Popayan and the road to San Agustin

Hello again! So we spent some time in Popayan not too long ago.
We arrived at 5:45 am and woke the hostel owner up.
He was a pleasent and disoriented Scottish fellow who was excedingly nice and very knowledgeble about the area. We stayed in Popayan for 2 nights, and the hostel itself was great so we´ve created a link to it on the right hand side of the webpage. Popayan was probably the safest place we´ve stayed so far. The residents are particularily proud of how well preserved the colonial buildings that make up the city centre are. There wasn´t a whole lot to do there other then just enjoy some cheap/tasty food, and wander around the town. We even had the pleasure of chatting with one of the local cops, in a terrible mixture of Spanish and English for a few minutes too.
What´s funny is that they asked us all sorts of questions like how long we were travelling for and what we did for a living etc (Chris told them I was a housegirlfriend and they all proceeded to make fun of me and mime ironing). While we were walking away Chris wondered out loud if they had just been asking to be friendly or if they were trying to figure out if we were a threat because we had walked back and forth in front of them a few times. I admitted that one time I had been staring at their guns, even turning around to get a better look and Chris said he had done the same! Who knows...
Because the town was pretty safe, we did decide to go out one night to a local salsa bar called "La Iguana" which was incredible. I thought I could hold my own on the dance floor until I saw those Colombianos shake it.
They were amazing and we were inspired to possibly take a lesson or two while we´re down here.
While there wasn´t much to do in Popayan itself, the city made a great launching platform for a variety of other activities in the area. There was a live animal/trinket market in a nearby town known as Sylvia, and a few hotsprings in the area as well. We decided to head to San Agustin though to visit one of Colombias most important archeological sites. So we score some tickets for the bus to San Augustin which was almost exactly 120km away. After grabbing some snacks we found 2 vacant seats near the back of the bus... What luck! After about 3 minutes of sitting down I looked out the window and noticed that the curtains were soaked... in vomit, and so was the wall under the window, and so was the seat I was sitting in. Excellent.
I felt pretty bad for him and even sacrificed some of my napkins/toliet paper that I always carry but was thinking the whole time that I was glad I had said "no, you take it" when he offered me the window seat originally.
Yeah so I was in a bit of a funk, and lamented about my situation for close to 30 minutes, which was about the time the road went from paved to the worst "road" in existance. It was more like a ditch with a few large boulders strewn about it, with soldiers peeking out of the forest at us, with large automatic weapons.
When we first left the paved road and were on gravel I thought hmm, we´ve hit a rough patch. But the rough patch lasted for 7 HOURS!!!
120km in 7.5 hours.
To be fair, at least 45 min was spent fixing a flat tire.
Right, which gave us a chace to talk to the only other non-colombian on the bus.
Arthur from Holland took us under his wing.
His spanish speaking wing! He had been travelling from Mexico since August and had a fairly good grasp of 4 of the 7 "basic" spanish tenses, which is more then I can muster. Anyway we spent our time in San Agustin with Arthur which was an all around good time. We spent 2 nights there, and if we had more time we might still be there. The Hostel was called Finca el Maco, finca meaning something like "great view" The Swiss run paradise consisted of a handful of mud huts that Rene the owner had constructed by hand over the years. There was also an on-site restaurant that I would describe as "just in the nick of time" The menu featured a few international selections as well as the standard Colombian fare which was all prepared quite nicely. (Link on the right side)
The breakfast was outstanding as well. Homemade bread, jam, granola and yogurt with fruit and coffee or tea.
It was huge. Anyway, hostel from heaven aside. Our first full day in San Augustin was spent on horseback which was a bit of a surprise really.
First of all, a horsewoman I am not. I thought we would have a nice leisurly stroll through the mountains but when we hit that first road we started flying. This was no beginner ride.
Our guide asked us if we had done much riding to which we both answered "un poco" which I guess meant "we feel comfortable galloping through the countryside, and the main road of the city full of cars/people/other horse traffic." It was startling!
To say the least. I was terrified in the beginning and I wasn´t really dressed for the ride. Ladies, wear a sports bra!
So a riding we went, and what a ride it was! It was 4 hours through a mixture of mountain passes, and valley farm land. The purpose of the ride was to see the countryside, and learn a bit about the archeological sites that were scattered throught the landscape. Each site (we visited 3) was a collection (perhaps 3 or 4) pre-incan statues, rock etchings, and tombs from around 3000 BC.
Whammy!
Some were spectacular, and others were a little more weathered.
Some were just holes in the ground with some rocks inside.
The statues depicted a variety of local beliefs and spirituality. Anthropomorphic jaguar men, frog men, and eagles were a popular theme. Some of the tombs were found with a few separate remains in them which suggests that the people of that area believed in reincarnation. A wealthy person would have been burried with their live slaves so they could have them in the next life.
Sucks to be them...
After the ride we visited a larger park that containd more relics and a beautifully carved ceremonial area, that utilized the natural water flow of a nearby creek to excentuate the carved details. (hard to explain) We made plans to leave the next day (new friend in tow) for Ecuador. We had decided on a fairly direct route that would allow us to not return along the ditch-road, which was quite agreeable. After talking to an older german couple we decided we would have to go back that way. There being a high risk of encountering guerillas along the preferred route. So we begrudgingly left San Agustin the way we came, and spent 25 hours on a bus to Quito Ecuador where we are right now.

San Agustin has become a great tourist destination over the last 5-7 years. Previouly the town was controlled by the guerillas, and the old german couple was telling us that in 2001 their son and granddaughter were held up at gun point. Their son was forced to strip naked while he was told his daughter would be killed in front of him. The thieves took everything they had with them, and even returned the next night. A gun fight ensued and the neighbors son was shot in the leg. Later on it was revealed that the police who were supposed to respond were corrupt and were subsequently killed in another gun battle with Government soldiers who were sent in to clean up the area. The town has changed a lot very quickly. There is a strong army presence and the guerillas have been pushed back deep in to the jungle. On a lighter note we are in Quito, Ecuador now, and you´ll get a chance to hear about that next time.

Take care, and be thankful our police are generally our side!


PS. Pictures will come when we find another card reader!