A ROADTRIP

High on our list of places to visit is the Lake Guatavita, a sacred lake about and hour and a half out of town. One legend - and there are several - has it that the Eldorado was here and that the still lake conceals unimagineable treasures in gold from ancient burial ceremonies. We've made an arrangement with Mauricio, the hotel driver, who picked us up from the airport yesterday, and at 9.30am - after our breakfast in the lovely hotel courtyard

 - he's waiting for us. We hit huge traffic on our way out of town, apparently Saturday is THE day to visit the cemetaries at the outskirts of town, and, as we get closer to Guatavita, we get the feeling that this is Mauricio's first time here also, as he struggles to find the right route. But eventually we reach the entrance to the lake and begin our 40 minute climb up in the thin air, making us stop many times heaving for breath - and keeping always ahead of an earnest tour group with guide, whose monotonous explanations grow fainter as we work on creating distance between us and them. The stone path to the top is lined with wildflowers and the occasional sign with spiritual sayings from the Muisco tribe, which used to govern the area.

The view at the top is spectacular, a circular green lake with no tributiaries, reflecting the white clouds above while occasional flurries of wind ripple its surface. The silence is wonderful, just the wind, which at one point blows forcefully through some low pines and creates a sound, which makes my skin prickle. A special place indeed.

The walk down is a lot shorter than the way up, but uneven, as if we're walking in a riverbed, reminding us of the rains which castigated Bogota last year.

Back in the car we make a short stop in the town of Guatavita, rebuilt several years ago after the original town was flooded to create a huge dam, which we have been driving along. It is not a cheerful place. The uprooted inhabitants now work in a multitude of souvenir stalls selling identical wares in the largely empty tourist center. We find a little café, and after a surprising good coffee - those without milk are called 'tintos' here - and a delicious mushroom and cheese toast, we get into the car to head to the famous Salt Catherdral, built in an old salt mine, more than an hour away. It's a sunny day and we're driving through a fertile rural area, where we see not only small homesteads with their thoughtful cows, but also huge flower plantations, roses and orchids being some of Columbia's main exports.

 The Catedral de Sal lies in an underground grotto/excavation, which you reach after entering the old mine and walking down paths leading you past representations of the Via Cruxis done basically with large crosses set against the rough hewn stone and lit in spectacular ways:

After passing a petrified waterfall of salt, with an intermittant soundeffect of what it must have sounded like, you reach the vast cathedral

Everything is done very sparingly and with extremely good taste. It's another emotional experience.

Back in the light we head back to Bogota, where we have an hour to rest and change before we get picked up by Tomás Barrero, a resident philosopher, who has offered to take us to dinner. Turns out to be a great little restaurant, Mini-mal (http://www.mini-mal.org/), simple in the way that Miam-Miam is simple and with the same level of prices! But the food is spectacular, creative, and includes many fruits which you will find only in Colombia. Sipping my Agave Margharita I think we have had a very full day! 

Here's link to the rest of the pictures:http://www.flickr.com/photos/siric/sets/72157629191227211/