06.09.-08.09.11

Popayan

I left Quito in Ecuador at 12pm and took the night bus to the Ecuadorian border town TULCAN. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep at all as it was freezing cold on the bus. We arrived at 5am in Tulcan and as the border was still closed. The Ecuadorian lady next to me asked the bus driver if we could stay on the bus until 6am and thank God they let us sleep on the bus for another hour. At 6am I shared taxi with two Ecuadorian guys who drove us to the border.

Wow…I couldn't believe it when I saw the long queue and it took me nearly 2 hours to get my "out stamp" out on the Ecuadorian site and the "in stamp" at the Columbian border. However, when I finally got all my stamps I took another taxi to the bus terminal in IPIALES and 15 Minutes later was sitting on a bus to POPAYAN. The bus ride was a bit scary as the bus driver drove like a "Maniac" along the windy road through the mountains but the scenery was gorgeous.

After a looong 8 hour bus ride we finally arrived in Popayan. On the bus I met "Lola" from Australia and together we walked over to the "Hostal Hosteltrail". After we checked in and had a refreshing shower we went into the city centre in order to check out the town and find a supermarket. Both of us noticed straight away that all Columbians were very friendly and much more open than the Ecuadorians.

The city of Popayan (approx. 260.000 inhabitants) is an immaculate example of Spanish-colonial architecture with a lot of chalk-white houses, splendid churches and a beautiful central plaza where locals fan themselves against the midday heat in the shade of palm trees.

On Wednesday, 07.09.11 Lola and I took off to te city centre straight after breakfast. We wanted to walk up the mirrador "El Morro del Tulcan" and take some photos of the old "Puente de la Custodia". On the way back we bought some lunch and walked back to the hostel.

The rest of the day I spent uploading all my photos from Ecuador and updating my travel blog.

The next day, Thursday,08.09.11 I took the bus to ARMENIA at 8.30am.