Two Days in Popayan, Colombia (January 2014)

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Two Days in Popayan, Colombia

10 January 2014 – Friday – Cali to Popayan, Colombia

We rose before the rooster began his morning ritual crowing and took a taxi to the bus station. The previous day the bus company had advised us that a ‘Grande’ bus ( a 34 seat modern coach) was plying the 7:30 am route to Popayan ... but when we got there at about 6 am to purchase the tickets we were informed that there we no ‘grande’ buses but only ‘poco’ buses (a 20 seat bus). The other companies driving the route were all the same: no ‘grande’ buses. So we took a ‘poco’ bus at 6:30 am and it wasn’t so bad. The road, another part of the Pan-American Highway, wasn’t as winding or as mountainous on this route.

The Pan-American Highway runs from Canada to Argentina for over 30,000 miles (48,000 km). It was begun in the 1920s with the idea of connecting the major cities and interest points of North and South America by a network of roads that would constitute a single highway. The South American part commences in Colombia and it is what we were traveling from Medellin to Bogota to Cali and now to Popayan. It is a highway only in name and the number of tolls; otherwise it is the world’s longest ‘motorable’ roadway according to Guinness.

We arrived in Popayan after the 3 and a half hour trip (and only 1 hour longer than scheduled). In 2005, Popayan was appointed the first city of Gastronomy by UNESCO and it is one of our reasons for wanting to visit here. It is also known as the ‘white city’ in that its historic centre consists nearly entirely of two-story, Spanish colonial houses painted white. There are more than a dozen Catholic churches spread throughout the historic centre. We walked around for awhile and, except that the people are distinctively Colombian-looking, felt like we had been transported into Spain.

We checked into our quaint, family-run, Spanish-style hotel. It has 16 rooms, all different, and is charmingly run-down: worn carpets that needed a good vacuum, water stains, windows hanging on single hinges. Our room had four single beds with very hard mattresses and sporadic hot water in the shower. There were posters of the annual religious music festival in the hallways and in our room. We loved its rustic charms and quirks. From our balcony (we had the only room with a balcony) we had a view in one direction of a stone bridge, called the Humillidaro Bridge, and in the other direction of the pre-Colombian burial pyramid called El Moro, that is topped by a statue of a soldier on horseback and dedicated to the conquistador and founder of Popayan, Sebastian de Belacazar.
I had saved an article from the New York Times about a tiny ‘hole-in-the-wall’ run-down snack bar called La Fresa that made incredible mini-empanadas containing a peanut-based paste with a spicy peanut sauce. It was our first port of call in Popayan. The first bite of the first empanada was surprising in its spiciness; we didn’t expect that. The second went down easier and we raced to the end of our small basket and considered ordering another one, but it was nearing lunch time and these were only meant as a tasty treat and not a full meal. (Not to dwell on the fact that we were eager to depart from an obnoxious German man who we met while waiting for his empanadas and with whom we were unfortunately sharing a table.) The empanadas were delicioso!

We walked around some more and stumbled upon a tourist office the attendant, who spoke excellent English, and was very helpful in providing us with a map and suggestions for further exploration and restaurants and salsa music bars. This is the first ‘tourist’ office we have located in Colombia.

We went to one of the restaurants recommended by the tourist officer but the service was so appallingly slow - and after a 45 minute wait we were told that what we had ordered was not available - then we paid for the beer we had consumed while waiting and walked out. We went instead to a pasta and pizza restaurant nearby run by a Swiss woman that was busy and full of atmosphere and we had two wonderful pasta dishes. I had a spaghetti carbonara that was nearly as good as Joan’s (but not quite) and Joan had a lasagne that was full of thick chunks of juicy chicken. The service was quick and attentive and efficient – just the way it should be.
Popayan is a city filled with young people. The many small squares in the centre, as in a Spanish town, and they are teeming with young people, as are the streets and shops and cafes. There are numerous small colleges using the numerous larger buildings throughout the historic centre. We walked around a bit more and then returned to the hotel for an afternoon siesta just as the heavens opened up to wash the white walled city. We went out again in the evening to La Iguana, a salsa bar where we were told there would be live music and salsa dancing. Perhaps we were too early (it was about 9 pm). There was a salsa dvd playing and showing on a large screen behind the dance floor, which was cluttered with small tables, and the blasting trumpets made it difficult to talk. We had a drink and returned to our room as the rain began again.

