| Tierradentro |
Tierradentro is one of Colombia's many hidden gems. For a long time off the tourist radar this place is
about to come back into fashion. There are two wrong impressions people have about this place:
1, that it is too hard to get to
2, that it is too dangerous.
Both incorrect, more on that latter!
The valley is a beautiful place. The people, mostly Indians, are extremely friendly. There are several small
towns dotted around the area and many Indian families living in the surrounding hills. The area is very
fertile and there is much cafe grown as well as maiz, bananas etc.
The town of Tierradentro is actually just a street of about two hundred metres with four hotels along it and
a couple of juice bars and the entrance to the park/musuem.
Two kilometers further up the valley is the town of San Andres. This is a small village of 1000 people,
nearly all Paez Indians. It is an extremely chilled out place and there are another three hotels. The
thatched church is one of the oldest in the country at over 400 years. There is not much happening in San
Andres but its a great place to get away from everything for a few days.
This trip, August, 2006, was my first but I'll be back very soon because it really is a gem
about to come back into fashion. There are two wrong impressions people have about this place:
1, that it is too hard to get to
2, that it is too dangerous.
Both incorrect, more on that latter!
The valley is a beautiful place. The people, mostly Indians, are extremely friendly. There are several small
towns dotted around the area and many Indian families living in the surrounding hills. The area is very
fertile and there is much cafe grown as well as maiz, bananas etc.
The town of Tierradentro is actually just a street of about two hundred metres with four hotels along it and
a couple of juice bars and the entrance to the park/musuem.
Two kilometers further up the valley is the town of San Andres. This is a small village of 1000 people,
nearly all Paez Indians. It is an extremely chilled out place and there are another three hotels. The
thatched church is one of the oldest in the country at over 400 years. There is not much happening in San
Andres but its a great place to get away from everything for a few days.
This trip, August, 2006, was my first but I'll be back very soon because it really is a gem
As mentioned above, first you must decide if you want to stay near the musuem further down the valley
or two km uphill in San Andres (a nice twenty minute walk). I would definitely chose the later, San
Andres, as the town is really nice. There are three options there. Accommodation is embarrassingly
cheap in this town, between 6,000 and 10,000 pesos. So don't bother bargaining too much or at all.
Settle for 8.000.
or two km uphill in San Andres (a nice twenty minute walk). I would definitely chose the later, San
Andres, as the town is really nice. There are three options there. Accommodation is embarrassingly
cheap in this town, between 6,000 and 10,000 pesos. So don't bother bargaining too much or at all.
Settle for 8.000.
Tour of museum and tombs
You'll need about a day to walk around the several groups of
tombs that are in the surrounding hills. The tombs are pretty
interesting and between one and five metres underground. The
best site is Segovia, a twenty minute walk up hill from the musuem.
At Segovia there are over a dozen tombs. Several still have most
of the markings. There is a guard at this spot.
You'll need about a day to walk around the several groups of
tombs that are in the surrounding hills. The tombs are pretty
interesting and between one and five metres underground. The
best site is Segovia, a twenty minute walk up hill from the musuem.
At Segovia there are over a dozen tombs. Several still have most
of the markings. There is a guard at this spot.
Getting there and away
There are big things happening on the roads around Tierradentro. The entire road from San Agusting to Tierradentro is being paved. It may take a
while but it is happening. This is going to cut all travel times in half I'd say
There is not that much transport around this area being that there are hardly any people there and not much in the way of tourism. There are
pretty much three places that people will come from or go to, San Agustin, Popayan, Bogota
Coming from
There are big things happening on the roads around Tierradentro. The entire road from San Agusting to Tierradentro is being paved. It may take a
while but it is happening. This is going to cut all travel times in half I'd say
There is not that much transport around this area being that there are hardly any people there and not much in the way of tourism. There are
pretty much three places that people will come from or go to, San Agustin, Popayan, Bogota
Coming from
- Bogota, get a bus to La Plata (9hours), then a bus to Tierradentro (90 minutes)
- Popayan, get a bus to Inza (4 hours), then a bus to Tierradentro (40 minutes)
- San Agustin, get a bus to Pitalito (45 minutes), then a bus to La Plata (2.5 hours), then a bus to Tierradentro(90m)
My Choice, Hotel Los Lagos, in San Andres village. Price: 8.000 COP per person.
No hot water. Located one hundred metres below the church. Run by a very nice
Colombian family, two small kids and two dumb dogs. The lady, Blanca, will cook all
your meals for a small cost and she does cook very well. There are chickens
running around all over the place so take care not to step on them. The entire
household seems pretty chicken crazy.
No hot water. Located one hundred metres below the church. Run by a very nice
Colombian family, two small kids and two dumb dogs. The lady, Blanca, will cook all
your meals for a small cost and she does cook very well. There are chickens
running around all over the place so take care not to step on them. The entire
household seems pretty chicken crazy.
