Advertisement
Published: December 25th 2017
Geo: 4.33008, -74.1475
Barichara to Bogota via Desierto de la Tatacoa, San Agustin and Tierradentro 10 - 30 January 2016
We left the cosy haven of Serenity Suites in Bucaramanga reluctantly and headed to Barichara, a 6 hour journey in 2 buses, but quite easy. We arrived and checked into El Zaguan, a spacious hotel built in traditional style of wooden beams around an internal courtyard. The room was huge with a large functional bathroom, something of novelty we have discovered on our travels. We started to unpack at which point Jim said, " You did take the jackets out of the wardrobe in Bucaramanga?". Oops! Short answer, "No!". What made it worse was when I packed I had said to Jim that there seemed to be plenty of space in the bag. Anyway we thought about what to do, sent a message to Gus via Skype, and changed our itinerary to stop of Bucaramanga on our way back to Bogota, then set out to explore Barichara.
It is a small town unchanged since first built and is very pretty with red tiled roofs and all the buildings of one storey apart from the church. It is a very laid back place where
nothing really happens, shopkeepers sit inside their doors, usually wearing white, wide brimmed hats, and people sit in the square in any shade they can find. It is difficult to spot shops from the outside as signs are rare and it is necessary to peek inside the open door to establish what they are selling. But they are visual delights when you do peer in as most of them are comprehensively fitted out with wooden shelving and glass fronted cupboards designed for their particular wares. There is a man's clothing store with shirts neatly stacked on display up the walls, a haberdashery shop, a wonderful pharmacy straight out of the 1930s and general stores that took Jim and I back to our childhood in the 50s. I don't think anything has been updated for at least 60 years but that is the charm of Barichara. It also has a local delicacy reputed to be delicious - fat bottomed ants - honestly! I bought some but as yet have not had the courage to try one so if you are tempted ask me when we return.
So after 3 nights we returned to Bucaramanga to be welcomed back. I think unconsciously
we had wanted an excuse to return. We stayed one night and set off the next day for Bogota making sure we had our jackets. Bogota was an en route stop where we took a small plane (a bargain at £24 each) down to Neiva to see the Desierto de la Tatacoa.
This is a peculiar landform - a tiny desert, about 30 square miles in area, on land that millions of years ago was a sea surrounded by tropical jungle. So not only can you view the strange formations where water has created patterns in the earth but in the small museum you can see fossils found in the desert, many of huge extinct animals. There is also a suggestion that the desert was formed by a meteorite strike but I was not able to find supporting evidence. Originally, I had wanted to stay in the desert but Jim thought it was easier to spend a couple of nights in Neiva and be driven out to the desert. Thank goodness we did that, the accommodation in the desert is very basic and often consists of just a hammock. The vegetation bordering the desert is mainly clumps of cactus.
On our
way back to Neiva we stopped at a sugar cane plant producing panela, blocks of brown caramelised sugar. The conditions were Dickensian and Health and Safety experts would have been horrified to see us wondering between vats of boiling sugar cane juice along with the local children who think it is a perfect place to play as they help themselves to the panela at will.
Then on we travelled to San Agustin, the number one archeological site in Colombia, to see stone statues created by indigenous people between 100 and 900 years A.D. Nothing is really known about these people as apart from the statues nothing remains of their culture. It is believed they were wiped out by more aggressive indigenous groups long before the Spaniards arrived.
The statues, more than 500, are scattered across the countryside and there are also burial sites which have been excavated to show the stone sarcophagi. Originally the bodies were buried in stone coffins, sometimes in group graves, and these were then covered with earth to form large mounds. The statues seemed to have been used in 3 different ways, to 'guard' burial sites often standing half exposed on the mound, to support 'tables', and as
covers for the stone coffins. Although archeologists have various theories about their way of life, including interpreting some of the statues as demonstrating human sacrifice, there is no real evidence available - it is all opinion and interpretation. What is known, as some have been found still coloured, is that all the statues and graves were painted in combinations of black, yellow and red paint. Most have now been weathered and lost their colour.
Another site consisted of an area where a small stream fans out over flat rocks and here there are carvings on rocks in and under the water. It is suggested this was a place for rituals or for worshipping the animals connected to water as a way of ensuring a constant water supply.
All the statues are different and some (see picture of bird with snake) seem surprisingly modern in design as do some of the more abstract human features.
