"The Ciudad Perdida ("Lost City") is a classic Indiana Jones style 6 day (5 night) 20km trek through the rainforest to some of the most magical of South America's ruins. Many tourists that do visit Ciudad Perdida rank it as one of their most memorable travel experiences ever.

The adventure trek is tough at times and involves crossing various rivers. The region is extremely biodiverse and there's much wildlife and birdlife in the rainforests you travel through. You'll also pass through numerous small indigenous villages and meet local Tayrona Indians. Sleeping is in hammocks, in a tent or maybe a farmhouse - zones are designated for camping, and bathrooms and cooking facilites are present. On the uphill sections of the trek you'll cover 4 to 8 km a day - coming down is quicker and you'll cover about 14km on Day 5.

The area (the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta) is remote and the ruins of Ciudad Perdida were only "re-discovered" in 1972. The local indigenous groups knew about its existence long before this date though - but kept everything a secret from the "outsiders". It's believed that there are many other undiscovered ruins scattered throughout this region of Colombia.

The ruins themselves of Ciudad Perdida date back to the about AD600, 850 years before Machu Picchu, and the Tayrona culture. In its heyday, it's believed that the population was as great as 10,000 people." http://www.paisatours.com/ciudad_perdida.htm

It is not possible to visit the site on your own. A 12-day tailor-made holiday including the 6-day trek to Ciudad Perdida and visits to Bogota, Villa de Leyva, Cartegena, the Rosario Islands and the Tayrona National Park, can be arranged with Journey Latin America and a number of other companies can arrange the trek, including Turcol (buritaca2000.com) and Globe at One (globeatone.co.uk).