Cali

In the morning I walked around Popayan more - I really loved this city - and among things I visited was a San Francisco monastery turned into a hotel. A very nice place and can be visited not by guests only. There are nice courtyards, a beautiful fountain, a park with a pool, benches to sit down on and relax during the hot hours of the day. Colombians are very warm and nice people (men especially, to blondes. It's hard to walk on the streets without raising attention, even if one is wearing a baggy worn-out pants and long sleaved shirts... The most popular woman seems to be Marylin Monroe, pictures of whom are everywhere. But Norma Jane wasn't originally a blone... Don't waste your energy on exposing more than hiding, chicas, go blonde! A little hydrogen peroxide does wonders! I am kidding, of course...). Hostal Amalia was a really great place to stay - a colonial house with all rooms having the door opening to a courtyard and a really great bathroom, with cold water but in that heat it was even nice. I got to the bus terminal in Cali in 2.5 hours and the tourist police spotted me and escorted me to a taxi which took me to a nice part of the city to Hostal Iguana - another of these great youth hostals with great atmosphere. From a german guy working there I got lots of usefull information so I think my itinerary for the next few days will be morning in Cali, in the safe part of the city, then trip to Armenia to visit the museum of coffee and then to Medellin and from there to Cartagena, then the national park close to Santa Marta to see the beautiful unspoiled beaches, and then from Cartagena by a sailboat to Panama. I am going to bypass Bogota as many people told me is not safe for a lone traveller. I will write from Armenia.