Get Drunk
A personal favourite of mine as of late this is a good place to try the local tipple. One night our guide, Enrique, went off on a borrowed motorbike to
a small village where he bought 2.5 litres of vino de coca (coca wine). While not the best stuff to bring back through customs it was actually
surprisingly tasty. Only cost 12.000 pesos. Thought it would be horrible stuff. The Indians like to drink I can tell you that much. Most nights you'll be
able to find a few people drinking somwhere in this very small town. A couple of the houses double as discos as well. The local beer is Poker and
they've got a good stock in town. If anything exciting is happening on any given night there is a loudspeaker system in town
A personal favourite of mine as of late this is a good place to try the local tipple. One night our guide, Enrique, went off on a borrowed motorbike to
a small village where he bought 2.5 litres of vino de coca (coca wine). While not the best stuff to bring back through customs it was actually
surprisingly tasty. Only cost 12.000 pesos. Thought it would be horrible stuff. The Indians like to drink I can tell you that much. Most nights you'll be
able to find a few people drinking somwhere in this very small town. A couple of the houses double as discos as well. The local beer is Poker and
they've got a good stock in town. If anything exciting is happening on any given night there is a loudspeaker system in town
Hike to El Aguacate
A beautiful four hour round trip from the village up to a ridge with several tombs. The views are
spectacular from up here. You can start the walk from the village of San Andres or from the site of the
museum. I recommend beginning from the village. If you want to go without guide ,its easy, find the
restaurant La Portada(good meals around 4000 pesos) and there is a path on one side leading to a
bridge and then uphill from there. Its about 90 minutes up hill (there is a downhill section also). You will
pass several Indian houses on the way and cafe/ banana plantations. Eventually you will come to the top
of the hill which is a one two hundred metre ridge and the views are well worth the effort in getting up
there.
A beautiful four hour round trip from the village up to a ridge with several tombs. The views are
spectacular from up here. You can start the walk from the village of San Andres or from the site of the
museum. I recommend beginning from the village. If you want to go without guide ,its easy, find the
restaurant La Portada(good meals around 4000 pesos) and there is a path on one side leading to a
bridge and then uphill from there. Its about 90 minutes up hill (there is a downhill section also). You will
pass several Indian houses on the way and cafe/ banana plantations. Eventually you will come to the top
of the hill which is a one two hundred metre ridge and the views are well worth the effort in getting up
there.
On the ridge are several unguarded shallow tombs a couple of them with paintings. You may
want to bring a torch. It could be pretty great to sleep up here in a tent if you got one and
wake up to the sunrise. Must be special. The path continues past the tombs and along the
ridge down to Tierradentro. Its about eighty minutes downhill.
want to bring a torch. It could be pretty great to sleep up here in a tent if you got one and
wake up to the sunrise. Must be special. The path continues past the tombs and along the
ridge down to Tierradentro. Its about eighty minutes downhill.
What to do
Where to stay
The area is open from 8am-4pm as is the museum. There are several other sites with tombs but they are not as well preserved as Segovia. There
are two museums both worth a visit. The entrance cost, 6.000 pesos, includes three day museum and all tombs access.
are two museums both worth a visit. The entrance cost, 6.000 pesos, includes three day museum and all tombs access.
Safety Situation
In my opinion and having talked to many people in the transport/ hotel industries in and around this area as well as with many locals I can only
conclude that this is a very safe part of Colombia. There has not been any trouble inlolving foreigners in this area for at least five years and most
likely a lot longer. The drive in and the drive out seem also very quiet. A lady at the bus company told me there had been no guerilla hold ups of
the bus for at least three years. In all honestly it seems so safe that as one local put it you could quite confidently fall asleep on the side of the road
in town with your wallet lying beside you knowing it would still be there in the morning. The only problem I see is managing to get away from the
overly friendly locals while taking a few beers in the evening 'cause they wont want to let you go.
In my opinion and having talked to many people in the transport/ hotel industries in and around this area as well as with many locals I can only
conclude that this is a very safe part of Colombia. There has not been any trouble inlolving foreigners in this area for at least five years and most
likely a lot longer. The drive in and the drive out seem also very quiet. A lady at the bus company told me there had been no guerilla hold ups of
the bus for at least three years. In all honestly it seems so safe that as one local put it you could quite confidently fall asleep on the side of the road
in town with your wallet lying beside you knowing it would still be there in the morning. The only problem I see is managing to get away from the
overly friendly locals while taking a few beers in the evening 'cause they wont want to let you go.
If you want to stay near the museum a good option is the Hotel and
Restaurant Pisimbala which also costs around 8,000 COP per
person. Next stoor is a great place to get jugos. The name is RICO
JUGOS and the price of a glass and a half of milk based jugo is 1.500.
The house special is lemon with milk.
Restaurant Pisimbala which also costs around 8,000 COP per
person. Next stoor is a great place to get jugos. The name is RICO
JUGOS and the price of a glass and a half of milk based jugo is 1.500.
The house special is lemon with milk.
To the right is the
Hotel El Refugio
which is undergoing
repairs and should
re-open soon. Got a
nice pool thats for sure
Hotel El Refugio
which is undergoing
repairs and should
re-open soon. Got a
nice pool thats for sure
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