Tomb Raiders

Over the past week we’ve explored ancient tombs, wandered among statues from a lost culture, ridden (and fallen from) horses, seen mountaintops and stars, and met some of the friendliest people we’ve encountered so far. We just returned from a weeklong trip off the beaten track in Southern Colombia. We spent our time between Tierradentro and San Agustin, both UNESCO world heritage sites.

We took off early last Monday to catch the only bus that goes directly to San Andres de Pisimbala; a tiny, two street town that is the base for exploring Tierradentro. It’s a magical region of green hills covered with waterfalls and streams. It was the home of a pre-Columbian civilization that dates back to the 6th century. All that is known about them comes from the tombs that weren’t emptied by grave robbers or treasure seekers. It’s a spectacular trip, but the route there showed us how even traveling less than 200 km could bring us to a different world.

As soon as we got on the bus it seemed we caused a bit of a stir. Our group consisted of Megan and I plus an Australian friend named Drouyn. We are accustomed to being stared at constantly, but still didn’t expect to hear: “Oye, tres extranjeros!” An old man immediately got up to offer to rent us a room in his home; where he said they also make delicious fresh orange juice. The road itself felt mostly untraveled. Most of the time it was just dirt and gravel, and at times it seemed they dug the road right ahead of us as we passed, teetering on the edge of a ravine. Our colorful old bus bounced its way through the cloud-draped hills, passing over old bridges and eventually landed us in San Andres. We asked one of the first women we saw about a place for lodging that we’d heard about. She called down the street to her friend Blanca, who owned the spot we planned on staying at. She walked us a couple of blocks down the road. We slipped through the barbed wire fence (set up to block cows but allow people through, provided they are skinny enough) and unloaded our gear. It cost us about 4 bucks per person… perfect.

Tired from the trip, we decided to confine our explorations for the evening to the town itself. We ate at the only restaurant that carries enough food to serve guests even if they don’t plan the meal a day in advance. It was run by a friendly couple- a woman prepared the food while her husband told us about the area and showed us some of his carvings. We ate with live music provided by his pet bird, whistling a tune that we were told comes from the Pacific coast. We settled up with promises to return and set out to see what else the town held for us.

(Coffee beans drying by the street before being roasted)

Down the street it seemed like some kind of gathering was spilling out of someone’s house. As we passed they kept calling for us to come over and say hi, so we decided not to be rude and came to check out the scene. There were a few women standing around and a couple of guys that seemed to be struggling with the standing as they staggered about, with small children running around the group. They were eager to share the murky brown liquid that they were imbibing and that kept sloshing out of a couple of bowls shared between the group. They gave us a cup of the ‘chicha’ to share… We later found out that it’s fermented sugarcane juice, although most people we asked told us we definitely shouldn’t drink it. Oops… luckily our stomachs all remained intact. We moved on, much to the dismay of Emilio, the local guy that seemed to have the most teeth. He was hoping to convince Megan to stay for the rest of the evening, or at least to have her send a few amigas his way.

(reducing sugarcane)

We soon found one of the only spots in town that sold beers and decided to return to our hostel. By 8 pm there was no power and so we sat and drank by candlelight. It seemed that in the time we were gone a Colombian student group had checked into the hostel, a source of controversy over the next few days. Megan wasn’t a fan of the loud late nights and early mornings, and was convinced they were a high school group. Drouyn had set his eyes on a few cute Colombian girls, and decided they must be college students (although he did lose interest in his first target after he saw her shaving her mustache…). Either way, they were traveling the same route we were.

(helping translate for Drouyn as he gets a tattoo in Popayan)

We set off early the next morning to explore the area. We did the museum quickly so that we could set off ahead of the students on our hike. The tombs are found in various sites around San Andres, most of which can be visited on a 4 or 5-hour hike through the surrounding hills. We made our way to the first site. Not seeing anyone around, we lifted up the closest gate to climb down into the darkness of a tomb. Our first vista was a dark chamber that seemed to be carved into volcanic rock. As we re-emerged into the sunlight the caretaker that watches the area called us up the hill. He explained that there were about 70 tombs in that area alone, but he would direct us to the more interesting ones. We met similar guides at each site along that route, all eager to share information about the tombs and the area. We were directed into various tombs, some only a couple meters below ground, others 9 meters deep. Each was a different size and was designed to hold a group of people. There were niches in the walls where the bodies would first rest. After a few years, the remains would be placed into urns that were placed in special holes near the niches. The level of ornamentation depended on the status of the person being interred. Some were simple caverns, while others were decorated with carvings of faces and with geometric designs painted on the walls. Most of what is known about the sites is conjecture, but it still sends a chill down your spine when you are told that it is believed the tomb you are climbing into was the tomb of the grand shamans.


Our morning circuit landed us back in San Andres for lunch. There is one concentration of tombs that the route didn’t bring us to, on a nearby mountain peak. The hike is supposed to provide breathtaking views but is extremely strenuous and is a longer trip than the one we did in the morning. Drouyn was out due to some pain from the new tattoo on his foot. Everyone we talked to told Megan and I that we should wait and do the hike the next day. However, we planned to make the trip to San Agustin the next day; so we decided to tough it out and make the trek.

Damn. On our way up, a local told us that we had to climb to the top of one mountain, then down to a valley, then up another, taller mountain. And this was just to get to the site. By the time we made the first summit, we were praying that we had misunderstood and that we had made it. No such luck. The road headed down again, and we continued on our way. All around us were steep cliffs, yet it seems that locals living in the area still were able to grow and tend plants all the way up. Colombians really must be part mountain goat. We made it to the final ridge that we would walk along to the get to the “aguacate,” the tomb site. There was such an amazing view. We were greeted at the top by a horse that seemed to have claimed the area as his territory- upon seeing us; he flexed his ‘masculinity’ to prove it. We ceded to his apparent authority, and continued on our way along the ridge to the tombs.

Most of the tombs in this area were emptied by the guaqueros, the tomb raiders. However, there were still a couple that had been maintained in good condition. This far from town there was no one to oversee the ruins. As we climbed down into the chilly dank tomb we were struck by a sense of peace, just us in this mystical place. Inside we found faces and figures of animals painted along the walls- salamanders, frogs, serpents. It was such a powerful place to be, this ancient burial ground on a mountaintop. We eventually made the steep and treacherous trek back to town. We stumbled past our friends from the night before, enjoying more bowls of chicha, but had no energy or desire to stop. We filled up on food and made it an early night- the next day had some serious travel ahead!