This morning we woke to the most amazing day. The sun was shining, and the warmth that it contained was just so welcome by all of us.
We all got ready, and smashed down some breakfast, all minor details compared to the day that we had planned. Today we were going on a San Agustin City tour.... which involved us being driven around all of the amazing sites that this town has to offer. The last time I had been on one of these tours was on Ometepe island, in Nicaragua, and that was such an amazing day. Based on this experience, I had high hopes for today's tour as well!
Soon after breakfast, we all jumped in the minivan. Again we were joined by the same (boring) guide as what we had yesterday. I still wasn't sure whether having this guide along today was such a good idea!! Oh well, the rest of the group wanted him, so who am I to argue.
We set off. We drove along the bumpy, windy, unmade road, through the hills surrounding San Agustin. We continued our way to the first stop.... you have to be kidding me.... another archeological site?!?! Holy crap. Again we were dragged around this smaller site, and shown a small number of graves that had been discovered in this small remote town. Again the guide was happy to provide us with endless amounts of information about each of the graves.... mostly about the era that they were from, and how deep they were.
We were able to climb down the stairs for a closer look at some of the graves, which I was happy to do. Once we had looked at each of the graves, we were then directed into the small museum. Again the guide took us around and passionately explained about each of the exhibits. Bored out of my brains, I found myself wondering off, and looking at each of the exhibits on my own. Occasionally, I was called back to the group by the guide 'please, please come here I have something I want to show you', being exactly the same exhibit I had just been looking at.
We finally were given the ok to leave the museum, however we were then directed straight into the gift shop, which is one of my pet hates. I really dislike it when guides push you into a gift shop and really push you in to buying something. It makes me dig my heels in, and I become so stubborn that I don't even look.
A few of us just sat outside in the sunlight, soaking up all of the gorgeous warm rays. We were more than happy to wait outside as the others searched the gift shop for souvenirs!
After everyone was ready, we then jumped back in the minivan, and again started to drive back along that bumpy windy road towards town. Along the way we made our second stop.
We got out of the van, and weren't quite sure what to expect here. Where we got out of the van, was a couple of sheds, one with handy crafts for sale, the other with lollies and fresh fruit juices for sale. As we looked a little closer, running along the side of the sheds, was a little concrete footpath. This is the path we were taking. Down the steep slope we went, the further we descended, the louder the sound of rushing water could be heard.
We arrived at the bottom of the hill, to find the narrowest section of the Magdalena River.
The Magdalena River is one of the largest and most important rivers in Colombia. At the point that we visited today, the river was squeezed into an area only stretching about 2-3 metres wide. It is quite impressive to see such a large river narrow at this point by rock formations. As the water filters through this narrow section, the amount of turbulence created is amazing, providing us with a spectacular display of bubbles and ripples as the river widens again. The water then shifted again, as it made its way around a large 90 degree bend. The rocks surrounding this site were also stunning, obviously being shaped and eroded by the continual movement of water past them. The trees and plant life also providing a dramatic backdrop to this place. Once we had all finished taking photos, we climbed back up the hill, back to the waiting van.
We got back into the van, and it was really starting to heat up. The sun was warming the van, and with it filled to capacity, it was really hot and stuffy. We opened the windows as far as we could, which trust me wasn't that far. After asking nicely we managed to get the air conditioning switched on which helped, however we found was switched off again fairly quickly, as it was obviously taking away from the vans power. We found the van struggling a little more to get up the steep hills.
