Churches and Llamas

At breakfast, we met Florian in Pasto. He asked if we were heading to the border and wanted to share a cab to the bus station. We said we were, but that we had a car and offered him a ride all the way.

Another two hours or so of mountains got us to the border town of Ipiales. Ipiales has 1 claim to fame, the neo-gothic church built into the side of a mountain and over a river outside of town.

It was built where someone had seen the image of the Virgin Mary on the cliff. The back wall behind the image is the natural rock. I didn’t see it.

We arrived during mass, so it was full of people inside and out. The church is said to be responsible for thousands of miracles, and thank you plaques cover the rock walls of the grounds outside.

The church is beautiful, but oddly out of place in this area. Along the walk to the church vendors are selling souvenirs and snacks, including roasted guinea pig on a stick.

I couldn’t resist a photo on a hat-wearing  alpaca (or was it a llama?) for the equivalent of 50 cents. That was two dollars cheaper than the Popsicle that I used to bribe Bode to get on it. You can see he was thrilled about it.

4 thoughts on “Churches and Llamas

  • November 24, 2010 at 2:27 PM
    Permalink

    it’s quite odd how much bode looks like an alpaca! or at least THAT alpaca.

  • November 24, 2010 at 5:50 PM
    Permalink

    Love the photos of Bode on the Llama and rockin’ those awesome pants on your new banner! (I think I’ll print out the Llama picture for my fridge.) Happy Thanksgiving! Miss y’all! Love,
    Rachel

  • November 24, 2010 at 9:19 PM
    Permalink

    More Flat Stanley sightings!! I totally LOVE the picture of Bode, the Alpaca/Llama(?) & FS! You guys are awesome!
    Lookin’ forward to seeing you soon!

  • November 25, 2010 at 2:49 PM
    Permalink

    Mmm guinea pig. I ate it when I was 16. Don’t remember it tasting bad, probably tasted like chicken. Cool church pics!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *