Long Easter Weekend Getaway

I've been writing a few articles here and there for my roommate's 'Colombia Reports' website. Adriaan's been pleased with my work and has taught me a few things about how to write the article to optimize search results online. Quite interesting and different from just plain ol' journalism. Here's an article I wrote for the travel section about my recent trip to la Honda over the past Easter weekend. I went with my friend Clara, who I actually just met 2 weeks ago when I arrived this second time, but she lives right above us with a cranky señora so she is usually over at our place a lot.

Small town La Honda has something all its own to offer

Some 4.5 million people migrated to their hometowns and vacation destinations during Holy Week this past week in Colombia. I made the journey to a small town called La Honda, located in the state of Tolima and a three hour bus ride west of Bogota, with a friend who is from there. Known as the “City of Bridges,” Honda has plenty of beautiful scenery to offer one relief from the commotion of Colombia’s big cities. The longest river in Colombia, the Magdalena, flows through the heart of Honda, with big grass-covered mountains resting on the outskirts. I spent the majority of my days cooling off in different bodies of water, whether it be the cool freshwater of the plentiful rivers, or the lukewarm pool of a friend’s hotel, in order to escape the 35-plus degree heat and humidity that blankets the small town. It was hard to find a good spot to safely swim in the river though, with recent rains raising the water level and current of many of the rivers in the area to dangerous levels.

With my friend’s mother’s help, I enjoyed the pleasures of authentic home-cooked Colombian food. My first day I sampled a dish called rice with hearts, which thanks to Argentina and its passion for all things meat-related, I was actually familiar with and was not completely repulsed by the chewy, elastic chicken hearts. Fortunately the next day lunch was a bit lighter; I tried my first ajiaco, a creamy stew consisting of chicken, potatoes, and corn, served with rice, avocado, and capers. In between meals I snacked on yucca bread, warm little rolls made with the yucca vegetable and cheese, native to Tolima.

Other activities typical of Honda that I engaged in during my three-day stay were the drinking of aguardiente, a black licorice flavored liquor consumed in shot form; taking in views of the Magdalena River from the boardwalk; waiting out downpours outside of a store for hours on end; and almost falling off a friend’s motorcycle while cruising the narrow cobblestoned paths en route to the river because yes, three people can fit on a two-person motorcycle and no, it wasn’t raining too hard.

Located directly on the route from Bogota to Medellin, travelers almost always pass Honda without a care for this little known, quiet town. But it has its own scene, with a striking landscape and vibrant nightlife to compete with the likes of the big bad cities surrounding it.