Tierradentro
250 Sun 8/5 & 251 Mon 9/5
I got on a bus from Popayan early in the morning for what was supposed to be a 5 hour journey. However, the elements were against us. There was a landslide and we had to wait in the bus, in the middle of nowhere, while folks worked hard to move the obstruction from the road. I am glad I had a couple of books with me! The bus ride was through some unpaved rough roads and was quite a bone shatterig ride! The views were stunning though! I go to the village of San Andres de Pisimbala after a 4 km from where the bus dropped me. The folks I passed on the road to the village of 850 people were friendly and we exchanged pleasant how-do-you-dos and even a wee bit of conversation. I stayed at a residencial owned and run by a sweet old lady. She chatted with me for a bit and then left me to settle in. After a shower, I wandered a bit around the village. The village is small and surrounded by greenery and mountains. The only building of note is the centuries old church. The chance to see stars again at night after quite some time was a welcome change.
Tierradentro has a museum and 5 sites where one can encounter pre-hispanic tombs, some of them with decorations and paintings. Not much is known of the civilization which lived there from the 1st to the 10th century AD and then disappeared, due to reasons unknown.
After a lovely breakfast cooked by Doña Marta, I was off to the museum, situated 2 km from the village. I had a lovely guide who showed me around the museum and gave me more information than provided by the notes. I visited the tombs of Segovia, Duende and the site of El Tablon (which has 11 statues) on a pleasant walk which took me about 3 hours, through some farms where I ran into not a single soul. Then it was time for a delicious, filling lunch in the village before continuing the circuit of the sites. The last site, Aguacate, was a 2.5 hour hike and well worth the work for the views! It was a lovely day spent in solitude, communing with nature and wondering about civilizations long gone.
Ran into a German tourist staying at the hostel and we played a couple of games of billiards that night. The sight of a tall blonde lass playing billiards drew quite a crowd of onlookers. Folks werent shy to offer us advice, either! People are extremely friendly and are ready to chat to one at the drop of a hat!
Tags: Travel
Damu