Growing up in the UK, Easter was all about chocolate eggs and days off school. Most of us were completely unaware that the rest of the world was celebrating something else entirely.
在这里，在哥伦比亚，超过百分之八十个人的人口级别为天主教徒，它对耶稣基督意味着大幅超过复活节兔子并且Semana圣诞节（圣周）几乎关闭了这个国家的每个小镇甚至最小的游行pueblo.
The country's largest Easter celebrations, held yearly in the beautiful town of Popayan, are actually the second largest in the world, and even for those not of a religious disposition, are definitely worth checking out.
Here is our 'survival guide' to making the most out of your time in Popayan.
#1 book your accommodation early
We're more a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of couple, but even我们bookedour hostela month in advance. This is a huge event in the average Colombian's calendar and thousands arrive for at least a few days.
Popayan有许多背包客旅馆，但他们确实完全充分了。值得注意的是，整个圣周期间价格上涨约25-50％，所以在预算中为此做好准备。
＃2你只需要看到一晚游行
We saw a few, and they were all VERY similar. Given that they are all held relatively late at night (they start around 9 or 10 p.m. and have been known to continue until the early morning), don't stay up for several days expecting something incredible and unique each evening and then miss the more fun day-time activities.
＃3不要指望在波比亚找到狂欢节
Easter celebrations and parades are very sombre here. After having spent Semana Santa 2014 in a beach town in Belize, replete with bikini contests and a lot of rum, the celebrations in Colombia couldn't have been more different.
The parades take place in near silence and noisy spectators would draw a lot of attention to themselves.
#4 for a good spot, get to the parades early
The streets are absolutely packed for the night parades making it nearly impossible to get a decent position if you arrive too late; these Colombians come prepared and determined to get the best spot!
The only time we lucked out was when we got the starting time wrong. This meant we arrived more than 90 minutes early to find an empty spot under a perpetually dripping pipe.
If you want a REALLY great spot you may need to arrive 2 hours before the scheduled start.
#5 take a waterproof with you
There is very little cover lining the streets and Popayan gets a lot of rain at this time of year. The last thing you want when you've patiently turned up hours early to scout out your spot is being forced to make an early exit because you're getting soaked. An umbrella would be a bonus!
#6 colombians can be pushy - stand your ground
Catholicism is taken pretty seriously here, and so too apparently are poor quality cameraphone pictures. We both found ourselves shoved left and right by people behind us keen to take a shot or grainy video of the action.
If you're serious about hanging on to your spot, you'll need to shove back!
#7 buy your bus ticket out early
The vast majority of people coming here use public transport.
这意味着，如果您还需要在星期天或周一乘坐公共汽车到您的下一个目的地，那么您将在前一天至少乘坐门票，或者您可能面临漫长的等待在车站。
#8 grab a paper guide to the day events - they are often hidden away
One of the best things we saw during our time in Popayan was sometraditional danceand bands during the afternoon, but it was by pure chance that we came across it. In fact, Popayan turns into a pretty lively town during the day with plenty of stalls, free concerts and street performances.
宿舍有许多小册子，具有预定的性能 - 确保您获得一个或者您可能会错过任何您真正享受的东西。
＃9找到您的游行退出路线
游行遵循主教堂周围的圆形路线。
Make sure you are sitting/standing on one of the outside roads as you will not be able to cross into or through the parade to leave. Otherwise, you may have to stay in the crowd for the duration - and these things are known to go on for hours!
#10 be street-smart
在白天，街道与人溢出，一定要关注你的贵重物品，因为它是一个扒手的梦想！
