Grand Escapades
Travel Photography & Travel Experiences of Africa, South America, the Middle-East & Asia
Iglesia La Ermita, Popayan, la “Ciudad Blanca” or the “White City”
Though slightly more popular than it was 7 years ago, the South of Colombia still remains Off The Beaten Track, with mostly Colombian visitors. This is of course easy to understand considering the difficulty to reach this part of Colombia in the first place, though things have improved recently.
Blue skirts, thin hand-woven ponchos and a bowler hat, Guambiano Indigenous Market, Silvia, near Popayan, Cauca, Colombia
Silvia, a village situated at 2.650 meters, about an hour drive from Popayan, is the centre of the Guambiano region, one of Columbia’s most traditional indigenous groups. The Guambiano still use their language and dress in colourful clothes, especially for market day. Then the men wear blue skirts, wrapped around their waste, thin hand-woven ponchos and a bowler hat. The women sport voluminous black skirts, large blue shawls around their shoulder held together by safety pins. Continue Reading →
Colourful Chiva buses, old dodge buses, always completely full, Guambiano Indigenous Market, Silvia, near Popayan, Cauca, Colombia
In the previous text on Popayan we marveled why relatively few tourists visit this city, despite its beautiful colonial centre and scenic surroundings. One guess is, travelers easily bypass what is not clearly marked as a high-light in their “bible”, the Lonely Planet and the number of other kinds of tourists is still marginal. Continue Reading →
Colonial city, colonial architecture, Popayan, La Ciudad Blanca, the White City, Cauca, Colombia
Our initial reaction, after we read about this city in our guide book, was “Yeah, another Ciudad Blanca / White City”. Did not Arequipa / Peru adorn itself with the same fancy title? Only to have its few white colonial buildings disappear in a madness of honking cars / busses and exhaust fumes that make you dizzy? Continue Reading →