11 January 2014 – Saturday – Popayan, Colombia

Again we woke to cock crow. There was an empty lot behind the hotel that was being used as a car park and on the roof of the car park were about a dozen chickens and one noisy-in-the-morning rooster. After a quick egg and juice breakfast at the hotel, we started a full day walkabout of the historic centre of Popayan. We visited two of the small hill top churches and took some photographs. We searched for a restaurant Joan had chosen for lunch. The address and map told us it was very near or opposite one of the churches and we walked twice around it and passed it before locating it. It was called Semilla Escondido; its sign was high up on the wall beside the entrance.

We had a wonderful ‘Menu Del Dia’ lunch that was exceptional by Colombian standards. The soups, bean and vegetable, were thick with flavour. The main plates were a perfectly cooked breast of chicken and a tender slice of pork, the rice was a brown rice that was boiled (instead of the usual bland white rice), the small salad was crisp, and there was a small stir fry that I mixed into the rice. There was no plantain. The desert that came with the meal was a smooth custard cream. Joan had read good reviews about their ala carte deserts, so we also had a chocolate fondant that was meltingly smooth and rich on the palate along with coffee. The entire meal cost 24k pesos (about 14 US Dollars).
After lunch we walked up the El Moro hill to look at and photograph the view over the small city. There are small mountains opposite and the sprawl of the new town in both directions to house the quarter million people who live here. There were quite a few Colombian courting couples as well as families with young children hanging out on the top of the hill. We sat and watched for awhile. There were no other westerners up there.

After we descended the hill we wandered more of the historic centre streets, stopping often in a park or bench to just watch the passing Colombian people parade. Colombians are a happy lot of people. They are always smiling and laughing. While we were sitting a young Colombian man came up to us to ask for assistance in locating the local information centre. (No matter where in the world we go, I am always stopped and asked for directions!) We lent him our map and he and his friends studied it and photographed it with their smart phones and they he returned it to us. We had a brief chat about his studies, he was majoring in social communications and one of his friends was a film student.

We were stopped outside a small shop selling aquariums and tropical fish and a young man outside the next doorway asked us if we spoke English and when we had arrived in Popayan? He was a student in the United States and a native of Popayan and home on vacation visiting family and friends and showing off his pretty, blonde Virginian girlfriend. He was full of chat and she came out from the hallway. Her name was Caitlin and we determined that she had many Irish grandparents and she was eager to go to Ireland one day. A delightful couple, the young man kept up a steady chatter and gave us his mobile phone number if we needed any assistance or further advice while we were visiting his home town. He was very proud of it and his enthusiasm was bright and vigorous.

We continued on our walkabout and happened by the La Fresa empanada snack bar. We were still full from lunch so only enquired what time the closed in the evening, intending to come back for another delicioso snack later. We were told 7pm (we should have known better!). We got back there at about 6:10pm and they were closed! And the next day we were taking the early morning bus to San Augustn.

We found a proper cd shop (no bootleg copies) with an attendant who had excellent English and while he had no Colombian jazz, he did have a couple of instrumental only salsa cds that he sampled for me and I purchased one of them. I asked him where we might hear some live music that evening and he told me ‘Wipala, definitely’ and marked it on my map. He said they had live music starting from 6 pm. So after the disappointment of no empanadas we headed to Wipala for some live music only to discover ... you guessed it ... no live music that evening, perhaps tomorrow evening.

By now it was after 7 pm and all the restaurants and cafes that served food had closed. All that was open were a few bars serving drinks only and some fast food outlets. We ended up at Fruiti Jugos Uno A and Joan had four grande empanadas that were good (but not nearly as good as those at La Fresa) and I had a large hot dog. We both had a beer and we purchase two bottles of sparkling water to take away with us. The total came to 17k pesos (less than a tenner in any western currency!)

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