Paipa: A Precious Piece of My Childhood

I am a very active traveler, and I love trips; the farther, the better. That is why it´s so weird I would like so much our occasional trips to Paipa, a little town in Boyaca, close to Tunja. There is nothing too exciting in Paipa. It´s just very close to thermal water sources, but I´m not really into hot pools (they say that if you stay too long, you could have a stroke). So why do I like it so much? The reason is, they always come with some type of unexpected adventure. They usually come unexpectedly, with no warning and usually last only one night there. My dad takes us when my mother is gone on one of her various trips around the world. He always makes trips a lot funner, because my mother is always fussing about prices, and where we are going to stay, etc. Dad only cares about whether we have fun together. Besides, he has a special knack to make them very exciting. For example, he once took us when our Alfa Romeo had just gotten out of the mechanic with a brand new engine. He thought it would be a good idea to ride it around "La Savanna de Bogotá" to get it running well. Turns out we got to Tunja faster than we expected, and decided to go to Paipa to my grandmother´s birthday. She was so impressed that we had arrived so soon, and she was so happy. Later, we went back to Bogotá, (The trip to Paipa takes like 3 hours, we did it in 2 1/2). Another time, we were planning to meet a person in Villa de Leyva (a friend of my mother´s). We never found him, and later got a message he had some type of appointment and had to cancel our meeting. That was not too bad. We spent the afternoon in the town, but riding the stone paved streets of the "Historical Patrimony of Humanity" we messed up the muffler. Dad was so furious, and we were all worried. It was a Saturday afternoon, and no mechanic shops were open that day. We managed to arrive to Tunja, and miraculously, we found a little shop open. The owner was a mechanic who worked is his home garage. He fixed everything in five minutes, and Dad was so happy he decided to go to Paipa to celebrate!

Still, the best part of going to Paipa is the never skipped horse-back riding. The hotel horses already know us, and the one in charge always has a new path to take us around. The best route we have ever taken was when we went up the mountain to see the "Pantano de Vargas" from the tallest point. We had to go fast to make the whole trip, and it turned out the little hotel horses were much stronger and faster than we expected. It was a very exhilarating ride, ignoring the fact that the fog blocked the "Pantano de Vargas" view. At the top of the mountain, the sun started coming up, and the dew covered every single flower and spiderweb around. It was very magical, and I will never forget how beautiful the scene turned in just a few seconds.

Those trips to Paipa are a small piece of childhood I will keep with me forever, because they are moments in which I can honestly say I am truly happy.