Friday, August 12, 2022

Day 4 - Into The Old Conflict Zones

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel (you never know when your next meal will be on these trips), we left for the mountains again.

The great scenery continued - green steep mountains everywhere, twistie roads up and down mountains and valleys, rivers, people, life.

It was interesting to realize that this area was where the FARC used to have its biggest presence and that all the military checkpoints on the roads today perhaps had to something do with that history.

We had breaks along the road, met people, had juices, and during lunch in La Union we met a bunch of kids coming out of school that found our presence in their town like a great event. Their curiosity, their questions, their happiness ... it all reminds you that life does not really need to be complicated.

We arrived in Pasto, our city for the night and the largest city in southern Colombia, after we crossed a 1-mile long tunnel through a mountain range.  The city just materialized below the tunnel's exit in a big valley that looked like a bowl surrounded by mountains.  It looked a bit like Medellin, with building climbing up the sides of the mountains.

We went for a walk before dinner to explore and, after a nice Chaufa at Peru Fusion, we called it a day.  Tomorrow we cross into Ecuador.

The morning view from my room in Popayan

A friendly visitor climb on Mike at our first stop after Popayan

And this is how you cook chickens!

A nice stop at the small town of Mojarra by the river

A chick seller with 700 chickens born today on his motorcycle 

The chicks!

The great soup of the area - Sancocho - and great juices

All the schools in town were coming out during lunch

Fresh juices everywhere

Climbing to 10,000ft+

An old Spanish bridge way down there

The main plaza in Pasto - the largest city in the south of Colombia 

Gun shops in Colombia are only allowed to sell guns that fire rubber bullets

As always - nice churches everywhere in Pasto

We found a cool bar overlooking the plaza before dinner

The view from our table


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