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 a great impression on me. Everything went smoothly – the bus to Tulcan (on the border with Colombia) took 3 hours as anticipated and I was able to get a taxi to the border without problems. The border officials were friendly and the Colombian official kindly gave me 90 days instead of the usual 60 days that tourists normally get. It was easy to get to the terminal in Ipiales on the other side of the border in Colombia.

The highlight of the day was the visit to El Sanctuario de las Lajas. It is a gothic church that seems to rise out of the side of a cliff. Spectacular! Welcome to Colombia! The bus trip to Pasto took about 4 hours and was well worht the effort I took to stay wide awake.

I had complained about the seeming lack of friendliness of most of the folks in Ecuador. I had no such complaints my first day in Colombia. The lady at the bus station were I dropped my bags off before heading to the sanctuary, the taxi driver who drove me to the hotel in Pasto were friendly and welcoming, especially the taxi driver.

I was extremely excited to make it to Colombia as most tourists I have run into the course of the last 8 months or so had raved about it.

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 seemed to sell everything! There even was an animal market a km or so outside the city centre. I decided to give that a wide berth since that is not my cup of tea.

I got there Friday night and stayed in a lovely hostel outside the village. It offered some lovely views, but was quite inconvenient as it is situated about 3 km from the town. I decided to move to a hotel in the town to facilitate leaving town early in the morning Sunday to the border & Colombia. I am glad I did, as the owner of Otavalo was one of the friendliest, helpful folks I met in Ecuador. He drove me in his car Sunday morning to the bus stop and waited till I got on the bus. I had been complaining about how unfriendly Ecuadorians seemed to be, but Roberto seemed intent on making me eat my words!

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 when I got into Quito. The bus wasnt very comfortable either! I managed to get directions to the hostel from the lady at the tourism desk, and hopped on the metro. When I got off at the stop, it was late and I walked up to a policeman to ask him for directions to my hostel. He didnt know the place and flagged down a police car and asked them for directions. The two cops in the car kindly offered to drive me to the hostel. I add that to my interesting modes of transportation in South America!

Saturday morning was spent exploring Quito (old town) city centre. Quito is very pretty, and can be quite charming. I had a lovely day and to top it off, had “Indian” food lunch at a restaurant run by a family from Bangladesh.

I had been debating doing a 4 day trek around Laguna Quilotoa and some surrounding villages (the so called Quilotoa loop), but the weather dissuaded me and I ended up heading out to Laguna Quilotoa from Quito. The drive there and back was through some extremely pretty regions. The Quilotoa lake has to be among my highlights of Ecuador as it is excrutiatingly beautiful! By the time I got back to Quito, I was too tired to even get some dinner and headed to bed as soon as I had a shower.

After spending 3 nights in the old town, I decided to change hostels and stay in Mariscal, which is the new town and has the reputation of being dangerous at night. However, during the day, it is a place bustlig with life and atmosphere, with restaurants, bookstores, bakeries, bars, etc. I walked around quite a bit of Mariscal in the afternoon and settled in to watch the Argentine movie “El secreto de sus ojos” after my return to the hostel in the evening. A great movie to wrap up a nice day.

The next day I ended up heading to Mitad del Mundo with a couple of Argentines I met in the hostel. Mitad del Mundo is a bit of a kitchy tourist trap. However, it is kind of fun and one likes having the illusion of being on both sides of the equator at the same time. The real equator apprently passes a few 100 metres North of Mitad del Mundo. Didnt do too much in the afternoon except eat and read a bit.

The Wednesday started off with a downpour of rain and I got wet as I was wandering in the neighbourhood. I decided to spend the morning in the hostel and managed to watch the UEFA semifinal between Barcelona and Real Madrid. I was happy that the fairly dull match ended with a victory for my favourite club team.

I had put off the best of Quito for the last day of my stay in town. The Guayasamin Foundation and Capilla del Hombre. I loved Guayasamin’s paintings and spend 3-4 hours in the museum and Capilla del Hombre. I dont recall having been moved so much by a painting since I saw the Guernica for the first time in Madrid! After having expended so much emotional energy, I spent a quite lazy afternoon, watching some movie.

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 and lunch. I found that the folks in Cuence not to be that friendly either. My first night in Cuenca, I ran into someone peeing literally in the middle of the street and noticed that was not unusual. Nobody waking past batted an eyelid. I would find that peeing in the street or in public places with people streaming past seemed the norm in Ecuador.

