Tameka and I started the day riding 2-up on my bike from our hotel to EpiCO MoTo Adventures. We had met the owner, Ricardo, at the Touratech rally that we attended in Northern Washington last summer. Here we picked up the bike that Tameka had rented, a KTM 390 Adventure. This is the same bike that Tameka owns and rides at home. Ricardo gave us some route suggestions and then we headed back to our hotel to load the bikes.

Since this was Tameka's first day riding in Colombia, we discussed and decided on a relatively short day. Heading south we first had to get out of Cali which required navigating the chaotic traffic. I promised that we would not do any lane-splitting today but even then it is still a narrow fit for big adventure bikes on the crowded streets. We took the lessor of two highways that lead down to the city of Popayán, first following the lowlands along the Cauca River and then climbing up onto a mountainous ridge lined with coffee plantations. The road was a good introduction for Tameka with a little bit of everything. A couple muddy water crossings, lots of potholes, narrow steep winding grades and some spectacular views. It is slow going on these roads and it took us about 5 hours to cover the 97 miles. Tameka did really well adapting to the riding conditions but she admitted that she had had enough for one day when we arrived in Popayán

Popayán is a small city of about 350,000 which was a historically significant trade city due to its proximity between Lima Peru, Quito Ecuador and Cartagena Colombia. It was founded in the early 1500s and has a large historic district. We found a cool hotel near the city center that was built in the mid 18th century. Very randomly we met another motorcyclist (named Andrew) who is from Salem Oregon staying the same hotel. He had also rented his bike from Ricardo at epiCO.

We spent the evening wandering around the empty streets as it was Sunday and most everything was closed though there were a lot of people and vendors congregating around the central park which was festively lit up for Christmas.