San Gil: 11th - 14th December 2025
11th December – Thursday
I woke with a headache and feeling paranoid about the candy mini bar. I had read a review about a guy who was charged for mini bar items even though he said he did not have them. I did take a photo of it the morning after I arrived then didn’t think about it until I woke this morning. So I checked it and there were 4 items missing from it, I then checked against my photo, they were never there. I was prepared for an argument when I checked out but the usual manager was not there and the guy who was didn’t do a room check. All that paranoia and mood preparation for nothing – lol.
The Uber to the bus terminal was kinda cool. I really didn’t need loud music with my headache but the guy was playing rave tunes, the first I’ve heard out here, so no complaints. Half way through the journey, using translate, he told me my bag was ringing. His hearing must be awesome because I couldn’t hear a thing until I held my day bag, which now houses my computer bag, up to my ear. It was buzzing away, somehow my lady shave had turned on – lol.
As per normal I fell asleep on the bus to San Gil, but I kept waking up. When I did I took a few photos of what ever was there and then dozed back off again. The journey basically took us down one mountain and then up another, what I saw of it was very beautiful. By the time we arrived my headache had gone. Uber doesn’t work in this town so I got a standard taxi which, much to my relief, was only 7,000 COPE.
I’m loving my new hostel. I have a private room and shared bathroom, which is cool with me. It is done up really nicely with lots of pictures, a hand painted map of the town and a hand painted map of Colombia. At the back there is a bar and lots of seating areas which have been painted in a fairly psychedelic way. I sat on one of the sofas and had a couple of beers while messaging mum and Glenn before going to the chicken shop on the corner. I had a chicken and cheese arepa for breakfast which was very naughty of me. But dinner was healthy and I have not had any fizzy drinks although I am on my 3rd beer. I had rotisserie chicken and salad, no carbs or rice. I could have also eaten the young guy who served me – talk about handsome and such a beautiful smile and he was very happy to practice his English with me. I’ll definitely be eating there again! It was quite funny as a group of 6 people came in, all of them wearing black clothes and they put on plastic gloves to eat their chicken. Me, I just washed my hands before and after, I’m more than happy to lick my fingers clean even when they are covered in hot pepper sauce – yum yum.
After eating I had a little walk around town. OMG, they have some very steep hills here. I must tackle a few each day just for the sake of the extra exercise. I couldn’t find any little tiendas or OXO shops and the two places that I did find selling beer told me I had to drink it there. So I
ended up buying a six pack from the supermarket and coming back to the hostel. I was very naughty and bought myself a double scoop ice cream – it was delicious and cooled me down. The town seems very clean and prim and proper compared to Bucaramanga. It certainly doesn’t have a capital city vibe and most of the shops I passed had a boutique look to them. However it was dark so things may look very different tomorrow.
The hotel has happy hour from 6 – 10 pm. I’m sitting out the back on one of the sofas and they have Spanish music pumping out, which is cool but the base is full on and almost rattling my bones. Thank god my headache has gone. I think I need to learn to salsa, they must have lessons on YouTube, especially as I am going to Cali, Colombia’s salsa capital, for new year. Thinking of which I must book my accommodation for there and Medellín tomorrow, that is after my paragliding trip. Yes, I am booked in for paragliding tomorrow morning, how bloody exciting is that? And it is only £48 for transport there and back and a half hour flight, that’s half the price of Guatemala, I’m so glad I waited.
12th December – Friday
Wow, what a day, what an experience – I went paragliding! I was picked up by Franklin just after 9 and we then picked up two French guys, one was called Ben and I didn’t get the name of the other. They were very quiet in the van going to Parapente Chicamocha, but I was later to learn, just like me, this was their first time. On route we picked up Julian, our pilot.
We did a lot of sitting around once we arrived as the weather wasn’t quite right. Funny enough I felt quite calm and it was nice to share travel experiences with Ben and Co. Ben has been out here for 13 months! I asked his friend about whether to cross into Argentina via Uruguay, Paraguay or Bolivia. His face absolutely lit up at the mention of Bolivia and he mentioned so many places to go to and things to do. So my plans have now changed, Uruguay is out of the window and Bolivia is in.
