Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 5

Depending on your politics Medellin, Colombia is either famous or infamous for its most notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. Escobar was the ruthless leader of one of the most powerful drug organizations of all time - The Medellin Cartel. Today I was to embark upon a tour of his life, properties, and the history of the man who most people associate Colombia with. Fortunately the way people perceive Colombia is changing and I believe it is tours like this one that is helping achieve this goal. I had great reservation of this tour fearing it would be some kind of folklore glorification of a man who was responsible for countless murders and bombings throughout this beautiful country. Escobar was loved by the poor and rued by the middle class and government. The poor loved him because ... read more

From the 'adventure capital´ of San Gil we moved on to the UNESCO heritage site Villa Lleyva - a pretty little town unchanged for hundreds of years, with the added bonus of Colombia's best fossil fields. We were practically the only backpackers in town - the whole place was set up for day-trippers from Bogota and as we were there midweek the whole place had a half-empty unused feel. We spent our only full day there cycling in the very powerful sun around the local area, watching farmers in the fields, wandering through the fossil museum and being stunned by 'Colombia's answer to stone henge' which was really interesting if a smidge more phallic than I remember stone-henge being. Even though we we had been sensible with sun-tan lotion we both got badly burned which is ... read more

Cartagena to Medellin It took the best part a a day with a 5.30am start to get the bikes off the boat via a metal barge. We had to wait until after 8.00 to get into customs,but as all the paperwork had been sent in a couple of days before by Ludwig,the process was just a hurry up and wait,as usual, so we took the opportunity to have breakfast while we waited. Getting the bikes off the barge,down a slippery wooden ramp was our first challenge of the day, with every one achieving 10 out of 10 for that. With the papers cleared by around 11.00 am,we went back to the jetty and returned to the boat to collect all our luggage and then we headed back to the hotel. A friend of Dean's that he ... read more

So I left you in the last blog with our arrival in the ‘City of Eternal Spring’, Medellín, arriving late and exhausted from a long day’s travel meant we were not quite in a fit state to deal with hectic and unexpected chaos of Saturday night in the Zona Rosa. After a good night’s sleep we were feeling a bit more equipped to deal with anything the city might throw at us. After a hearty breakfast by the hotel pool it was time to brave Medellín. Ask most people outside Colombia what they know about Medellín, the majority of people will have the same answer ‘Drugs and Pablo Escobar’ and I confess that is pretty much all I knew about the city before I got there. The guide books suggest that it isn’t wise to mention ... read more

Distance driven today: 177 miles / 285 km Cumulative distance driven: 8,776 miles / 14,124 km Today’s trip: Caucasia to Medellin, Colombia Almost squeezed between two trucks on the switchbacks over the mountains towards Medellin: yes Our first riding leg in the morning was pretty uneventful, and we drove along the Cauca River at an elevation of 30-100m / 100-300ft. Once we hit the town of Valdivia, the road started to suddenly climb. Steep gradients, an infinite amount of switchbacks, a narrow road with only one lane in each direction, and ample of overloaded buses and trucks (many of which are definitely way past their operational date) resulted in endless vehicle caravans. Usually, the oldest truck is also the heaviest loaded one, thus causing the bottle neck. Switchbacks full with hairpin turns, combined with steep ascends ... read more