It took 3 days to visit the majority of sites but we started in the Parque Archaeologico, only 200 metres from our hotel. The Parque is wonderful, including a museum, a huge number of statues, and a circular path through a wood displaying even more statues in a
cool environment full of birds.
Our hotel was perfect, a very large room with mezzanine (5 beds in total), huge bathroom with 2 of everything - handbasins, showers and WCs and set in a vast lawned garden. We decided the accommodation was big enough for us to live in permanently.
After 4 nights we set out for the second most important archaeological site, Tierra Dentro. This is not far in kilometres (170) from San Agustin but could be on another planet. We had to take a taxi to the colectivo terminal, wait for it to fill up then journey on to Pitalito, transfer to another colectivo and wait 45 minutes for that to fill up before heading on to Garzon. There we repeated the switch colectivo and wait strategy until we reached La Plata. From there the final 40 k is a nightmare as the surfaced road runs out not far from La Plata and then the track is rough and unbelievably dusty to the point that when vehicles cross it is impossible to see the road through the dust. We saw the open truck colectivo leave La Plata just as we arrived but it was crammed full of people with many
on the roof and hanging on to the sides. It would be 2 1/2 hours before the next one left and the sun was very intense so rather than hang about we took a taxi the rest of the way which was only fractionally more comfortable. To be fair the road is worse at present as they are building a new, real road alongside the track, and once that is finished reaching Tierro Dentro should be much easier.
The village for TD is San Andres de Pisambala, small, untouched with few facilities apart from a very useful internet shop. Otherwise there is no wifi in the area. It is a rural area where most food is locally grown. We tried to buy snacks and tissues in the local shop but there were none available. Luckily La Portada where we stayed has a restaurant across the road which serves very good food but there is no choice, it is the meal of the day for everyone.
Then we set out to see the sites, a number of burial tombs spread out roughly in a circle around the village on a 14 kilometre route. The Lonely Planet says they can all be visited in
a day. All I can say is that the author must be super fit, or never tried to do it. It took us 2 days of really hard slog and even then we missed out the furthest one which required an extra 3 hour trek. We started at the 2 museums where you pay for a 2 day ticket, one is about the sites and the other is about the history of later people in the area who are still here today and it has lots of interesting tools, clothes, jewellery etc. Then we started the steep climb up to the first site.
The tombs are fascinating. They have been dug out of the volcanic rock and go as deep as 9 metres. Originally they were painted the same colours as the statues in San Agustin, I guess the same plants etc were available as dyes. Again nothing else is known about the people apart from the tombs and pottery found inside . Large pots were used as funerary urns and placed inside the tombs so in the future more might be learnt about their diets etc from the remains but at present the area is largely untouched. Thankfully it is
being well conserved until more research can be done.
The physical effort of climbing down into and then out of the tombs was exhausting as the steps are very steep, often between 1/2 metre and a full metre deep. There is a guard/attendant at each site who kindly helps haul visitors out but it is not dignified! We stopped at the next site then continued the climb up the mountain ridge to return home. The walk was 3 hours of constant uphill trudging in full scorching sun - really tough. The next day we went in the opposite direction to another site, Alto de San Andres, and decided that was our limit. That was a more enjoyable walk as although as steep in parts it was easier to pace ourselves. Each site has a number of tombs, perhaps 4 or 5 but some are still closed.
We retraced our steps to Neiva and the next day took the short 45 minute flight back to Bogota. The plane was a small propeller, ATR 72, carrying 60 + passengers. We approached Bogota and the captain told the crew to prepare for landing but then we flew on and on. We thought we must be
queueing and awaiting out turn to land but after 70 mins we landed, on a small airfield totally surrounded by fields as far as the eye could see without a building in sight apart from the tiny terminal. We sat blankly for a second and Jim said, "Where are we?". The only thing I knew was it definitely wasn't Bogota! Then we wondered if we had got on the wrong plane but Jim quickly pointed out that no-one had tried to sit in our seats and they had checked boarding cards before climbing aboard. Then I looked around and realized everyone was looking as bewildered as us.
They made a short announcement and realising we were the only non Spanish speaking people on board the stewardess came and said we had not been able to land in Bogota because of the temperature and we would have to wait in the terminal until Bogota flight controllers told us it was safe. This didn't immediately make sense as Bogota does not have extreme temperature, hot or cold.
