Ipiales, Past and Popayan

I got through the border painlessly this time. I hooked up with a woman who was going to Colombia and travelled with her. There wer no busses going across the border. We had to take a bus to Tulcan and there take a collectivo taxi to the checkpoint. From there, after the passports were stamped, we got another taxi taking us to Ipiales on the Colombian side. From the bus terminal in Ipiales I went straight to Pasto, to get away from the border. Pasto was also not a very safe city but I spent the night there and in the morning took a bus to Popayan. Pasto is situated in a beautiful valley and looked like a wealthy city but most windows of office buildings, houses and apartment buildings had bars in them. The owners of the hotel told me to keep tight to my backpack when I was going to the bus station as robberies happen in broad daylight there. The way from Pasto to Popayan was very beautiful - mountains with deep ravines, little villages looking wealthier than any other ones I have seen. I was surprised to see this - I heard so many bad things about the situation in Colombia that I thought the countryside would be as poor as in other parts of the Andes. Popayan also looks really nice: the colonial buildings are nicely resotred and painted white, there's no garbage on the streets, there are many cafes and restaurants, galleries, bars. Women are more undressed than dressed here (it's very hot during the day and the evenings get pleasantly cool) but they are undressed very elegantly and walk in a cloud of expensive perfume. I feel out of tune here, in my brown baggy pants which I have been wearing non-stop for six months and which don't look as nice as when they were new.

Tomorrow I will visit some buildings of interest here and will go to Cali in the afternoon. Buenas noches y suenos colorados...