Sandona

The hats are woven from iraca, a palm whose leaves are split into fine strands, boiled, bleached and dried before plaiting - the finer the strand and the tighter the weave, the longer it takes and the better the hat, with the best examples taking weeks. The style became known internationally as the Panama hat because Ecuadorian hats were shipped through Panama in the nineteenth century; Sandona has its own long tradition of the same craft and supplies much of Colombia. Weaving is done largely by women in households, often while doing other things, and workshops in the town finish, block and trim. The town also holds an Easter tradition of large tapestries made from coloured sawdust laid on the streets for the processions.

What you actually see

• Iraca palm split, boiled and plaited - the finer the strand the finer the hat.
• Weaving in households - largely by women, finishing done in workshops.
• The Panama hat naming - from shipping routes, not origin.
• Easter sawdust carpets - laid on the streets for the processions.

When to go

Year round; Holy Week for the sawdust carpets. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Fine hats are expensive and worth it; cheap ones are coarse or machine-assisted. Buying from weavers pays them better than shops. The town is small with limited services. Roads from Pasto are winding.

Nearby

Pasto is east; the Galeras volcano is between.