Popayan

Popayan is considered Colombia's best preserved colonial city. Popayan looks like it was just built yesterday. Indeed, the city was heavily damaged in a 1983 earthquake and has been rebuilt since. The colonial buildings are immense white blocks parting for little plazas and church courtyards. Integrated into the old city is one of Colombia's oldest and most distinguished universities.
The city's population now approaches 300,000 and most people live outside the historic center. Population growth is partly the result of Colombia's 6 million internally displaced citizens from the country side due to the ongoing civil conflict with FARC. Not the most positive form of population growth. And reflects political tension within Colombia between the urban and rural.
In 2005 UNESCO declared Popayan the first city of gastronomy . . . the food seems typically Colombian but I guess that is the idea. I did notice a white stuff that was spread out to dry in front of houses smelling of dirty old belly buttons . . . fermented yucca paste.


Well, my rest days are done in Colombia. The next four days will be a big push to the Ecuadorian border and a couple thousand meters of climbing higher into the Andes.