Cumbal

Location:
Near Ipiales, Ipiales, Colombia

Other Activity

By Lorraine Caputo

In this small indigenous village on the altiplano, the Sunday market trading is still going strong. Stalls display fruits from highlands and low, or ruanas (ponchos) from local workshops. Doña Yolanda stops stirring the helado de paila for a moment to serve me a portion. The copper bowl bedded in ice from Volcán Cumbal gleems dully in today's clouded sun. On one corner of the plaza del mercado, some folks are already loading up on a chiva to return to their pueblos.

Cumbal is the place to be on a Sunday. Other days it's just a quiet village. But it's worth a stay in one of the basic hotels, to set your plans for visiting those two snow-capped volcanoes that you see towering over the hamlet early most mornings. To climb Volcán Cumbal (4,780 m), ask the locals to accompany them on their daily harvests of ice and sulfur. From the top you'll see the snowy peaks of Ecuador to the south, and to the west, a vast emerald jungle expanse to the Pacific Ocean glittering on that distant horizon.

To summit Volcán Chiles (4600 m), go to the village of the same name on the volcano's slopes. There you may be able to find someone to guide you. It should take about six hours to reach the apex, which lies on the Colombia-Ecuador border. Inquire, also, about the near-by hot springs. Aguas Hediondas, on the southern slopes within Ecuador, are literally boiling sulphur waters set on a barren páramo plain where condors soar.

Getting There
Collective taxis leave when full from the Ipiales bus terminal, daily 5 a.m.-5 p.m. The last vehicle leaves Cumbal for Ipiales at 4:30 p.m. from the mercado plaza. (45 minutes, $2.50 one way)

Transport to Chiles leaves from Cumbal.

Travel Skills: None

Laguna de Cumbal (about 5 km from Cumbal village)--Hike around this lake, then enjoy a meal of the Laguna's renowned fresh trout. Reachable by public transport only on Sunday, leaving from Calle 8 and Carrera 18 in Cumbal (0.5 hours, $1).

Piedra de los Machines (Sol de los Pastos)--Rock paintings of suns, humans with spears and monkeys, done by Pasto ancestors. On the way to Laguna de Cumbal.