Finally it was time for the flight, we had already had the instruction talk, so there was no hanging around. I went first, Ben went with a woman pilot and his friend went with Julian once I returned. Taking off was very clumsy, we had to walk a couple of paces and then run, no jumping. The running bit was quite hard when you are strapped to someone but we were air-bound before we left the edge of the mountain which was quite a relief, and it wasn’t long before Julian told me to sit back. Wow, what a serine feeling to be flying with the birds, Julian told me they were common eagles but I am not convinced. The view of the canyon and river was incredible, breath taking. Unfortunately I felt quite nauseous in the belly and head for most of the flight, Julian had sick bags with him, he assured me it is common feeling with the first couple of flights, but I didn’t need them. Using the thermals we circled and soared to a height of 200 meters. A lot of the others were above us but I was quite happy with the height we reached and said a firm no when Julian asked if I wanted to do any stunts. After about 20 minutes we circled into a landing which was quite a hard bump on my bottom and not as elegant as some of the other landings I witnessed.
While Ben was having his flight I got talking to one of the female pilots, she is still a student and has been flying for a year now. She was lovely and took time to explain why she loved it so much and then took some photos and videos of me with some flights taking place in the background. I had already quizzed Julian while we were in the air, you have to do 20 hours with someone before you are free to go on your own. That really doesn’t seem long at all. I’m not sure how long before you can take someone, but I expect that is quite some time.
By the time we got back to town my head was fully clear. I had a quick beer and then went for a walk to the Parque Natural El Gallineral, which I thought was free but it wasn’t and was closing in an hour so I didn’t go in. I’ll do that tomorrow and give myself more time to explore it. Instead I walked back down the river and over a bridge into a shopping mall. Not one of my favourite places, but I had some food, a Thai vegetable stir fry, which wasn’t very Thai, like before heading back. I’m now sitting in the back garden, I could feel myself falling asleep when I was in my room and it’s still quite early. I didn’t get much sleep last night and after today’s activities I really am exhausted. It sounds like there are quite a few people here now and, much to my relief, the music isn’t as pumping as last night, I think that may because there are a couple of children here now. Anyway, today was awesome and I will definitely be doing that again. But for now, I look forward to my bed in couple of hours.
13th December – Saturday
I have had a very chilled, charming day today. After breakfast and getting ready I had a stroll through town to the local bus station. I was tempted to stay in town as they were just starting a market/fair in the square, but I continued with my mission to Barichara. This is the town that I was originally going to stay in. It has the claim of being Colombia’s most beautiful colonial town and it certainly lived up to it.
Something I find really peculiar in Colombia is that I have been asked for my passport details for every bus journey I have taken. I didn’t think they would want it for a local bus but they did. I now have the details easily accessible on my phone as it was a pain before. You will not believe who got on the same bus, Ben and his friend from yesterday. We were not sitting near each other but Ben did tell me they were staying in Barichara overnight and then going on to somewhere else for a long hike. I didn’t see them when we got off, obviously they went off to check into their hostel.
I had a lovely walk around town, it is very charming, extremely colonial, with most of the lower parts of the properties painted either green or brown. All of the shops I passed were very boutique in style and the town square was beautiful with a several statues and a stunning church off it. I found a couple of restaurants/bars and plotted up at one for a some food and a couple of beers. I had a chicken wrap with salad and OMG, it was the most delicious chicken wrap I ever remember eating and the salad had apples, pears and strawberries in it – so delicious.
After eating I headed up to the mirador, the view of the mountains was fabulous but there was no where to sit so I took a photos and then headed back into town and found the bus station back to San Gil. I fell asleep on the bus and woke up just as we were getting into town. The market/fair was just winding down as I passed the square so I bought an ice with syrup and sat and listened to the worst band you can imagine. The trombone player was off note the whole time, it was painful, but the first Christmas carols I have heard this year.
