Popayán Shopping Tips by richiecdisc Top 5 Page for this destination

Exito: make your own luladas

Though Popayán did not disappoint overall with regard to local dishes and we were very happy to enjoy their delectable empanada de papián in particular, one thing it let us down on is the lulada. This scrumptious drink make with the lulo fruit, only found in this area, was reportedly available in Cali in Popayán. We had found it in Cali a few days earlier but admittedly it was not an easy matter. We had hoped that the smaller town would embrace the traditional drink more closely. We only found it in one restaurant, and an upscale one at that. It was also not exactly the freshest or best version of the beverage we found.

What to buy: So, we decided to take matters into our own hands and make our own. We headed over to the big chain supermarket Exito and bought lulos and dulce de leche. We spent about 5000 COP ($2.50) our first visit and then returned for 1.5 kilos of lulos for an additional 4500 COP. This kept us in luladas for the whole time we were in Popayán. We got the idea when we saw the blender in the kitchen of the Hosteltrail Hostel. We are not normally ones to cook when on a trip. We go to countries to try their foods and in a place like South America, food is one of the cheaper things to buy but in this particular case, we could not find our sought after delicacy and it was our only option. I'll have to say, it was just about as good as the one in Cali and cheaper to boot. Oh, a bigger than any drink you could buy too!.

Directions: Carrera 5 & Calle 6

Theme: Food and Drink