Finding Filandia

Despite hailing from an island, we’ve always felt more at home inland. That we were brought up in a landlocked county in our native Ireland probably has something to do with our mindset in this regard – our ability in deep water matching that of a handicapped cat has also played its part, no doubt.

At home in the hills.

Now, we don’t have an irrational fear of water. Heck, we’ve snorkelled and scuba-dived the planet’s great oceans. Plus, as last week’s story detailed (‘Lesser-spotted Colombia: Bahía Solano’ http://bit.ly/X3lWpV), we’ve no problem sailing the high seas. It’s just up in the hills has always felt a bit better (after over a year living in Bogotá, it would want to).

So with that in mind plus our desire to check out quiet, slow-paced places on our recent escape from the Colombian capital, our final short stop ticked many boxes. 

Perched at an altitude of 1,900 masl, the quaint little town of Filandia** in Colombia’s famed Eje Cafetero (‘Coffee-Growers Axis’ or ‘Coffee Triangle’ as it’s also known as) is, as far as we’re concerned, a close to perfect inland location to unwind.

Filandia's main square - where it all happens.

Eye-catching scenery among the green rolling hills, tranquil country roads to ramble aimlessly about with warm, but not unbearable (like the friendly locals) daytime temperatures along with a well-kept town (we're not always in search of dirty places - see 'Buenaventura's dirty delights' http://bit.ly/11ksFmP) all contribute to make this a highly enjoyable place to visit. Throw in the fact that it’s not quite as well known as nearby Salento and thus sees fewer tourists, it’s hard to find a fault if a bit of peace and quiet in the countryside air is what you’re looking for.

In many ways, the place is a picture-postcard image of rural, old-school Colombia: A colourful little main plaza replete with a standout Catholic church; the compact, door-less, plastic-top Jeep Willis used to transport coffee, people and whatever else you fancy; farm animals wandering, without a care, about the streets; and of course the middle-aged/elderly local men kitted out in trademark poncho and wide hat (or ‘aguadeño’ in the native lingo) with most sporting a little moustache. 

The 'boyos'!

A tasty little touch for us was the way that almost every second dwelling in the town seemed to sell chargrilled arepas in the morning and again in the evening (we do like an arepa from time to time as discussed in ‘Six of the best in 2012 (well kind of)’ http://bit.ly/VQGxxo). Plain arepas with a touch of butter and/or salt they may just have been – the odd few houses offered cheese – but they hit the spot (in fairness, for $300 pesos a pop – about $0.15US – you really can’t go wrong).

After a couple or more of those, you’re in no better place to wash them down with a nice cup of coffee. There’s no shortage of options in this regard – all very reasonably priced as well for the hard-pressed, as, you may have guessed, we are.

Arepas, lots of arepas - yummy!

If you do happen to get bored with things in the town and its surrounds – our stay was much too short for this to happen – there is a coffee park about 20 km away that’s meant to be worth a visit (we didn’t get to it, this time). The small city of Armenia is less than an hour's bus ride away if you’re perhaps looking for a bit more ‘action’ (not something we wanted, though, as pointed out above).

For us, the relative peace and serenity in the comfortable hillside surroundings were more than enough. Enough, in any case, to leave a desire in us to go back for more.

*In terms of accommodation, the hostel/hospedaje ‘Eden de Filandia’ (above ‘Droguería Bristol’, the pharmacy on the square) offers basic rooms – although with a balcony where you can see the square – for the giveaway price of $12,000 pesos per night, less than $7US. There are other, slightly more expensive options if you feel like splashing the cash.

**As you’ll discover should you visit, the name ‘Filandia’ has nothing to do with the country Finland (which is ‘Finlandia’ in Spanish) as some people mistakenly think. It comes from the Latin ‘fila’ meaning daughter and ‘andia’ referring to the Andes Mountains. So basically the town’s name means ‘Daughter of the Andes’. Now you know!