High in the mountains, but deep in the earth

Actually, we skipped all the really wild destinations. After all, we are older people and newcomers to traveling in exotic countries. Specifically: we wanted to skip all the wild destinations, which we definitely didn't succeed in. Just before Christmas, we ended up in one of the many remote corners that probably exist in Colombia.

Even the journey to Tierradentro, which took the entire December 24th, was - let's say - challenging. The third means of transportation that day, a minibus, took us to La Plata via a (at least at that time) adventurous mountain road. In La Plata, we got off at the Terminalito of the collective taxis - and suspected that we had ventured too far into wild territory. Everything was very basic, for example the toilet, which was clean but could only be closed with a curtain. But now that we were already there, we squeezed onto the bench in the collective taxi and made our way to Tierradentro on a gravel road of questionable quality, arriving there just in time, completely dusty and shaken, to have our Christmas Eve dinner - shortly before 7:00 p.m. Because that's when the kitchen of our accommodation closes.

And then there was a day of rest on December 25th - the first real one during our trip, when we did nothing at all except sleep late, have a calm breakfast, read, take a few steps for a walk... We didn't realize how much we had missed this idleness.

To make up for it, we spent a very peculiar second Christmas Day on a hike that lasted more than seven hours. The trail is perfect for masochistically inclined walking fetishists who enjoy constantly climbing steeply uphill or sliding steeply downhill on bad paths (our until then perfect hiking shoes totally failed). The destination was Alto de Aguacate, a narrow mountain ridge with one underground tomb after another. About 70 such hypogea have been found, chiseled into the volcanic rocks with stone tools and equipped with pillars and wall paintings, made by an indigenous people about whom nothing is known and who have nothing to do with the Nasa indigenous people who live here today. Perhaps I should mention that you descend into the graves on really extremely high steps that are slippery and worn. In short: in the evening, we were completely exhausted and every bone in our bodies hurt. Just to clarify: we are not masochistically inclined walking fetishists (unlike German and Dutch hikers, who appeared to be quite cheerful).

Anyone who does not enjoy hiking very, very much can safely skip Alto de Aguacate and concentrate on the other three necropolises. They are all located on steep mountain peaks, which means that you have to walk anyway to see them, so the urge to move is well satisfied. But above all, their decorations are much more interesting and better preserved. The walls and ceilings of some burial chambers are completely covered with red, black, and white geometric patterns. Sculpted and painted faces (with mustaches!) can be seen on the pillars and pilasters. Now, this is not great art, but it is fun to look at - or it would be really fun if you didn't have to plunge into the deep entrance shafts with the high steps once again to get to the burial chambers. The steps are smooth here, but there is no safety railing or barrier, and at a depth of about five meters (with eleven steps, i.e., almost half a meter high each), I was afraid.

We spent very nice days here: The people in the indigenous village of San Andrés de Pisimbalá are incredibly friendly, you are greeted on the street (as in the countryside), the food is good, and the fresh fruit juices are even better. Our Spanish vocabulary, especially Roby's, has expanded rapidly, and the best thing we can say is: Un otro jugo de mora, por favor.

Since we had a good half day left, we went to visit the Piramide that our guidebook had not mentioned: the rocky peak of a mountain that the indigenous people - when exactly, no one knows, but a long time ago - turned into a step pyramid that now floats at a breathtaking height. Later, the Spanish colonial rulers apparently tried to "de-mystify" the place by digging high and long tunnels into the rock and decorating them with Catholic crosses. Our host Leonardo (La Portada, highly recommended) accompanied us on the excursion with his grandson (?). We were pleased to find that the locals also slide wildly on the rocky paths when going downhill. We quickly walked another good two kilometers with Leonardo to the next town (always uphill, of course), where he visited his mother in the hospital. The delicious lulo juice and some successful empanadas filled with potato and smoked meat brought us back to strength just when we needed it urgently.

We wish you all a very happy new year, in which you can accompany me for another two months, depending on your mood and desire. We will be going to Guatemala, a bit to Honduras, Belize, and mostly to Mexico. I always enjoy your company.