The drive to Pantano De Vargas

Stressful times in Bogota 

After spending a certain time in Bogota, I realize that the stressful life can take a toll on me. Though Bogota has all the modern amenities that I can ask for, it can be a bit heavy at times. Car rentals are easy in Bogota, hence a weekend escape travel is not hard. What is hard is to choose the place I want to visit. One such small town is Paipa. Driving straight up here can take up to 4 hours from Portal del Norte depending on the traffic.

    Escape Travels

I normally plan such trips for 2 days. Driving from Bogota early on saturday morning and returning by sunday night. 

There are a lot of good hotels and hostels in Paipa. The times that I have visited here, I have stayed in Paipa and as well as other small towns nearby. That wanderlust in me always wants to visit as many towns as possible on my weekend. I call these trips as escape travels that break the routine once in a while.

 Weekend Trips 

My recommendation for a weekend travel is always to get the car available by Friday night. Sometimes it can be hard, but not impossible. This way, I can start early on saturday morning and will have additional hours to drive, visit and enjoy. I always try to start before the early morning traffic awakes as a lot of people travel outside Bogota during weekends and driving out of the city can be a pain. 7 am is a good time to start. Packing my essentials that include my go pro camera, my phones fully charged, battery packs and dresses that always include sweaters I start.  I usually have a light breakfast before I start with a black coffee. This is because I sometimes have problems digesting milk during long drives.

Free Air 

That feeling of breathing easy after passing the first toll plaza in the auto pista norte is the first sign of good things to come. That feeling of pressing the accelerator on wide almost empty roads makes it such a good feeling. By the way, the traffic that was moving bumper to bumper till the toll plaza disappears by now. 

Breakfast during travel

The next big question is where to have a good breakfast as by now I get hungry again. It is different when I travel alone than when I travel with company usually or other friends. There is this wonderful sandwich place along the highway about 41 kilometeres from the portal norte that is in a Petrobras gas station in the outskirts of Sequile. This place is called San Dimas. Being a vegetarian, one of the challenges is to find a good place that has some vegetarian options. This definitely is one such place. The sandwiches are tasty along with the garlic sauce. Coffee is good here too and I also do some stocks of water and snacks and off we go again.

Sisga Reservoir

The next stop on the way is along the shore of the Sisga reservoir. This is another 20 minutes and can be identified by the iron arch bridge. The view point is always full with people stopping to take pictures, hence my recommendation is to continue along the bridge and to stop at a place called “El Refugio del sisga” just before which there is a rural road which offers a better view of the reservoir. Here is where I found that the phrase, “Fifty shades of green” which can be used for describing the breathtaking views that the reservoir offers. The green mountains, the greener pasture along the shore, I can spend hours just watching the view. 

50 shades of green

Then continuing to drive along the highway passing through the villages of Choconta and Villa Pinzon and the toll plaza at Albacarrin, there is a border marking between Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The landscape also gradually changes to yet another shade of green here. The landscape at this particular point is  marked by high mountains and deep valleys with potatoes, onion, corn and flowers grown. The people from this region are marked with a sun burnt red face and it is common to see people wearing ruanas to cover from the cold Altiplano CundiBoyacense  winds. The highway is also well laid and I always get a feeling that the roads in Boyacá are always much better maintained than the ones in Cundinamarca. 

Puente de Boyacá

Just outside the village of Ventaquemada, there is the historical Puente de Boyacá where the battle of Colombian independence happened. This is a very historical place and is a suggested stop if there is time. 

The place today is well maintained with statues depicting Colombia and the battle with homage to Simón Bolívar and his brave soldiers. The place is steep and hence be prepared for short breaths and a lot of walking and climbing. 

The monument of the British Legion is especially beautiful. The actual bridge that the Nationalist Army crossed is small, it is historically important in Colombian independence. The battle between the royalist and the nationalist forces happened at this very place on August 7th 1819. There is a good coffee place here and also a pizza nostra. Spending time here to learn about Colombia’s history is an experience. 

Highway trip through Tunja

The trip continues from here looking for restaurants on the way for lunch. There is a road that leads to Sogamoso and one that continues on to Paipa which is the 4 lane highway. There is a mall called Green Hills in Tunja which is the capital of Boyacá. There are lots of food options there. Else, inside Tunja, there are tons of restaurants. A lot of them have good vegetarian options available. Else, driving further away, we reach the town of Paipa that is about 40 minutes away which is the final destination for the day.

Paipa

The road from Tunja towards Paipa is one of the if not the most picturesque roads in Colombia. Farms that stretch along the endless landscape, people with the sun burnt cheeks and the occasional horse or donkey carts form the scenery. We take a diversion from the main highway to pass through the lovely little town of Paipa. Paipa is famous for 3 places - The hot water springs, the Sochagota lake and the Pantano de Vargas monument (the Lancers monument). I skip the hot water springs for now, and continue the drive on to the Lancers monument. Once entering Paipa, passing through the Sochagota lake we are near the hotwater springs and continue the drive in a rural but well paved road towards Pantando de Vargas. Paipa also has a lot of cheese and aretensal shops if you want to stop and shop.

Vargas Swamp Lancers / Pantano De Vargas

The Vargas swamp lancers monument or Pantano de Vargas was the site of the first real battle for Colombian independence. The Nationalists army met the royalist force here and emerged victorious. The nationalist army consisted of the men from the plains, the Lancers and were commanded by Simon Bolivar and Franssico Paula de Santander. The monument is a tribute to the bravery of the Lancers that emerged victorious despite the odds against them. The battle took place on the 25th July 1819. 

The monument is huge and consists of horsemen with each face distinct from the other. There are a total of 14 statues of the horsemen supported in a concrete frame. The place is just surreal with the monument rising like a hill along the countryside. There is also a museum that showcases the houses of that time with the exact rooms, dresses, maps and weapons used from that time. The guides are friendly and informative. There is a good amount of time to be spent in the monument and in the museum. The history of the place is awe inspiring and just the thought of the battle infront of the eyes is amazing. Bolivar the series in netflix has an episode dedicated just for this battle.

Night Stay

Continuing the journey further, there are excellent hotels in Paipa, Duitama, Nobsa and Tibasosa - all of which are just under 30 minutes away.