Today we woke up and had a relaxed morning while we waited for breakfast time. We got some blogging done, drank some coffee and tea, ate breakfast, then headed out by bus towards the town of Aquitania where we would get our first glimpse of Colombia’s largest lake, Laguna de Tota.

We caught the bus on the road outside our finca/hostel. After about 40 minutes of a windy uphill road we finally made it to the town. It was amazing, there were fields of green onion EVERYWHERE! It kind of gave the town a slight oniony smell.

After getting oriented around the town square, we took off towards a small lookout of the lake. We didn’t notice that there was actually a walking path up there so took the road up instead. Still wasn’t too mad, there definitely isn’t much traffic in the town. The views on the way, and when we finally got there, were definitely worth it! Plus, we got more of a birds eye view of all the onion fields too, such a bonus.

On the way down we took the walking path. Much prettier trek, though a bit steeper, so a little tougher on our knees which had been already hit heavily the day before at the Paramo. This was still a 1,000 foot drop in a short distance!

Once back in town it was lunchtime so we headed to the restaurant that had been recommended to us by our hostel, Pueblito Viejo. Their specialy was rainbow trout, freshly cought from the Laguna, so we had to try it. They had several different variations of it so we chose it in Cazuela form, an also with a red wine reduction plus almond bits. Both were really really good, and the portions/size of fish extra extra generous! We were completely stuffed.

After lunch it was back on a bus to round out the rest of the lake and small towns that surround it. We originally thought about stopping at Playa Blanca, a white sand beach on the lakefront, but, when we got there it was pouring down rain so we opted to skip it and keep on with our adventure. The next stop then was the small town of Iza which was very picturesque and colonial.

The region here is famous for Almohabanas, a type of bread, and also Masato, fermented rice water/juice, so when we walked by a place selling them Alejandro ran in to get some. The Almohaban was okay, a little dry, but the Masato washed it down nicely. It definitely had the little tingle you get from real fermentation.

This town is also known for their sweets so we went by the local dessert shops. We were offered tastings of a few different things, but unfortunately they didn’t taste very fresh (plus they had bees flying and landing all over them) so we chose not to get anything. And we were still super stuffed from lunch! So after walking around a bit we simply waited for the bus and headed back to our hostel.

Once back in Sogamoso we had a few errands to run. First stop was the bus terminal to buy our bus tickets to San Gil for tomorrow morning. Then Alejandro needed a haircut, it was slightly more expensive than others at $4, though it included shampoo this time. We finished off the night with some arepas from some street vendors, some more fruit, then bedtime.