We read that the market was an interesting place to go in the small town of Silvia, population 33,000. After a beautiful ride on 2 buses from Cali to get there and we arrived in pouring rain…on a festival day so there were no taxis available. I spoke with a local woman (who had spent time in London and had good English) and she flagged down someone to give us a ride to our lodging.
The vehicle already had 4 people in it and really only held 4 or 5 but we were desperate so we loaded up our luggage and climbed in. I was barely able to fit and was crammed up against the door. The people were very nice (although I am pretty sure at least one man was drunk and kept kissing my hand [with Dan in between us]) but we arrived at the place, not that far away.
It was still raining and we wandered around until we found someone who worked there. We were shown to our room but I was very unhappy because there was no toilet seat. This is not uncommon in public restrooms but not a common thing (although not unheard of) in low end lodging. I thought I had asked them to bring a commode seat from another room (didn’t want to move our stuff in the rain) but that never happened. The bed was ok and we left the next morning after seeing the market even though we had paid for 3 nights.
The market was interesting because of the indigenous people called Guambiano who brought their beautifully woven purses and other items to sell. I didn’t take a picture of the people themselves because the guide book frowned on it but I did find this picture from Grand Escapades.
Men and women alike wear skirts although the women’s were a little fuller. The blue ponchos with pink trim and bowler hats were worn by both sexes although the women’s tended to be a little rounder on top. Shoes were very functional shoes.