dogs down when we got there (it kinda worked) and off we went. The campsite had a beautiful view of the embalse and our cosy tent made for a welcome change – even if we did have to fend off several dogs and cats who seemed convinced that the food we were cooking was for them!

Mauricio´s campsite had great views of the laguna

We had been planning to head down the main highway after Sesquilé, but Mauricio convinced us to take the destapada (unpaved) back roads towards Villa de Leyva instead. What a great decision. We had been on asphalt pretty much all the way since our trip up to the Nevado del Ruiz and the dirt was a welcome change, slowing us down and making us appreciate our surroundings just that little bit more.

Taking the dirt roads to Cucunubá

We got a late start in the morning, cycled past Suesca and the soon-to-be extinct laguna de Suesca, reached Cucunubá, 35km away, at about 2pm. 

The landscape always changes quickly in Colombia. This reminded us of the Spanish meseta, with its dry vegetation and trails

"I am agonizing Laguna de Suesca". A few years back they started drying the laguna, presumably to use it as agricultural land

It was a tiny, picturesque colonial town and we immediately liked the feel of the place. We had a delicious almuerzo while watching the Mundial de Ciclismo on TV, which is taking place in Cali, and fell into conversation with the owners about our trip and the road ahead. Soon it was 4pm and we couldn't bear to leave such a lovely place – so we decided to stay the night. We set up camp on the town's football field (after checking with some locals and also the police) and cooked a hearty pasta dinner before settling in to sleep before 9pm.

Cucunubá´s cobbles and colonial streets

Stocking up in Cucunubá

Our first few hours of sleep were interrupted by the howling of street dogs who were apparently disturbed by our presence, despite the fact that they hadn't paid us any attention earlier in the evening. By midnight things had calmed down and the rest of the night was uneventful, until it started raining just before our wake-up call at 6am. We tried waiting it out, but still ended up packing and cooking breakfast in the rain, although fortunately it had stopped by the time we started cycling. The delay meant that we were still cooking breakfast when the schoolchildren arrived to the sports complex to start their gym class, meaning that a large group of them came over to see what we were about before the bell rang and their class began.

The football field where we spent the night in Cucunubá

The 10km from Cucunubá to Lenguazaque were some of the hardest we have done, with a serious amount of slow climbing, but afterwards things got easier (there was even some pavement thrown in) and between Guacheta and Raquira we enjoyed a long, but totally manageable, climb up to 3000m and then a fun dirt-road descent before hitting the pavement again.

Pushing pushing pushing on the way to Lenguazaque

Great descents on dirt

When we passed through Tinjacá, it seemed that every single roadside stall was selling arepas, so we had to stop and try some. They were some of the best we have had and it seemed to be an area reknown for their arepas! The food looked equally delicious in Sutamarchan, with lots of hanging chorizos and longanizas but as we were 10km from Villa de Leyva we decided to press on. In retrospect, we wish we had stayed the night in Sutamarchán and arrived in Villa de Leyva in the morning, but oh well. 

Best arepas of the trip so far. The arepas´oven is indeed very high tech

A final destapada shortcut and we were rolling into the cobbled streets of Villa de Leyva for a few days off. Hostal Renacer, although very pricey for camping, was quiet and comfortable enough.

Picturesque main plaza in Villa de Leyva

The Saturday market in Villa de Leyva

An afternoon in the main plaza

Some bike TLC was much needed

Colombia and its great fruits

Cobbled streets. Great for pictures, not so much for riding.

Route notes:

- Bogotá to Sesquilé: the exit from Bogotá via La Calera was pretty smooth, probably helped by the fact that it was rush hour into town and very few vehicles leaving. After La Calera, the road became very quiet all the way to Sesquilé, again, probably due to being a working day. We understand it is a popular weekend route for motorists out of Bogotá. Paved all the way, with rolling hills, and plenty of opportunities to stock up.

- Sesquilé to Ráquira: all unpaved after Suesca, but generally in good condition. Very quiet and steep hills after Cucunubá on the way to Lenguazaque. There was many times where having a GPS helped a great deal, when finding the right road. If in doubt, there´s a few cars passing every now and then which can be of help. From Lenguazaque to Guachetá there´s a good paved section, but with more truck traffic. After that, it becomes a dirt road, reaching 3000 m, before the downhill to Ráquira. 

