Busy Fellas

After a 6 hour, bone-jarring ride on a mostly washed out road, we arrived in San Agustin, hostel hunted for a spell then settled into the central, but slightly dingy Jardin hotel. We made it out into town for dinner and a few beers, and were up early to see the mysterious ruins of San Agustin. (Pictured below). We hired a guide with acceptable English, enjoyed a walk through the ruins, and in three hours we were back in town, then in the back of a pickup truck en route to Tierredentro. We made it to Pitalito, but with no bus for 2 hours to La Plata, we grabbed a shared taxi to Garzon, then on to La Plata. Unfortunately, we arrived rather late in La Plata, where we spent the night, dut to a 90 minute wait to cross a bridge - some sort of army blockade, I don´t know. La Plata, a small, city with a charming 100 plus year old ceiba in its main plaza., hosted us in a nice, modern hotel, with no hot water (brrrr!). From there we were on to Tierredentro. The bus there was no trouble - more of Colombia´s lovely mountains, valleys and rivers, if a tad bumpy. We saw the caves, hiked around, and were set to return to Popayan (where we had left much of our gear and a few loads of laundry), when we were informed that the road was washed out. So, an overnight in the small, tourist hotbed near the museum (the museum and park had 10 visitors in the last 7 days according to the log book), where we found a Canadian and English woman to rock the town, enjoying something called Vino de Coca and a local beverage called Chicha.

The next morning, we boarded a jeep (with packages on top and people hanging off the back) to the sight of the landslide, crossed on foot, and boarded another jeep to Inza, where we boarded a bus for the very, very bumpy ride back to Popayan. We grabbed our gear, got a bus to Cali, then changed to get to the grim, industrial town of Armenia - almost totally destroyed in a violent series of earthquakes in 1999. We stayed at a nicer hotel, but in the heart of the prostitute alley of Armenia. We ordered from grilled meats from a street vendor, and the helpful hotel manager got us a couple of beers, and we ate on the curb, dodging the working girls strolling by.

From there, we were on to the Zona Cafetera, and a lovely hacienda set amid coffee bushes and plantain trees, 30 kilometers from Pereira. A lovely pool, great food, charming hosts, and an afternoon to just do nothing. This morning we had a short hike on the farm, and now we are off to see the formely infamous, Medellin.