Wow, OK, these lengthy bus journey will take it out of me, no doubt about it! Thankfully though, our trip from Salento to Popayan wasn't THAT early in the morning. The trip takes about 5 hours, driving on a pretty good highway type road as far as Cali and then via another shitty windy road from thereon to Popayan. Not so much a dodgy road as such rather than being stuck behind 2 petrol tankers and a pig truck for miles with no room for overtaking. Having driven through Cali though, I think we were all glad we didn't stay the night there; it seemed like a pretty frantic, in-your-face town of no real interest. We arrived at our hostel in Popayan, Hostel Trail at around 6pm, having just caught a quick taxi ride to the hostel rather than walk the few blocks at night! The hostel is pretty cool, run by a Scottish couple, so very much tailored to European tastes, really decent bathrooms and nice clean rooms, good kitchen and plenty of facilities. The owners are super friendly and there are several excursions you can do directly from the hostel with plenty of advice.
It turned out that the next day, a Monday was a National Holiday (bank holiday or something similar), so the next day's trip to the Thermal Sulphur Baths in Coconuco ended up being communal hot bath with locals, smirking at our Gringo-ness! If you do the excursion to the baths with the Hostel Trail hostel, your entrance to the park is free but you have to look after your lunch and stuff yourself. The hot pools are divine, despite the concerning cloudiness / green tinge of the water and the very off-putting rotten egg smell from the sulphury water. It's the sulphur and other minerals in the water that give the pools their infamous "healing" properties. We got talking to one guy, with embarrassingly good English (in comparison to our shitty Spanish) who was told by doctors to bathe regularly in the pools to speed up his recover following an operation to remove a tumour. You can also buy little tubs of luminous yellow clay to spread all over yourself, which is said to cure everything from Acne to Psoriasis. So naturally, I smothered myself in it, despite not suffering from either! As chillaxing as the experience was however, we all eventually found ourselves with stinging eyes, almost like we overdosed on the Pantene a bit too much. We thought it was from the clay getting into our eyes, but it was more than likely the sulphur and the steam from the hot pools I'd imagine. Even a day later, as we washed our hair and such, our eyes would sting afterwards, so maybe those folk with sensitive eyes should steer clear! As we sat there in the hot pools, a thunderstorm moved its was in, and the feeling of cool rain while sitting in an almost boiling hot pool is a very memorable feeling.
After a comforting almuerzo (set lunch) in the restaurant on site, we prepped ourselves for our epic 30km cycle back to Popayan. The bikes are given to you by Hostel trail, complete with helmets, puncture kits and tyre pumps. We were told the bicycle ride was downhill, but having seen some uphill sections on our drive up here we were skeptical! Our Irish skepticism was confirmed as we hit some tough uphill sections, but low gears are my friend! Depending on how many times you stop to take photos, a well earned water break or a nature break, the cycle takes between 2-4 hours. We stopped on the way down, not far from Popayan at a small restaurant recommended for it's "chocolat y queso"; basically a bowl of hot chocolate with some rubbery-textured cheese which one is supposed to dip into the hot chocolate and eat the melted result. Strange, but considering we were absolutely soaked to the skin following the torrential rain, it was a hot meal and we were glad of it! So, squidgy boots and socks intact, we flew down the last few downhill sections like Moto GP riders and found our way right back to the door of the hostel; our warm haven!
The next day, being a lazy day, we just explored the small town of Popayan and it's beautiful white-washed Spanish colonial architecture; plenty of little (and large) churches and beautiful little side streets. It was nice again to get out of a big city and walk around a small one, but the diesel fume belching buses are still here in force!
Bus from Salento to Popayan: 31,000 COP (about €12)
Trip to Termales de Coconuco: 40,000 COP per person with a group of 4 (around €18). Includes a jeep ride to the baths, entrance to the baths and the bicycles to ride back down.
Where we stayed: Hostel Trail http://www.hosteltrailpopayan.com/
How much?: 42,000 COP (about €19) per room per night.
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