Popayan, Colombia and the adventure of an attempted dirt road trip to San Agustin.After Cali, Colombia, we headed to Popayan by CAR!!! I randomly reconnected with Johnny from Denmark on a street in Cali and we met a couple of really great guys in the hostel who were on a crazy/wonderful journey from Maine! They're traveling in their VW golf, which they've named Silver Al...so Johnny and I hitched a ride with them to Popayan, and then later attempted to get to San Agustin (which you'll see further down.)Busy streets of Popayan. I loved it here in Popayan....I was bummed we only had one night.

Get re-acquainted with Johnny! He's such a blast!
And meet the ever-gregarious and nearly always hydrated Eli on the left and Justin on right.One last introduction...Meet Silver Al, sometimes used as a cutting board.

So we pulled into beautiful Popayan and the first two hostels we picked were full...which was a blessing in disguise, because we ended up in the fantastic Hotel Corona which was complete with classic furnishings, 4 beds in our huge room with huge ceilings, and a bar downstairs! What could be better? How about live music? Yup, that'll do it!
Center square in Popayan.
Our hotel patio.Hallway outside our room.Our room.View from one of our balconies...a protest of some sort was going on. The row of people actually forced the oncoming traffic to turn around!
Sending kisses to all those back home!Here's the bar downstairs from our room and photos of the great trio who entertained us with live salsa, merengue, and cumbia music. (oh yeah, and the occasional dreaded reggaeton tune)An example of what too much rum will make you do!THE ROAD TO SAN AGUSTIN
So the next day...we decide to go to San Agustin...actually, that was the whole reason we had come through Popayan. In San Agustin there are some hundreds of anthropomophic statues that mark the graves of tribal elders. There are horseback tours that you can do of these sites and it's all supposed to be really cool. So...the next day around noon, we headed out. The scenery along the way was breathtaking......stunning even......Yup, just beautiful with waterfalls it seemed around ever corner. UNFORTUNATELY, there were also tons of dips, drops and pot holes along the way that needed serious navigating. I need more fingers and toes to count how many times Eli had to get out of the car and navigate, sometimes with Johnny on the back for extra weight... So after 4 hours of driving in first gear trying to not hit the oil pan (as the guys had damaged once before on some other road in Colombia)...and a really nice lunch in the mountains...
we had to call it a day and head back to Popayan. So another 4 hours in first gear...but, it was loads of fun and it really was gorgeous! Good news is...another night in Popayan! Hooray! I really loved it there and would love to spend more time someday.