I’m back at the hostel now debating if I should go for a walk or not this evening. The town is so small, there isn’t really much to walk around and my feet could do with a rest. See how I feel later. I have now booked my next hostel in Villa de Leyva, which I have realised is not so easy to get to. I will ask Juan, the hostel owner if he knows the best route. One thing I must do this evening is book my stay in Medellín and Cali and work out how to get from one to the other. I hope it is just one bus – fingers crossed for me.
14th December – Sunday
What can I say, Colombia just doesn’t stop giving. I tried to leave early but all the odds were stacked against me, First Thomo called, and I haven’t spoken to him for such a long time that, even after 20 minutes, I felt rude ending the conversation. I am really feeling it for him at the moment, the rains in Hat Yai were so intense that he had a good couple of meters of water flood his house and it sounds like it is starting up again. And T’s cousin’s house was totally submerged, they are now staying with Thomo until the water subsides, I hope that they are able to salvage most of their things. I then passed Juan on my way out so asked him about the best route to Villa de Vejva, he had nothing to add to to what I had found out on the internet, and then we got talking. Although from Colombia he lived in London for 40 years, Neasden to be precise, his mother is still there. Having a lot to converse about, it was a good half an hour before I managed to leave and head to the bus station.
I was really not happy with the bus driver, even though I had asked him to stop at Cascada de Juan Curi, he totally over shot it and I ended up with a 15 minute walk. Luckily it wasn’t too hot and the road was flat. The entrance to the waterfalls was, in itself, very picturesque and the hike even more so. I saw so many butterflies it was really beautiful and there was one that appeared to be posing for me on the rope handle, then it took to wing and landed on my phone, such a magical moment. I took the hike very slowly as it was very rocky and in some places wet and slippery but overall it wasn’t too bad, I have managed worse. Finally I got to a split in the path and decided to take route 2 as it was downhill. I arrived at a pool area at the bottom of the waterfall. There was a couple there having a picnic so I took a few photos and headed back and took route 1. It wasn’t far up hill but it was totally worth it as I was now at the bottom of the waterfall. The whole area was soaking wet and the spray from the waterfall felt like fine rain. There were a couple of guys there that looked like guides of some sort. As there was no where to sit without getting drenched I headed back to the route 2 location. The picnic couple, Chris and Maurice, were extremely friendly and we got chatting. She is Colombian and he is Texan. Maurice was a bit of a dare devil and climbed several of the inclines where there were ropes, I attempted one and almost got to the top, but my plastic sandals were too slippery and I had to head back down again, which was very difficult even though Maurice had assured me that it wasn’t.
There were ropes all over the waterfall so we used the one of them and crossed over and had an even better view of the main fall and there people at the top. It didn’t take long before they started to rappel down the fall. It looked like so much fun and I would do it except for the fact that my broken shoulder still hurts and I am worried that too much pressure on it would not be a good idea. It turns out that both Chris and Maurice had also broken their shoulders, Chris had done both of his, so we spent some time comparing injuries. Finally we departed company and they headed back while I dried my feet. It was at this point that the rappelling couple appeared, so I took her name, Laura, and phone number and sent her the photos I had taken of them, she was delighted.
While I was sitting across the road waiting for the bus back, Chris and Maurice drove out in their car and offered me a lift back to San Gill – what stars. And as luck would have it, they saved me from a downpour of rain.
This evening I went to the chicken shop and ogled the young lad that was severing – lol. I am actually a little concerned as I tried to book a bus ticket for tomorrow and there are no buses until 1:30 in the afternoon, arriving in Tunja at 6pm, and Juan said the last bus from Tunja to Villa de Leyva leaves at 6pm. Juan seems to think the buses from San Gill to Tunja run every hour and that I should leave at about 10am – I hope he is right. I could be in trouble if not. Anyway, I am not going to stress over it tonight, tomorrow will bring what tomorrow brings and it is all part of the adventure. No point in problem solving a problem that may not even be a problem.
After my chicken I had a little amble around the town square. It is very pretty in the dark with all of the Christmas lights on. They have an Alice in Wonderland theme going on which has been done very well with Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the grinning cat. Not to mention lots of playing cards, mushrooms and flowers. It was very magical.