From Medellin into the countryside

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Friday 20.03.09
After my unfortunate introduction to Colombia I found Medellin a beautiful city, full of life, a great transport system, fantastic architecture and plenty of culture. The city is situated in a valley between two mountain ranges and seems to have its own microclimate - not as hot or as humid as the north. With a population of over 2.5million and growing, it is fast spreading along the surrounding hillsides. The metro system is all overground, with the part in the city centre elevated. It´s clean, cheap and efficient. I had decided to have a quiet cultural day so looked round the Museo de Antioquia and the Palacio de la Cultura; the latter was a fabulous bulding from the outside whle the interior was mainly offices, while the museo was a bland building externally but housed an Aladdin´s cave of bronze sculptures and art works (mainly by Botero) and lots of historical artefacts. Also outside the museo was the Plazoleta de las Esculturas - lots of further bronze sculptures by Botero. I also went for a stroll around the Catedral Basilica Metropolitano, Iglesia Candaleria and Iglesia de VeraCruz. ´Still feeling the effects of lack of sleep ´went back to the hotel for a siesta.
Refreshed, I took the metro to Cerro Nutibara - a park on the top of a steep hill on the outskirts of the city. Right at the top there was a small village recreated to what it was like in the early part of the last century with the church, shops and school completely furnished with original furniture. Complete with the central square it was quaint. The views over the city from the hilltop were magnificent. On the was back I joined the rush hour on the metro - reminiscences of the London underground, I felt like a tinned sardine! ´Did some shopping in the local supermarket; ´noticed that the shelves were much better stocked than those in Venezuela with a much greater variety of food.

Saturday 21.03.09
´Got a few extra copies done of my passport, as I used up my previous ones in getting a reduction on transport in Venezuela. I also like to have a copy on me for identification when out and about, rather than carrying my pasport with me. My hotel is central (Hotel Odeon) but can be noisy because of its position. ´Took the metro to the bus terminal to look into transport out of the city before planning what route I´d take to Bogota. I decided I´d go to Marinella (a small historic town on the route to Bogota) for a couple of days. ´went from there to Parque Explora - a very modern large infrastructure which was a mixture of science, natural history, and geology - much of it interactive and some of it outdoors. It was on different levels and there was plent of interest for everyone, no matter how old - very popular. While there one of the guides (Carolina) asked if she could be my guide around the geological section as she wanted to practise her English, which turned out very well as she she also corrected me on my Spanish. She was a student at the nearby university and worked mornings at Parque Explora. After a discussion about my planned route from here she pursauded me to have a look at Peñol, a small village where there is a huge unusual rock outcrop. There was so much to see at the Parque I spent much of the afternoon there as well. Only a stone´s throw away from the Parque was the city´s botanical gardens - with its rainbow of colourful flora, many of them I had not come across before. I was tired from so much walking I made my way back to the city centre, had a bite to eat and an early night.

Sunday 22.03.09
After Mass at the Iglesia Candeleria I joined a city tour bus for a morning´s organised trip around the city sights - there weren´t many new ones which I hadn´t already seen, though I learned some more background information about them. ´Not feeling great (bouts of nausea), so bought some tablets and had a few hours in bed. Feelong somewhat better later in the afternoon, decided to get out as the sun was shining and didn´t want to waste the day. ´took the metro to the outskirts and got the cable car to the top of the outlying hills. It´s part of the metro system and has two intermediate stages en route to the top. Fabulous panoramic views of the city from the top. On the way back down I shared the cable car with two Colombian families; our car stopped mid-way and one of the ladies got very frightened - she put a jacket over her head and crouched in the corner. Fortunately it soon started again. One of the men was telling me he was an arts student at the city university and was taking a break to have an afternoon out with his family. It started to rain, so I headed back for the city centre and found an internet cafe. Unfortunately the internet was down due to what was by now a thunderstorm with torrential rain. So ´had an early night and packed ready for moving on tomorrow.

Monday 23.03.09
Awoke early ro the sound of the nearby church bells, finished packing and after breakfast checked out of the hotel. ´Got a taxi to the bus terminal and´caught a bus to Peñol. It was about a two hour trip from Medellin. When I got to the village I found I had to take a jeep ride for another 8 km to get to the actual rock - it was well woth the visit.The rock is a geological phenonomon - it´s an outcrop of molten magma which slowly cooled and this 300m high rock is the only part which is above ground. It was a popular tourist attraction where many passed each other on the 649 narrow stone steps to the top. On the way up I met a guy from near Miami and his Colombian girlfriend (Lambrose and Sandra); he´s a restaurant owned in the US and is palnning to move permanently to Colombia and set up business here. We had a drink aand a bit to eat at the top; we needed the rest and time to adnire the picturesque views of the surrounding lakeland filled with numerous connecting islands - fairytale scenery! ´Took lots of photos before making our decent. As we climbed down the clouds descended and it started to rain. We shared a taxi to where I left my luggage and bought bus tickets for the trip onwards - I was going to Marinella and they were going back to Medellin. We had nearly two hours to spare so we went to Guatape (which was crowded as it was a holiday feast day) where we did some horseriding around the area overlooking the picturesque scenery. I had been quite a few years since I´d been on horse back and took some getting used to, especially the trotting. We had a few grilled corn on the cobs (very tasty) before rushing back to catch our bus. We were sharing the same bus as it had to pass through Marinella and the way to Medellin. While on the bus I flicked through the photos taken before dozing off for a half an hour. At Marinella it was dark, so I quickly said goodbye to Lambrose and Sandra and walked the length of the town before finding a hotel. I had to ask directions a few times. When I checked in, I realised to my horror, that my camera was missing! I knew I had it on the bus, so it either dropped out of my pocket of the passenger sitting next to me was light-fingered. Anyway, I have lost all the photos taken to date, apart from those already on the blog, so apologies that there are no photos to accompany these last few days. (Lambrose & Sandra, if you´re reading this and found it on the bus, would you please let me know).
´Met a guy at the hotel from Los Angeles who was now living over here since his retirement two years ago; ´loves the country. I shared a few drinks (Aguadiente? - a kind of anaseed tasting spirit) with him and the mother & daughter who ran the hotel before retiring to bed.

Tuesday 24.03.09
´Got up very early (first light) to go back to where the bus dropped me, just in case the camera fell out of my pocket as I got off the bus. No luck, but was amazed to see so many people up this early in the morning. I´ll stay here in Marinella at least until tomorrow. It a nice small town with a square surrounded by historic buildings but not in the same league as el Peñol. I´ll need to drop into the Police Station to report the loss of the camera, for insurance purposes.

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