坐落在滚下河峡谷,圣奥古斯丁is a small town fairly indistinct from the rest in Colombia - a main plaza perpetually filled with people of all ages watching the world go by, a hodge podge of local shops, the odd man calmly walking the streets with a machete and the ubiquitous sizzling street food carts.
但是，圣奥古斯汀的历史好奇心使它与众不同。散布在整个周围的乡村中，您会发现哥伦比亚最重要的考古遗址以及直到今天的文明的残余物，这在很大程度上仍然是一个谜。
现在联合国教科文组织世界遗产，，，，the San Agustin Archeological Park is home to hundreds of elaborate stone funerary statues and burial sites of a people that disappeared long before the Spanish arrived.
Heralded by the Lonely Planet as one of the innumerable 'must-dos' in the country, we set off down the long unpaved and bumpy road from Popayan to investigate not only the archeology, but also to see what else the town had to offer.
01.骑马
The best thing about jumping on the back of a horse in a developing country, until it all goes wrong of course, is the lack of health and safety concerns. Roughly translated here, this meant no helmets, no rules and a lot of speed.
脂肪和瘦（我们的想象中的马匹）纯粹对我们的无牙引导蓬松的大声哨声反应 - 沿着尘土飞扬的道路或山丘上的高高沿着尘土飞扬。188金宝搏app官方下载这是非常有趣！
Officially this is a way to explore three of four archeological sites outside of the main park. This includes seeing one of the few coloured statues remaining and the iconic Chaquira which is carved in rock overlooking a magnificent river valley. The sites weren't too interesting, with the highlight definitely being more about the horses and the scenery - it was simply a beautiful way to enjoy a little more of the countryside off the beaten path.
Cost |这次旅行的定价系统有点时髦 - 您要为每个想骑车的人付费，然后为导游和他的马支付额外费用。这意味着我们的旅行应该花费140,000美元 - 我们认为太多了。因此，我们讨价还价，以更合理的$ 100,000（每个25,000美元）安定下来。这次旅行持续了大约四个小时。
We arranged our guide and horses at the main office as opposed to one of the touts in town, and this is probably the only reason we could haggle them down so easily. To find them, simply walk along Calle 5, as if heading toward the archeological park and you'll soon see lots of horses, and probably quickly get accosted by one of the guides. Thankfully, the horses we saw were all in good condition and looked well-cared for.
You是able to walk to the sites that we visited if you don't feel like spending this much. However, we would definitely recommend going with the horses.
Also, be aware that your guide is really only a guide to help you on the horses and along the route; he isn't there to tell you the history of the statues etc.
Word of warning |At the end of our ride, when we were dismounting, a number of official looking men approached us trying to sell some sort of trip. It took a while to realise what they were offering but eventually we established it was an offer of a trip to a cocaine 'factory' outside of town, masquerading as a brewery. Be a responsible tourist guys, Colombia is recovering its reputation, don't ruin it.
02.考古公园
尽管埋葬地点至少占地250公里，但探索我们所知道的历史并有机会看到雕像的主要地点是在前往主要考古公园的旅行中，这实际上是一个大型户外博物馆展览。
尽管大多数人被连根拔起以保护脆弱的石头免受元素的侵害，但在这里，您还可以在原地找到许多雕像，沿着它们曾经装饰过的坟墓，通常处于显着状态。
公园里有一个博物馆，森林步道，五个占地五个雕像区和一条水道的搭档。您可能在那里至少要花三个小时，如果您像我们一样，在这段时间里将获得更多的历史！
如何让|主要公园距市中心约3公里。公共汽车定期从镇上离开（每人1200美元），但您可以轻松地独自行走。
Cost |The pricing seems to increase each year - sometimes by double. Now, you have to pay $50,000 per person (updated March 2020) for a 'passport' - this gives you access to the main park and Alto de los Idolos, which is situated outside of town.
03. eat at el tomate restaurant
把它从我们,vegetaria好n food is pretty hard to come by in Latin America. So whenever we find a place that specialises in food without a face we hot foot in over there pretty sharpish to check it out.
Recommended by every guidebook on the town, we had high expectations for German-owned El Tomate - and were not disappointed! Outdone only by Sin Nombre Quesadillas in San Cristobal, this little restaurant provided some of the best vegetarian food thus far on this trip.
With a menu that changes every day, if you're here for a little while we recommend going back at least a couple of times - just make sure to get there early. We went at 1 p.m. one day and they had run out of food!
How to get there:Tomate is on Calle 5, which is the same road you walk along to reach the national park.
成本：For $8,000 you got a starter of soup, a freshly-squeezed juice and a large main. This was EXTREMELY good value.
04. gorge on delicious pastries
Colombians LOVE their sugary treats, and you can find a bakery on almost every corner in the southern part of the country. San Agustin, is no exception.
We are not ashamed to admit that we went to the same little place ('Ricuras') for coffee and cake at least once a day during our stay, determined to enjoy as much arequipe (dulce de leche) as possible before crossing the border.
Cost |两种大量的糕点和两张优质的咖啡（不是瞬间）的价格约为4,500美元。
如何让|Ricuras is located one block to the right of the main plaza in a large green building with red doors, you can't miss it! (see photo)
05.沉迷于一些“本地专业”
Whilst one of us would certainly not encourage the eating of a popular British pet, guinea pig does seem to be very popular here. Most of the restaurants in town seem to stick to more standard fare, but on the way to the archeological site and you will find plenty of road-side eateries keen to welcome you in for a spit-roasted treat. By all accounts it's delicious!
Where to stay in San Agustin
As with so many places, this really comes down to budget.
For those that are really watching the pennies, we'd recommendEl Jardinin the town centre. It's basic but comfortable and has a kitchen (albeit pretty terrible) and it's by far the best cheap option in town.
然而，即使我们也选择搬到镇上最受欢迎的旅馆度过最后一晚。Hotel Casa de Nellyis hands-down our top pick for San Agustin. Beautiful setting with fantastic views, nice rooms and great staff. It's 15 mins walk out of town but totally worth the extra exercise!Click hereto make a reservation.
is San Agustin worth the visit?
We're not entirely sure.
Despite having seen some of the world's most impressive archeological sites on this trip and a number of others on our travels, we'll both admit that we were underwhelmed. Admittedly, neither of us are huge fans of certain types of archeological sites and San Agustin's park falls into this category. It is an enjoyable place to spend a morning or afternoon, but given that we travelled quite a distance out of the way to come here, it fell a little flat.
到目前为止，这个小镇最好的一点（如果我们不包括在嘴里的任何东西）是骑马。一旦我们专注于在马后面的实际经验，而不是对历史印象深刻，我们就会很开心。
There are a few other activities around the town - waterfalls, treks and other statue sites - but none of this really attracted us.
正如我们在介绍中所说的那样，该镇本身确实没有什么与众不同的，而周围的乡村虽然美丽，但对于哥伦比亚南部的大部分地区来说都是常见的。
如果您对考古学有真正的兴趣或像我们这样的慢速旅行，那么一定要查看圣奥古斯汀 - 我们实际上确实在那里度过了整体的时光。但是，如果您的时间表更紧密，或者是从未参观过博物馆的人，那么这可能不应该排在您的名单上。
