Day 4: Casa Jardin Zen

We travelled from Popayán Colombia to near Armenia, also in Colombia. We passed by a lot of places making bricks and noticed many of the numerous sugarcane fields being harvested. Upon stopping at a fruit and veggie stand, we purchased 4 sapote after sampling. This is a very stringy but mildly delicious fruit.

There are motorcycles travelling everywhere, most carrying all sorts of cargo. Chickens. Produce. Big milk cans. Sometimes as many as 4 or 5 people on 1 bike. We even saw a girl with her dog perched on her lap.

Ecuadorian panniers!

Once we arrived in Armenia, we were having a hard time finding Casa Jardin Zen (http://www.casajardinzen.com) which was highly recommended to us by a Colombian boater friend whose sister, Marta, owns it. We stopped and asked a parked motorcyclist is if he knew where a very popular disco was (which is very close to the Casa) and, as he did, he said "follow me" and away we went on his tail, through the late day's rush hour traffic. Upon arriving at the closed disco, he then called Marta on his cell for us. Without delay, she appeared from behind all the greenery which was hiding her fabulous property from the road. We thanked our escort and then followed Marta inside.

Casa Jardin Zen

We had a great visit with Marta as she showed us around her eclectic place. After being shown to our room, we watched the hummingbirds as they flitted around the beautiful red flowering tree beneath the window. Marta was busy preparing for a biker group arriving the next day for an event. She was hanging pictures of motorcycles, jerseys, helmets, and even an actual motorcycle parked inside. We retired early after an exhausting day, letting Marta finish with her preparations.

On our route, we passed through large and small towns including Palmira, Buga, Tuluá, and Bugalagrande. We made 291 km today through beautiful scenery.