Popayan, Colombia

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Popayan is a very beautiful colonial town in the south of Colombia with white-washed houses and beautiful streets. As a university town, Popayan has a very youthful feel to it and it's classy coffee houses are famous in the southern region. The main square in town (Parque Caldas) is a tribute to the most famous resident, Francisco Caldas who discovered how to determine altitude from boiling water. The "torre reloj" which faces the square is one of the finest clock towers in the country....the tower itself designed by Caldas himself and the mechanism brought over from England.

What really puts Popayan on the map however is the Easter celebrations (or Semana Santa) which are the second biggest in the world (after Seville, Spain)

Relatively closeby are Tierra Dentro (6 hours by bus) and San Agustín (8 hours by bus), two other great places to explore.

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Places to stay:

Hostel Trail Popayan (3 comments) Carrera 11 No 4 - 16 Tel: 314 696 0805 Tel: 2 831 7871 Website: http://www.hosteltrailpopayan.com/ Website: Email: popayan at hosteltrail dot com Email: info at hosteltrail dot com Cheapest night: 7 US$/night. Dorm beds available. Private rooms available.
Located on the edge of the historic center of Popayan, this new backpacker hostel comes equipped with a guest kitchen, internet and free wifi, laundry, international calls. The hostel also has a DVD room with over 100 movies. As of June 2009, the prices are as follows: Dorm beds 15,000 pesos Single Room 28,000 Pesos (shared bathroom) Single Room 35,000 Pesos (private bathroom) Double Rooms 38,000 pesos (shared bathroom) Double Rooms 45,000 pesos (private bathroom) Laundry Service costs 8,000 Pesos, Internet is 2,000 Pesos per hour and hi-speed wifi comes FREE.

Casa Familiar Turistica (0 comments) Carrera 5 No 2 - 11 Tel: 072 824 448 53 Dorm beds available. Private rooms available.
A good backpackers place. Dorm beds are 11000 pesos, a double room is 18000 pesos.

Pakandé (2 comments) Cra 5 #7-75 Tel: 240 846 Cheapest night: 12 US$/night. Private rooms available.
A hostal run by really friendly people. Comfortable private rooms with good beds. About $12 US for a single. Short walk to the central plaza.

Things to do:

Gay & Lesbian bars

Thriving is not exactly the right word to describe the gay nightlife scene in the Ciudad Blanca, but we found two places easy to get where you can have a nice time and meet some friendly locals.

"Cafe Bar Club 78" (Calle 4 # 12-27 Centro - Cel. 316 296 5776) Tiny watering hole two blocks away from the Dann hotel. Owned by friendly local woman, who speaks French.

"El Closet Popayan" (Transversal 17 # 28-311 Km.1 Via a Timbio. Los faroles. - Tel. 820 7933 Cel. 311 375 0419) Surprisingly happening disco with a mostly young crowd on the outskirts of town. Costs about $5.000 in taxi to get there, and ask for their taxi service back to your hotel.

 

Reviews

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Comments

NELHENAO (☼Travelguide writer) says on May 9, 2009, 12:28: Popayan is also known as "The White City". The following website was a beautiful collection of pictures of Popayan. http://www.skyscraperlife.com/colombia/994-popayan-white-city.html nelson henao 0 funny, 0 helpful.

sbf says on Aug 3, 2009, 09:28: SCT-"Safe Colombian Tours" Inexpensive English speaking guides and interpeters starting from 3 usd per hour (groups can share the cost, i.e. a group a 4 people will pay less than one dollar per traveler!!!!!!!!) We can find you the cheaper option available in road and air tickets (clearing out the always present tentation of overpricing goods and services to foregin looking visitors) only paying a very small fee Low Cost Travel Agency but with a very warm an personal touch. contact: cafemaya at telefonica.net 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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