Date: 30/01
City: Popoyan, Columbia
Kilometres ridden: 139
Cumulative kilometre: 32453
We had planned an easy day so we started late with only a short distance to go. We got an email from Lisa (a fellow bike rider from the Stahlratte) with a suggestion of where to stay so we let her know that we’ll try to meet her there. A couple of kilometers before Popayan we met Hua and Suma on the road. After they heard that we planned to meet Lisa, they decided to follow us. We arrived on the hotel, met Lisa and went out for dinner together. We went to an Italian restaurant that had a dinner special that we couldn’t resist. During the dinner we had lots of fun.
After dinner we went back to a bar where live music was playing and Lisa organised a round of shots for us. This was the first time that I tried Aguadiente, a typical Colombian liquor that tasts like aniseed.
What a great evening!
Date: 31/01
City: Coconuco, Columbia
Kilometres ridden: 23
Cumulative kilometre: 32476
We had another relaxed start today, since the hot springs where only 28km from here. So we said good bye to Hua, Suma and Lisa. They would all continue to Ecuador today.
After they left we had a short look through the town, starting with the church.
When we came out of the church, we heard a loud bang and saw huge palm leaves fall down just in front of us. It would’ve really hurt if it had hit one of us. I should have a look at the oracle: What are the odds of getting killed by a palm leaf? 😉
After running some errands in town we left the hostel and continued to Coconuco, the tiny town close to the hot springs. We found a hotel there, but the price was too high. So we continued to the hot spring which is open 24 hours and has some cabanas to rent. When we arrived, we booked one of the cabanas, which was really cute and in walking distance to the hot springs. Only drawback, no WiFi, that ment no trip planning today, which was not that bad really 😛
I decided to have a look why my horns stopped working – they are as important here as they were in India.
It didn’t take long to fix the problem and then we went for a dip into the hot spring. There are actually 2 different temperatures, bathtub temperature and very hot. Oh, and then there are the showers. Just for contrast, they’re freezing cold (heart attack material).
We went for the hottest pool, and it was great relaxation. The drawback was we couldn’t stay long, so after ten minutes we escaped to the freezing cold shower. Since it was so hard work, we had a snooze, went for dinner and had another go at the hot spring; this time is was already dark.
No sure if we leave tomorrow, we will see how well we sleep here.
Date: 01/02
City: Pasto, Columbia
Kilometres ridden: 273
Cumulative kilometre: 32794
In the morning we got woken up by some loud music from the restaurant opposite our accommodation. It was Friday and apparently all the locals are coming today, so it would be rather loud and crowded, so we decided to leave. Since it was around 6AM, we decided to have a swim, another snooze, breakfast and then leave. Check out the picture of the pool in the morning, I like the steam coming out of it.
The ride was nice and the road once more turned into a mountain road. At one place we found a restaurant with the name ‘Berlin’. The restaurant was still closed, so we couldn’t find out if the owner was from Berlin or not.
The landscape was just amazing, particular with the clouds coming over the Andes.
We had no firm plan were to stop, only that we were looking for something comfy to stay for one or two days. After looking at some hotels along the way we ended up in Pasto in a great, modern, clean hotel.
