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So.. on to Medellín.
Colombia's second largest city was never on my "to-do" list prior to my travels but it certainly was having spoke to dozens of others who I've met along the way that absolutely raved about it.
I never expected the comfort of a Mercedes to be carrying us from Salento. Reclining leather seats, charging outlets, wifi, and a television screen.. sweet! I was convinced an old beat-up, Scooby Doo van would be our ride.
It's always comforting to have familiar faces onboard these bus journeys, regardless of the relatively short 6-hour stint ahead. Sydney, Shannon, Matt, Danielle, Geer Co, and Victoria, were all heading in the same direction.
The rave reviews of fellow travellers encouraged me to book a 6-day stretch in Medellín to have ample time to immerse myself and really explore the city.
The heat was stifling on arrival to the bus station.. close to mid-thirties, a noticeable difference from Salento. A huge line of yellow cabs was awaiting by the entrance, but for some reason none of them fancied our business, leaving us with no option but to call an Uber. Rumour has it, Uber's are illegal in Colombia, or there is a massive dispute between the two. Jumping in a competitors car didn't go down well at all. But left with no choice, what can you do?
Sydney, Shannon, Matt, Danielle, and I, had all reserved a stay at the Los Patios Hostel in the safest and most popular area in town, El Poblado. Newly built and recently opening its doors, the hostel was impressive with its slick and modern design.. comfortable seating, two indoor swings in the common area, a fantastic kitchen (the best I've seen), and a wicked rooftop bar with panoramic views over the city were all stand-out features. The only gripe being the slightly cramped dorm rooms.
The streets nearby filled with modern restaurants and bars were reminiscent of those in Palermo, Buenos Aires. We had a lovely late lunch here before we sank a few on the hostel's rooftop terrace while avidly watching a wild thunderstorm in the distant hills.
We continued the evening by checking out the bars of El Poblado. It wasn't busy by any means but I guess it was only a Tuesday night.. hell of a lot of bars to go at though for future reference.
Wednesday morning was all about getting in touch with my mind, body and soul. I was feeling spiritual.. I could finally see with a clear mind, in a state of zen some might say.. combine that with uncontrollable, immature laughter and what do you have?? That's right, I got my 9.00am yoga on didn't I?! ;)
It was pretty basic and not particularly challenging but good to flex out the backpacker limbs. The hilarity of watching Matt struggle to get in positions he could probably only dream of was enough to set me off!
The afternoon turned into a bit of shambles.. we were due to take the free walking tour of the city but somehow our wires got crossed and we ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I take no responsibility for this.. read your emails properly next time, Chan-non!
It was a trip to the mall instead, via a ridiculously overcrowded metro.. literally a tin of sardines! The mall was average, but our fajita family meal prepared by Sydney and Danielle back at the hostel was great!
A rainy evening saw us join an organised pub crawl in El Poblado. I enjoy a pub crawl more than most.. but not the Frat Party/Spring Break style. You know the ones.. "Make some f'kin noise!" Do me a favour!The bars were average, the drinks were average, but the company was great, so a good night was never in doubt. Bumping into Ineke again was cool.. the Dutch girl who I'd met in Bogotá.
Any thoughts you may have, rumours you have heard, or your preconceptions of what Colombia may be like in regard to a particular powdered product, which the country is notoriously famous for are in fact....ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!!
Cocaine is absolutely everywhere in Medellín, and on offer by various different people.. the standard drug dealer of course being one of them, but also shoe-shiners, food vendors, street sellers, market stall assistants, taxi drivers etc. I even had bags of powder waved in my face when exiting bars on Wednesday night, such is the regularity of how freely available it is.
Coke is candy here, and a very high percentage of tourists are lapping it up. It's no surprise though, for as little as 10,000 Pesos you can bag yourself a gram of Colombia's finest.. that's an equivalent of £2.50 back home! A lad I met who was short of money joked that it was cheaper for him to have a night out on coke than drink booze because it would be more expensive. Crazy, but true!