As we continued on our way back to town, we soon found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. As we approached a corner, the van came head to head with a truck hauling grains (cover picture). We stopped in time, so that we didn't have a head on collision with the truck, however there wasn't enough room for both vehicles to round the same bend. In this case, size wins, so our driver reversed our van back down the hill in an attempt to provide the truck with enough room to round the bend and continue down the hill. However, the only thing that our driver managed to accomplish was bogging our van on the side of the road. We were stuck, and there was no way of getting this van out. As the driver attempted to drive out, he only managed to dig the van tyres further and further into the mud on the embankment. We all got out of the van, as all of our weight would not be contributing to the cause. All of the guys, including everyone on our bus, the guys from the truck, and an onlooking motorcyclist, all helped by pushing the van down the hill a little further. Whilst the van was still bogged, it was a little further down the hill, allowing the truck to safely pass the van. Once on the other side, the truck than attached a rope to the van, and pulled the van out of the boggy mud, back on to the road. However the van driver obviously hadn't been the driver of a bogged car or van on many occasions. I have a feeling he failed to put the van in neutral, or take the hand brake off, or keep the steering wheel straight, as when the truck pulled the van out of the mud, the tyres soon moved to a hard right position and black smoke came barrelling out of the wheels. We all cringed a little when this happened. Looking at the van, we all started to think of what the driver was going to tell his dad about the damage to the van's wheels. The driver straightened up the wheels, and they seemed all ok, however the van was covered with so much mud and grass that his dad was going to know that something happened to the van. As we approached the van to get back on board, all we could smell was burnt brake pads. Meanwhile, as we piled back in to the van, the driver and Andres spent some time surveying the car, kicking the wheels and trying to clean out as much mud from the wheel as they could. The driver looked so concerned about the van.
With the truck back on its way down the hill, we then continued on our journey up the hill. We soon came across a small town, where Andrés got out to try and get some money from an ATM. However, no luck. This machine wasn't paying out. So we drove to the only other ATM in town, only to find that it too was not working today. It shouldn't come as any surprise to Andrés, as he had warned the group in Popayan (the last town we were in) to get cash out there, as it would be very hard to get cash out in San Agustin. He didn't listen to his own advise, and has now found himself in a position of not being able to access his cash.
To make things worse for Andrés, we had all gotten out of the hot van, and to say that all of us were a little underwhelmed with how the day was going, would be nothing but the truth. We had done a whole heap of driving in a very hot van, without really seeing too much. To be then told by our guide that we still had another 2 archeological sites to visit, the group was one step short from grabbing our pitch forks and torches and burning the van!! None of us were interested in seeing more archeological sites, and most of the group had told Andrés this. The first I was aware of it, was when Anthea got back in the van and was saying to Andrés that he shouldn't be getting narky at her. Essentially Andrés had cracked the s***s, as most of the group had said that they wanted to skip the other two ruins.
In the end, we compromised, and said that we would go to one more archeological ruins. However the damage was already done. I think the fact that the ATMs weren't giving the man his cash, plus the attempted coup of the tour, it was all too much for him. The group just left Andrés to sulk, as we again started chatting animatedly in the back of the van.
Back on the road again, we soon arrived at the next stop, the much debated archeological ruins. It was bitter sweet, we were not happy that we had another lot of ruins to go to, however pleased that this was definitely our last set of ruins for the tour.
At the top of the car park was a restaurant, which we were going to have lunch at. As we approached, the waitress came out and said that she was currently cooking lunches for a couple of groups, so she wouldn't be able to make us lunch right now. We were hungry by this stage, so we had to rethink the plan. We could either drive somewhere else to find another place to eat, and then come back to the ruins, or we could place our lunch order at the car park restaurant, see the ruins now, and then come back and eat. Rather than draw out these ruins, we all decided that we should place our lunch orders, go see the ruins and then come back and eat lunch. So we placed our lunch orders... Most of us just wanting a plain old sandwich, including myself.... I ordered a cheese sandwich.
We were on a mission, see these ruins as quick as possible.... and no questions!!
We started walking down a path, until we came across a rangers station. Here we had to sign our names in a visitors book, and present our archeological passports for a stamp. The thrill of a stamp wasn't enough to lift the mood of this place.
