Popáyan

Popáyan is the capital of the southwestern department of Cauca. My time here was pretty uneventful, although pleasant...except getting food poisoning from some unfriendly tropical fruit. I went to the doctor and told him I ate some peaches which I thought gave me food poisoning. My Spanish was particularly off that morning because somehow or another the doctor understood that I got drunk off the peaches and proceeded to ask me how that was even possible and what was I doing in his office. But whatever, we cleared things up, and I survived.

Popáyan was founded in 1536. Today it's known for it's colonial architecture and Semana Santa processions.

It is also home to the scariest statue I have ever seen in my life.

Volcan Puracé

Puracé Volcano is roughly 15,000 feet above sea level and lies just outside of Coconuco, Cuaca, Colombia. The Volcano's last explosion (according to the infallible internet) was in 1977. The park ranger at the base told me it was in 1958 and that several geology students hiking to the summit were killed. Not sure who's right. A swiss traveler and I made the round trip trek from the base to the summit crater in about 5 hours. We got up at 3:30 am that morning to catch a crowded 4:30 am bus which got us to the base around 8:00am. After having some hot chocolate and cheese, we started up and were back down in time to have lunch with the park ranger. We saw some scary thunderclouds in the distance so we kept a brisk pace. Despite the looming rain, however, we caught some great sunshine and some pretty breathtaking views of the region.Standing on the summit feels like being on the moon.

The squiggly trail up to the top. At more than one point my Swiss pal and I felt like Frodo and Samwise scrambling up Mt. Doom

The view from the top, roughly 4,600 meters above sea level.

The crater. It's deep.
The peak used to be snow capped but has since lost all snow cover. An unfortunate sign of global climate change...the silver lining being that the hike is a lot easier without snow.

Tierradentro

I spent about two days in this area and was fortunate enough to explore the tombs with some Colombian anthropology students I met on the way up.

Tierradentro, a national park located in the Southwestern Colombian department of Cauca, is home to some of South America's most impressive and mysterious archeological sites. In the hills surrounding the small town of San Andres de Pisimbala lies an expansive collection of subterranean tombs pertaining to an indigenous group which preceded the current Paez indigenous community of the region. Little is known about the people who built these tombs, who archeologists think flourished in the region beginning in 600 BCE.

Under each of these green pavilions lies the entrance to a group of burial chambers. This grouping here is called Altos de Segovia, and is one of 5 grave complexes discovered around San Andres.

Visitors to the park descend through these trap doors and are able to get a first hand look at the burial chambers.

But first you have to survive the descent of about twenty feet. Many of the tombs had spiral staircases, although some had more direct, vertical, stairs.
The tomb entrance consists of a small door, which would have been covered by a large, flat rock.

The burial chambers in Tierradentro vary depending on the social class of those buried inside of them. Some of the common chambers held up to 60 bodies, while more elitist tombs may have only had 7. This tomb bears no decoration, suggesting it might pertained to people of modest means. The more elaborately decorated tombs--of which you cannot take flash pictures :( -- are painted in red and black thatch work which is meant to imitate the actual interior of this indigenous group's dwellings. These tombs essentially reflected a new 'home' for the deceased.

An uncovered grave. I'm not really sure how the roof disappeared from the tomb. Either way, it shows the size the of burial chambers. The park guide estimated that these tombs took 8 years to build, although I don't think there is any real consensus on how long the process actually took. Regardless, constructing tombs such as these required significant time and energy, which demonstrates the great stress this group placed on the afterlife.