Leaving Guatape, we headed towards Salento. Before we get into everything Salento, we wanted to share our experience at one of the most amazing parts of Colombia, Valle Del Cocora, Cocora Valley. It is close to Salento in the Quindio province of Colombia. It is famous for its beautiful hills and the Colombian National Tree – Wax Palm, known as Cocora in espanol.

Getting to Cocora Valley

There are plenty of Willys going to the valley at set times during the day, though based on observation, they usually ride off once they have 10 passengers – 2 sitting in front, 6 at the back and 2 standing outside! Willys are old jeeps bought from the army and repaired. They usually have a silver horse on the bonnet similar to the Jaguar on the Jaguar brand.

The drive costs 3,900 pesos (USD 1.3) per person, takes approximately 30 minutes and is quite scenic. Along the way there are plenty of dairy farms and grazing pastures with cows sitting and chewing cud.

The jeep drops you off at a fork in the road which is the start of the trail. On the right is a dirt road which takes you to Estrella La Agua and Finca Acaime. If you are interested in doing the complete loop that takes about 5 hours, head this way.

On the left, there is a gravel road which goes to farms surrounding the palm trees. It is also possible to do the loop in this direction, though you will see the Valley of Cocora as one of the first things. Then, you can either continue to hike to Finca La Montaña or return. This route is recommended if you just want to visit the Valley of Cocora without doing the loop. The walk to the valley is about 40 mins.

Rural Beauty

We had decided to do the complete 5 hours loop and so took the path towards Finca Acaime from the fork. The trail was uneven and rough with rocks, horse shit and large puddles. We had bought water resistant shoes from Armenia only because we had heard about the rain and the puddles on the trail. Those shoes paid off!

Despite the difficulties, the trail was scenic though mostly uphill. Lush green pastures lined both sides of the trail with the hills having wax palms. In addition, there was a stream coming down the mountains which provided the background music for the trail. We were lucky to get blue skies here which made the view simply stunning.

Tip: Ignore the signs to Estrella La Agua, unless you are interested in additional 2 to 3 hours of hike.

Hiking Through Forest

Further on, the trail led higher into the hills and came a hike through a forest. There was very little sunshine and a lot of water around. At times, it was hard to find the trail and we had to split up and search.

The other interesting thing on the trail were the bridges created over the stream. While we were there, the stream was only small and it was possible to cross it on foot. However, during the rains the stream might be a torrent. Hence, the bridges. These bridges were made of metal ropes and wooden pallets. Walking on it was fun and dangerous at the same time as the bridge would start swinging in both direction.

After the 6th flimsy bridge, there is a fork again. The path on the right leads to Acaime, the spot with humming birds and drink, while the path on the left leads to Finca La Montaña. We decided to head to Acaime first, relax a bit and then return towards Finca La Montaña.

In total, we crossed 6 bridges and 1 wooden log bridge twice during the complete loop. Believe me there were some nervous moments.

Humming Birds

We walked to Finca Acaime which was a farm and a shelter for the humming birds. Various varieties of humming birds and other small birds live in the valley forest. Humming birds were just fluttering around everywhere!

The cost to enter the finca was 5,000 pesos (USD 1.5) but they provided a drink, a place to sit, relax, watch the birds and take in the beauty of the area. As an added extra, some coati ant-eaters came in to have some water. Cute guys!

Tough Climb

We stayed half an hour at Acaime and then headed back towards Finca la Montaña. We should have guessed from the name that we were literally climbing up the mountain. The climb was strenuous and we had to take a break after every few minutes. The climb up is tough but not technically challenging. Just remind yourself that the climb is worth it!

After 30 minutes of blood, sweat and tears climbing up a mountain, we reached Fina la Montaña. There wasn’t a lot there except the amazing view, lots of tourists doing the loop and a small shop. The best thing though was the rest of the way to Cocora Valley was downhill. Finally!

Walking Down to Cocora Valley

The road from the finca was a gravel road built on the side of the mountain. At first, we didn’t see much. A little view of the valley here and there. After about half an hour on the road, we got our first glimpse of the Cocora Valley with the clouds rolling in and palms standing mighty tall.

As we went further, we came to a view point high on a rolling green hill right in the middle of the palms. Being surrounded by the palms overlooking the valley, we realised that we were in the best looking place in Colombia. We were finally viewing the Cocora Valley.

