San Andrés de Pisimbalá, Inzá, Cauca, Colombia: Pre-dating the statues in San Agustín the tombs in Tierradentro were built between 2000 and 1100 years ago. 

 
Most of the tombs have been carved into the ground on the tops of the hills. The tombs are underground and to get inside each tomb has 5-13 steps that range between 1/2m–1m high a piece.  

 
The people who built the tombs were either very tall or very flexible. 

 
As is true in San Agustín very little is known about the people who constructed the tombs. The Nasa, the indigenous people who live in the region now, say that they are not descended from the group that built the tombs. 

 
But the ancients obviously wanted their dead close to the sky. 

 
Tierradentro is described as the most important archeological site in Colombia but frankly it’s a bitch to get to. 

 
The day I tried to go there was a protest: local teachers closed the road from Popayán to San Andrés. I had to go the long way around via La Plata. 

 
San Andrés was a guerrilla stronghold until a few years ago, so you would think the government would have gone in a modernized this important tourist site as soon as they regained control of it. You would of course be wrong. 

 
The paved road is on its way, albeit slowly, but the water went out while I was there and the town does not have cell service or wifi. 

 
However, the mountains are beautiful, the tombs strange and it is well worth the hassle to go for a few days and hike around the valley. 

 
What I found interesting is that the tombs built on the eastern mountains are better preserved than those built on the western mountains. 

 
Those to the west get more rain and you can feel the humidity in the rocks.