Trip to Popoyan

[Cali vet]

Came down to Popoyan for a couple of days. I{ve travelled around to places north of Cali like Pereira and Manizales but never gone south. The trip is easy. It takes about two hours and fifteen minutes leaving from the bus terminal in Cali (five minutes from Chipichapi) and costs $12.000. About an hour from the terminal the road starts to climb and the trip is spectacular from then on so get a seat with a good view. For those who,ve made the trip up to the Parque de Cafe the scenery to Popoyan is at least twice as stunning.
If Arequipa is the "white city" of Peru Popoyan has to to be Colombia,s. It,s all classic colonial and the prettiest city I,ve seen in Colombia after Cartagena and with much better weather... a few degrees cooler than Cali but warmer than Manizales. Whithin about an eight block radius of the main plaza there are restaurants, bistros and hotels in abundance and at least two internet cafes and a nice gym. I stayed at Hotel Pakande three blocks from the plaza for $18.000 which included a private bath with hot water in the sink as well as the shower. It seems like a family place and the people are really nice. When I come back with my wife I might splurge and stay at the elegant Hotel Camino Real just off the Plaza. On weekends a double with balcony is $80.000 (weekdays it,s more $135.000, must cater to the business crowd).
For you single guys the good news is Popoyan is crawling with pretty girls. It,s like Cali they,re just passing by constantly. The only difference I see is the lack of silicone poundage. All natural here.
This is an easy day trip from Cali and would be a good outing with your date or novia or come and spend the night. Lots of police in the town center and walking around at night isn,t a problem. Bring your camera.
I dunno...this place is so cool we might move here and forget about Ecuador. Next trip I,ll look into visiting the Parque de Purace outside of town with it,s snow covered volcano. There,s a park office here in town where you can arrange it.  

[pablo]

... in response to Trip to Popoyan, posted by Cali vet on Jan 9, 2004


Thanks Cali Vet for the info on Popayan.  You got me curious about what the city looks like with its Colonial architecture.  Too bad the links didn't include any of those beautiful ladies you saw there.

http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~cosmeaf/photogallery/popayan/photos.htm

http://ibelgique.ifrance.com/colombie-colombia/popayan.htm

Pablo

[Calipro]

... in response to Trip to Popoyan, posted by Cali vet on Jan 9, 2004

In 1999 I was in Cali (with my wife at the time)visting her family. She nagged me into going to Armenia and that cafe park that they have near by. I really didn't think it was a good idea to drive that far out of the city by car and her whole family was making fun of me because I really believed I might get kidnapped. Anyway nothing happen. I had to return to the U.S. after a couple weeks and my wife stayed in Cali to spend a coulpe more weeks with her family.

While she was there she decided she would visit a friend in Popayan. Her friend told her it was completely safe. Well it wasn't. My wife's car got stopped by FARC on the way there. She was trying like hell to hide the video camera before they looked in the car. I think it was a wake up call to her. She apologized for nagging me into driving to Armenia when she got back home. The bottom line is what a colombiano thinks is safe and what an american considers safe are to very different things.

Anyway if the girls are really knock outs it might be worth the risk. What is the night life like?? Is there much of a party scene?

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by Calipro on Jan 9, 2004

In 1999 all the roads were a big security risk but Uribe has got most of them pretty much under controle for now. I didn't see any roaring discotecs in the city center but I'm sure they're plenty outside the colonial area.

[ald07]

... in response to Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by Calipro on Jan 9, 2004

Well you answered the question I was about to ask.  And that was how safe is it to travel that far by car.  Could you imagine if you were in that car when the FARC stopped it.  Are there any other safe ways to travel that far from different cities.  I hear that the military sometimes has guarded caravans that people can join to go from city to city.  Do you know if that still occures?

[thundernco]

... in response to Re: Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by ald07 on Jan 9, 2004

Last Spring there was an "Ama Colombia, Viaja Por Ella", or something to that effect, campaign where the military was securing major thoroughfares so that that Colombians could travel more freely.  It was widely advertised on the TV stations and news, but I haven't seen that happen lately.  For what it's worth, when I traveled it was on buses and vans and I had zero problems; however my wife and her family were freaked out about my safety unti I returned in one piece. -TNC

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by thundernco on Jan 9, 2004

The routes are periodically posted on the President's website:

http://www.presidencia.gov.co/vivecolombia/

I'm not sure that it's wiser to join the caravan or just hoof it alone on some of the routes.  Example, the Cali-Manizales is one of the standard caravans; yet that path is considered relatively safe to begin with.  On the other hand, that caravan sounds like a pretty good idea for Cali-Pasto as the route through Cauca is risky.

I get the same reaction from my wife regarding overland travel - I think alot of it is not warranted and simply has to do with the "bread winner" effect, your safety becomes much more important in their eyes after marriage!

-CaliGringo.com

[thundernco]

... in response to Trip to Popoyan, posted by Cali vet on Jan 9, 2004

CV,

Great report.  I'd have to agree; last May I took a road trip from Cali to Quito on the Pan American and passed through Pasto, Popayan, Ipiales.....  Popayan was so nice that I stayed a couple of extra days there just to hang out with an old friend.  be careful out of town as the area can get a little hairy.  I was supposed to return to Cali one day but got caught up in things so I stayed another night, which was good since the van I was going to take got impounded and robbed for a "war tax". -TNC

[cancunhound]

... in response to Trip to Popoyan, posted by Cali vet on Jan 9, 2004

Thanks for the report, photos coming soon?
Carefull about planning that trip to Purace - I'm sure you're aware that area is not exactly guerrilla free (my attempts have always been banned - urgghh!).
I saved this link to a story from a botanist that stayed in the area a few years ago - interesting read.

http://www.flagpole.com/Issues/09.01.99/colombia.html

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by cancunhound on Jan 9, 2004

Yes will post some on caligringo. As to Purace our friends from Eco-aventura don't packpack in there any more but it might be possible to at least visit with park personel.

[pablo]

... in response to Re: Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by Cali vet on Jan 9, 2004


Nice photo's you took posted at photobucket!

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Trip to Popoyan, posted by pablo on Jan 11, 2004

Thanks, glad you liked them. Now if I can just remember to switch out of "night mode" when the sun's up...