That feeling continued as we finally saw what a cloud forest looks like. The clouds rolled in and covered up the valley slowly. Distant thunder, forest, high trees, rolling hills and clouds. Ah, beauty of nature!

Our final stop was alongside the valley which had a few farms over the green hills and hundreds of palm trees. The beauty of this stretch of the valley is hard to explain. The farm animals, the huge palms, green hills and the clouds. Photographs may capture the scene but they certainly can’t capture the feeling one gets after trekking through 10 kms of forest and mountain.

Having said that, we took lots of photos and videos in Cocora Valley as we were sure we wouldn’t see anything like this again. We walked along the hills on the gravel road, which led us to where we had started. Surely, a complete loop!

As we jumped in one of the Willys ready to head back to Salento, the skies opened up. Luckily, we avoided the rain as we left the valley. Definitely another highlight of the trip!

Estimated Times and Advice

We had heard that the Cocora Valley loop is about 5 hours long. However, we were unsure about the fitness needed for that time. We are pretty unfit at this moment of our trip and we managed to complete the loop in just over 5 hours. So I suppose, if you were fit, you could complete the loop in 4 hours.

Also, wear steady shoes for the hike. There is lots of mud and stones around. Water-roof shoes or rain boots (these can be hired at the shops where the loop begins) are a must.

It is recommended to start your day early so you can enjoy the valley as the clouds roll in. But if you delay, you may encounter rain. We were at the Salento Square at 7:15am, and managed to start our ride in Willy towards the valley at 7:25am. We were on the loop trail by 8am.

Lastly, dress comfortably. In the morning it is quite chilly, but 15 mins into the trail, we had to get rid of our jackets. We recommend wearing comfortable, light-coloured t-shirt with a jacket that can protect you from chills and rain. Also, carry enough water and some snacks, such as nuts, for the trail.

Here are our times:

Start to Finca Acaime – 1 hour 50 minutes with stops

Halt at Finca Acaime – 30 mins

Finca Acaime to the fork that leads to Finca la Montaña – 20 mins (remember you need to cross the wooden log bridge only)

From fork to Finca la Montaña – 35 mins of slow but steady climb up the steep mountain

Finca Acaime to Finca la Montaña – 55 mins in total

Halt at Finca la Montaña – 10 mins

Finca la Montaña to end of loop – 1 hr 45 mins with many halts

Total time – 5 hours 10 mins

Before we arrived in Colombia, we had only heard of the beer Aguila and Colombian coffee. After spending 6 weeks in Colombia, we discovered a whole range of drinks in Colombia for all purposes.

Fresh Fruits

Colombia should be known around the world for its exotic fruits! There are many different types of fruits that we had never seen or heard of. In fact, many fruits here do not even have an English equivalent. Moreover, Colombians have a culture of enjoying fruits, whether it be drinking fresh juices or eating them. There are juice stalls everywhere.

While in Colombia, we tried few exotic fruit juices:

Mora – Mora is blackberry but the taste is nothing like the bottled juices. Made fresh it tastes amazing.

Lulo – Lulo is a citrus fruit in Colombia with no equivalent in English.

Corozo – A small red fruit only consumable as juice. It tastes a little like cranberry.

Tomate Arbol – This is tree tomato which obviously tastes tomate like. It is usually used to add to other fruits for juices.

Maracuya – A common juice in Colombia it is basically a yellow passionfruit.

Feijoa – We only had this juice once in Bogota and never saw it again. Apparently the fruit is called Pineapple guava.

Guanabana – Camillo at Rock A Town hoste in Guatape decided to make us a juice of it. It tasted kind of milky.

These are all the Colombian fruits which we were able to taste. We also had fresh pineapple, strawberry, papaya and mango fruits and enjoyed fresh lemonade and coconut lime juices. Most places offer the choice of plain juices with water or with milk. Whichever option you chose, the juices are delicious and refreshing.

To make it even better, you can mix two or more fruits. The price usually ranges between 3000 pesos (USD 1) and 6000 pesos (USD 2) depending on the options chosen.

I am not one for fruits and fruit juices but somehow the weather and the culture makes juices a perfect match. And in any case, juices are a healthier option to beer and coffee! Having said that, it doesn’t mean we didn’t drink beer or coffee.

Coffee

Colombian coffee is known all over the world. It is served in cups in the café around the world. However, when you come to Colombia, you realise that most Colombians have never drank that high class coffee at all.

