Travel ideas for Colombia - unique sights, worth Guinness records

Tourists who want to see one of the most unusual and most majestic religious buildings in the world can be recommended to go to Colombia, and in the surroundings of the city of Ipiales. Here is the unique neo-Gothic Las Lajas cathedral, which is more reminiscent of the ancient castle than of a typical religious building. You have chosen a rather original place for cathedral construction. It was decided to build them over the deep gorge of the Guitara river.
The impressively large Basilica is located on the stone bridge, which looks incredibly brittle and fine compared to the huge building. As the legend tells, a local deaf girl named Rosa mid-eighteenth century saw the godmother who cured it. The strange event happened in the tiny cave on the slope of the ravine, which the pilgrims has drawn from the surroundings. A few years later, the first chapel was erected on this site, where the faithful came every day.
The majestic cathedral that can be visited today was built much later, mid-20th century. To get there, you have to walk over the 30-meter-long bridge, underneath which is the deep ravine of with sharp rocks. The tourists who wander in the picturesque places next to the cathedral can see hundreds of signs, on which the grateful pilgrims describe their incredible healing stories. Las Lajas is currently the most famous and visited attraction in Colombia. The unique Basilica was built on donations from the church community. ... Complete sights collection

Many followers of the nervousness in the search for the new impressions go to Colombia. Here, between the tiny towns of El Penon and Guatape, is the peculiar rock Penon de Guatape, the ascent to whose summit is one of the most breathtaking and unforgettable adventures in life. The rocky heights form 220 meters. The scientists believe that the mountain has formed more than 70 million years ago. The rock looks like a huge stone, its length is about 380 meters, and the width is about 100 meters. According to the approximate estimates, the weight of this huge 'stone' can form nearly 10 million tons.
The tourists who want to visit this remarkable sight can climb up the rocky summit and appreciate the beautiful panorama of the surroundings. On one of the monolith slopes was the zigzag wooden staircase, which contains 644 steps. The ascent to it is really breathtaking - you should rather not look down. The narrow creaking steps, the low railing and the giant height - this place is as found for extreme hikers.
At the top of the rock, a pleasant surprise awaits the brave travelers - a nice and interesting restaurant where you can drink a cup of excellent Colombian coffee or the tequila with salt that will be nerve-soothing after such a complicated ascent. Since ancient times the locals consider the summit El Penon de Guatape to be sacred. The first people were only climbed up to the summit in 1954. The first ascent took 5 days. Today one can conquer the inaccessible rock in just a few minutes. ... Complete sights collection

The tourists who were once in Colombia and who have seen the river Caño Cristales with their own eyes, agree that it is the most beautiful river on earth. The different types of water plants color the river into the rich colors, which is why the river looks like a rippling stream of randomly shed colors. In some places, the river floor is bright pink, and in the others it is sparkling green. Some aquatic plants are pale yellow, and the others - deep black. The rare blue water plants also grow in the river.
The experienced travelers claim that the river Caño Cristales looks the most beautiful during the summer season. To the other seasons a trip to the river but also very exciting. Taking care that the river has a very complicated riverbed, some places seem simply beautiful. The numerous waterfalls, the slopes and the coasts covered with the giant stones give the river a fantastic shape. At first sight, the sea water seems to be rather cloudy because of the various water plants. In reality, Caño Cristales is one of the purest rivers in the world.
The river is characterized by its impressive size. Its length is about 100 km, and the maximum width reaches 20 meters. On some stretches of river you can go with the small cutter or boat, which allows to see a multi-colored waterbed carpet covering its ground. In the unique river, which looks like a 'liquid rainbow', you can bathe. In some places the beautiful natural wells have formed with the crystalline water. ... Complete sights collection

In Colombia, there is a unique Gothic monument - the church of Las Lajas. This temple is considered one of the most beautiful and wonderful in the world. It is located on an artificial stone bridge that spans two sides of a deep gorge. The sight is built in neo-Gothic style. The church looks special against the steep cliffs covered with vegetation. The sight is situated in the vicinity of the town of Ipiales. Many amazing legends are associated with it.
According to a legend, there was a cage near the place, where the church is currently located. Townspeople considered it to be notorious; locals tried to bypass the place. That changed in the mid-18th century. In 1754, the local woman, Maria Mueses, with her deaf-mute daughter Rosa were passing through the gorge. When they were near the cave, the woman saw the image of the Virgin that later healed the girl. After a surprising case, an image of the Virgin with the child appeared on one of the rocks.
This awesome icon is able to cure people. Pilgrims from all the surrounding towns come here to see it. In 1794, the first chapel was built near the cherished cave. Since then, an expansion and improvement of the church did not stop until 1948. The main relic of the church of Las Lajas is an icon on the rock, which still has a wonderful ability to heal the terminally ill people. Many tourists come to this place not only for the promised healing, but simply to admire the amazing architectural monument that looks like an illustration in a fairy tale. ... Complete sights collection

