Got the early bus (6.15am) on Wednesday as planned- an early start! Bus took about 5 hours to get to Popayán and was a pretty bumpy road! Well at least the first half of the journey was - 5 hours to travel 62 miles/100km! Luckily no landslides and we arrived safely in Popayán.

On arrival at the hostel I met Rabea again (German girl I met in Salento and Tierradentro) and Andy who was in Salento. Went a for a wander and a coffee then awaited 'curry night' at the hostel! It was hot! I managed to eat it but with quite a lot of yogurt added as I'm not very good at eating spicey food. Thursday I went with Rabea to look around Popayán and took some photos, as well as being 'interviewed' by a couple of high school students about the park and the town! It's a nice place- the centre is all whitewashed buildings and it is a pretty colonial city, but has a nice smaller town feel. An earthquake in 1983 caused a lot of damage but the buildings have been restored really well. We got some shopping so we could cook dinner then discovered that some of the main square was closed off due to protests on the other side of the square. There had been a lot of police about in the morning, including police on horses and with riot gear. Cooked dinner in the evening and then went out for a few drinks with as few people from the hostel- it was very quiet and in the couple of bars we foundthere were very few people- it was only Thursday though so perhaps it's a bit busier at the weekend. On Friday most people left the hostel going south to Ecuador or up to Cali for the weekend.

I was still thinking about where I was heading next and also waiting for my backpack to dry. It got something on the straps on the bus to San Agustin and I'd zipped them away for the week there so whatever it was had really sunk in :-( I'd tried cleaning it myself in Tierradentro so then decided to wash it in the washing machine here. Hoped it would work but it didn't get rid of the awful smell. So today I am trying to clean the straps with bleach in hope of getting rid of it but not sure how successful it will be. Will also take time to dry as no sun here now, afternoons tend to be cloudy and rainy, though the morning seems to be warm and sunny. If only I'd known in San Agustin 1) I wouldn't have packed away the straps so probably could have avoided it happening but 2) could have cleaned it there where the weather was hotter so it would have dried and aired properly. Anyway fingers crossed….I had a haircut yesterday. Decided it was about time as it was almost 3.5 months since I had it done. Wanted to still be able to tie it back though which I can, but also have a bit of a fringe, which I didn't ask for, ha ha! Nice to have tidy hair for a change and have it dried after 12 weeks with no hair dryer, but will have to see how it dries naturally!

So, I think I have decided that I will be heading south to Ecuador now, via a couple of places on the way. Popayán is about 8 hours from the border. I was considering going to Cali and/or the pacific coast but I have decided I will get the chance to salsa in other places and I was planning on going to the pacific coast in Ecuador so won't go here. Of course this could change! I feel sad at the prospect of soon leaving Colombia as I have loved it here but I know I have lots more to look forward to :-) Not sure if I'll be setting off tomorrow, will depend on my bag- in the meantime I am trying to catch up on blog and photos (again!)