Santuario de Las Lajas

Whilst researching for my South America trip 12 months ago I stumbled across a photograph of an incredible church built over a gorge surrounded by mountains. I instantly put it on my ''To Do List'' but was disappointed to find that there was no further information about this spectacular building, just a photograph labelled Colombia. No name. No directions. No hint as to where in Colombia it may be. I was determined to find it.

As soon as I arrived in Colombia I started to ask around about this mysterious Colombian church. Other backpackers thought I was crazy and many locals were bewildered by my questions. I started to wonder if it even existed. Eventually the name of the church was revealed as Las Lajas, as I discovered it on a random map of Colombia in a tour operators office. I then slowly started piecing information together and gradually gathered enough information from the locals to set off on my adventure in search of my mysterious church.

It was to be a bit of a mission which required me going very much off the usual backpacker trail but I was determined to find it before I left Colombia. After leaving Salento, I made my way back to Aremenia where I transferred onto an overnight bus to Pasto. 18 hours later I finally arrived in the non-descript, run down city of Pasto. I stayed in Pasto overnight, prepared to wake up early the following morning to set off again in my final part of the journey. I made my way to the bus station, hopped on a minibus to Ipiales, a small town just 7 kilometres from Equador and from there I got a collectivo to take me to the closest village to Santuario de Las Lajas. I arrived at the little village perched on top of a hill that was hiding Las Lajas, very excited about finally seeing the magnificent building that I had been searching for since last year. As I walked down the winding hill, following the river I finally reached my destination which brought a huge smile to my face.

I was completely overwhelmed with how incredible Las Lajas was, and was amazed that I had finally reached it. Set amongst rolling green hills and waterfalls, Las Lajas is truly magnificent. It is surrounded by winding paths and bridges which meant I free to explore every angle of this interesting piece of architecture.

 

The interior of the church was surprisingly small but still very beautiful with brightly coloured stain-glass windows and gold stars scattered across the ceiling.

This was definitely the most perfect way to finish my Colombian adventure, and I feel I can leave Colombia as a very happy explorer.

Tejo

Tejo is a traditional Colombian game that involves throwing metal discs at explosives which are stuck in clay, over a 12 metre distance. It is a competitive game played in teams, with the aim of the game being to collect as many points as possible for your team. It sounded like an interesting if not slightly dangerous game so of course, I wanted to try it. We made our way to the small Tejo hall in Salento unprepared for the noise and the smoke that filled the Tejo hall.

The locals were extremely surprised to find a group of western girls in their Tejo hall, but were very friendly and offered advice on Tejo techniques. The hall was set out into aisles, with the clay boards containing explosives on either side of the aisles. Standing 12 metres away from the clay boards, we had to throw our metal Tejo discs at the clay board with the aim of making it explode. The points system being 1 point for getting your metal disc closest to the explosives, 3 points for hitting an explosive and 9 points for getting your disc in the middle of the ring of explosives. The winning team is the first team to reach 21 points. Unfortunately there were no points awarded for throwing your metal disc across the Tejo hall in the wrong direction, accidentally hitting a team member or accidentally throwing your Tejo disc into the next aisle. Needless to say, it took us most of the night to reach 21 points. It was a very fun game, if not alarmingly dangerous which is why we aptly renamed it as Fireball.

The new Fireball champions

Villa De Cocora

Villa De Cocora is a stunningly beautiful area just outside the pretty town of Salento. Often described as little Switzerland., this national park offers incredible views of rolling green hills covered with towering wax palm trees with clouds hanging just below the mountains. The first 6 kilometres of the hike is uphill towards La Montana. The scenery along the trail is breathtaking and not at all what I had expected from Colombia.

Whilst climbing uphill admiring the incredible views of the palm trees casting shadows on the mountains, we suddenly entered the clouds and the palm trees were replaced with pine trees and the path became scattered with pine cones. We eventually reached the top of La Montana and were rewarded with more overwhelmingly beautiful scenery. The bright blue sky and intense sunshine made this view even more spectacular, and as the clouds came floating through it seemed very mystical.

We continued down La Montana past small waterfalls and rivers and up towards the hummingbird sanctuary, where we stopped for a traditional Colombian snack of chocolate con queso (hot chocolate and cheese) whilst the hummingbirds rapidly buzzed around us.

The scenery on the hike back was very different from our uphill climb to La Montana. The pine forest had turned into jungle with fast-flowing rivers and the terrain became muddy and rocky, which meant jumping over stepping stones and balancing on tree trunks and over very rickety bridges. 

We ended our hike back amongst the palm trees and green hills overlooking the river. It was possibly the most beautiful area I have visited and a definite highlight of my trip.

Colombia's Coffee Region

The coffee region is in the heart of Colombia, and is possibly the most beautiful area of the country. I decided to stay in the tiny town of Salento to explore the surrounding coffee plantations. Salento is a beautiful little town of brightly coloured buildings surrounded by incredibly green mountains and coffee plantations.



I stayed at Plantation House, a coffee farm offering incredible views over the mountains.