Bought at your own risk though. There's so many people here looking to take advantage of dumb westerners and the cash they have.. mainly cab drivers and the police. One scam going around is taxi drivers offering coke to backpackers when they pick them up from bus stations or airports. They provide the gear, but purposely get caught by police, who then proceed to bribe the backpackers with a jail term or cash deal as an alternative, taking as much money as they possibly can from them. The police gets a cut, the taxi driver gets a cut.. backpacker left coke-less and cash-less!
The subject of cocaine has taken a significant section of this blog because of its prominence in the culture of Medellín. Someone is either selling it, taking it, or talking about it.
The aforementioned leads me nicely onto Thursday.. a tour to one of Pablo Escobar's former estates. Not only would the tour include a visit to one of his 400 homes but we'd also be paint-balling in one of them too!
In a group of approximately 40 people, around 15 of them were Israeli. Now these Israeli's, as with all Israeli's in their late teenage years, have to gain 2 years of compulsory army training before being released. These guys were fresh out of army training!!!!!
The largeness of the group meant we had to be split into two. "Who wants to fight with the Israeli's?" shouted the tour leader.
"WAAAAAAHH FFFFFFFFFFFF-THAT!!" Was funny watching the remainder of Brits and Europeans retreat and hide behind one another, including myself who had never tried paint-balling before. Literally no chance!
Before the carnage ensued we had the opportunity to roam around Escobar's house. The lakeside property has never been rebuilt since it was devastated by the Colombian army who bombed the residence when hunting down the drug lord in his final remaining days. The place may now be a wreckage but it was still eerie to walk around while thinking about the sort of things that could have possibly occurred there.
Meeting Escobar's former bodyguard was a strange one too, cool though. I thought he'd be locked up or in witness protection, not posing for photographs. Imagine some of the stories he has in his locker...
We had a very interesting and informative guide who had first-hand experience of growing up as a child while Escobar was at the height of his reign. The main focus of the tour may have been about Pablo himself but it was noticeable how the guide attempted to steer our opinions of Colombia away from the drug culture and Escobar, to the many other positives the country has to offer.
Paint-balling was adrenaline fuelled!!!! The pouring rain and muddy ground made for a very lively, and slippery game. Being shot in the side of my torso from point-blank was not fun, and not in the rule book either!! Big bruise!! However, it was great fun.
Guatapé was our next stop, an Andean resort town, east of Medellín, which we reached by speedboat from Escobar's estate. Known for its houses decorated with colourful bas-reliefs.. colourful it was. Piedra del Peñol was a short bus journey southwest of the town, a giant granite rock which has over 700 hundred steps to its peak, where there are sweeping views. But unfortunately, low laying cloud and sporadic mist meant visibility was pretty poor. Great tour on the whole though!
Later that evening I met up with some cool people I had earlier met on the Escobar tour.. Gary, Liana, and Bethan, from Edinburgh. They were heading out with their friend Caitlin, also from Edinburgh, as well as two girls from San Diego called Kim and Katie. We hit the nearby Berlin Bar and had a sesh till the early hours.
Shannon and Sydney checked out of Los Patios for another hostel, as did Matt and Danielle, leaving me to hold the fort. Having surfaced after a late night, on my way out of the hostel I bumped into a familiar face.. it was Yus from London, who I met in Salento. Was great to see her since we got on so well.
We ended up having a great day checking out the Planetarium at Parque Explora, where there is also an aquarium and botanical garden.
The Planetarium was wicked and super interesting. The displays were interactive to help you understand and give a perspective of what's actually going on in outer space. Needless to say the inner geek came out in me again.. but it's fascinating stuff!
On route back to the hostel we stopped off at Botero Plaza in the "Old Quarter", a more "raw" part of the city with its bustling, chaotic and noisy environment. The Museum of Antioquia and the Rafael Uribe Palace of Culture surround a large outside park that displays 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who donated these and several other artworks for the museum's renovation in 2004. The artists signature style is disproportionate bronze sculptures of people and animals.. the "Botero legend" suggests that rubbing the statues brings love and good fortune. $2m a-piece these are worth!
