Rustic charm
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
11
61
Trip End
Apr 01, 2009
San Agustin,
Colombia
Friday, November 7, 2008
has its way is the next Machu Picchu). The civilisation which lived
here for 5000 years before the Incas wiped it out (a century before the
Spanish wiped them out in turn) certainly knew a thing or three. Only
10% of the site has been excavated - UNESCO has stopped further
exploration until a way of preserving the finds can be found - and
consists of tombs and statues. These people (who don't even have a
name) knew about brain and heart surgery, circumcision and caesarian
birth. They practised human sacrifice - a great way to go they thought
- and believed in reincarnation. They were also fond of mind altering
substances.
The journey from Popayan took a mere 6 hours - 4 on an unmade road
across to the other side of the Corderilla Cenrtal (the Andes) - to
travel 120km. There were no towns en route and when we got a bathroom
break the entire bus load disappeared behind bushes, and VERY grateful
I was too. I now discover it's called the "bumpy bus" by the locals.
I wont have 2 cups of tea and half a bottle of pop before the return
journey. And the bus didn't even come to San Agustin but dropped me
off at a junction 5 km from town. Up hill. All the way. Luckily a
collectivo came along after I trudged up hill for 15 minutes.
The place I'm staying is another 3 km on the other side of town up
(very up indeed) an unlit dirt track. Good thing they have ecointernet
here. I didn't get the yurt but a gingerbread cottage with a wooden
balcony with hammock out front on the first floor. This and my
bredroom are reached by stairs up the out side. My bathroom is on the
ground floor reached by a trap door in the bedroom floor and tricky
steps - so glad I bought a torch for those middle of the night bathroom
trips.
Walked more or less all day today and my feet are very cross about
it. Tomorrow I do a jeep trip to the more outlying sites and some
waterfalls - the ones I saw along the way here were pretty spectacular
at about 400m.
My jeep man has just arrived so I better go and mangle my Spanish at him.
