Total distance 61,5 kms. Total ascent 697 mtrs. Trip time 5.28.
Left Villa de Leyva in northern direction towards the village of Arcabuco, on the main road from Bogotà to the coast. Temp. at 09.00 hrs already 20 ˚C. Very quiet road in a much greener environment than south of the town, very beautiful . The road starts to climb immediately and continues to do so until Arcabuco (alt. 2578) after 25 kms. The highest point is at 21 kms, 2590 alt. Parts of this road are very steep, reaching over 15% more than once. It took us nearly 3 hrs to do these 25 k. So the break in Arcabuco was more than welcome. We had coffee, a kind of pastry with chicken inside (con pollo), a cup of a local non alcoholic fruit brew and a cup of yoghurt. Prices here are very much lower than before, evidently we’re in the countryside now. We didn’t pay more than 2 Euros for this double lunch. From Arcabuco to Barbosa was mainly downhill, very much downhill as it is, some 1000 mtrs, with some leg killing short climbs in between. Barbosa is a not interesting town, where we found a very clean hotel with a balcony overlooking a grand valley. No hot water here, the climate makes it unnessary they say, and there is some truth in it. The hotel, food and beer are darn cheap again and the people remain nice and friendly.

Download 20100106_vdleva_barbosa.gpx