El viaje

We loved Popayán but cities being cities, we had more serious matters to attend to. And one of them being San Augustín with its crazy ancient statues.

On the way to San Augustín we had to cross the Puracé National Park.It is a volcanic zone as can be seen in its numerous sulfur springs and its name, which means “fire mountain” in Quechua. The main rivers of Colombia originate there: the Magdalena, Cauca, Patía and Caquetá rivers and also 30 clear and tranquil lagoons. As part of its stupendous landscape the volcanic complex of Los Coconucos, also known as Los Coconulos mountain range, stands out made up of 11 volcanoes. We had to check it out.

20 minutes out of Popayán it started raining hard.The locals did not seem to mind much.

45 Minutes out or so it started to get extremely cold as well but the road was covered in waterfalls and a mix of tropical and alpine vegetation.

It was a steep climb. With the altitude, the condition of the roads worsened . So did the amount of trucks.

After 2-3 hours we found ourselves in a surreal, misty, volcanic rainforest with strange vegetation and extremely bad roads .

Even though we could see our breath due to the temperature, Jim overheated once ,

or twice.

That made us understand the occasional little road shrines a little better.

Not as we would have free willingly bothered to get out of the car in this rainy cold but we actually did look for an entry to the park. It was only later that we found out that it is closed for the public. Sometimes reading helps…

So after 5 or so hours of crawling around these mystic mountains we were super happy to finally get back on a paved road and get some tasty chicken soup in our hungry and tired mouths.

We had other choices but stuck with our yummy sopa.

The road down was much better but there were still small interruptions like landslides or sugarcane packed horses.

There were nice locals selling you coffee at the stops though. This woman gave Lu some tips where to go and what to do. Unfortunately we only understood approximately 2% of what she said. I did buy a tinto though.

As you come down the mountains , the coffee fields start again. Here you see coffee plants everywhere .

Flowering ones also !

Then you get to San Augustín. It’s known for its proximity to the San Agustín Archaeological Park, home to numerous pre-Columbian remains spread over several sites. Carved volcanic stone figures and tombs can be found everywhere in this area.

Fun side fact about the town. I saw quite a few “Egyptian” drawings on houses.

Immediately i sensed a hidden meaning or some weird connection to Egypt (like the Guatemala/ Isreal story).But this time around its even better. It turns out the priest of the place told the inhabitants to decorate the entire city like Bethlehem for Christmas ones. And this is just what the local indigenous imagined Bethlehem to look like.

Now the hotel. Again one of Lus finds. You drive though the village up the hill and there you find Hotel Monestario San Augustín.

We got to see it in the rain first when we arrived.

Here some pics from the next day, with a bit of sun and thus a bit more perspective.

You do not even think about, but quite naturally assume, that you are in a an old monestary that is now being used as a hotel.

But thats all because you have not met this dude yet.

Bernd, a German explorer & adventurer bought the land a couple of years ago. He found a bell somewhere and thought it fitting to build a „monestary“ around the bell and to market the whole thing as the monestary in San Agustín. The Colombians being quite christian and the hotel being spotless even for Western standards, he serves the whole lot. He lives here with his two kids and his Colombian wife. Is superwell connected, organizes trips, has books about snakes , dedicated to him by the author and has some pretty wild stories about traveling South America,that he can shake out of his shirt at any given time.

So the place is not that holy after all. In fact, when you look twice, there is more woods spirits than Jesuses.

Also the garden, filled to the brim with herbs, salad, flowers and humming birds is charming. And that is an understatement.

(i will dedicate an entire post to these kolibris. i obviously needed a good picture of them but that turned out to be quite tricky)

I was very impressed by the whole package. Well done Bernd!

We also met friends of his at dinner , but more about them when we explore the statues together.

Nice rooms and view too.

Early night , happy campers!