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Published: March 17th 2010
Pueblito Paisa
...taken from the steps leading to the viewing platformHaving spent Sunday and Monday seeing very little of Medellín, I was chomping at the bit to go out and explore some more yesterday morning. Of course, as ususal, by the time I'd eaten breakfast and (finally) updated the blog, it was about 11am.
The weather in Medellín is pretty predictable as far as I can tell. In the mornings it's overcast and cool (I say cool, but you can still sit outside in shorts and a T-shirt and feel comfortable) until about 10am-ish. Then the sun burns off the cloud and for the rest of the day it's about 30-odd degrees and sunny (although generally hazy). Then, when the sun goes down it starts to cool down until about 11pm when it starts to rain. Then it rains until I don't know when and you wake up the next morning with overcast skies. Rinse and repeat.
I think that I mentioned that my bathroom is missing half a roof - there is no roof over the shower. And in the evenings I sleep with the bathroom door open because it facilitates a refreshing (and sleep aiding) breeze. It's odd sleeping when you can hear rain falling in the
The Medellin River
...as seen from the bridge at Industriales next room - it's actually quite soothing. Like listening to a waterfall as you doze off...
And just because I've written that the weather is predictable, it's decided to turn unpredictable and start raining - I wasn't expecting this! Gotta dash for cover!
Any way, I got sidetracked again. It was 11am, I'd eaten breakfast, written my blog, showered, I was sporting one of my new shirts and my new bag - I was ready to go. I'd decided to check out a place called Pueblito Paisa - a small reconstruction of a typical early 20th century Antioquian town (Antioquia is the department of Medellin) which sits on top of a hill called Cerro Nutibara (Nutibara Hill). I'm a bit confused (nothing unusual there). As far as I can tell there are three words in Spanish for hill - colina, cerro and cima. I can't work out the difference. Perhaps some kind soul can put me straight.
I was reliably informed that the easiest way to get to Pueblito Paisa was by Metro - one stop from Poblado (where I'm staying) to Industriales. I started the 20 minute hike down Calle 10 but didn't get very far.
I really fancied an espresso and, as luck would have it, on my street (Carrera 35), there's a little coffee shop called Como Pez en Agua (I think) or "Like a fish in water".
I ordered my (double) espresso and saw that they had a chocolate tart on special offer. Now I don't really have a sweet tooth but I don't think that I've actually had a desert since the trifle in Floridablanca. And something about this tart screamed "EAT ME!" So I did. Delicious!
And I was on my way again. The main roads in Medellin are big - as in wide....well, I guess that they're long too. There's tons of traffic (I guess literally!) and walking the length of Calle 10 is a noisy fume filled experience. Imagine you were walking along the north circular in 30 degree heat and you've got the idea.
I reached the Metro station and bought 6 tickets (I figured it would save me queuing in the future). I noticed that other people were getting different colored tickets and I'm not really sure how they differ from my standard single fare. If I ever find out, I'll let you know.
One
The first of a number of little breathers
Crazy girl continues to bunny hop up the steps stop on the (cool) metro and I was in Industriales. Having learned my lesson from Parque Berrío, I'd checked out which side I needed to exit from - west as it happens. I was already melting and when I saw the queue of taxis sitting outside the station I was really tempted to just jump in and get them to take me the rest of the way. But then, I don't get much by way of exercise here so I pushed on.
I had to stop and ask for directions at least four times. Pueblito Paisa is NOT well signposted. Again, the biggest problem is the disorienting nature of having so many large roads and intersections and roundabouts to have to negotiate - if you're going to make the effort to cross the road, you want to make sure that it's worth it. And the directions that I was generally given were fairly hand-wavy "yeah, that sort of direction over there" type directions.
Any way, 10 minutes later I found where I needed to be - the entrance to Cerro Nutibara.
There's actually a charge to get into the park if you're in a car but it's free to
enter if you're on foot. The only problem is that if you're on foot, you have a 100m high hill to negotiate before you get to Pueblito Paisa itself. Doesn't sound too bad does it? It is!
As I started the cobbled (yes COBBLED) steps up the hill I noticed a woman in pink ahead of me, bunny hopping up the steps! Nutter! I'm sure that it's a great way to keep fit but, really, I wouldn't try it in the midday sun (I don't think that I'd try it at night!).
Unsurprisingly she had to stop fairly frequently to catch her breath and I overtook her pretty quickly. But I, too, had to stop (at least) twice for a little breather. I fired off some shots with the camera, unconvincingly trying to give the impression that I'd only stopped to admire the view.
The hill seemed to last forever (although it was nothing like as bad as the Taiwan Mountain experience - for those who know about that). The steps were arranged such that there was about 1.5 strides for the width of each step. Which meant that it was difficult to get any sort of rhythm
going. I was always lifting my weight with my left leg and every time I tried to change my stride so that I could lift with the right occasionally, the width of the steps would change and I'd be back lifting with the left. In the end I adopted a sort of lift then shuffle to the next step and pause and think about which leg's turn it was to lift. I think that the heat and the lack of oxygen had inhibited my motor skills somewhat.
As I reached the top, a giant V of dampness was spread across my shirt and I could feel the back sticking to me like a....well, like a wet shirt. To look at me, I might have waterproofed about 25% of my shirt and then stood under a shower.
I had a choice at the top - there was a path that lead slightly downwards and another that went slightly upwards. I'd had enough of walking up, but - much like crossing the road - having made the effort to get that high up, I wasn't going to go down again unless I was sure that I'd seen everything at the top!
