Colombia travel guide

The 15-meter high mud cone at El Totumo is not just a pile of mud, but a real volcano. Instead of spewing lava, it just bobbles mud up. You can climb to the top by wooden stairs and take a mud bath right in the crater. Well, that is the reason to come here in the first place. Besides the whole wellness feeling, it is also a very strange sensation to be descending into the bottomless pit full of mud (and just for the record, you do not sink).

The old part of Popayan is not just another pretty Colombian whitewashed colonial town. It is very much alive, and not turned into a groomed tourist attraction. On special occasions, the town's many churches are lit up in the night like giant Christmas decorations. The biggest church is San Sebastian, which distinguishes itself from the other churches by having a morbid hidden attraction. During the big earthquake in 1983, the church building got serious damaged, but out of the cracked walls fell two mummified monks. These are now displayed up under the church roof and can be viewed if you ask. It is a very low key affair and can be extended with tour on the church roof (if you ask the guard nicely) with splendid views over the town.

The Angel's Passage is a narrow track on a ridge with steep drops to both sides. At the narrowest point, the path is no wider than 25 cm and is creepily eroded to one side. The other side offers a steep slope which eventually ends in a furious river several hundred meters below. It is one of those tracks that should be off-limits to the public, but luckily, this is Colombia, so it is not. You can do the trek over "Paseo del Angel" and continue along the ridge until the track leads down to the river, along which you can return. A three hours round trip and a test of how bad your acrophobia is.

In the surrounding hills of the village of San Andres de Pisimbala are several groups of underground burial chambers, also known as Tierradentro. Not much is known about the ancient culture that left these behind, but it is believed that the tombs are from 6th to 9th centuries AD. The inside of the chambers were painted in bright geometric patterns and creatures, and to this day it can still be seen in the best preserved ones. A visit to all four sites (Segovia, El Duende, Alto de San Andres and El Aguacate) will at least require a day's walking in the beautiful mountains and will also include the site of El Tablon where mystical stone statues, similar to the ones at San Agustin, can be seen. It is the only place in the Americas where such tombs have been found, and a wonder why they are so seldomly visited.

In the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), guinea pigs are not only considered cute, but also tasty. They are called cuy and can be bought roasted and ready for feasting from street vendors and road stalls. Let it be said that there is not an awful lot of meat on a guinea pig, but in return any part is eatable. As they are a delicacy, they are fairly expensive by local standards.

During daylight the city of Medellin looks surprisingly dull, but when night falls it certainly knows how to pull itself together. The streets of the trendy neighbourhood of zona Rosa only start to wake up when the sun goes down. Here lie cosy wine bars side by side with open air restaurants, top trendy cocktail bars and crowded students joints. The ladies are for most parts ridiculously good looking and dressed to kill, while the males keep a more casual attitude. So go out and get drunk with some of the most friendly and outgoing people in South America... well, in the World.

Ancient stone statues that were erected to guard the graves of tribal leaders. They portrait animals and spirits, and were made by a pre-Colombian culture that flourished between the 6th and the 14th century. Even though it is the largest collection of such religious monuments in South America, not much is known about them or the culture and that just makes it even more intriguing. They were originally spread over a wide area around Rio Magdalene, but have mostly been relocated to a handful of sites, where Parque Arqueologico in San Agustin and Alto de los Idolos are the biggest. Similar statues have also been found at Tierradentro, which just adds to the mystery. If you get stoned out while trying to see all 500 statues, the beautiful landscape offers great trails (trekking or horse riding) to viewpoints and waterfalls.

This national park is famed for its beautiful beaches. Stretches of sand that slopes into turquoise water and surrounded by soft boulders and dense jungle. There are no roads, only trails leading you from one bay to the next. Small eateries and simple accommodation (hammocks and cabanas) make out the development on this stretch of else wild coast. Tayrona Indians are still inhabiting the forest and you might catch a glance of them while looking for birds and howler monkeys. The park is understandably very popular with locals, but it is not hard to find your own patch of Caribbean paradise under the palms.

Villa de Leyva is another charming whitewashed colonial town. The Colombians might even say THE finest colonial village in the whole country. The houses are manicured, while the streets are still cobblestoned just as in colonial times. The main square is huge and strangely oversized compared to the otherwise small town (apparently the square is one of the biggest in South America). Due to the proximity to Bogota, some of the fine old colonial mansions are bought up by city slickers and the yummy selection of pastry shops and pizzerias shows it. Surrounding the town is some very lovely countryside inhabited by traditional highland farmers. A trip around the neighbourhood will take you through smaller villages, hilly farmlands, national parks and even dinosaur findings.