- Ráquira to Villa de Leyva: all paved, with some traffic, and rolling hills. There´s a few dirt roads that will take you directly into the Villa de Leyva about 8 km that can be used as a short cut, avoiding the busier road from Tunja. 

Libano to Bogota, via Chia: Up from the valley and into the city

On the day of our departure from Libano we had one goal: make it down into the valley of the Rio Magdalena and start the climb up the other side before it got too hot. We would be descending to 250m above sea level, lower than we'd ever been before in South America, before climbing again to the Colombian altiplano where Bogota is located, at 2600m.

We set the alarm for 4am and managed to get on the road by 5am, despite there being a power outage in the village. We set off in pitch darkness into a light rain, surprised by the number of other people out at this hour, including cyclists without any lights! But as we descended the sun came up, and before we knew it we were at 250m crossing the Rio Magdalena (Colombia's largest), waiting out a heavy patch of rain in a roadside cafe in the town of Armero.

The bridge over the river Magdalena. Surprisingly, there was no military guarding it!

When we got started again it was still pleasantly cool from the rain (having dripping wet clothes, shoes, and hair also helped with that) and we were able to cover the flat kilometers to Cambao without any problems with the heat. It was warm, but we managed to climb out of the valley without being exposed to the potentially brutal heat.

Climbing climbing climbing

Not knowing the exact profile of the climb ahead, we just kept turning the pedals and going up and up until about 3pm, where after nine hours on the road, and five hours straight of climbing, we were totally shattered and decided to divert to San Juan de Rioseco for a well earned hospedaje. The owner tried to give us two separate rooms as apparently she thought we were brother and sister...

In the moring, the climb started again in earnest, another day of basically climbing all day. We were lucky it was still cloudy out, but even so it was pretty hot. We managed to reach the gas station at the entrance to Alban just before the rain started coming down, so it was a pretty easy decision to spend the night in the hospedaje there.

We had been warned by several locals that the worst of the climb was yet to come. Facatativa (or Faca as the Colombians call it), and the top of the climb, was 12km away.

We got lost in the fog and somehow ended  up only 20km from Madrid!

Whether it was because we had the traffic to distract us or just that the main road has to be easier in order for big trucks to be able to make it, the section from Alban to Faca was actually the easiest part of the whole climb from Cambao. Which was disappointing, because I didn't get to use my “mother Faca” joke that I had been saving up.

We were pleased to see some pro-cyclist propaganda on the roads after Faca - "Protect him, he could be your son".

 We turned off of the highway onto small country lanes through El Rosal, Subachoque, and Tabio. The section from Alban to Faca had been a strawberry-growing region, and we had remarked how British it felt with the cloudy weather. But now, on the Colombian altiplano, things began to seem even more like our adopted home of the UK. We were surrounded by farmland with rolling hills in the distance. Even the potholed back roads with fast moving traffic was evocative of many of our rides over the past five years. Later, we even passed blackberries growing on the side of the road – how much more British can you get?

Strawberries for sale on the side of the road

Riding through farmland and rolling hills

Looking down on the Colombian altiplano

 A quick destapada (unpaved) diversion from Tabio saw us in Chia in the early afternoon, where we met our warmshowers host, Alejandro and his friend Vivian (and later his partner Mariana). Chia surprised us with its European feel, a pedestrianized city center and plenty of old stone buildings. We managed to make it into a cafe just before the afternoon's shower hit, and fortunately the rain stopped again in time for us to head over to a cosy bar (it being Friday night) where a local band were playing a gig of some modern Andean music, which we both really enjoyed.

This was also the first time in the entire trip we have been in a bar in the evening!

We settled in for two days off in Chia, the first day being a day of near total relaxation, where we crossed various tasks off our list and only left the house to buy food. The second day, Sunday, we joined in the BiciChia ride that Alejandro and a few of his friends lead every Sunday. It was a relaxed ride, perfect for a day off, and we really enjoyed seeing this slice of local life.

