Tuesday, 21 November 2017

Medellin, Guatape and Jardin


After another uncomfortable 13 hour overnight bus, we arrived in Medellin and thankfully we could check into our hotel straight away. The lady at reception was lovely but didn't really understand about foreigners who only spoke minimal Spanish, as she used about 20 words to ask us to pay for the room. Intending to have a quick nap before breakfast, which turned into a 4 hour sleep before lunch, and we were vaguely human enough to explore the city. As usual, we left the hotel in brilliant sunshine, which 20 minutes later turned into a downpour, and we had to run to a coffee shop for shelter.

We had heard mixed reviews about Medellin, a city which is mainly known for the infamous Pablo Escobar and the violence and drugs surrounding him. The city centre was a loud, bustling area, filled with market stalls selling everything from shoes and baby clothes to hardcore pornography. Market vendors continuously shouted 'a la orden', meaning 'can I help you/can I sell you anything' but also seems to be a parting statement after your purchase (Could turn into a never-ending cycle of purchasing?)

Only the newest technology here- men ready to type out a letter for you with their typewriters


We headed for Plaza Botero (The guy who makes fat sculptures but insists he is just playing with proportions) when the heavens opened again, and we ran into a free art gallery for shelter. When the rain had died down to a drizzle, we braved it and walked to Casa De La Memoria, a museum and memorial about the crime history and its impact on the people of Medellin. All the graphs seemed to show a decline in the amount of homicides and kidnappings, happy days!

Kinky

Fat boy, fat horse

Slightly off on the proportions..


One of the top recommended activities to do in Medellin was yet another free walking tour. We had to book it the day before as it was so popular, and arrived at the specified time of 10.24am. We were ushered into a group, and introduced to our guide who wrote down our names and nationality along with 23 other people, and instantly remembered them all, impressive. Our guide then gave us a very interesting run down of the history of Medellin, from how the trade industry changed once goods could be moved by train rather than mules, and afterwards how the building of a cable car system around the city made everything more accessible in a very mountainous area. Also, she explained how the city which for a while had the reputation of one of the most dangerous cities in South America, has been working hard to change that image and cut down on crime, changing spaces once known for drugs and violence into well policed modern developments and community areas such as libraries and education centres. However, even with the decrease in crime levels, we were still warned to keep a close eye on our belongings, as some people may still take the opportunity if they see it!

Nice church, although we were then told this is where the prostitutes like to hang out


There were a few more things we wanted to do in Medellin, but we had already booked our accommodation for our next destination, a small town 2 hours away called Guatape. The journey took us from the built up crowded city through lush countryside and mountains. After some difficulty finding our accommodation which involved Jonno running up and down streets while I waited with the bags at the roadside, getting pitying looks from locals, we dropped our bags off and went to explore the town. The apartment seemed to be owned by three ratty dogs and their pre teen female human minion who lived in the apartment above, and every time we entered and left the building they were looking down on us, judging us.

The owners do not approve


On walking through the streets, we discovered a gorgeous, peaceful town, full of brightly painted houses and pictures of people, animals and flowers. Children played on the streets and the town square was filled with cafes and restaurants, giving a very laid back vibe. We took an instant liking to the area.

View from the road


So cute!






Free sports area in the town

The main attraction near Guatape was to walk up the 'Piedre del El Penol', a huge rock with amazing views of the area. The town of Guatape and its surrounding area is built around a man made lake, which branches between hills and creating small islands. We decided to walk the hour to the beginning of the steps, and then the 740 steps up to the top. The view from the top was very pretty, and gave us a chance for a few sweaty selfies.

Big ol' rock

Just a few steps up to the top



Not a bad view
Sweaty!

We fell in love with the charm of Guatape, and if it wasn't for the dark clouds and frequent rainstorms keeping us indoors, we could have stayed longer.



We returned to Medellin, which gave us chance to finish off our intended plans. Medellin boasts an amazing metro and cable car system, and for only 2,000 pesos (50p) we were able to get 2 trains and a cable car to the outskirts of the city, where another cable car transported us from crowded housing with music blaring from various buildings, to thick forests which were eerily silent.

The cable cars

Taking us from crowded city...

...To peaceful forest


Remember- do not prance or bustle about in the cable car

At the end of the cable car track, we arrived at Parque Arvi, a 16,000 hectare nature reserve. Most of the hikes you could do from there had to be guided walks and were all in Spanish, but we managed to find a short 1 hour loop which we could do alone. The walk was called 'The Floral Walk', and while we didn't see many flowers, it was nice to experience the stillness and peacefulness of the trees.

The 'floral walk'


Finally, some flowers!

Another small town we had read about was a relatively unexplored place called Jardin. We arrived to scenes of old men in cowboy hats, smoking and drinking Aguardiente, the local spirit which has an aniseed flavour. Life seems to happen in the village squares in Colombia, with Jardin being no exception. The square was filled with coffee shops with colourful chairs and tables. Old women sat drinking coffee and gossiping, and old men drinking spirits and playing cards. This is definitely the place to retire to!

More cute streets

Has to have a fancy church in the square

Escaping from their wives

Man and his dog


The place we had booked to stay was supposed to be a shared house, but as we were the only ones there we had the whole house to ourselves, apart from an army of ants which seemed to take over the walls at night. The big bonus of the property was that it had an exercise bike and cross trainer, which made me very happy, A girl cannot live on burpees alone!

Emo horse



The hike we had intended to do to a waterfall in a cave (2 of Jonno's favourite things) but it was not clear if the paths were even open, so instead we opted for a shorter easy walk into the countryside. The walk started off fairly uneventfully, the weather was nice and we found a dog along the way that was keen for an adventure and decided to join us on our walk. It seemed to want to chase and bark at every motorbike that passed, so we looked like owners of a misbehaved dog.

Friend!

It started out so well...


About halfway through the walk, we encountered another 2 dogs on the path, who didn't like our dog trespassing. One of them started to attack, and in the fight they rolled down the path, into some bushes on the verge of a fast flowing river. We then heard a yelp, and our dog emerged, panting, and the other dog was nowhere to be seen. We looked down the 10 metre drop to the river below, and saw the crumpled heap of the dog on a rock at the side of the water. Initially it didn't move, but then it regained consciousness and stood up. It was so dazed it just stood staring into the river, not being able to work out how to get back up to the path. After giving Jonno a helpless look, he gave me his bag and started to climb down the rocks, encouraging the dog to follow his path. Eventually it limped towards him and got up the rocks back to the path, still in shock but still alive.
We didn't get a picture of the action, but it went a little like this...



Dazed, but lucky to be alive after the fall

The dog that was with us ran back towards us, but the second dog started growling. This dog was clearly not welcome to pass. It found an American woman walking the other way and decided to take the safer option of walking with her. Sorry pup!

The walk was a little less eventful afterwards



Another activity to do in Jardin was to see the very odd looking bird, the Cock of the Rock, and its mating display at dusk and dawn. It was in private land, where a woman had set up viewing platforms to where the birds came and the males put on a show for the females in the trees below. It was definitely an interesting display, the male birds bobbed their heads up and down then jumped from branch to branch shrieking. Similar to a Friday night in Croydon.

Sorry mate, you just look weird




On our way back to town, we were cornered by a schoolgirl and her mum to help her with her English homework, which was clearly far too difficult for her. This became a learning experience for both the girl and Jonno, who tried his best to translate the sentences into Spanish so the girl at least knew what the words were, before trying to explain how to conjugate verbs.

Jardin was another lovely laid back town, great for people watching and drinking coffee in the square, but we were ready to move further south to our next town, Salento.




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