I spent yesterday (Day 14) on buses and motorbike / rolling-stock chimerae getting from San Cipriano to the colonial city of Popayan (pic). My timing was perfect: today, by coincidence, was Popayan's Dia sin carros y sin motos - Car Free Day, which as the local government website notes, is actividad obligatoria.
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There was a morning launch party in the main square with all the familiar elements of similar events at home. Media interviews with local cycling campaigners, for instance (pic). Even though I couldn't understand much of their lightning-fast local-accented Spanish, I knew exactly what they were saying.
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There was also free soft drinks and fresh fruit, free bike maintenance, free pens, and - perhaps something you wouldn't get in say Wolverhampton or Hull - some lively salsa dancing (pic), which at times verged on wrestling.
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So I hired a bike and spent a very enjoyable day exploring the town centre by (mostly) vehicle-free streets (pic, though taxis and buses were still allowed on some routes). I got out to some very non-touristed 'local' (ie poor and scruffy) districts with friendly local markets. They have all the things we have at home, like papayas and corn on the cob and even potatoes.
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I also cycled out to some hilltop churches nearby for views over the city (pic). Behind those discreet whitewashed facades lurk an astonishing number of restaurants doing a full two-course lunch with soft drink for 3500 pesos (just over £1). You can imagine what my route was after taking this picture...
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