Raquira and Candelaria del Desierto

On Tuesday I went to Raquira, a small artisan town specializing in pottery. It was interesting to see the kilns, and the various art, nice central plaza, interesting colors, etc... After a short while however, I decided to go to the Candelaria del Desierto which is a monastery in the Desert. I asked a local man how long of a walk, and when he told me 45 minutes I headed off. 2 hours later, I ran into him at his house on the road there, and realized I should have waited the 30 minutes for the Collective taxi to leave.


In any case, we had a drink at his house, and I continued on(see picture) The walk had great views of Raquira and the neighboring farms. Once I arrived, I was starving and was told to knock on a random wooden door which was supposed to be a restaurant. I had the place to myself, and took a picture of the courtyard. The food was excellent, and I took a short nap there next to the stream. After waking up, I went to the monastery where I received a tour, once again, by myself. It was interesting to hear about how the monks used to live, and admire some of the things in the museum, which included 400 year old furniture, 300 year old bibles, and an old Victrola and Apple computer. It was a very relaxing day.