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Published: June 11th 2008
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16th - 30th May: After flying back to Quito from the Galapagos Islands we had a few days in Quito and thankfully the sun came out for half of one of those, but the muggings didn´t stop. The sun finally appeared on the Sunday morning and we got to see the Old Town in all its glory as the streets are closed to cars on Sundays. As for the muggings, well the chef (a Quito local) in the Secret Garden got stabbed on the Friday night. Don´t think we´ll be going back to Quito in a hurry.
We hit the road for the Colombian border on the Tuesday morning and stopped in a town called Pasto, in southern Colombia, on Tuesday night just to break the journey. Next morning we moved on to Popayan, a beautiful Colonial town (yep, another one). Spent a couple of days wandering the streets, but most time was spent in a couple of small bars (we´ve seen enough museums and churches at this stage) that were blasting out old vinyl records. Happy days. The Colombians also have a reputation as the friendliest in South America and over the 2 days we had numerous people ask
Salento Main Street
Here comes a cowboy. This guy was doing dressage style horse riding up and down the main street. us did we need help, or just come up for a chat with the out of towners. Not many tourists around town either, and in the 2 days we didn´t see another person we´d recognise as tourists. Most are still afraid to cross the border.
On that note it´s probably a hell of alot more dangerous to walk around Quito than travel through Colombia. Every bus we´ve been on to date has been stopped, everyone has to get off, show ID and open their bags. With the current President having taken the hard line with the militias for the past few years they are now confined to the jungle or have been pushed over the border into Venezuela and Ecuador.
Next morning and we hit the road early for San Agustin. So as to hit the road early I generally have to trick Niamh who couldn´t be accused of being an early bird. Thankfully she doesn´t have a watch, so I just tell her it´s 8.30 when it´s actually 7.00. By the time she realises the real time, we´re generally in the bus station and booking a bus for a half an hour earlier than the time she
Silvia Man
Skirts are the go for men and illuminous laces. thought she got up at. Works every time.
San Agustin is a small village only 130km from Popayan, but it takes 6-7 hours down a very rough and bumpy road. We eventually get dropped at a crossroads 5k´s from San Agustin and we are put on the back of motorbikes for the last bit into town, while the bus went off in a different direction. Little did we realise at that stage but this is an ingenious hook up between the bus company, a local hostal and a local tour group. So before we know where we are, we´re dropped at a hostal in town, which was nice so we stayed, and then we´re given the tour pitch by the 2 motorbike drivers. Again we booked but only after checking the prices in the local tour office.
Next morning and we´re on horses again, that we´ve been told will be very slow and calm. Niamh´s horse was closer to Shergar than a slow horse and insisted on being 1st in line all day no matter what Niamh did. Still at least they wanted to go forward unlike the other horses we´ve been on in South America.
We
spent a couple of days either on horse, walking or in a jeep visiting various different sites that contain the statues and tombs of the Augustin civilisation. In short these people lived in this area from about 3000 BC to 1400 AD, and when an important person died they would bury them with a stone statue to guard the grave. The necropolis (large cemetery) is scattered over an area of around 65,000 hectares and less than 10% has been found and excavated. Everything else they know about them is guess work.
After a couple of days and one big Saturday night in San Agustin we headed back to Popayan. Unfortunately a landslide halted our progress on the way back, but a couple of hours later we were able to walk around it and get a second bus/truck thing for the last hour. That night we hooked up with Jon and Louise from Ranelagh again for dinner.
Next day we all headed up to the market village of Silvia to gawk at the local indigenous people who come to town for the Tuesday markets. Check out the photos to see the outfits but a personal favourite was the use
of illuminous shoe laces. That afternoon we headed to a little bar Niamh and myself had frequented a few days earlier. We were welcomed back by the owner, Julio, like long lost friends and after paying up to leave after 2 drinks, he insisted on buying us a drink. Then his mate insisted on buying us a drink. Then he insisted on another drink. I´m not sure who insisted on the last drink, but eventually we escaped after many hugs and kisses.
Next morning and after a not to early start we first got a bus to Cali, then a second bus to Armenia. That´s Aremnia the city in Colombia not the country, but the men do tend to sport similar moustaches to what I assume are their Armenian relations. From there we got another bus to the village of Salento.
Salento is a beautiful (not colonial this time) little village in the hills of mid west Colombia, and home to lots of hombres in ponchos. Real cowboy town. The game of choice is 2 cushion billiards, played on a pool table with no pockets and only 3 balls. The buildings are all painted white with colourful doors
and windows.
The first day there we just wandered the few streets that there are, and went to a couple of look out points that give views of the surrounding hills and valleys. The afternoon was then spent in a bar watching Ireland beat Colombia in the football. Niamh was a bit worried I might get shot or something if I over reacted, but all I got was a congratulations handshake from one of the locals.
Next morning we got a jeep taxi to Cocora, gateway to the Valle De Cocora. In true South American style we had 12 people in a vehicle designed for 6. How you may ask? Well 3 in the front of course, 4 in the back, 2 more including myself standing on the back bumper and then we picked up another 3 lads who climbed up onto the roof. No problems. When we got there we went for a nice 10-15 km walk up through a cloud forest and then back down through the valley. The main attraction here is the wax palms that tower over everything else. Magnificent sight as they reach heights of up to 50m. We also came across 30
Colombian soldiers camped out in the valley. They spend 3 months out in the surrounding hills then get 15 days off, trying to ensure the FARC guerrillas don´t return.
After that it was back to Salento, grabbed our bags and got the bus to Medellin. This bus was a bit of a nightmare mainly due to the choice of film being shown and the volume they were played at. First we had to sit through "Attack of the Killer Spiders" (assumed name of film). This was quickly followed by "Attack of the even more Killer Spiders", which was then immediately followed by "Attack of the Killer Bees". Thankfully there wasn´t time for the sequel or we might of had "Attack of the Crazed Irishman".
Eventually got to Medellin a couple of hours late due to more landslide problems along the way. Checked into a nice new hostal called Tiger Paw run by an American guy. Had a few beers and a chat with him before hitting the sack. Next day we just had a quick look around Medellin, former home of Pablo Escobar and lots of guns, but now a nice clean and safe city.
That evening
we then boarded an overnight bus to Cartgena on the Carribean coast, for our sun holiday at the end of a long holiday.
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