Jasmine Wanders

Aside from the initial annoyance of the Boyacenses pushing us on the bus to get on before we could get off, I was instantly enchanted by this pueblo. You know when you’ve been traveling for awhile, and you don’t really find anything that fits you, and then you finally get to a place you like and it’s like SIGH! So this is why I travel!

Visiting Mongui is like stepping back into time. I imagine not much has changed in the past 200 – 400 years in this pueblo. Tranquility instantly invades your body and mind. You can’t help but wander around its cobbled streets like a child lost in his or her own world.

Mongui was voted prettiest pueblo in Boyaca, and is currently in the running again. And for good reason!

The only flaw I found in Mongui? It’s freaking cold! At 2800 to 2900 meters, or 9000 to 9500 feet, what can I expect? There are also minimal eating choices in the pueblo. The restaurants that are open regularly cater to Rolos, or people from Bogota, which means that they are super caro (expensive!)

This isn’t a pueblo I can describe with words… you have to go and feel it. Mongui is a photographer’s dream… every step is a picture waiting to be taken and the rainy weather only makes the colors stand out more.

Typical of Colombian pueblos, Mongui’s inhabitants are very friendly. Upon arrival, and older man approached us in the park with a tourist brochure of Mongui. After I told him I was from the US, his eyes lighted up and he said, “Norteamericana! Bienvenida a Mongui!” with a genuine enthusiasm that melted my heart.

When the noise, the cars, the pollution, and the mass of people in Bogota get to me, my mind will wander to this little slice of heaven. I can’t wait to make a home out of one of these precious pueblos in January. I already miss Mongui…