Trip Pasto to Popayan by Helmut

Trip Pasto to Popayan notations from observations peaking out the Magdalena bus:

Pasto is 2,530m above sea level. Its highest mountain is the 4,276m Volcano Galeras. The numerous other mountains are nearly as high.

One must see the panorama we enjoyed looking at throughout 200 plus miles trip.

Looking in any direction we could see never ending peaks and valleys with a lash green vegetation. There was not a 100 yard straight road, winding its way through the chiselled out Pan American Highway. Here and there were earth movements that made passage as little bit challenging for the driver (since this is an earth quake prone are, the cause could have been from a recent earth quake, or just from heavy rains, as I could not see much of rocks in the soil).

The most amazing part was that in spite of the high altitude, anywhere I looked, the slopes always reflected a deep green, whether is was on the hills or in the valley. The cows looked fat and happy, ready for being milked.

With ever changing altitudes, the vegetation was mostly fat green grass, mixed in with palm trees, banana trees, bamboo trees. There were countless other trees that I could not make out.

In sum, this 8 hour bus ride was a spectacular treat.