Popyán is a whitewashed town with free coffee at reception, chicken feet in the set menu soup, a fabulous vegetarian restaurant which Fletch and I found after passing on the soup and a salon where I had my first hair cut in several months – the fabulous Carlos from Panama did a great job – a manicure and long overdue pedicure for the sum total of $18.
Fletch and I walked around the main square where a few locals had parked their llamapacas, as you do. Since I can’t tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca with confidence yet, I’ve created a gringo subspecies and since I was there and you weren’t, you can’t really correct me anyway, so there. We also found the bridges the town is known for and crossed to the other side of the tracks. We beat a hasty-ish retreat when the stares became a little intense for us and took a low, brick bridge over the tranquil stream. The two locals at the apex held their breath as best they could, finally choking out the pot smoke just as we passed. Hmmm, why do I have the munchies now…?
Hayley and I found snacks and the local drop – an orange wine – best sculled from a tiny cup in a hurry before you get a chance to taste it, lest you should think you’ve imbibed orange-scented windex instead. We couldn’t give the stuff away and I hope the room cleaner the next day liked it because we left a lot of it behind.
That night we enjoyed a few beers, trying half-successfully to dodge the rain, quickly running back out of frightening restaurants that smelled of cat and opting for the group concensus of Mexican food. I know I’ve been in this corner of the world for a while when fajitas are comfort food 😉