Two sights have brought back memories of travels past: the expansive views offered by the high Andes here, where one can see far across a steep river valley to the next village and the path scraped out of the forest that will take you there, perhaps a day away; and young backpackers, especially these two young men I saw a few days ago with big packs on their backs and daypacks slung on their chests. The yearlong trip I took with my friend Jim (who died earlier this year, for many getting this blog an all too familiar occurrence of a life-important soul who no longer inhabits our world) was filled with such images, especially on our 20-day trek around the Annapurna Range in Nepal.
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| The expanse of the Rio Suarez below Barichara, a view much like the Annapurna mountains in Nepal |
Traveling has changed a lot since then … and I don’t mean to sound like an Old Fogey (“In the good ole days, blah, blah, blah”). It’s just different. Where 40 years ago, we looked out for a copy of the International Herald Tribune - and its NYT supplement - for news of the world (I found out that Ronald Reagan in 1981 had been shot two weeks after the fact!), now we are on our pads every morning reading about what happened over night. And, for those of you of a certain age, remember when you’d enter a new town and go directly to the “information office” to check on places to stay, then troop around to see which guest house had an open bed? Everyone now has nearly instant, real-time information about everything. No need anymore to talk with fellow travelers about what to do or how to do it.
Back to the trip.
We travelled by car from Villa de Leyva to the hill town of Barichara, a lovely ridge-top hamlet with cobbled, steep streets and enough tourist traffic to support some very good restaurants. Its main square, which is sparklingly lit at night, is used a lot by locals and tourists, alike. We walked with a young local guide, Juan Luis, from Barichara to the nearby indigenous village of Guane, a steep downhill, rocky, hot walk with incredible views. Guane boasts a tiny paleontology/archeology museum packed with fossilized sea creatures like amonnites and a 6’ long aquatic dinosaur spine and oodles of petrified dinosaur poop!
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| Walking around Barichara was aerobic! |
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| Barichara’s main square at night |
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| A street in Guane village |
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| With our guide Juan Luis in Guane village. Luis spoke German and a bit of English, and was quite knowledgeable about local culture (he grew us on a local farm) and the medicinal use of various plants. He was also into witches, ghosts, and aliens, all of which he had personally observed! |
Kate found a paper-making foundation in Barichara, which was created a little over 20 years ago to provide an opportunity for women to work - apparently before that only men had paying jobs in the area. It was an interesting visit in which we “made” paper - really just conducted one step in the process - and heard about the many plants they used to do so, from yucca to pineapple to marijuana, but mostly fique, all of which grew in a beautiful little garden on the grounds. Kate bought some paper for a future art project.
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| Using a framed screen to collect plant pulp, which is then dried to make a sheet of paper. The press in the background, originally used in tobacco production, helps to press out the water and flatten the shee |
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| The paper-making foundation’s gallery where women artists display their work |
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| The garden |
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