What they left behind

by Juan Calle (Colombia)

I didn't expect to find Colombia

Rush hour in the grey and difficult Bogota never felt special, I had studied for hours interdisciplinary modules for my undergraduate program of journalism. I just wanted some comfort food and a dry and warm bed, it was pouring rain. My friend Andrew called and told me nothing more than I'll be there in five, then, his Volkswagen parked next to my University. I opened the door. -What's up! His friendly face and green eyes communicated me enough to know that he was up to something. -Where do you want to go this time? I replied -We have to visit these cliffs, I've wanted to go there for quite some time now. He showed me his mobile screen on Google Maps. For me, it's easier to just ignore the reasons behind why a person would be attracted to go to a small town in the middle of nowhere, with a name barely pronounceable, but he seemed positively excited with the idea. Sutatausa is located in the milkmaid province of Ubate, approximately 2 hours drive from the capital, the 2.550 meters above sea altitude. -I got us covered, mate, we have a cold trip ahead of us. He passed me a red and black can of beer, but this wasn't any standard beer. The Russian alphabet indicated the name of the brand which was decorated with golden ornaments. -Baltika- I read slightly frowning my face. We were in Cundinamarca, the county surrounding the capital, because of the high altitude this region has considerable cold weather, very rainy and cloudy. enormous pines were all along the road. After a while Andrew suddenly started to look around, I had the feeling he was looking for something. -Look!- he shouted As the clouds and the rain started to clear, and the pines to dispersed, a huge mountain chain opened up over the valley. Sutatausa cliffs are famous due to the Spanish colonial history, the tribes that used to live here thrown themselves from that edge before submitting to the conquerors. We passed through the town, it wasn't charming at all. We parked once we reached a small square with a church, then we lighted another Marlboro and watched the mountains in the distance. -Hello, sir! We were in an alcohol caused silence, enjoying a blue sky and a little bit of sun after the terrible weather in the capital, when a small kid approached us. -Welcome to Sutatausa, our very beautiful town, my name is Jaime and I'm the tourist guide. Andrew seemed surprised. -What are the attractions over here? He asked -You can visit the church which was built during the XV century, for example. We looked at each other and agree that it would be interesting to give it a chance, Jaime was guiding us while we continue talking. We step into the church, there was almost no light, and it was very dusty, old Christian murals were painted everywhere, also some scaffolds. -Town's administration is remodelling, Jaime said. As he started to explain information about the rusty paintings, when we approached the altar, a massive holy mary figure stood in the highest corner of the building. Jaime opened a small wooden door next to the altar and looked at us. -Come with me! this is the final stage. A strong sense of insecurity started to push my nerves. Andrew entered into the small hole, then myself. We stood in a small cave, right below the altar, only one hole was the fount of light, barely illuminating the cave. In the middle, there was a wooden structure, It seemed like one of those purge artefacts in which they force people to be on their knees. By then, the tension was obvious, both of us were confused -This artefact was used by the Spaniards, here used to be a doctrine church, and this is where my ancestors were converted into catholicism. Jaime left after a while, and Andrew and I stood in silence, looking at the torture machine. We step out, gave the kid some money and return to the car. None of us said anything, the energy we felt in that church, still left us this weird reflexive vibe. Something unexpected.