The long line of cyclists taking part in the BiciChia Sunday ride

This week's ride had a theme of getting to know Chia's river, the Rio Frio, which is unfortunately dangerously polluted by the time it leaves the municipality. Here we are taking a peak at the Rio Frio on the other side of the levee.

On Sunday we were also reunited, however briefly, with Martin, who had left Salento a few days after us via a different route. We had planned to cycle together from Chia to the mountains of Cocuy, but Martin lost his passpost and had to wait in Bogota for a while, so we'll have to figure how to meet up again further down the road.

Lucy, Vivian, Alejandro, Martin, and Alberto (and Lulo the dog!)

The following afternoon Alejandro accompanied us on the 40km ride into Bogota. We had asked plenty of Chia cyclists how the road in was, and they all said it was ok, although there was a section without a shoulder which wasn't ideal. I don't know if it was the time of day that we went, or just that we have different tolerances for that kind of thing, but we found the ride into Bogota pretty scary. Fortunately we managed to make it unscathed to the edge of Bogota, where Alejandro led us on Bogota's famous ciclovias all the way from Calle 180 to Calle 26. Although it took forever (and the ciclovias are more UK-style than dutch-style, with plenty of dodgy road crossings and no priority for cyclists), we were relieved not to have to fight with the traffic. We arrived at our Bogota Warmshowers hosts' apartment feeling totally exhausted, despite having ridden for only a few hours.

One of Bogota's better ciclovias - in this case the street is pedestrianized also!

Rafa (from Spain) and Eneida (from Colombia) cooked us a nice dinner and listened to us blabber on about the traffic for a while before moving on to other, more interesting conversations.  The following day was a day off in Bogota, spent mainly eating, wandering around La Candelaria and plotting a quieter way out of the city and back into the Colombian countryside that we love so much.

There are plenty of big highways to be avoided. This one with a view of the tallest building in Colombia.

Nice colonial streets in La Candelaria

The famed cycling culture of Colombia is alive and well in Bogota and we enjoyed being immersed in it.

Bici bici bici

Has to be a very smooth ride...

Electioneering on two wheel

Saying goodbye to Rafa and Eneida, our wonderful hosts in Bogota

Route notes:

- Líbano to Armero and Cambao: not downhill all the way, surprisingly, but the road is pretty fast, with lots of dodgy potholes. Paved all the way, flat and fast after Armero. We opted to ride this section in the early morning, due to the potential heat of 250 m of elevation. Armero has plenty of options for food and resuplying, as well as Cambao. I was surprised to see many exotic seafood options (presumably from the nearby Magdalena river) at any of the Cambao almuerzos.

- Cambao to Facatativá: a quiet and popular route up to the altiplano, which avoids the busier roads via Honda, in the North. It is really well paved, all the way, and goes pretty much constantly uphill for over 50 km. There´s a notorious downhill past San Juan de Ríoseco. Again, lots of options for stocking up on calories. If you do decided to split it in two days, the town of Vianí, only 15 flat km away appeared more convenient than San Juan de Ríoseco, as it would save you 300 m of downhill (and uphill) to the town. Albán also had a service area with budget accommodation. The Albán to Facatativá section was a gentle uphill with lots of heavy traffic. 

- Facatativá to Chía: from Faca we went to El Rosal, which was fairly busy, and then onto Subachoque (a very wealthy commuting town) and Tabío. This section was great, good road condition, little traffic, and scenery reminiscent of the South of the UK. Only a 400 m climb before Tabío, then downhill and flat to Chía on a trail that goes East from Tabío.

- Chía to central Bogotá: on Chía locals advise, we took the autopista from Chía straight into Bogotá, at what appeared to be rush hour (2 pm). Although initially with a wide shoulder, the road narrowed down to about 5 km out of Bogotá. Being the main way into town from the North, we would not recommend this route to anyone. A taxi or a bus to the edge of town would be much more sensible. Carrera 7 or a series of trails directly South of Chía may also be a better alternative, although we have no experience with either. Once in Bogotá (Calle 180 or thereabouts) there´s a ciclovía, but it has so many hurdles that perhaps it would be safer to go on the road. Also, there´s, literally, 180 road crossings with all the Carreras, making it a very slow drag into town. We had no concerns with safety on this route from the North, other than the traffic.