Popayan town square
The statues of San Agustin
A true born Equestrian
Top of the morning to ya!
Buenos, Que Tal!
After such a great time in the Galapagos it would be hard to top it, not that we were trying, but I think Columbia was trying. Yes, the country was trying - strange huh!
You may know Colombia as the wild and crazy outlaw country once somewhat ruled by Pablo Escabar and later FARC (the drug running separatists); let me tell you those days are long gone. Colombia´s government seems to have a reasonable hold on the rebels and dangers for locals and tourists. Don´t get me wrong, I don´t mean to disillusion you with ideas that Colombia is perfectly safe, its not. After all Colombia is still the world´s number one exporter of cocaine. It is obvious to see that the government is putting in a reasonable effort to control crime with many soldiers in the cities and on the highways.
Back to my comment about ¨Colombia trying¨, well it really seems every person you come across is aiming to make you feel very welcome in their country. People are just nice. I dare say, based on our week here, they are the nicest in South America. Brazilians would certainly give them a run for their money, but Colombians in my opinion take the trophy (Venezuela pending)....Maybe its the lack of tourists in Colombia, scared off by the days of Pablo and FARC.
The land named after Christopher Columbus is a pretty exciting place to see so far. On entering the country, the landscape has been one of the best in South America. I´m just shocked at how much stuff we have managed to fit in the last week in Colombia. We have had a pretty exciting start and I expect the fun to continue!
You all must know Colombia is famous for coffee, well yes, its more than tasty, its delicious. The other great thing to have along with your coffee is a Colombian pastry which one can smell all the way down the street, yummy!
Our path in Colombia - Ipiales > Pasto > Popayan > San Agustin > Bogota
Monday - Santuario De Las Lajas: This cathedral was built on the site where Colombians witnessed a vision of the Virgin Mary. Despite if you believe this or not, I can tell you for sure, the cathedral they have built in her honor is real and WOW. The church is built in the side of a 100 meter/yard gorge and also on the bridge that joins the two sides. Using a kind of South American Gothic style, its a very unique place in a stunning landscape. Along with crossing the boarder, this took up most of the day and we went out for dinner and drinks in Pasto with a few backpackers.
Tuesday - Volcan Azufral: Hmm, I can say, while writing about this day, I´m cringing! Don´t worry too much, nothing really bad happened, other than poor judgement. Based on a solid tip from backpackers; after getting a late start, we took a two hour mini-bus, fended off dodgy taxi drivers and arrived at the ranger station for the volcano (approx 3500 meters, over 10,000 feet) around 12:30, with a slight rain and a very cold temperature. We considered heading back as the taxi drivers were very dodgy, then as we arrived on the volcano a lack of common sense or a false courage persevered and we decided to stay. That walk to the top was about 5km (3 miles) and it was not too fun. Besides being very cold and wet, at that altitude, we couldn't see more than 5 meters/yards due to the clouds. The main aim when seeing this volcano is to see a emerald green lake in the crater of the volcano called Laguna Verde. Well, we pressed on, made it to the top and said a few words I won´t write down and headed back, soaked! As it was about 0 degrees C (32F) Marina caught had a small fever that night, but it luckily went away by morning. Funny she was fine to go out have a good meal and a few beers - good strong Russian blood!
Wednesday - Blanco Ciudad: It took most of the daylight hours to get there, but this is one road you want to do in the daylight. We arrived in Popayan around 4pm with just enough time to wonder around and see the gorgeous white washed colonial city! Said to be the second nicest one in Colombia, it lived up to the reputation. For dinner we had the best steak so far outside of Argentina - each one could have fed a family. After food we headed to an old man´s pub where they play music on an gramophone. In Marina´s interest, we shaked our moves on the dance floor amongst Columbians who could have won any US/UK dance reality show! I´m sure we (no sorry, I) looked sad... :D
Thursday- Laundry mishap: On Sreda (as Russians call hump day) we took a long bumpy ride to San Agustin, home to the second most famous archaeological site in Colombia. As we left our bus to get a taxi into town, I noticed a funny smell. I guess this is one of the things you deal with when backpacking. Someone had put a box of veggies or something on my bag and this puke like liquid leaked all over it and my freshly cleaned clothes (Clean clothes for a backpacker is heaven). On top of that we had to change hotels 3 times, do to bad locks on the doors and missed the sites for the day. There is not much to do ¨in¨ San Agustin, but we killed time by hitting the market, getting my first haircut by an English speaker in God knows how long, and playing a bit of pool.
Friday- Cocaine fed horses: Well, I don´t know if they were eating any of Colombia´s most expensive export, but they may occasionally eat coca leaves which grow wild and they do eat shredded sugar cane and drink water with honey. Let me say, if we had known about this, we would have thought twice before beginning our horse riding trip. Within the first 5 minutes I knew we would be in for a seriously crazy day. We later learned we had racing horses! Before I can tell you what we went to see, these horses were scary and probably VERY dangerous. Its the fastest I've ever been on a horse, which says a fair amount coming from a Missouri boy! This thing didn't gallop, it practically flew! I certainly came close to flying a few times! Enough berating about the horses, our trip this day was around the countryside to go and see San Agustin´s famous statues which were carved over 2500 years ago representing shamans, animals, tribe leaders, etc. After we finished the trip, our guide dropped Marina and I off at the Pargue Arqueological (I´ll let you guess what that means) and we saw hundreds of the statues along a stunning layout in the forest.
Saturday - Jeep tour: We joined a jeep tour with a few other travellers to see the surrounding countryside in greater detail. Our first stop, was where the big river, the Rio Magdellena closes to 2 meters/yards wide. Almost close enough to jump across except if you miss you´ll spend a while enjoying the under water current. We saw a few waterfalls, the biggest being 400 meters/yards tall! Also, we saw more of the statues and tombs, again all around a stunning landscape. Cutting our trip in San Agustin short, we boarded a horrible bus for Bogota which is where I´m writing you from. Horrible as it was small, bumpy, freezing cold with AC, woken by military security checks a few times and the chairs were impossible to sleep in. But hey, I not miffed, I´m loving Colombia and we are still having the times of our lives!!!
So whats next; We have a few days in Bogota, then over to Zona (the coffee area) and later on up to Medellin (previous home of Pablo Escabar).
Until next time, adios!
Dan and Marina
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