Although the coffee chain sell the barista style coffee just like anywhere else in the world, this type of coffee is simply too expensive for many Colombians. A cappuccino at Dunkin Donuts cost me 3,500 pesos (just over USD 1). For that price, you can get a coffee and an empanada (fried snack) making a full breakfast.

In general, there are two types of popular coffees on the streets of Colombia, tinto and con leche – means black and with milk. Both of these use the ground coffee from a box instead of the high quality from the coffee region. They drink it short, sweet and hot.

On the other hand, we visited a coffee farm in Salento, Quindio which is right in the middle of Zona Cafeteria of Colombia. There we learnt that Colombia focuses on producing Arabica coffee. At the end of production, there are two types of coffee produced – class 1 & class 2 Colombia Coffee. Class 1 coffee gets exported to other countries while class 2 is consumed by locals. Now everything makes sense!

We tried class 1 coffee and it was one of the best coffees in the world. The taste was not bitter at all. Colombians don’t consider bitter coffee to be high class. In fact, Colombia’s enjoy their coffee without sugar and without milk. We wish we could have that day in day out!

Milk Based

We tried a few regional homemade milk based drinks in Bogota and Mompox. Avena which was a mix of oatmeal and milk is usually drank cold and can substitute a meal. It is sweet and filling.

Chicha in Mompox, on the other hand, is made from milk, sugar and rice. It is served cold but not as filling as avena. In any case, both these drinks are perfect for hot afternoons.

In addition, any of the juices listed above can be drank with milk making it healthy and filing.

Guess what? I found lassi in Colombia. They call it Kumis and it is the same as the sweet lassi made in homes in India.

Alcohol

While we are not the biggest drinkers, we do like to try different types of drinks. We tried a few while in Colombia:

Club Colombia Red and Black – readily available but we hated its taste. It is too bitter for our liking.

Aguila Normal and Light – This is our regular beer in Colombia. We actually tasted it in Sydney and have liked it ever since. Its taste is just perfect and its best drank freezing cold.

Costeñita – We had this beer in Mompox and loved it but the sad thing is that we haven’t seen it since. It was very smooth to drink.

Costeña – A bogota beer which tastes similar to Coopers pale ale. Not bad!

Redd’s apple ale – It tastes very much like a cider but apparently it is not cider. Made in Colombia but is USA owned.

Aguardiente – A local brew of Antioquia, it is popular in all of Colombia. It is a better tasting sambucca made of sugar cane and anise flavored.

Chicha in Bogota – Chicha was sweet with a little sugar and very pulpy. It tasted like drinking apple pulp.

Local Rum – Medellin & Ron Caldas – Medellin rum was the average rum for Colombians to get drunk on. On the other hand, Ron Caldas was more expensive and smooth.

Guatape is a small town 2 hours away from Medellin known for its scenery. Most people come to Guatape for The Rock ‘El Peñón de Guatapé’ and Guatape Lake. It is one of the favourite weekend gateways for people of Medellin. Some come over for a day while others spend a night.

When we decided to visit Guatape, we thought we would spend a night. But we fell in love with the town that we decided to stay longer!

Getting to Guatape

Getting to Guatape is quite easy from Medellin. Buses from No. 13 of the Terminal Transport de Norte leave every half hour for Guatape until 7pm. The cost is 13,000 pesos (USD 4) per person.

If you decide to get to Guatape on Sunday, we suggest you book your tickets in advance, especially for return to Medellin. Those buses usually fill up quickly.

La Piedra

La Piedra is the main tourist attraction in Guatape. It is a mighty rock, 200 metres in height from its base and can be seen from a few kilometres away. There is a G and half U painted on the flatter side of The Rock as Guatape tried to own The Rock but the residents of El Peñol, nearby town, wouldn’t let that happen.

There are around 670 steps til the Top of The Rock. However, there is a viewing platform which stands at 740 steps. The entire climb can be done in 20 minutes if 1) You are physically fit 2) You don’t stop for photograph along the way. We took about 30 mins to get to the viewing area.

The view from the Top of The Rock is just outstanding. There is water and land in all directions. And the hills in the background just add to the beauty. The landscape makes the sight one of the most beautiful in the world.

Following the Colombian tradition, there are beer and snacks stalls and souvenir shop and a restaurant on the Top of The Rock! You can never be thirsty or hungry in this country.