Anyway we entered the terminal and people scattered around but many went to the desk to complain that the captain had not communicated and gave no
information. I was concerned that there were no screens showing departures so I tried asking how they would tell us when we were due to leave but I could not get through to the man on the desk. I had not appreciated that more people were crowding around behind me and I didn't realise they could hear as in desperation I resorted to simple language and said to the man in Spanish "I am afraid the plane will take off without us". There was suddenly an outbreak of reassuring voices, a caring chorus from all the people behind saying things like, "Don't worry", "Relax", "we won't let that happen" etc. Ok I had sounded like a 5 year old but we weren't going to miss that plane. I walked to a puzzled looking Jim at the back of the crown as he asked what on earth I had said.
I needn't have worried as the terminal turned out to be the size of a large petrol station restaurant at home so we could see what was happening. Then a very small light plane landed and delivered a pilot. We left half an hour later and at least 20 people waved, or
came to tell us it was time to go including the man on the desk. It is a good job Jim is not easily embarrassed when he travels with me. Eventually we were told that cross winds were the problem that had prevented our landing and that Bogota, being in the valley between high mountains, is prone to this local climatic problem.
So now we are in Bogota preparing to go to Cuba for four weeks. It is complicated as you have to take money into Cuba to change into their currency. You cannot purchase it from outside. You are required to enter with sufficient cash for your stay, $100 a couple per day. In fact it is preferable not to use dollars as we believe they charge an extra 10% if you do. Euros, Canadian dollars or Pounds are better. So we have been through this laborious task of accumulating money as it is only possible to extract £160 from the ATM each visit, in some it is as low as £80 equivalent. But we are about there now. We are starting off in a Casa Particular, a private house where they have spare bedrooms (hopefully with bathroom) as
they are meant to be the best way of seeing the country with the best food. We will let you know. You have to have an address in Cuba before you fly in, ticket for a flight out and full details of your health insurance printed out, as well as a tourist card. We have been told you can buy the Tourist card at the airport and we hope this is true as that is the only thing we are lacking.
Before I finish I want to say some final words about Colombia. We did not know what to expect before we arrived and what you hear in the news about paramilitary activity, drug cartels etc and knowing the country has experienced 50 years of conflict all creates a negative image. It is difficult to understand how people have managed to cope and stay so positive. We have been surprised by the diversity of geography, and the modern forward moving prosperous cities as well as seeing where more needs to be done as for example in parts of Bogota. Everyone (apart from the woman in Santa Marta but we will forget her) has been unbelievably kind and welcoming and we have
always felt comfortable and at ease. Is this our naivety? I sometimes think there are parallel worlds here and we have seen the positive, hopeful one where, as the plethora of signs demonstrate, people want peace.
Yes, there are numerous heavily armed police, army and security guards everywhere. The police drive around 2 on a motorbike and seem to spend most of their time chatting, eating and generally enjoying themselves. I have seen more guns in 6 weeks here, many at close range (and some casually pointing in my direction which is disconcerting), than all the rest of my life put together. So are we missing a darker side? While we have been here there have been huge shipments of drugs found around Cartagena. They reported in the news that in the last 5 months in Bogota there have been 3 massacres. Last time we drove to the airport the road was closed off and the driver had to find another route. He was thwarted a couple of times and ended up going through the Santa Fe area. He told us it was a very bad area and it was clear that he was scared. As we moved across the
main road into another area he breathed out and wiped his brow, smiled and said all was ok. Was his fear justified? When we went to the desert near Neiva the hotel manager phoned 3 times during our excursion of 4 hours to check all was well. Is there a need for that level of vigilance?
As outsiders we can't really know the answers. Obviously the production and movement of drugs is a huge problem but hopefully if a peace deal is finalised between the Government and FARC then more resources can go into law and order. The more overseas tourists visit, and domestic tourism grows as the Government is trying to encourage then perhaps the normalisation process will get easier. I hope so and I would encourage anyone thinking about visiting to come and see for themselves, enjoy the scenery, the amazing sights and activities, the history, much more challenging outdoor pursuits than we tried, and meet the people. All the travellers we have encountered are as positive about their experiences here as we have been so let's hope that spreads the message and that the future really does change in positive ways.
I want to finish by repeating myself
at risk of being boring, cheesy or having you think I am overdosing on the cough medicine I am taking. It is really difficult to convey how well people have looked after us. It is as though we have been wrapped in a huge down duvet since we entered the country and people have passed us on in this cocoon of comfort from one to another as if we are members of their family. We have never experienced this level of care anywhere else in the world. This is the memory of Colombia that will stay with us.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.154s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 13; qc: 55; dbt: 0.077s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Pauline
non-member comment
Yes I can.