Popayan - the white city

This is Mike...
We stopped in Popayan, "The white city", as a rest point from Filandia to ultimately, Ecuador. The old town had a cool vibe about it and true to the name was a white colonial beauty. The only complaint we had was the utilitarian concrete maze one has to drive through to get to the beautiful historic part. Simply put, the newer section is a mess with shabbily built structures and roads. Poor foresight, like this town has shown, proves why urban planning is so important when allowing what goes around a cultural gem like Popayan. The old town was safe and super cheap. For example, our comfortable hotel was $21/night, my hair was trimmed for $1.30, and we had three amazing desserts for $4 total. The nighttime was cool as well because the lights changed the mood of the buildings.

Zoe's first ride on a llama

Sierra's first ride on a llama

All the white buildings just work so well in this town

Daily hustle and bustle for the inhabitants is similar to other towns.

There are mostly government buildings around here as this is the capital of the department of Cauca. Colombia has 32 departments which are similar to our states in the U.S.

The city felt like a cooler climate version of Oaxaca, Mexico

The lights on the buildings at night were beautiful.

Truly romantic strolling around at night.

All the churches were open for visitors which is not usually the case.

The city goes to bed early by 11pm most of the people are long gone.

Zoe's and my dessert arrived early so we took a picture. Sierra ordered a fresh made croissant and a strawberry shake which arrived later.

There was a protest near the square. We did not stay around to see what it was about.