The entry to The Rock is 15,000 pesos (USD 5) per person. The buses from Medellin make a stop at La Piedra, so you could get off the bus and climb The Rock before getting to the town. From the bus stop to the base of The Rock you could either walk (10 mins), take a tuk tuk or a horse ride.

From Guatape to The Rock, there are tuk tuks and the bus heading back to Medellin. Getting to The Rock is pretty easy from the town.

Lake

In the 60s, the Colombian Government dammed the river nearby creating a huge man-made reservoir lake. All the towns in the area were demolished and moved higher up on the hills around the lake.

Along the lake shore one can hear “lancha” (boat) as you walk alongside the beach. Those are the boat owners willing to take you on a ride in the lake for a small cost. We took a shared boat or lancha on the lake with some Canadians and local tourists. We paid around 15,0000 pesos (USD 5) per person. It could have been cheaper with a bigger boat and more people but we got a good deal. We got our life jackets on and got in the boat for an incredible ride.

First of all, you get splashed by water as soon as the boat pulls out of Guatape and keep getting mildly splashed the rest of the time. You soon forget about that as the water gets deeper and the hills around get higher. The beauty of the area has to be seen to be believed. Behind us, a storm cloud was threatening the wooded mountain making the town and the lake look so different.

As the boat goes on, the captain stops at different sites. A government hotel, houses of models and football stars and finally in one area the houses of Pablo Escobar, his family and friends. At one time, Escobar had 400 farms on the lake. Now, his old home is burnt down and used for paintball by tourists.

The final stop before returning is the site of the old El Peñol town which now lies underwater. A big cross on a brick pole marks the site of the church of town. There is a pit stop here for 15 mins to see the museum of the old town and the only house to survive the flooding of the area. The cost of the museum is 1,000 pesos.

The site of the cross is perhaps the most beautiful on the lake with mountains all around sometimes being seen in the turquoise water. We left as quickly as we had arrived there and headed back for town. On the way, we saw a party boat with music blasting and drinks flowing. For once we were glad we were not on that. The silence around the lake was really peaceful. 15,000 pesos seemed a bargain for taking in some much beauty of the area. A must do in Guatape!

The Beautiful Town

We arrived in the town without knowing much about it at all. Our host in Taganga, Ingrid, had advised us to stay the night in Guatape. The town itself has only 5,000 people and is surrounded by hills on all sides. The lake shore makes for one of the main streets in town.

However, we only accidentally discovered the most distinctive qualities of this town. For one, each house in the town had an artwork made of plaster on the concrete wall about 2m high from the ground. In addition, each artwork outside each house was painted with vibrant colours. The artwork is called Zocalo and Guatape is known as the village of Zocalos.

The next quality was even more unbelievable. We discovered the most colorful little plaza (Plaza De Los Zocalos) in the town, dedicated to the zocalos around the town. There were apartments, surrounded by shops and more apartments in this plaza. The unique thing was that each story of apartments had a different color and each step of stair was also colored differently. It looked like a real life doll house.

Here is a quick video tour of the Plaza De Los Zocalos.

Most zocalos are different with only a few similar ones around town. Someone may have sheep, horses, boats, scenery and The Rock too. As time progressed, people started putting entire stories in form of zocalos. The largest we saw took up 3 walls.

Moreover, we heard about Ignacio Suarez, the guy who has created and painted 80% of zocalos around the town. He may be called the Godfather of Zocalos. We promised ourselves that we would meet him before we left. As fate would have it, we found him working a corner away from our hostel and we had to say hi. He was a small, round, old and extremely humble. He looked a bit like the stereotypical Chinese Masters with their long mustaches. We communicated to him that we were honored to meet him. What a guy!

Make sure tou have at least 1.5 hours set aside for walking around the town. There are amazing colours and artwork and each time we walked the same streets, we discovered something new. Additionally, over the weekend the main square gets busy! All the pubs and clubs are open till late at night – the town transforms like Cinderella!

The people & the food

In the two weeks that we stayed in Guatape, the people were extremely nice to us. We met and got to know Camillo, the owner of the hostel, and Carolina, who looked after the hostel. Of course, we got to know Carolina a lot less as she only spoke Spanish, but one afternoon she offered to make pancakes for us!

