Medellin
Party in Medellin never stops. We partied every second day till morning. It reminded me of my home city, Prague. We liked the city so much, that we considered the option to move to Medellin.
"Paisas" (people from Medellin) are friendly and beautiful people. They will make you feel good in their city. They are aware that Medellin has the stigma of a violent city, controlled by drug cartels from the past, but they don't like to talk about it. They even don't want to say the name of Pablo Escobar. Instead our tour guide gave him the nick name Paul Broom, when she was addressing Pablo. It was like in Harry Potter with Lord Voldemort :) The city is now pretty safe and tourists are very welcome. The people of Medellin are happy to see the tourists that they even stop you on the street, shake your hand and ask where you are from.
On our second day, we have visited Parque Arvi, a large natural park on the top of a hill. It used to be a very dangerous place in the past, controlled by guerrillas. It is a getaway from the busy city for locals. That day was a vacation and the park was packed with children and young students. They approached us, gave us high five or told us hi. One girl asked me where I am from. So I answered, but she wasn't really interested in the answer and she asked me with a smile "Selfie"? :) She wanted a picture with us.
About
Medellin is the second largest city of Colombia. Surrounded by mountains it was isolated from the world. In 1991, Medellin was the most violent city in the world. In 2013 Medellin was awarded as the most innovative city in the world. Certainly, the construction of the metro, universities and also libraries in the poorest parts of the city helped Medellin to fight the criminality. Nowadays there are still places where you don't want to go after sunset, like the downtown, but this shouldn't discourage you from visiting it during day time. Just use your common sense and trust your guts.
On the first picture below is a sculpture from Fernando Botero, the Bird. In 1995 somebody put a bomb into the Bird and more then thirty people lost their lives and 200 people were wounded. On the other picture is Plaza de Cisneros, what used to be one of the most dangerous places in the city. The city transformed this place by demolishing the old market and building white columns, which shine in the night and a library.
Transport
You can fly or you can go by bus. The bus from Santa Marta took us 19 hours and was 160.000 COP for both of us. Don't forget that you can bargain at the counters. The initial price was 200.000 COP. Flight ticket would cost 250.000 COP p.p.. The bus was very comfortable with lot of space for legs, adjustable and comfy seats, Wi-fi and a toilet. However it was freezing cold in the bus due to the boosted air condition, very typical in Colombia. Wear a sweater, trousers, jacket and some blanket and you will be fine. The bus was operated by Brasilia company.
Attractions
Metrocable and Parque Arvi
Take the metro to Acevedo station where you have to change to the cable car. The ticket for the metro is 2.000 COP and is valid also for the cable car until Santo Domingo station. For the cable car from Santo Domingo to Parque Arvi you have to pay 4.500 p.p. each way. It takes you up the hill, over a poor neighborhood. You will see almost the whole city from the cabin.
The park is huge, it has 16.000 hectares. You can enjoy more then 50 miles of hiking trails in a natural forest.
Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero
This museum is located in the downtown. You can find expositions from Fernando Botero and Luis Caballero. Botero was born in Medellin and is one of the most important artists of Colombia. More then that, there is a hall with modern art of the XX. and XXI. century and a really nice exposition of pre-hispanic ceramics.
Most interesting to us was the temporary exhibition on the ground floor called Piso Piloto. The project was created in collaboration with Barcelona and it is dedicated to the housing issue of both cities. It's shown in both cities simultaneously. Everyone has the right for a proper home and the truth is, that unfortunately the market is now controlled by brokers and "experts", who don't care about people and how they feel in their cities and their homes. The exposition showed interesting projects from students on how to resolve housing issues and make public space more open to people and their interactions.
Fernando Botero donated to Medellin and Bogota dozens of his sculptures and paintings. On Plaza Botero you can admire 23 big statues made by maestro Botero.
Real city walking tour
We recommend to take the tour on your first days, as you will receive plenty of information and you will visit most of the interesting spots in downtown. The tour is a free tour, however you will be reminded by the guide several times that a tip is more then welcome and that 25.000 COP p.p. would be appropriate. You have to make a reservation on the internet in advance and the tour takes about 3 hours. Comparing this tour to other tours we have done before, this one was the least interesting mainly due to our guide, who treated us like children even calling us gringos and the facts she told us were oversimplified.
Guatape
The bus leaves from Terminal Norte. Take the metro to Caribe station and go over the bridge to the terminal. It costs 11.500 COP p.p.. The bus drops you off close to the El Piedra (the rock). The bus ride takes around 2 hours. The entrance fee to El Piedra was 11.500 COP. Prepare yourself to walk 750 stairs to the very top. The view is fabulous and reminded us of Plitvicke lakes in Croatia. After El Piedra take a tuk-tuk to the center of Guatape for 10.000 COP. The center is very neat with colorful houses that are called Zocalos. On "plaza quatro esquinas" you can try the most amazing empanadas. An older lady fries them on a corner, with amazing fillings like tender beef and cheese.
Food
Honestly, we spent so much money on parties, that we safe money on food and cooked in our hostel or we ate cheap street food.
Gourmet d'Andres
They are opened till 16:00 and they serve breakfast and lunch. We haven't had such high quality menu del dia in South America before. If you had enough of rice, beans and chicken, visit this nice restaurant and sit on the terrace. We ordered steak with potato pie, tuna steak with a fruit sauce and potato pie. The tuna steak was delicious and we loved the juicy piece of beef with red wine sauce. We got also a salad and a dessert. We paid 34.000 COP.
Where to stay
Most of the backpacker hostels are located in El Poblado and the prices vary from 25.000 COP for a dorm to even 90.000 COP for a double room.
Kiwi hostel
We didn't book anything for the first night and we were really tired after a 19 hours bus ride from Santa Marta, that we decided to enjoy a little bit of luxury. We had a double room for 90.000 COP. We really appreciated the large bathroom with hot water and comfortable bed. The hostel has a small pool on the roof and two relaxation areas with hammocks. Breakfast is not included and costs about 6.000 COP, or you can cook your own meal in the kitchen.
Memphis hostel
It is one of the cheapest hostels in Poblado. A double room, costs 60.000 COP. We had our own bathroom and even a terrace. You can use the kitchen and they make coffee every morning for free.
Nightlife
The best party district is El Poblado, with many clubs, restaurants and bars.
Mansion club
This is an electronic music club in the center of El Poblado. Entrance fee was 15.000 COP. It opens on Fridays and Saturdays and the dj's were playing on real turntables. We really enjoyed the set from the resident djane Juliana. The sound system could use an upgrade though. Insufficient base and lot of distortion. Check the lineup, they have international artists regularly.
Parque Lleras
This park is in the heart of El Poblado. People hangout in the park in the evening hours to share a bottle of rum, beers or micheladas. Michelada is beer mixed with lemon, chili and pepper and a pinch of salt on the cup. Our favorite Colombian beer is Club Colombia. They have three types, blond, red and black. Very popular is Aguardiente, which is very similar to French pastis. We prefer rum and one of the best ones is Ron Medellin. They sell one liter of Ron Medellin in a tetra pack for 34.000 COP.
21 August 2015