Popayan, Colombia
Thursday, November 19, 2015
We had bought a bus ticket to Popayan when we were in San Agustín. We had no idea what route it would take and neither did we give it any thought.
It was only when we were on the bus that we started to think about it. It was a small, local bus, no big reclining seats or AC on this one, and we started to head through some pretty remote places and getting higher and higher. Eventually the tarmac ran out and we were going up dirt roads and tracks no more than stones with massive potholes everywhere.
We thought it was a bit strange - never before has a bus taken us anywhere as remote as this. Usually when they sell tickets to tourists, you get the more expensive buses so they can sell you a more expensive ticket.
Bryan got on his phone and we could see we were going through the Natural Purace National Park. Wow what a road. And we could see the countdown markers were at 73km.
73km of this was going to shake us up like one of those power plates you get at the gym!
But the scenery was stunning. A mixture of mountains, jungle, clouds and dramatic views made it a truly beautiful journey.
going through the National Park
On entering the National Park there was an army check-point, who seemed to be pleased to see the driver, after a quick look through the window the army officer waved us through. The army keeping us all safe again. It really is more reassuring to see them than alarming now.
Later Bryan looked into the route we had taken and found out this was the only route from San Agustín to Popayan.
Unfortunately we also learned, that the UK Government, Foreign Office website advised against all travel in this area due to risks from guerrillas and bandits. It's fair to say it was pretty remote crossing the national Park but they don't suggest any other way of getting from one town to another.
Normally we follow their advice quite closely but in this instance it was too late and there was no harm done.
On the outskirts of Popayan we were stopped again, this time by the police. The side door opened and he said something in Spanish. The old lady who had boarded the bus en-route was not impressed and her face was a picture. She seemed to be speaking out about something as other people on the bus laughed when she spoke so the policeman made her and another gentleman passed their identification documents to him. The old lady had plenty to say about it but unfortunately it will remain a mystery to us as we had no idea what was being said.
A short while later we arrived at the bus station and a little walk to the HostelTrail were we checked in. The room was clean and cheerful and the internet was fairly fast so Bryan was sold. No bathroom of our own here though as those rooms were a bit pricy so we had to share the one across the other side of the landing - don't tell anyone but the room next to ours was empty to we used that one as it was nearer than the one we were supposed to use!
Popayan streets
Our time in Popayan was really some slow down, catch up and plan the next leg of our trip time. It is a nice little town, once again we are staying in the old part of the city which is very Colonial in style with whitewashed walls and lots of square plazas with bug white churches in them. It felt very safe to walk around in even late in the evening.
There was one italian style restaurant we did go to for dinner one evening and we had some pasta and a pizza and noted they had vinegar on the tables. The next night we were wondering what to eat and where, when Jody got it into her head she could have chips with vinegar on - you just can't get it anywhere else in the world so it's not surprising she went on a mission.
We went back to the restaurant and it was packed. Jody went in and asked in her best Spanish if they would possibly mind selling us just a portion of chips to takeaway. Ok they said come back in 15 minutes. So we did and the lady asked if we wanted anything on them; ketchup? salt? Yes and vinegar please. Oh so you must be English the woman said. We have no idea how she knew that!!!
One day when we were wandering around getting some fresh air and escaping our room, we heard a lady shout at us. She was waving at us and then it dawned on us; she was the German lady from the bus when we went to the Salt Cathedral in Bogota. We went over and said hello again - we were surprised she recognised us as we had our hoods up on our rain coats and we huddled under an umbrella too. But it was good to catch up again and we both remarked how funny it was that even in a country the size of Colombia, we keep bumping into the same people.
german tourists
Beyond this, nothing much of note happened in Poppayan and most days we followed the same routine; up, shower, breakfast, internet, a walk in the afternoon stopping for dinner then back home again. We were not sleeping so well here either (they seem to only have small double beds in Colombia) and we were yearning for a good nights sleep still.
Our next destination was going to be Pasto and we left Popayan on the 24th November and headed down there. The bus took 5 hours to get there stopping once for a comfort break and lunch on the way. A taxi took us from the bus station to a hotel we had seen on the internet and they had a room for us, just one night was all we wanted.
Unfortunately the double rooms had all gone so we took a twin room. And we had the best nights sleep we had had in weeks. At last!
The following day we set off again for the bus feeling so much better and refreshed. We were surprised just how well we had slept and hadn't realised just how tired we were.
Today was going to be a bit of a day in stages. We had been reading up on how to take this journey and as others had trodden this path before us, we followed their advice. First a local bus for 2 hours to the border town of Ipiales where we left our luggage at the luggage store for a couple of hours. Then a taxi to the Sanctuarie Las Lajas where we had a steep downhill walk for about 1/2 a mile.
This was another one of those places Jody had seen on google images when we were researching Colombia and hope it was going to be a bit better than the waterfalls damp squib.
Las Lajas Sanctuary
We were here to see a church. No we haven't suddenly gone all religious, but this one was supposed to be quite special. Situated on a rock in a very steep gorge accessed by a bridge over the gorge. We had to walk passed all the stands selling all sorts of religious stuff from icons, crosses, rosaries, tee shirts, caps, you name it, they had Jesus on it!
The church itself was ok but the pictures we had seen on the internet made it look more spectacular than it really was. It was a pretty building though.
No time to dawdle though, we had to walk back up that hill and get the "common taxi". Its like a taxi but even if you are in it, someone else can flag it down and jump in it with you. Which they did. Anyway, back at the bus station to reclaim our luggage and now we just had to get to the border.
Today we were going to Ecuador!
The border is only about 5km away from Ipiales and it was going to be quicker, easier and still fairly cheap to grab a taxi. So that's what we did. We cleared Colombian migration and walked the 200 yards into Ecuador. We got our stamp into Ecuador and we were in. 90 days to spend here if we so wished so what were we going to do first???
Read on and find out!
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