What surprised us the most was meeting Shekhar (Sam) who runs an Indian restaurant in the town. We walked into the restaurant, Don De Sam, not knowing it was an Indian restaurant. Once in, there was hindi music on and the menu sort of confused us a little. Within couple of minutes, Sam walked over and started talking to us in Hindi. We were really shocked and taken aback a bit. It was quite a bit for us to digest! After chatting to him for a while he suggested cooking aloo tikki and chole (fried potato with chickpeas), type of street food, which we hadn’t had in months and in Shruti’s case years. He sat down with us to enjoy the freshly cooked meal and told us his story. He arrived in Guatape for 3 days visit and never left. WOW!

Another amazing person we met was Adriana, the one who runs a vegetarian cafe called Namaste. She cooked amazing lunches and we visited her a few times. We initially wanted to volunteer there but she already had all the volunteers she needed. In any case, the lunches at Namaste were incredible with a French, Indian and worldwide influence. The price for a meal is generally 13,000 pesos (USD 4) with a fresh juice which was a bargain!

In addition, other than an auto driver who took us for a ride (repetitive pattern!), everyone in town was nice and helpful. Despite our limited skills of Spanish, people still conversed with us as if we were locals. A few times we felt we were getting tourist prices but it wasn’t regular at all.

Exploring Around Guatape

We hired a scooter to ride around Guatape from Guatape Motos. James and his volunteers had set up the business a few months ago. Once we reached his shop, he handed us a bike, a map, a mobile phone and generally gave safety instructions. Once that was done, we were on our way to San Rafael.

Despite being a sunny day, we were feeling cold due to the Andean winds in Guatape. However, that changed 10km out of Guatape as we descended towards San Rafael. San Rafael is 1000m below Guatape but the road descends gradually. This was good for our little scooter as it would not have handled hairpin turns.

The scenery is absolutely amazing as one really sees the height of the mountains around Guatape when going down to San Rafael. The mountains around have some amazing peaks and deep valleys. In short, the ride is simply stunning.

Our first stop was Bizcocha which is a sleepy riverbank. We looked around for a decent spot to bathe but decided against it mostly due to the direct sun. Apart from the heat, the view is incredible with mountains on all sides, a mountainous river and various small bridges over the river.

Our next stop was La Casuela, a waterfall which could only be accessed by foot as the path leading to it was not paved and the scooter was not fit to be ridden over it. We met 3 other backpackers from USA, Netherlands and Britain while looking for the path to the waterfall. We chatted about their travels as we walked for 30 minutes. That may have been painful but the bath in the waterfall was equally good because of it. We stayed there for an hour before heading back to San Rafael for lunch while our friends went back to Guatape.

San Rafael was surprisingly big compared to Guatape. It had a large square, a beautiful church, bridge over the river and again an incredible view of the mountains around it. We tried to find vegetarian food for Shruti with no luck until we saw sign for avena on a bakery. We ordered avena and some fresh cheese bread. The avena was refreshing in the heat while the cheese bread was absolutely delicious. We were still a little hungry so decided to get a pizza.

That was an experience again as the pizzeria didn’t have a non-meat pizza available but the lady agreed to make one fresh for us. The fresh dough and fresh cheese with a slight sweetness gave the pizza an incredible taste which we will not forget for a while. We said goodbye to San Rafael and rode back to Guatape. The ride back was interesting as it was entirely uphill. I kept the acceleration high to be able to manage 30-40km per hour speed.

We still made it back to Guatape by 5:30 for a quick trip to La Piedra, The Rock, for some photos. A quick fuel stop later we returned the bike to James without any damage. Being a nice guy, he handed us a cold beer. Can a day get any better?

Tip: Guatape motos is on the main street of Guatape. The scooter cost was 110,000pesos($40USD) for 2 people from 9am-6pm.

Volunteering

We had wanted to stay longer than a few days in Guatape. However, that would not be possible without volunteering and saving on accommodation and food. We asked Camillo at Rock a Town hostel if he knew any volunteering opportunities around town. As it turned out, he was looking for volunteers himself. In the 2 weeks there, we had lots of chats with Camillo about Colombia, Ecobar and his history, Guatape, his time in Melbourne, his Indian friends there and of course, Indian food which he loves.

Our daily jobs included helping with changing beds, cleaning but mostly looking after the hostel from 6-10pm. It wasn’t a lot of work but we got to understand how tough running a hostel can be. In addition, since we were mostly just “hanging around” the hostel, we were able to chat with a lot of travelers about their travels. Many people were on short-term travels and were in town for a day while others were there long-term spending their time reading and chilling in a hammock.