We then started our climb up the hill. It was a pretty steep hill as well!! We climbed for a good little while, until again we made our way to the open space. There were green fields of grass, with a number of shelter sheds, all protecting either grave sites or stone carvings. As we scanned the fields to see how many shelter sheds there were (and roughly calculate how long we were going to be here for), we noticed one sole horse just walking around, eating the grass. The guide told us that the horse belonged to the government, and was used by the archeologists a couple of days of the year, and then left to roam the ruins and eat the grass. However this also added an additional element to our visit today.... watching where we walked. Along with a roaming horse, comes horse land mines.... Something that no one wants to stand in.
Another thing I noticed, was that Andrés had completely cracked the sad's and walked off in a huff. We all left him alone... he just needs to blow off some steam.
So we started the tour, and listened to the guide for the first couple of grave and carving explanations. Again the explanation included the same description we had heard at every single other carving.... big head, jaguar teeth, no neck, short legs.... And one by one we all separated from the guide and made our own way around each of the sheds. Poor Donna took one for the team, and continued on with the guide around all of the sheds. The rest of us powered around, looking at graves briefly, coming to our own conclusions about what we saw and then on to the next one.
As we finished seeing each of the sites, we then made our way back down the hill. We chatted to the guide, and practiced our Spanish with him on the way down. Don't get me wrong, our guide was a nice guy. He was very knowledgable and passionate about the ruins, however unfortunately his passion was lost on our group, as none of us shared his love for the ruins.
As we approached the car park restaurant, we found ourselves some seats and waited for our lunch. We actually waited for quite awhile until our food came out.
It was pretty plain, my cheese sandwich had been toasted, however by the time I received it, it was stone cold. I wasn't going to complain, as I was hungry. So straight down the hatch it went.... Along with a natural lemonada. As we ate, we could feel the staring eyes of the local dogs, sitting by the tables hungrily looking at us take each bite, just hoping that we drop some food on the ground.
Once we had finished lunch, again it was back in the van, and off to our next stop.
Again we hit the rough, windy roads and made our way to what looked like a farm. We drove down the driveway, and were greeted by some chickens and dogs. We got out of the van, and started walking towards a huge shed. Along the way, we stopped to appreciate the beautiful flowers that were in full bloom.
Inside the shed was a bar and a lot of tables and chairs. A few of us walked around the shed, looking at all of the potted flowers, taking photos of some absolutely stunning unique plants.
The group then started to walk through a huge paddock. As we continued to walk, we could see the view in front of us becoming more and more stunning. Towards the end of the paddock, we found a large horse shoe shaped bridge. As we approached the bridge, we noticed that it actually extended out over the cliff face. We all excitedly walked around the bridge, taking in the most awe inspiring views of San Agustin, the Magdalena river and the Andes mountain range. It was stunning!!
Before we knew it, we were straight back in that van again, and on the road to our next stop. More bumpy, windy roads saw us make our way to another farm location. As we drove along the long dirt driveway, we could see crops of tomatoes and a fruit that we don't really have at home called lulu. Lulu looks like an apricot, however has a furry skin like kiwi fruit. The guide walked around the crops, and managed to find some ripe fruit that had dropped to the ground. He collected about 8 lulus, which was enough to take with us back to the hotel, to be turned into lulu juice.
We all made our way to a little concrete ledge, which again hung over a cliff. One by one we all walked out on to the ledge to gain an amazing view of a large water fall, that dropped about 100m into the canyon. As we stood there, we also saw a large flock of parakeets flying around the canyon. They have made their nests, buried amongst the plants that grow on the cliff face of the canyon.
Again, we made our way back to the van. We drove along the unmade roads of the mountain sides surrounding San Agustin, and headed towards our next and final stop on the days tour. This time we stopped at a cocoa farm.
This cocoa farm also belonged to the hotel owner. Whilst there were quite a few cocoa plants, there were also a large number of other fruit trees planted amongst the cocoa trees, including bananas, avocado, coffee, guabana and citrus trees. The guide spoke to us about the process of the cocoa trees, and how it is processed from fruit to a cup of hot cocoa.
As we stood amongst the trees, I noticed a small mosquito biting me. I was lucky enough to have Anthea offer me some more insect repellent which I quickly applied. However, most other people in the group weren't too concerned about it.
