Popayan Street Party

Grabbed a little sound of a street party in Popayan, Colombia.

Señor Papaya

"Señor Papaya" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Luz

"Luz" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Popayan

"Popayan" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Espiritu de Colombia

"Espiritu de Colombia" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Learning not to be a tourist in Popayan

From nearly the beginning I was bored with Popayan. It feels like a pleasant place to live and it's chock full of cool churches as one of the most famous Semana Santa destinations in the world, but for a tourist very little is happening. I figured I'd find a cheap room, have a walk about for a few snaps, and then be on my way.

I didn't even like the cheap hostel I had found and the woman running it appeared to be so indiffernt that I wouldn't have been surprised if she really didn't care if I'd stayed or not.

Cut to three days later and I was thinking of adding another day, was best pals with the propietor and her two cool dogs, and was stinking to high heaven of sulfur. When I decided to just take it easy and not be such a tourist, ie. not try to find all the "not to miss" stuff and just pretend like I lived there it became a completely different place.

The proprietor melted into the most beautiful smile after I told her my wife volunteers for the
ASPCA, loves dogs and it was because her hostel is dog-friendly that I chose it. She was even more thrilled when I made a quick portrait of her canine children and emailed it to her. The smaller dog kept trying to mount the larger one while she told me about a place called Coconuco. I tried to pretend I didn't see the little guy going for it as I paid attention to the directions.

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Coconuco Vista

"Coconuco Vista" ~ Coconuco, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

White City

"White City" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Hermana

"Hermana" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Viejo

"Viejo" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Iglesia

"Iglesia" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Valle

"Valle" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

3-57

"3-57" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Thermal Joy

"Thermal Joy" ~ Coconuco, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Coconuco Thermal Baths

As luck would have it, just as it was time to begin the hike back down to the village, the rain stopped for the entire walk until I was seated in a collectivo & on my way back to Popayan.

Contradiction

"Contadiction" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Playa

"Playa" ~ Popayan, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Popayan to Cali

Onward to Cali because it's on the way and I'm curious, but a little bit nervous about it's homicide capital claim to fame. Hopefully the salsa capital fame as well as reports of the most beautiful woman in Colombia will help soften the homicide edge a bit.

CENAL Trucking

"CENAL Trucking" ~ Cali, Colombia © 2012 Skip Hunt

Emergent Culture

"Emergent Culture" ~ Cali, Colombia © 2012 Skip Hunt