Moreover, though long-term travel sounds cool and relaxing, most of the time it is a lot of planning and running from on place to another. Volunteering at the hostel gave us a bit of chill for a while which we were grateful for. We ran through scenarios of further travel and life after travel. In short, it was a lot of fun, a little bit of work, hanging out with a great guy and memories of a life time. Thanks Camillo!

Here’s a little secret: We nearly skipped Medellin! We are glad we listened to all the locals and travelers we met along the way because we would have missed the best city in Colombia.

We have already posted about our great experience in Slums of Medellin. This post focuses on other things to do in Medellin. But first, getting to Medellin.

Getting To Medellin

As we were in Mompox, the best way to get to Medellin was through a direct bus that took almost 15-16 hours. Copetran is the only bus company that operates the direct Mompox-Medellin route. We bought our tickets for 120,000 pesos ($40 USD) and geared up for a long bus ride. Fortunately, the ride was comfortable. The bus had wifi, toilet and amazing seats with foot rests. The only issue was the aircon at night – the driver really turns it on high! If you are taking a long route overnight bus in South America, do not forget a nice jacket or blanket. You will need it!

Medellin is generally well connected with rest of Colombia. There are two bus terminals within the city so the buses from all around drive to one of the terminals. Additionally, you could also fly in. The airport is about 45 mins away from the city.

The Metro System

Medellin’s metro system started in the mid 90s and has grown since. At initial glance, it looks like a small network with only two lines but add in the metro cable cars and it is a bigger network spread across the vast areas up to the mountains.

The metro is generally not too crowded (except peak hours) and is a good experience. Most of the popular sites in the city can be seen from the metro system, all you need to do is ride from one end of the city to another. In the previous post, we wrote about how to ride the cable cars, so don’t forget to read that while planning your day.

Another great thing about the metro is that the ticket is flat fee, 2150 pesos (less than $1 USD). So travel to the next station or spend an entire day using the metro system. It really depends on you!

El Centro

The Centre of Medellin is similar to the Centre of Bogota. It’s old, it’s crowded and it had a reputation for crime. Although many historic buildings in the city were destroyed during Escobar era, Medellin council and people are working hard to transform its reputation and infrastructure.

The first place to visit in Medellin Centro is the Plaza De Botero and the Museo De Antioquia. Fernando Botero, Colombia’s most famous artist, is from Medellin and has donated vast amount of artwork, paintings and sculptures, to the city.

His art is different from any other artist to say the least and a large part of Museo De Antioquia is his artwork. Moreover, since it is unique, the museum provides excellent explanations for his art and why its important. Plaza De Botero is free while the museum entry is 10,000 pesos (USD 3.5) per person.

Another interesting aspect of the museum are the interactive rooms. We have been to plenty of museums by now and nowhere did we see an opportunity for visitors to interact with the art. There are sketches, board paints and even a web camera section where you can take your photos and email it to yourself! It was really fun playing around in these rooms.

Plaza De Bolivar is another nice place in Medellin Centro. Old people read their newspapers, coffee sellers sell their coffee and families visit the cathedral nearby. It is a great place to just watch life go by. We sat here for a while and realised that the city provides free Internet in plazas!

There are plenty of Cathedrals around the Medellin Centro. While walking around the area, we came around three churches. The architecture is really pretty and historic.

If you’re into street shopping, El Hueco and Junnin Street are not to be missed. These are near the San Antonio station. There are shops and hawkers selling practically everything on the streets. If you’re looking for a bargain, you may find it in this area.

Tip: The Centro of Medellin empties out at night as workers and vendors leave. It is suggested not to hang around late at night.

El Poblado

El Poblado was once a far away village of Medellin. Now it is only 4 metro stations away from the Centre. The rich of Medellin moved into Poblado and it is now a rich and safe part of town. Perhaps due to this reputation, the backpackers started moving into Poblado many years ago and changed the night life of the area.

Poblado has businesses and residential areas but as a tourist, most of your interaction is with the streets in and around Parque Ileras. This is the party central of Poblado and on a Friday and Saturday night it resembles Kings Cross (Sydney, Australia) minus the fighting.

PS: this picture of Parque Ileras was taken on Tuesday, during the week.