Once we had finished in the fields, we then walked up to the house, where the grandmother welcomed us so warmly. We were shown where the cocoa, corn and coffee were dried. She offered us a cup of coffee and a yummy, very tasty mandarin.
I stood in the back garden of their house, drinking my cup of sweet black coffee, enjoying my mandarin, and watching as the chickens pecked around the yard, and the little new born kittens playfully explored the yard.
Again, this reminded me of just how generous people can be. The grandmother lives a humble and simple life, however is so happy to share the little of what she has with us strangers. It just goes to show how beautiful some peoples souls are!
Whilst we enjoyed the cocoa farm, the driver of our van took the time to wash the minivan, removing any evidence of the bogging incident that occurred earlier that day. Still checking out the wheels for damage, I think he was a lot happier once all the evidence was gone.
We made our way back to the hotel, for the final time. Tonight we were to catch an overnight bus back to Bogota. We did make a quick stop at a bakery, where most of us picked up a couple of items for dinner.
Back at the hotel, we all made our way into the one room where all of our bags were stored. All the girls used the room first, changing into some warm clothes for our bus trip, and just quickly freshening up.
I had to repack a couple of things, which I did under the verandah. That freed up the room, so that the boys could get in and finish off the last of their packing as well.
As we repacked, the hotel staff came out and offered us some fresh lulu juice that they had made from our harvest today. It is so delicious. Although, I better not get too addicted to it, as I'm definitely not going to find it at home!!
Once all packed, we were dropped off in town, bags and all, ready for our over night bus trip. Im so not looking forward to this!!
We waited for about 30 mins, before taking our big bags to the bus and having them checked in and packed in the under carriage of the bus.
We then boarded the bus, and not knowing how windy the roads were going to be, I ended up taking a car sickness tablet. I didn't want to take the risk of feeling sick for the entire over night bus trip.
Donna and I sat next to each other again. I sat on the aisle seat, and made sure that my cabin luggage was safe under my feet. Just to be sure, I looped the handle of my bag around my ankles, hopefully this will give me enough of a warning sign if someone tries to mess with my stuff!!
I settled into my seat, and the drowsiness of the car sickness tablets started to hit. I closed my eyes, and just waited to drift off to sleep. Even though it was only 8pm, everyone around me started to nod off to sleep. I seemed to be the only one that couldn't fall asleep.
I listened as Dim start to snore... and quite loudly. It was time for me to put my ear phones in and to start listening to some music. Argh, that's better, Dim's snore now became a soft rumble.
I struggled to get comfortable, and found myself changing positions every couple of minutes or so.
I finally drifted off to sleep, however the bus soon stopped at a bus terminal. As some people got off, some more people got on, and I watched as a group of males got on and headed to the back of the bus. They were talking so loudly, and were making it very difficult for me to fall back to sleep. It wasn't such a bad thing either, as I thought that they looked sus!!
As I changed my positions constantly, I soon became aware of Lisa, who was sitting behind me madly searching under her seat. She then asked Bruce who was sitting next to her, if he could please get up so she could have a good look under the seat. I asked if she was ok, and she told me that her bag had been pulled back under her seat, until it was wedged in, and the zip opened. When she looked in her bag, her passport wallet containing her passport and extra money was missing. As she madly searched, she eventually found the wallet. She looked in the wallet, and was relieved when she found that her passport and envelope containing her money was still there. Thank goodness. I have a feeling my instincts were right about these sus guys, but we couldn't confront them about it, as we really didn't have anything to base it on.
At around midnight, the bus made it's next stop at another bus terminal. I was relieved as I watched the suspect guys get off the bus. We remained at this terminal for around an hour, and then set off again.
I managed to get a little bit of broken sleep, and found the main thing that woke me was the fact that I was just uncomfortable. My back was aching, my legs were restless, and Dim's constant snoring was pushing me to my limit. I turned up my iPhone music, changed position yet again, and eventually fell back to sleep.