 

Whilst in the area I thought I should take a tour of the coffee farm to see how the Colombians produce such amazing coffee. The manager of the coffee farm guided us around the 12 hectare farm containing waterfalls, a bamboo farm, a beautiful flower garden, a fruit plantation of every shape and sized fruit imaginable and of course, the coffee plantation. It was interesting to experience the whole process of coffee production, and we were able to produce our own coffee by picking, peeling and roasting the coffee beans to eventually create the perfect cup of coffee.

Pablo Escobar

Medellin is birthplace and burial place of renowned drug lord Pablo Escobar. Loved by his people of Medellin but despised by most other Colombians, he led a very interesting life. Growing up in a very poor area of Medellin, Escobar felt that there was inequality in the country and a huge divide between rich and poor. So from the age of 12 years old he set out to become a real life Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, initially by selling marijuana before eventually discovering cocaine and introducing it to Colombia, the United States and eventually around the globe. By the age of 22, Pablo Escobar was a millionaire and by 44 he was the 7th richest man in the world, having made over $17 billion USD. He was also the most wanted man with a $10, 000, 000 USD reward for information on his whereabouts. There is no doubt that Escobar was generous with his money, feeding, housing and providing jobs for all of the people within his local community, and being heavily involved in the national football team.

I decided to do the Pablo Escobar tour to find out more about his life and death. The tour started at his place of death, a small house in the centre of Medellin where, after jumping from the window onto the roof, Escobar was shot down by police who intended to capture rather than kill him, but Escobar shot himself in the head at the final moment, making the conscience decision to die in Colombia rather than go to prison in the USA.

After visiting his place of death and making a chilling visit to his grave, we continued on to the most bizarre aspect of the tour; a cup of coffee at Roberto Escobar's house, Pablo Escobar's brother. Roberto was heavily involved in the Escobar drugs cartel across Colombia. He was once one of the most wanted men in world and after serving ten years in prison for his involvement with the cartel, Roberto returned to his hometown of Medellin. During my visit, Roberto was very open about his life and was happy to discuss his involvement with the drugs cartel. It was such a surreal experience to be in his house, and I was quite overwhelmed by he whole experience. However, whilst others relayed questions about his life and the life of his brother, all I could think was ''How do you feel about hugely contributing to the world drugs trade, being partly responsible for destroying Colombia and murdering hundreds of people?'' But I thought that was a slightly inappropriate question to ask a man whilst drinking a nice cup of coffee in his home... 

Medellin

Before coming to Colombia, I knew very little about the city of Medellin. Since arriving in here, I have heard great things about this city and have learnt that it is the birthplace of renowned artist Botero, and burial place of even more renowned drug lord, Pablo Escobar. I had high expectations for the city however I found that it really lacks the buzz of Bogota and certainly lacks the beauty of Cartagena. I went to Pueblito, a small replication of an old Colombian town perched on top of a hill overlooking the city. Unfortunately it was cloudy when I went but it was clear that the only interesting piece of architecture in the city is the cathedral in the centre of the city. The rest of Medellin is a uninteresting mixture of concrete skyscrapers and red bricked buildings scattered across the surrounding mountains.

I was interested to find out more about Botero, since I have seen many of his pieces scattered around the country. The Colombians are very proud of Botero and his unique artwork in which he paints and sculpts people and objects with extra volume, and is so known as the artist that paints fat people. I was interested in seeing his piece ''The Death of Pablo Escobar'' which I found in the Antioqia Museum, sitting next to ''The Heart of Jesus''. I found it quite bizarre that they had chosen to put these two pieces together, given that one is claimed as the saviour as the world, whilst the other has unleashed death and destruction within the world.

I was however, pleasantly surprised with my visit to the botanical gardens which was much bigger and more impressive than expected. Despite being amongst all the hustle and bustle of the city, it was very peaceful, with my favourite section of the park being the tropical forest, a little piece of rainforest overrun with wildlife that made me feel like I was back in the Amazon.

 

Santa Marta and Taganga

Santa Marta was the starting point of our Cuidad Perdida trek, so after we completed our hike, we thought we would explore the city a little further. I wasn't expecting much from Santa Marta but was pleasantly surprised with the city's pretty plazas and narrow alleyways filled with cute bars and coffeeshops. The harbour offered a surprisingly good view of the city's skyscrappers dotted along the coastline with the mountains looming in the background.

 After exploring the many bars and restaurants in Santa Marta, we made our way to beachtown Taganga. I had high hopes for Taganga as it is well known for its diving schools and party scene. From a distance Taganga looked very pretty with small white-washed houses and beach huts lining the coast overlooking the turquoise sea, filled with colourful boats, set inbetween green mountains.

However, Taganga was far from the pristine beaches that I expected to find, and certainly did not offer white sand or crystal clear ocean. The atmosphere of the little beach town was vibrant, as the beach was lined with fruit sellers, juice stands and small beach hut restaurants. Taganaga offered great nightlife but unfortunately not much else, and it very much reminded me of Goa and Koh Pagnan; once pretty little beachtowns that have become overcrowded and ruined by tourists.