As we were living in the area, we visited a few clubs and found the Latin style of partying to be very different to others. There is a lot of sensual dancing and alcohol but in general there is no violence and macho culture that exists in Australia. The music and the energy is immaculate!

Parque Arvi

Medellin has a huge National Park within the city borders somewhat like Cape Town on top of the mountain. The cable car from Santo Domingo can get you there in 20 minutes, read all about the cable car ride in the previous post. There are guided walks, camping and picnic points in the park so you could either spend few hours, an entire day or few days in the park. Suit yourself.

In addition, there are small vendors selling food, wine and jewelry. The park has little restaurants selling food, tea and other eatables. Going to a national park in Colombia is always fun if not for the nature then at least for the food and drinks.

We spent sometime in one of the stalls that was selling Coca products. We tried out some coca leaves and had coca tea. A good way to unwind after a long day.

Watching Soccer

While we were in Medellin, the local team, Independiente Medellin, had a home game so we decided to go attend. We asked our hostel to arrange for the tickets. It was the second game of the season so there was a lot of excitement!

When the guy arrived with the tickets, I was wearing a green tshirt. He looked at me and said, “Nooo! Change tshirt. Fight”. I quickly understood that green colour belongs to the opposition team, Juniors, and I went to change to a red tshirt, colour of the local team. He also suggested wearing comfortable shoes because if a goal was scored, the entire crowd would run down. We were a little confused but we decided to follow his advice anyway.

We got to the stadium just at kick off time. And oh my, the queue to enter was long. After waiting around for 20 minutes, we were finally inside. We got ourselves a good spot and joined the crowd.

The fans in our stand were the hardcore followers. Throughout the game there was chanting to the band’s rhythm. Almost everyone there was enjoying some drinks or smoking some joints. We were actually surprised how they got it through the security!

Overall, it was a great experience. Although no goal was scored this game, we felt like we were attending a party. Here is a complication of the game and crowd highlights.

The Positive Feels

Everyone we met in Colombia before getting to Medellin, local and traveler, told us that we have to go to Medellin. They couldn’t point to a single reason and we were a bit confused. However, we only realised what they meant after getting here.

While Medellin went through a terrible time during the Escobar era, the city is really turning it around. Added to its geographical beauty, the fact that the government is really working hard to put the pride back in Medellin. The metro, the cleaning up of the slums, the roads, high-rise buildings, the nightlife, its brand as the Silicon Valley of Latin America and almost no visible crime make Medellin a great place to be in.

There are plenty of cafes, restaurants and small pubs around the area which gives a feel of a western city. There are plenty of expats in this part of Colombia and we can see why! We recommend spending some time in Medellin, whether it is for a holiday, short-time stay or a few years. There are quite a few things to do in Medellin.

Leaving Mompox, Medellin was our next big stop. As you know by now, we have absolutely falling in love with Colombia and having heard so much about Medellin from locals and tourists along the way, we knew we were in for a delight.

Medellin is Colombia’s second biggest city, but before we get into all things city (next post), we want to focus on a different side – The Slums of Medellin. Most of the slums in Medellin are on the hills around the city and no city we know of has done so much for the slums as this country. The slums of Medellin have the best views in the city and are the most extremely dangerous places to be. The council has done so much, and still doing, to clean them up is beyond believable.

The Backstory

Medellin was once famous for drugs and the drug lord, Pablo Escobar. It had a reputation for murder and bombings until the city started a cleanup drive in the 1990s. The city has since transformed itself and one can see its positive effects in the slums as well as the rest of the city.

Escalators & Comuna 13

Shruti heard about this slum through a walking tour of graffiti in the area. We looked up tour options and they were either booked out or not available on days we were free. After doing some more research, we found experiences of some people who had been there themselves and blogged about it. This meant we didn’t have to miss out and spend money doing the tour. We could have first hand experience seeing the then dangerous slum.

We took the metro from Poblado, where we lived, to San Antonio so we could change to the Orange line and finally get to San Javier. San Javier is the closest metro station to Comuna 13. The next step involved me asking various people how to get to ‘electricas’ (Spanish for escalators). A very nice gentleman waved down the bus for us and I was able to tell the bus driver to drop us at the escalators.