After leavin Vilcabamba Monday morning around 9 am, I managed to get into Cuenca around 5 pm. Walked around a little bit and went to bed to find that my bed is right beside the restaurant run by the hostel and the played music quite late into the night. Which, of course, meant that I changed my accomodation the next day.

Tuesday was spent enjoying the beauty that Cuenca has on display and visiting Museum Pumapungo. It is an Incan ruin and owned by the Banque republica which offers it free to visitors. I enjoyed the visit very much.

I walked around my second day as well and bought a couple of books at the Eglish bookstore run by an American ex-pat. I got the impression that there are a lot of folks from USA/ Canada living in Cuenca as well. I sadly had some problems with my stomach that night and the combination of the beauty of Cuenca and my stomch made it easy for me to extend my sta by another day. I didnt do much th last day in Cuenca. A few walks around the neighbourhood and quite some time in bed!

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 a lot of foreigners to the town, including a large population of USA-ians and Canadians, most of whom own property here. I didnt quite get the feeling that the locals took much to us foreigners and I found the folks to be not very friendly.

I had a restful 2.5 day stay there, with a lot of small hikes, the longest one being about 3 hours to the top of Cerro Mandango. There are also a few good restaurants and I enjoyed my meals. The Friday and Sat night were enlivened by some music on the streets. I rested well and was more than happy to leave on Monday! I am not sure that I could live here, even if it meant I would live to be 100; or maybe I should say, especially if it meant that! Give me a city any day with short visits to places like Vilcabamba.

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 into my 16th country, 5th in the last 8 months. Yes, I do keep score – an old dream being able to make to at least 30 and if I am lucky, 40.

The drive was through some pretty regions once we got into Ecuador. The bus was the least comfortable one I had been on these 7.5 months! My body was aching by the time we got to Loja, a good 8 hours after we left Piura!

Loja is a tiny town surrounded by hills and while the town itself is not very pretty, the surroundings make it worthwhile to spend 3-4 hours there. I spent the night in a cheap hotel with no frills, but the room and the bathroom were clean and hot water available. I fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

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 arqueological site that is almost as impressive as Machu Picchu. I had heard a few travellers tell me about Chachapoyas in Peru and decided to extend my stay in Peru a week to visit Kuelap and Chachapoyas.

I was tired when I arrived in Chachapoyas and spent the morning in bed. I hadnt managed to sleep well on the bus, even though it was a cama. I walked around town, visitng a couple of interesting places, before spending some time finding a tour company that had enough people to venture out on a 4 day trip (including a 2 day trek), ending the 4th day with a trip to Kuelap. I finally found a company, but they werent going out till Wednesday, which meant I had a day to kill and not much to do.

Day 219 Wed 6/4 – D222 Sat 9/4 Gran Vilaya trek

First day – Pueblo de los Muertos and Karajia, where there are sarcofagii. Total of 2 hours of walking. Evening at Valle Belen, which is mouthwateringly beautiful, and freezing cold! Lack of electricity doesnt help 🙂

Second day – 6 hours of hiking, some of it involving wading through streams and rivers, and walking through quite a lot of mud. Beautiful views help me keep going. Spent the night with a family in Congon.

Third day – Visibilty is close to zero as clouds encompass everything and the rain pours! 5 hours of walking, 2 hours of horse riding, after a fashion. I just held the reins and let the horse do its thing. Occasionally I had to prod the horse on as it stopped occasionally to eat leaves and play with the other two horses. I was worried once when it playfully reared its front legs. The cloud cleared up for a few minutes during lunch, just to offer a glimpse of what might have been! The night at Choctomal is better as there is hot water for a long awaited shower.

Fourth day – Barely 20 minutes of walking as we take a tour to Kuelap. Kuelap is amazing and well worth the day spent walking through mud! The guide is extremely knowledgeable and we spent a good two hours there at the site.

Day 223 Sun 10/4

Election day in Peru. Bus doesnt leave till late at night, so spend the day reading, watching some football and trying to get internet access – slow connection spoiled any ideas of that!

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 the museum, while the second day wandering the streets and watching Champions leage football matches. One of the many things I like about being on the road is the access I have to football on TV.

I also had a private room with TV for the princely sum of USD 10. I had been used to living in dorms that I find this life-style luxurious! There arent any hostels in Chiclayo since it is not high on list of places to visit in Peru, and I can hardly blame the folks who avoid it!