Cuidad Perdida

One of my main reasons for visiting Colombia was to complete the 5 day trek to Cuidad Perdida; The Lost City, hidden in the depths of the Colombian jungle. Many people are unaware of the trek to Cuidad Perdida, making it difficult to find information about how to reach the magnificent Lost City. Luckily, Gillian, an Australian girl that I had met earlier on in my trip was also eager to do the hike, so we made our way to Santa Marta, the closest city to the trek, packed up all our essentials into one backpack, and boarded a little chiva bus that took us three hours out of Santa Marta along bumpy dirt tracks hanging over tree covered cliffs.

After our adventurous drive, we took to the road on foot following the narrow path through the trees on the steep inclining mountains, and waded through rivers. We stopped off at a stunningly beautiful lagoon where we jumped off the rocks into the refreshing water, desperate to cool down.

It was a tough climb to the top but the scenery was stunning, overlooking green mountains amongst the stormy black sky with the clouds hovering below. It seemed very eiree.

We continued to the camp descending on the narrow muddy paths of bright white and illuminous orange and red. Eight hours after leaving Santa Marta, we finally reached our home for the night.

That night it rained, which gave us hope that we would not be bothered by the numerous poisonous snakes surrounding the camp, we would only be bothered by the noisy frogs jumping around our hammocks. It was exceptionally cold and uncomfortable sleeping in hammock, so I awoke with sunrise feeling far from refreshed for our second day of hiking.

It was a difficult morning, leaving the camp at 7am into the depths of the jungle with more steep inclines and river crossings. We passed a small village of round, thatched-roofed houses belonging to an indigenous tribe. The children came running to greet us but soon became shy as we attempted to speak to them in Spanish.

 After a couple of hours of difficult hiking in the heat, we were rewarded with an incredibly beautiful lagoon with small waterfalls on either side. The emerald green tinted water surrounded by vines and hidden by trees was far too inviting to ignore. It was the perfect refreshing break from our trek.

I was reluctant to leave the lagoon and its beautiful surroundings but eager to get to our next camp. After walking in the midday heat with  heavy backpack I was delighted to finally reach our camp for the evening, and even more delighted with the view from our beds.

We had a relaxing afternoon sunbathing on a rocky island in the middle of the river, surrounded by incredible scenery.

Day three was another early morning and a difficult start up slippery, muddy mountains and through the depths of the jungle. The river crossings were the most difficult yet with fast flowing rivers and strong currents pulling at us as we crossed. After two hours of extremely tiring inclines, battling with the heat and humidity, the scenery dramatically changed into an eiree-looking, almost mystical rainforest. We spent hours crossing over waterfalls and negotiating pathways over slippery, moss covered stepping stones. It felt as if we had entered a forgotten jungle.

 

Our camp for the night was a tent perched on a rock overlooking a cascading waterfall and fast-flowing river, in the depths of our hidden rainforest. An incredibly beautiful sight.

The next day, we woke up at 5am in order to start our uphill hike to The Lost City. We set out across the river before sunrise, climbing over huge rocks and boulders. There were a few occasions were I was a little scared and hesitant as I jumped from rock to rock clinging on in the hope that I would not fall into the river 20 metres below. We finally reached the 1200 moss-covered stepping stones leading up to Cuidad Perdida.

The steps were steep and narrow making it a difficult climb, but well worth it for the incredible views of the Lost City ruins, set amongst the mountains. Incredible.

After admiring the view with a well deserved beer, we began the dreaded journey back. What we had covered in the past three and a half days, we would hike in the next day and a half. Meaning very early starts and long, hot days through our forgotten jungle, mystical rainforest, eiree mountains and beautiful lagoons.

Mud Volcanoes in Cartagena

Cartagena is a beautifully colourful coastal city in the north of Colombia. The old walled city containing some of Colombia's most attractive architecture is a maze of vivid colours, colonial buildings and grand balconies overlooking the busy but perfectly beautiful streets. On the other side of the walls lies a very different city; a choatic city of seedy salsa bars, regaeton music blasting accross the streets and street stalls selling every type of tropical fruit imaginable. Once I had stepped through the archways of the walled city, I felt that I had left Colombia, and really entered the Carribbean.

The enchanting city of Cartagena has more to offer than just interesting architecture, it is also home to the mud volcano.  As we made our way to the volcano, an hour outisde the city centre, I was surprised to find it was set overlooking a very peaceful lake. We climbed our way to the top of the volcano, not quite prepared for the usual mud volcano experience. We climbed into the small crater, full of warm, sticky mud before recieving a mud massage as we helplessly floated around in the thick volcanic substance.

Once completely covered in mud, we relaxed, floating around the volcano in the sun whilst the mud bubbled below us.

After bathing in the mud, all ready and eager to wash it off, we made our way down to the lake where a number of Colombian women waited to assist us with the washing off of the mud. This was no easy task, and the woman were far from gentle. A rather bizzare experience that left us all feeling radiant and moisturised but far from relaxed and in need of a hot shower.