At this stage, Shruti had done most of the research while I had no idea where we were going except that we were going to a slum. To say that I was scared, would be an understatement. Shruti assured me that the government had taken care of the bad elements but I wasn’t so sure. Anyway, the bus driver dropped us at a corner and told us to walk uphill to the escalators. By this time, we were right in the middle of the slums with the only thing above and below us were more slums.

After a bit of walking and asking another local about the escalators, we could finally see it! It is hard to grasp the amazement one feels seeing the escalators going up and down in the middle of slums. The sight is a juxtaposition with development side by side squalor. Due to no straight roads, the escalators don’t run straight up. One stretch goes up north but the next stretch above it faces east and the one above faces west.

Medellin has really tried to change the slums. We felt it after climbing the escalators and reached a community centre and brand new roads built by the council. The houses in Comuna 13 have also been concreted with no more plastic roofs.

As part of the clean up drive paint was handed out free to the residents. People took this opportunity to color their houses in bright colors making it a beautiful site. Additionally, a lot of artists pitched in and there is plenty of graffiti artwork around.

We met a local elderly lady who told us the story of the slum and it’s redevelopment. Eventually tears started rolling down her cheeks. “It was the hand of God that fixed it”, said the old lady and who are we to disagree with her.

As we left, we saw small children carrying toys that were given to them by the city council. The city is putting toys in their hands to avoid them from being distracted to other activities. What more can a city do to change its image!

Having said all the above, we were told that the area wasn’t safe for tourists or outsiders at night. So there is still some activities happening but if we managed to walk around alone during the day, it sure does say something.

Cable Cars Over Slums

As mentioned earlier, slums are settled on the hills around the city and commuting up and down is a real pain. So to help out the major population of the city, the city council has installed cable cars on the hills. Apart from being a transportation mode for many locals, it is the cheapest and beautiful way of seeing the city!

We took the bus back from Comuna 13 and bought tickets from San Javier station for Pablado. As long as you have a metro ticket, you can take a ride on the cable car. It is free! Before heading back towards the city centre, we decided to ride the cable car that went right over the slums to La Aurora. We got off the car at couple of stations to take some more photos and hopped right back on the next car. We could see right into people houses and admire the tiny lanes with graffiti.

The amazing thing about this cable car was that just over the hill from slums was a beautiful valley and middle class high rises. It would have to be one of the most beautiful commutes to work. On the way back, we talked to an old lady in the cable car who told us how the 10 minute cable car journey took 1 hour on the bus.

After completing the round trip, we jumped on the metro towards Acevedo for another cable car ride. This time we were heading to the other side of Medellin, towards a higher mountain. We jumped on to the Santo Domingo cable car and enjoyed the ride up. The incline was a lot higher here! Upon reaching the final stop, Santo Domingo, we headed towards the Parque Arvi cable car, the National Park within Medellin.

Parque Arvi

The Parque Arvi cable car required another ticket. It costs 9,700 pesos (About USD 3), per person one way. Two people are not allowed on the cable car alone, it must be at least 3 or more. So we waited around for someone else to come by and finally we were on our way to Parque Arvi.

The ride to Parque Arvi was never ending! We passed slums that were setup higher on the mountain, then some small farms and finally we were crossing a forest. There were just high trees everywhere and the variety of flora. The ride was approx. 20 mins long and we finally got Parque Arvi.

We had been around all day so once we reached the park at about 3pm, we were in no mood for hikes. We did some shopping, walked around for an hour, enjoyed coca tea and ate some coca leaves too. After resting on the grass for a while, we decided to head back.

Journey back

Upon reaching Santo Domingo, we couldn’t just head back to the cable car. We had to exit the train station and re-enter again. So, we decided to have a couple of drinks in Santo Domingo, people watch while sitting outside the bar and wait for sun to set so we could enjoy the lights on our way down.

There was a higher proportion of teenage mothers, drug affected people and rough looking young boys but the cable car system had also brought in tourists willing to see the place. It wasn’t the safest but we were a few metres away from the cable car station and the police station. A juggler came by, juggled and we gave him some money while a young man walked past with a knife clearly in his waist. A place of contrasts!

When we returned down the mountain to Acevedo, there was a massive queue of people waiting to take the cable car up to the slums. This was the evening peak time and these were probably the city’s workers.

We had an an amazing day just experiencing the real Medellin. While we were in the slums we saw dumpster trucks picking up garbage and a very effective transportation mode that had some of the best views in the world – that’s when we understood why Medellin is special. How many cities outside of western countries do this for their poor people?