Happy Birthday Me

My next destination was Cali, but only briefly as it really was just a stopping place en route to where i really wanted to go. Arriving at the weekend, its difficult to find an excuse not to go out so after 2 long nights out (i did go to an art gallery too, so not all boozing) followed by four hours on a bus, a night in pretty Popayan and then 7 hours on a bumpy mud track i reached San Augustin.
San Augustin is famous for the many ancient statues that were discovered in the surrounding valleys and most of the area is now a world hertige site. Yesterday i spent the day wandering around the archological park and looking at the many statues and tombs that cover the hillside and i found them interesting enough to book a horse riding trip for the following day to see some more remote sights.
The following day (also my birthday) we set off under rather ominous looking skies at a pace slightly slower than i would have liked. We soon reached one of the sites of statues and so stopped to take a few photos (the skies getting blacker by the moment) so we didn't stop for long and continued on to our next destination- a steep section of mountain side littered with fallen raocks many of which had ancient carvings on them. The track to this was very steep and the horses stuggled to get down and was slightly worried that they may slip (but they didn't, i live to tell this tale). Our guide assured us that as long as the wind kept up then we didn't need to worry about it raining and so after climbing around the rocks for a while we set off again. Less than 5 minutes later the heavens opened and it began to pour, in moments i was totally, absolutely and utterly soaked! This weather continued for most of the rest of our ride but at least it gave a good reason for riding a bit faster. The track we were following soon turned to mud (it would have been bad enough without the current downpour) and the horses refused to go any further so we dismounted and had to lead them through the mud, easier said than done at one point i was mid-way up my shins in black mud with the horse almost on top of me (and everyone else laughing)! At our last point of the trip we sheltered, beneath the roof beneath which the statues were, waiting for the rain to stop and i tried to scrap off some of the mud- the rain didn't stop anytime soon and i couldn't remove much mud. We raced back most of the way, which was fun and by the time we got back it had actually stopped raining! Then the evening was started with pizza (the best in town) and then to a bar for some drinking and dancing into the wee small hours.
ps. thank you everyone who remembered!