The Vagrant Gypsy Life

Day 247 Thu 5/5 – 249 Sat 7/5

Popayan is a lovely colonial town with a beautiful plaza and some lovely churches! The buildings are mostly white and some of them quite ornate. I walked for ages around the town and was content at having stopped here. My first day was spent wandering the streets aimlessly, visiting quite a few churches and colonial buildings. I was in a church while folks carried a coffin in: I sat around for a bit since I thought it might be rude to leave so soon. The music was haunting; I cant remember ever having taken part in a funeral service before in my life. Popayan has one of the most famous Colombian universities and this adds to the liveliness of the town as well. They had a free concert at the university (Faculdad de Humanidades) at night and I quite enjoyed some of the performances by the students of music.

Friday, I headed early to the Parque Nacional Purace to climb the Volcan Purace. The bus time tables are not the most convenient and I wake up really early to get the bus at 06:30 am. The bus ride takes 2 hours and after registering , it is about 09:30 when I start the hike. I hiked for about 3 hours and made it close to the crater, but rain and extremely strong wind made me turn back before I could get all the way down to the crater. I was quite disappointed I didnt make it all the way to the crater, but at least I made it past 4850 m above sea level, making it my new high. By the time I got back to the bus stop, it was about 15:30 and I had to wait about 30 minutes. To add to the mode of transportation in South America, I ended up being on a jeep headed to Popayan. The driver seemed to be quite oblivious of the fact that he had folks in the jeep as it was probably the most uncomfortable ride I have had in this trip. I was almost worried that my teeth would fall off and my bones re-arrange themselves!

Saturday was a day for walking around doing nothing and watchign a couple of movies to help me recover from a strenuos Friday! Popayan is a lovely place to wander around and I have a nice day and am ready to head out to Tierrandentro/ San Andres de Pisimbala early Sunday.

Day 244 Mon 2/5 – Day 246 Wed 4/5 Pasto

Pasto is a pleasant town, without being anything spectacular or beautiful. Needless to say, not too many tourists stop here. I wandered the streets for a couple of days before making my way up North. It is surrounded by mountains and the view is pretty and for me, well worth the 2 days I spent there. I walked around quite a bit, enjoyed the typical Colombian sancocho (sort of a soup) and set lunches. I found the food to be quite a bit more expensive than I had expected, but quite tasty! I discovered a couple of nice little bakeries too, indulging my sweet tooth more than I probably should!

When it was time to catch a bus to Popayan on Wednesday, I was ready to leave. The bus was supposed to leave at 10:30, but it didnt leave till 12:30. Nobody bothered to give an explanation. The service can leave one tearing one’s hair apart in South America. I would have gone quit bonkers if this were my first day here. However, months of travel in South America has left me with quite an abundance of patience!

The bus ride to Popayan was long and I couldnt see much out of the window as a giant of a man sat next to me and obscured my view.

243 Sun 1/5 Otavalo/ Ipiales/ Pasto Certain days go well. Be it in normal life or as a wanderer. This was one of them. Roberto's kind and thoughtful gesture of making sure I managed to get on the proper bus made ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 242 Sat 30/4 Otavalo Otavalo is a small village in the north of Ecuador famous for its market. Saturday draws people from the surrounding towns and bus loads of tourists for a crowded, bustling experience. Streets lined with stalls that ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 234 Fri 22/4 - 241 Fri 29/4 Quito I left early enough on Friday from Cuenca anticipating a long ride. I wasnt wrong, as the travel time was increased by a breakdown as well. It was well after 7 pm ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 231 - 234 Mon 18/4 - Thu 21/4 Cuenca Cuenca is a lovely colonial town and I felt relaxed and spent more time that I had thought I would. I also found a couple of nice vegetarian restaurants for breakfast ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 228 - 230 Fri 15/4 - Sun 17/4 Vilcabamba Vilcabamba is in a beautiful valley and is small and restful. The valley is known for the longevity of life and this, in addition to the peace and quiet has attracted ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 227 Thu 14/4 Bus/ Loja Long bus ride. Crossed border at La Tina. The bus driver and his helper seemed quite disorganised as were the folks at the border. All things went pretty smoothly luckily and I finally made it ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 217 Mon 4/4 - D218 Tue 5/4 Chachapoyas Chachapoyas, the capital of Amazonas, is a lovely little town in the mountains. It is starting tp get a lot of tourism these days, thanks to the discovery of Kuelap, an ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 224 Mon 11/4 - D 225 Tue 12/4 Chiclayo is much bigger than I had expected. It didnt strike me as charming at all. The folks were friendly enough. The first day was spent visiting arqueological ruins of Sipan and ... [Continue reading this entry]