Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [217]
The motel-like Hotel El Refugio has long been closed, but you can use the swimming pool for COP$3000. Ask around for the vigilante who guards the place.
There are no hotels in San Andrés de Pisimbalá.
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Eating & Drinking
Most of the hotels listed above serve budget meals. Also worth noting are Erithryna Glauci Will ( 312 450 2895), the bar opposite Ricabet. The second-floor deck has great views, and if there are five or more of you, you can do a barbecue. The tienda downstairs sells snacks and drinks.
A couple of doors down is Restaurante Café-Artesanal ( 311 337 0573; www.tierradentro-pisimbala.blogspot.com) where you can get good budget meals. It also sells hand-crocheted necklaces and earrings, and chicha de caña (fermented sugarcane juice), a tasty beverage. Look for the orange flowering vine that creeps around the verandah, or ask around town for the cafe run by the two dwarfs. Locals will point you in the right direction.
The only restaurant in San Andrés, La Portada ( 825 2927, 311 601 7884; set meal COP$4500) can have lunch ready if you call in advance. Be sure to try the owner’s homemade ice cream. You can buy them here or at Erithryna Glauci Will. They are excellent. Also rents horses for COP$4000 per hour.
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Getting There & Away
Most buses pass the museums and hotels on a side trip to San Andrés, although some stop only at El Crucero de San Andrés, a 20-minute walk downhill from the museums. There are three to four services a day to Popayán (COP$17,000, four hours), and to La Plata (COP$10,000, 2½ hours), where you can change for San Agustín or Bogotá. For either destination it’s a good idea to get an early start on the day, as both are long journeys on rough roads.
NARIÑO
* * *
Welcome to Ecuador – almost. Nariño is Colombia’s most southwesterly department, and the Ecuadorean influence here is strong.
The Andes here loom high and forbidding on their southerly march. The ‘volcano alley’ that runs the length of Ecuador begins here – pleasant Pasto, the departmental capital, sits a mere 8km from an active volcano covered in patchwork farmland.
Most people visit the region only to cross the border, but it’s worth spending a few days here. Pasto is good for a weekend, Laguna de la Cocha is unmissable, and the towering Santuario de Las Lajas near Ipiales is an astonishing sight to behold.
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PASTO
2 / pop 385,000 / elev 2551m
Just two hours from Ecuador, Pasto is the capital of the department and the logical jumping-off point for the border. It’s also a good base for visiting Laguna de la Cocha, Laguna Verde and Volcán Galeras.
The rest of Colombia makes fun of Pasto – pastuso jokes are like old-time Polack jokes. The local fondness for cuy (guinea pig) is also mocked. While it’s true the town doesn’t feel very Colombian, it doesn’t feel very Ecuadorean either, and is worth a visit if only to experience this unique mélange.
The town is built at the foot of Volcán Galeras in the fertile Atriz valley. It has several fine colonial buildings as well as a bustling downtown area. The weather here is cool – so cool, in fact, you’ll see helado de paíla advertised, which is ice cream made fresh in a copper tub sitting on a platform of ice.
The town was founded by Lorenzo de Aldana in 1537 and was an important cultural and religious center in colonial and republican times. Earthquakes have unfortunately destroyed much of its historic character; a handful of churches and palaces have been rebuilt in the original style. The city is also known for barniz de Pasto, a processed vegetable resin used to decorate wooden objects in colorful patterns.
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Information
Most of the major banks are around Plaza de Nariño.
Cambios Colombia ( 723 8044; CC Belalcázar) On the 2nd floor. Irregular hours.