From Cali we took the bus (which surprisingly only took about 2 ½ hours – the driver REALLY sped!) and checked in at a place called Hostel Trail, which is run by two very friendly Scots from Edinburgh. Their hostel is modern and has all the facilities you need including a great DVD collection if you haven’t watched a film in a while. They had a wealth of information on what to do and how to get to nearby destinations. The only negative point was the road outside and the lack of double glazing – although it should improve once the Pan American Highway is finished and traffic is no longer diverted through town.
Oh yes, and the one other drawback was a particular guest who thought it OK to be outside our room on Skype at 2am- despite several people asking her to stop! It was a tense situation. What do you do when you’ve asked politely and someone continues as if you hadn’t said anything? What is the next step? Rip the plug from the wall? The argument started to simmer. This woman did not back down one bit clearly thinking we were unreasonable to want to sleep. Either someone went to find the night porter, or he heard the raised voices and luckily that settled things. She conceded defeat and went to sit downstairs in the dark – seriously, she was nocturnal. You didn’t see her by day.
It was not the fault of the hostel (the night porter was usually close by but had been moved to allow some renovation works), but the next night the computers were turned off, before there was a punch up – we had actually discussed the possibility. Sophie was to do the punching, I would coach from a distance!
I’m sounding like a grumpy old man, I know. But being kept awake by someone can drive you to murderous thoughts! It reminds me of the time someone next door was practicing the Eastender theme tune on the recorder. Yes, dark thoughts indeed. It's one thing if you check into a lively and sociable hostel that allows people to drink and chat all night, but this was not that kind of place. But it’s the first rude person I’ve come across so I’ll dwell on that no further.
You can’t get much more of a contrast than between Cali and Popayan. Popayan’s old town is full of aesthetic architecture and lovely restaurants but it is a quiet place and there are few people on the streets after dark. It’s what you need if you want to relax and catch up on sleep.
However there are plenty of activities you can do and we took some mountain bikes, along with a German girl and a Belgian guy, into the green and rolling countryside. A pick-up took us 30km past the town of Coconuco to the Tibias Hot Springs. There you can chose from a number of pools of ranging temperatures, plus one has a slide that is faster than you think! We also took the opportunity to have a dip in the mud pool – the locals found it amusing watching the white guy cover himself in mud and who can blame them?!
We cycled back down to Popayan. It was mostly downhill but there were enough inclines to raise the pulse and make you feel like you’d done a day’s work! There were some fantastic downhill stretches and some refreshing scenery. We did what was recommended and stopped off for a hot chocolate with cheese. Ever dipped cheese into hot chocolate? Well, don’t. It’s wrong.
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