Los Nevados

Los Nevados sits at around twenty-seven hundred metres on a shelf above the Chama valley in the Sierra Nevada, a village of white houses with tiled roofs, a stone church and terraced fields, with no easy way in. The classic approach is to ride the Mérida cable car to Loma Redonda and then walk or take a mule down for three to five hours; the alternative is a long rough jeep track. Coffee and vegetables are grown on the slopes below.

What you actually see

• The village - white tiled houses and a stone church on a high mountain shelf.
• The walk in - the descent from Loma Redonda on foot or by mule.
• The terraced fields - farming worked on very steep ground below the village.
• The Sierra Nevada views - the high peaks seen from the village and the path.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the best for walking. The rains make the track and the paths difficult. It is cold at night year round.

Honest expectations

Access is genuinely difficult: the walk is long and steep and the jeep track is rough and slow. Accommodation is basic posadas with limited hot water. The cable car has been out of service for long periods.

Nearby

Merida is north, and Apartaderos is northeast.