The South American Rivendell

My last stop before stepping onto Ecuadorian soil is this incredible place called Las Lajas. Although the present church was built in the 20th century, its holiness dates back 200 years.

Millions of Catholic pilgrims are drawn here by the belief that, in this very same place, the Virgin Mary appeared to Rosa and her mother when the two souls found refuge here from a terrible storm. The site where the church stands is spectacular: a canyon, a river, and a big waterfall. Its pillars rise 100 meters above the water, resembling a cinematic location from a Hollywood fantasy film.

I am spending my last night in Colombia at the pilgrims’ house of Las Lajas. It is cheap, basic, and as quiet as one can imagine a holy place to be—the perfect place to remember all I have experienced in the country before entering Ecuador.