So a short walk up a gentle hill finally led me to Pueblito Paisa. A tourist information tent stood before the entrance to the little town itself and I stopped to speak to the girl there. Unfortunately I couldn't actually speak, so out of breath was I. So I let her speak and nodded in all the right places. By the end of the "conversation" I could just about muster a "thank you very much" as she handed over a map of Medellín.
The little town itself is very pretty (as you can see from the photos). It's arranged in a "U" shape. Down each side there are small shops selling local handicrafts and ice creams etc. The back comprises a small chapel, the chaplain's house, and a radio station (of all things).
The sun beat down without mercy as I took photos of the buildings. I actually began to feel a little feint for a moment. So I headed for the cool of the chapel and downed two bottles of water. That felt much better - well, until I stepped outside again! My watch was reading 35 degrees.
I continued to wander around, taking photos, taking
in the amazing (if slightly interrupted) views from the top of the hill.
It was getting towards time for lunch. I wasn't particularly hungry but I thought that I'd grab something whilst I was up here. So I headed for the food court. Everything was shut. Not really surprising since there was hardly anybody around. Well, I guess that it was a Tuesday after all.
I checked my map and saw that there was actually a viewing platform facing the town itself. All I had to do was negotiate two flights of steps (of course). So I did - and the view was
amazing. I don't know, there's something about being able to see the whole of a city that's quite inspiring. I stood and savored the view before the heat finally drove me to seek shelter from the sun.
At the bottom of the steps there was a restaurant that was open. As I said, I wasn't really hungry so I just ordered an arepa and a beer (it turned out that it was a LITRE of beer!)
I found a shaded tree covered area outside the restaurant and ate. The arepa was probably the best that
I've had since arriving here...but still I've not had an arepa that tastes quite as good as the one's that Monica makes.
Whilst I was eating, a group of three came up and sat at the next table. We got chatting. There names were Juan, Martha and Sergio. Martha and Sergio were brother and sister from Medellín. Juan was Martha's boyfriend and was visiting from Miami (although he was actually Mexican).
Well, as I've come to expect, I was invited to join them for some real lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Universidad (an area more to the north of the city). This was an area that I had planned to visit later in the day anyway so I tagged along. We shared a cab down the hill and into town.
Arriving at Universidad (I knew that we had because of the big Metro station sign that told me so), we stopped opposite a big modern square called Parque de los Deseos (Park of Desires, I think). It was beautifully laid out with small pools of water, places to sit and eat and drink, a long slope leading from the bottom of the park to the top. The Chinese
restaurant faced the park (although I stupidly sat with my back to it). I ordered fried chicken. It was huge and, having just polished off an arepa, barely got halfway through the meal before giving up. As luck would have it, a homeless guy (who bore a passing resemblance to Brad Pitt bizarrely) wandered in and we were able to organise getting the remnants of the lunch doggy bagged up for him.
It turned out that Juan was returning to Bogotá that night to catch his flight to Miami so, after lunch, he and Martha wandered off to pack his things and rest up before shipping out. Sergio kindly offered to show me around the rest of the area - specifically the botanical gardens. It made for a pleasant stroll. In common with many people that I meet over here, Sergio didn't seem to be able to grasp the concept of speaking more slowly. He would rattle off a sentence and I would ask him to repeat more slowly and he would say the first two words really slowly and then finish the rest of the sentence at normal speed. I did my best to keep up...but didn't really
do so well.
After the gardens we went back to the Parque de los Deseos and had a coffee. It looked like there was going to be a concert of some sort in the park that night so we arranged to meet up at 7.30 and I headed off to the hostel to shower and change. The Metro ride back was uneventful. And I opted for a cab up Calle 10 when I arrived at Poblado.
I was hoping for some time to rest but, as it happened, I just had time to answer some emails and shower and change before heading back out. Unsure as to how safe the Metro system is at night I decided to grab a cab to the Parque. Of course, I was half an hour early. But remarkably (and as something of a unique experience in Colombia) Sergio was early too!
Well, it seemed that the concert wasn't going to be that night - they were still building the stage. So Sergio, Martha and I ended up in a disco (bar) dancing Salsa with the 6 other patrons (it's really quiet on weeknights) in the Parque Bolivar district of town. Well, I
say that we were dancing Salsa - in truth, they were dancing Salsa and I was sort of waddling it. You ain't seen nothing until you've seen a Waddled Salsa, I can tell you!
I arranged to meet the guys at 2pm today and said farewell and took a cab back to the hostel. The cabby didn't know where it was so I directed him. He dropped me outside the Medellin Beer House. And since I was there, I thought I'd stop for a nightcap. The music in the bar is really quite old school. But it's great - I hear loads of songs that would just NEVER be played in bars in the UK. "Mighty Wings" from the Top Gun soundtrack anybody? Ahhh, that takes me back. Clouds across the Moon by the Rah Band? GREAT! So long as the don't play Michael Bolton they will continue to have my custom.
Finishing off there, I wandered back towards the hotel. I figured that I should be able to get food at 11pm in the evening but everywhere was closed. But I wasn't particularly hungry (still digesting the chocolate tart, arepa and chinese during the day) so I
Inside the school
You can't actually see this in real life - I had to stick my camera around a big pillar to get this shot! just turned in.
Today I'm hoping to ride the cable car but the weather's not cheering up much yet. I'll let you know how I get on.
Eeeek, it's already midday!
Hasta luego!
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anita
non-member comment
mullets rock
HEY!!!! Michael Bolton is a good friend of mine ;-) xx