One of the most unusual sights of Colombia is the abandoned Salto hotel. It is located in incredibly beautiful natural surroundings, close to the Tequendama Falls. This natural attraction began to attract people more than a hundred years ago. Travelers from around the world came to admire it. In 1928, it was decided to build a hotel next to the waterfall. The luxury facility has been working for more than 60 years. Then it was closed due to unprofitability.
For many years, the building was staying empty and slowly destroyed. It was visited by few tourists who came to admire the waterfall. The massive historic building with black windows looks very intimidating, so many travelers stop at visiting its open observation deck that offers a magnificent view of the 157-meter high waterfall.
The hotel was built on the edge of a steep cliff. When the edifice was closed, the wilderness began to attract suiciders. No official statistics on suicides is collected, but, according to unofficial information, several dozen people have died there by their own hands. One of the worst legends about the abandoned hotel is related to the souls of the dead. Some travelers, when visiting the empty building, have seen strange silhouettes and heard a kind of human speech, though no one but them was in the building. If someone may be frightened by such stories, some tourists are, in contrast, attracted by them. People come here not only to see the beautiful waterfall, but also in hope to watch the ghosts. ... Complete sights collection

Colombia can boast the world famous archeological park of San Agustin. It is visited not only by researchers from around the world, but by curious travelers too. Here, archaeologists have discovered the largest group of religious monuments in South America. Today everyone can see it. The sculptures found during excavations in the park are called chinas. As the researchers found out, items were made of volcanic rock. Numerous sculptures depict people dressed in various traditional clothing.
Sculptures vary not only in appearance, but also in size. The height of some items is only a few tens of centimeters, and the height of the largest reaches seven meters, while the weight is several tons. In total, during the study, more than 500 statues have been found in the park. Some of the sculptures depicted ancient deities and animals. The pathfinder of the surprising archaeological area was a monk Fray Juan de Santa Gertrudis, who accidentally discovered the first statue in a cave in 1794.
After more than two hundred years, scientists haven't managed to pinpoint exactly when and for what purpose sculptures had been created. They are very similar to the stone idols found on Easter Island. According to researchers, the monuments are of exceptional religious significance. In addition to the statues, a few distinctive places of worship were found in the park. There is a spring and ruins of an altar. Today, the park has a museum that collects the most amazing archaeological finds. ... Complete sights collection

The islet of Malpelo is lost among the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean. That's also a landmark of the world importance. The rocky island is uninhabited. Its length is about 1850 meters, and the width is 600 meters. In fact, the main object of interest is not the rocky island but surrounding waters, which are home to rare species of sharks, fish, and other inhabitants of the deep sea. This is where researchers were able to see several rare species of sharks, including silky shark, whale shark, frilled shark and hammerhead shark. A rare sand tiger shark was found in the vicinity of the island.
Malpelo Island is very popular among divers, but before the dive they must obtain a special permit from the Colombian Ministry of Environment. Landing on the island is also allowed, but there are no outstanding natural attractions on its territory. There are some species of lichens and shrubs that have managed to adapt to the harsh climatic conditions.
The only building on the island is the military post, which was founded by the Colombian army in 1986. In many ways, the formation of the unique marine biosphere around the island was possible due to its distance from the mainland. The island is more than 500 km off coast of Columbia. Travelers who want to get here have to overcome the hard way. Malpelo Island is considered one of the most interesting places for diving in the world, as thousands of rare fish, hundreds of sharks, and other representatives of marine life live next to it. ... Complete sights collection

Alberto Lleras Dam is another touristic place of interest in Columbia. People usually call it "Alberto Lleras" as the principal software engineer. Nevertheless, the official name of the dam is Guavio Dam, in honour of the river. The dam was taken into use in 1989. Its height is 243 meters and length 390 meters. The artificial reservoir’s volume is 4 200 cube meters.
This is an earth-fill barrage dam. It was built for giving the area a sufficient amount of electrical energy. The Guavio Dam is located in a very beautiful area which adores people with its marvellous mountain scenes. Nature didn’t suffer from the building of the dam.
As earlier, today there you can meet some rare animals, plants and watch the birds. For them, these wonderful places are home for thousands of years. The dam itself doesn’t look bad in the area, it fits into the local nature. At the first glance, it is quite hard to understand that dam is a man-made construction. ... Complete sights collection

Gramalot city became known beyond Columbia thanks to a mysterious fault. In December 2010 the city began to move and in the earth has appeared large rifts. Hundreds of houses and roads were destroyed. At first, local mass media explained these changes as a reason for strong winds. However, this theory had no science approves. We still don't know what was the real reason for the city destruction.
Some scientists think that the whole city had a large tectonic fault for thousand years but it wasn't active. No less than a year will be spent to claim this theory. The population at that time was more than 7 800 people. All people were evacuated to safe places. Less than in a day the city was practically destroyed. Nowadays we can see only several streets that were saved.
The roads were turned into huge faults. In 2010 was demolished the main city sightseeing – the 19th-century church. Nowadays the most logical and true to life explanation of happened is that the city is situated over the large geological fault. Strong rains, that were in 2010, made the movement of the ground. All these became a reason for the earthquake. Thanks to good work of special services, people stayed alive. After the tragedy, the government of Columbia planned to give money for city reconstruction. However, even now, the city is in bad condition. ... Complete sights collection