It was Sydney and Shannon's last night in Medellin before they moved on, so Yus and I, joined the girls for a few beers and a farewell meal. Had a fun few days with the Yank's so it was sad to see them leave.
I'm no fan of walking tours.. they usually bore me to tears, and my attention span isn't the best while someone waffles on about this, that or the other.. it only takes a passing pigeon to distract me. But I'd heard good things about the free walking tour of Medellín so I thought I would give it a go early on Saturday morning, since we made a mess of it first time around.
To be fair, it wasn't bad, and the guy was really passionate about what he was delivering so it was much more engaging. There wasn't too many highlights during the tour, it was more about the history and culture of the city.
Interestingly again, the tour leader continuously steered the focus of the tour away from its stereotype, claiming there is so much more to Colombia than Pablo Escobar and cocaine. He even refused to mention his name throughout the tour, referring to him as "that man". The people of Colombia are clearly trying to change the world's attitude toward their country.
It was Saturday night and time to get on the sesh. I'd met an Australian girl called Elly in Salento, she was travelling with a few others so we arranged to meet at the Buddha Hostel to kick-start the night. By the time we moved on, a big group of us had formed.. there was Yus and I, Elly, Chaz, Abi, Alfie, AJ, Will, Ben and Thomas.
El Poblado was heaving.. as was Vintrash, a 3-storey club we hit in the heart of the area. I never expected Medellín to have such a thriving modern district such as this. I could have been in any European city right now.. it certainly didn't feel like Colombia.
We had a great night, and on the way back to the hostel it was cool bumping into Liana, Gary, Caitlin and Bethan again, in Berlin Bar.
Sunday was my last day in Medellín but one which I was looking forward to. There was a huge football match being played in the evening which all of us from the previous night had secured tickets for. The local side Atlético Nacional were playing their Aperture Semi-Final, second-leg tie, against bitter rivals Millonarios, from Bogotá. The first-leg ended in a 0-0 draw so the game was nicely poised.. the winner would go through to the final.
The day had started off bright and sunny but as we headed down to the Atanasio Girardot Sports Center, the heavens opened, and persisted to lash it down for the rest of the night. To say I was unprepared would be an understatement.. shorts, t-shirt, and no jacket. Poncho bought.. my only saviour!
The pre-match vibe around the stadium was tense and edgy but perfect before a big game of football. It was hectic.. a sea of green and white dominated the streets, while rain dominated the sky. Fire-crackers, police sirens and "Nacional!" chants echoed loudly in our ears. The presence of huuuuuge muscular police horses, the biggest I've ever seen, increased intimidation.
Keeping close to everyone as we entered the stadium was necessary as literally everyone looked exactly the same as one another wearing those stupid ponchos.
The stadium was already rocking as we made our way inside, close to kick-off. The south-stand to our left was just one big carnival gone crazy.. the home support bouncing, singing to the same chorus, holding aloft large banners and waving flags. Dozens of green flares engulfed the stands as the teams entered the pitch. Combined with the constant downpour, green rain descended on us, staining people's clothes. Bizarre!
The pitch was waterlogged beyond belief, and would easily have been abandoned in Europe.. but this is South America we are talking about. The stands were even waterlogged.. 12-inches deep! Standing on a seat or stairs was the only option.
The game was absolutely terrible from start to finish with very few chances for either side. The only entertainment coming from the home support to my left who were absolutely phenomenal from start to finish, creating an incredible atmosphere.
It was 0-0 going into the closing stages of the game, I was praying for a late winner for either side to avoid another half an hour of torture! My prayers were answered in injury time as Nacional grabbed a last minute winner.. cue unbelievable scenes! The place went absolutely bonkers! There is a God after all.
It may have been a shocking game but it was another great experience in what was the third football match I've attended in South America.
Back at the hostel now, soaked to the bone, and packing for my flight to Santa Marta on the Caribbean Coast tomorrow morning.
Medellín... it's been a pleasure!
Caio Caio xx
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