ABOUT ME

My name is Johan Stiven Montalvo, I am 23 years old and I am an industrial engineering student at the Icesi University. I am a person who loves traveling, I love meeting people, sharing experiences and above all knowing new places. This is the reason why I decided to create web place to share with you all my experiences.

A blog is a web page where short articles are regularly published with updated and innovative content on specific or free topics. The articles of a blog are usually accompanied by photographs, videos, sounds and even animations and graphics that better illustrate the topic. In short, a blog is a space on the internet that you can use to express your ideas, interests, experiences and opinions. This is why on this occasion I have decided to share my experiences from my trip to the city of Pasto through this blog.

Pasto is a beautiful city full of handicrafts, impressive buildings, excellent gastronomy, natural wonders such as the Galeras volcano and its best feature: the black and white carnival. The best thing of all is that enjoying Pasto is very cheap since everything is at a very good price, the experiences that are collected there are unforgettable.

SAN JUAN DE PASTO, THE SURPRISE CITY

It is a city declared religious heritage of Colombia, for its gastronomy and for its special topography. In the middle of the Colombian massif, surrounded by four volcanoes and sheltered by river channels that flow from the most important river source in the country, stands San Juan de Pasto, «the surprise city».

Capital of the department of Nariño, in the south of the country, Pasto is known as the "surprise city" because those who visit it are surprised by its rich colonial history dotted with beautiful churches, for which it has been declared a religious heritage of Colombia.

The city, of about 480,000 inhabitants, has a great Spanish heritage, since in colonial times it was one of the three main settlements of "La Nueva Granada", along with Santa Fe de Bogotá and Quito.

MY EXPERIENCES IN PASTO

When I visited Pasto the first thing I saw, on the way, was the galeras volcano. I admired its absolute greatness and sublimity; It was fascinating to imagine how its volcanic activity was in the past in full magnitude since for hundreds of years now there has been no strong volcanic activity. Its last eruption was in 2010. This is the vídeo when i was arriving Pasto:

WEATHER

Because Pasto is a city that is located in a Valley that is 2527 meters above sea level, its average temperature is 12.9 degrees Celcius, which means that it is cold there.

Pasto has a set of its own cultural characteristics, among which stand out: its dialect, its gastronomy, its dances, its buildings, its festivals and its crafts.

Dialect: It is a modality of the Spanish language that is spoken in southern Colombia and northern Ecuador, also called "Español andino". It is common to hear people say words like:

Achichay: How cold.
Achichucas: How hot.
Bonitico: Elegant, friendly.
Cachicar: To bite; gnaw.

Words that are only heard in this region of the country.

Gastronomy:  The representative dishes of the typical gastronomy of San Juan de Pasto are the product of the fertility of the lands and the hard work of the people. The most representative dish is the roasted cuy. January 7 is celebrated at the cuy festival in the Obonuco district as the culmination of the Black and White Carnival. Among the most outstanding desserts are the "helado de paila" and the "dulce de chilacuán" and snacks such as the "quimbolitos" and the "empanadas de añejo".

Roasted cuy

One of its representative and typical drinks are the "hervidos", which is a hot drink based on fruit juice that can be lulo, blackberry or passion fruit, with a final addition of aguardiente or an artisan liqueur called chapil.

Hervido of Lulo

Hervido of Strawberry

Dances: 

La Guaneña is a traditional song from the southern lands of the Colombian Andes, which currently corresponds to the Andean region of the department of Nariño. It is a tune of war, therefore joyous, but at the same time nostalgic.

The Guaneña

Sanjuanito is a musical genre of Andean music, which is danced and heard in Ecuador, the Andean area of southern Colombia, (in Nariño and Putumayo) and on the north coast of Peru (Tumbes and Piura). Very popular at the beginning of the 20th century, it is a genre originating in the province of Imbabura. The "sanjuanito" has pre-Inca origin; that is, it exists before the Spanish conquest.

San Juanito's Dance

The mojiganga, originally, was a farce depicted in ridiculous masks and costumes at carnival-rooted public parties. It consisted of a short text in verse, of a comic or burlesque and musical nature, which acquired the rank of minor dramatic genre of the Spanish Golden Age.

Mojiganga's dance

Buildings: The city of Pasto has many tourist attractions that you will love, such as the Cathedral of Pasto, a magnificent temple opened in 1920. Other important temples of the city are that of Nuestra Señora de la Merced, that of Cristo Rey as well as Nariño Square and Carnival Square are important buildings.

Temple of "Nuestra señora de la Merced" 

Nariño's Square

Taminango's House

Temple of Christ King

Festivals: If you want to live a unique experience in Pasto, you cannot miss the Carnival of Blacks and Whites, a traditional festival that takes place in January and was listed by Unesco in 2009 as Intangible Heritage of Humanity for highlighting the multiculturalism of the area.

Carnival of Blacks and Whites

The city celebrates its carnivals from January 2 to 7, with 6 being the peak day; a party in which color, magic, dance and legend are the pride and charm of Pasto for the world.

The days include the famous "Desfile Magno", in which you will be able to appreciate the impressive floats of up to eight meters high that the Pastusos design with great creativity and humor.

"Desfile Magno"

Another important milestone is Easter, which is celebrated with visits to the main temples of the city, with processions and pilgrimages to nearby mountains.

Pasto's anniversary is also fundamental, as the city is one of the oldest in Colombia and the capital of Nariño celebrates it with artistic, cultural, religious and recreational events throughout the month of June.

Crafts: Pasto is considered to be one of the most artisanal production sites in the country. The manufacture of each of its elaborated pieces is a unique trade in which family traditions and the feeling of a people are combined, which through its teachers specialized in various techniques such as mopa-mopa or Pasto varnish, the carving in wood, the decoration in chaff, the embossing in leather, and especially, the cultists of the carnival, who allegorize through their work the carnival magic.

Pasto Varnish

Carving in thw wood

Mopa mopa

Another wonderful feature of grass is its natural wonders such as: The Galeras Volcano, the Cocha Lagoon and the fauna and flora sanctuary that is below the Galeras.

The cocha lagoon

 The fauna and flora sanctuary

In addition to all this, the city of grass has many things that are also interesting. Dare to visit this city and enjoy wonderful experiences accompanied by its people!

Some experiences in pasto....