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We didn't really expect to spend any time in Tunja, but are very glad that we did.
We stopped here briefly on our way from San Gil to Villa de Leyva as we had to change
buses here. That was the first time we really suffered at all from the altitude.
We had to trundle our luggage carts about a hundred meters and up a slight hill to
get them from one bus to another and were both puffing and panting heavily at the
end. We originally thought we would take a direct bus from Villa de Leyva to
Bogota, but it turned out that we would either have to get up before dawn or
arrive after dark and we wished to do neither so opted instead to spend a couple
of days in Tunja.
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Arriving in Tunja by bus from Villa de Leyva was also perhaps our first close
encounter with Andean natives. On the bus Jan sat next to a 50-something woman
sporting men's trousers and suit jacket, a trilby hat covering her dark pigtails,
and all covered with a
woollen serapi. Her high-cheekbones were rosy and her eyes were light and bright.
They exchanged a few words of conversation, enough for Jan to conclude that the
woman's accent was beyond her. She did understand, however, that she and two
friends were going to Tunja to attend a Sunday church service on the outskirts of town
and she was worried about getting there on time.
The most shocking thing about Tunja after experiencing the effects of the altitude was
the realization that Tunja could be cold! Every place we had been since Cartagena had
been progressively cooler, but in both San Gil and Villa de Leyva the nights and mornings
were cool but not very cold. In Tunja, as soon as the sun started to dip, around 3
o'clock in the afternoon, there was a decided nip in the air and our resident cold fish
didn't want to be outdoors after dark. We experienced quite a change in our dress. Away
went the shorts and tank-tops and out came the turtlenecks and sweaters and for Jan a
coat.
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