Popayan was great by day too - fab Desunayo and a walk round the Old Town - traffic chaos as the Policia had closed the main drag to carry out a Slalom Test on ALL the Motorcyclists coming through town - large crowd of cheering onlookers and a National TV Crew! Make it round all the cones and continue your journey - nudge one and it's back to the start to try again!!
Not to be caught out on the accommodation front we planned ahead and booked a Doble con Cama Matrimonial at the Hotel Campestre Nala in Palmira just 164km north along the 25. And asked the Recepcionista at La Plazuela to phone them to confirm!!
Palmira seemed an edgy place - all the houses were inside their own cages - with solid steel barred fences keeping visitors 10 feet from their front doors - ALL the houses there had them! Most parked their cars inside the cages too!
Hotel Campestre Nala had massive steel gates with spikes on the top - we had to be interview through the bars before driving in to their Secure Compound surrounded by a 10 foot high spike topped wall.
Hotel was lovely - only 8 months old - with tighter security than Fort Knox!! And home to a colony of the largest Moths we've ever seen!!! Guard Moths maybe!?
We asked if there were any Restaurants within walking distance, and the Receptionista almost fell off her chair! "No, no, no - you must take a Taxi - it is not safe to walk!" she said (in Espanol). After perusing their list of Safe Eating Places we chose Rillette Fusion Solar. She called a Taxi for us and made us promise to get a Taxi back. Lovely Restaurant - in a Safe Zone opposite the Army Barracks - although we'd driven through streets of houses inside cages topped with Razor Wire!
Asked our Waitress to call us a Taxi back to Campestre Nala - and she came back with a card on which were the Drivers Name, Taxi Registration Number and Taxi Licence Number - she made us promise to check all these BEFORE getting into the Taxi!!
Made it home safely, passed the Front Gate interview, patted the Giant Guard Dog, said goodnight to the Giant Guard Man and headed to bed - remembering to treble lock the Bedroom Door!
Not sure what's going on in Palmira to warrant all that security - we didn't stick around to find out!!
