Relaxing In High Style!!

Thursday morning we left San Gil on the bus bound for Giron, a small colonial town on the outskirts of Bucaramanga, a large city built on the mountainside in the north part of the province of Santander.

This ride was spectacular, though frightening because of the steep mountain cliffs that went down for thousands of feet before they reached a wide muddy river at the bottom. Any bus going off one of these curves is DONE FOR!
At the top of the mountain was a famous national park in the Chicamocha Canyon, situated perfectly for incredible views on either side.
The ride down increased poor Keith's car sickness to an awful state though he insisted he didn't need a vomit bag like others on the bus.
We were happy to reach the metropolis of Bucaramanga and even more pleased that we had chosen to stay in smaller Giron in the Hotel Las Nieves just off the main square. This was the view out of our small terrace window.
Spending time outside the large church we had an interesting experience with a gypsy reading palms and were $5,000 pesos (less than $3.00 US) poorer because of it, but we enjoyed the empanadas, coffee and delicious pastries at establishments on opposite corners of the square.
Our plane ride from Bucaramanga to Bogota on Friday morning was uneventful and getting to the bus station in Bogota no issue at all. We met a friendly man from the town of Girardot in the Bogota bus station who invited us to visit his family which we did yesterday (Monday) and plan to see again before we leave here. But the 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Bogota to Girardot really takes over four hours on a Friday afternoon because of the horrific traffic that flows out of that rainy, cold city to this hot, dry tourist destination.
Jose, our new friend, was so anxious to make sure that we didn't miss any important sights along the way that he kept getting out of his seat to whisper information in our ears as we sat up front next to the bus driver. Colombians are very proud to show off their country and thank you for visiting. Never before have we felt so sincerely welcomed!

I'm happy to report that our accommodations here at the Hotel Club El Puente, a timeshare exchange that was gifted by Papa Stan (Thank you Papa Stan!) far exceed our regular style of travel. It's superdooper nice! And during the week there is simply NO ONE here at any of the pools.

Today was a reading by the pool day, tomorrow may be more of the same. We may never venture far out of this cushy resort to see the sights. It was great to go and meet Kerrie and her family/friends, they were so sweet to us, inviting us for lunch and a nice walk! Keith's good karma of bringing strangers to stay at Randolph as they travel though is coming back ten-fold!!

Each night in Girardot our ears were treated to the sounds of insects ~ they were incredibly loud!