Embedded Files
A taxi to the Terminal de Transportes de Cali, and I’m ready to go to Popayán!
30 miles from Popayán, and we’re stopped behind a long line of non-moving trucks. And it just started sprinkling (as it did the past few days). OK, moving again...
Finally reached Popayán in the evening...
... and checked into my hostel. I learned from the manager that the regular route to Tierradentro is blocked, so I was told to get a ticket to Córdoba, and then another to Tierradentro. But Córdoba on the map is way out of the way: near the border with Equator! There is hopefully a different Córdoba I am heading to, and I am reassured by the presence of two other backpacking couples on the minibus.
I would have liked to stay a few days in Popayán (my guidebook says it is “one of the most tantalizing cities in Colombia”), but I was in a hurry to get to Ecuador: my 3 month Colombian visa was almost over.
Cali to Pisimbalá, bus ride.MOVBefore boarding I tried to buy hand sanitizer in two drugstores, but no luck.
The minibus ride was rough and wild, along a steep, wet road.
For the first hour, we ascended to about 10,000 feet, then down to 6,000, where we encountered a massive landslide completely blocking the road. We had to walk over the rocks and mud...
... and get in another minibus on the other side, which delivered us after 20 or so kilometers to the Nasa village of San Andrés de Pisimbalá. No sign of Tierradentro or Córdoba...
Never mind. My hostel room is very nice, with a bamboo & thatch roof, hot water shower, and there is restaurant across the street (the tiny town’s only one)
The town is surrounded by rocky cliffs.
I strolled around a bit, past the welcome sign...
...the school...
...and the adobe church, with an authentic thatched roof:
There were a few other tourists in town, but that’s about it.
Coronavirus is heating up. Trump has been terrible at leading - big surprise - and it’s been declared a pandemic. Caren is changing her trip to Mexico to a later date. Not much presence in Colombia yet, certainly not in the little pueblo I’m in.
So you may be wondering by now: Where am I headed, and is it worth all the trouble I’ve taken to get there? Popayán? San Andrés de Pisimbalá? Córdoba? Tierradentro? Rain? Washed-out road?
Answer: It is worth it! After a lot of trouble, I have finally arrived at my destination: the start of the 14 kilometer trail leading to... but that’s tomorrow’s story. See you then.
Google Sites
Report abuse