Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 4

My visit to Medellin would not be complete without a tour of the city with Real City Tour. Shouts out to Real City Tour. It was a very entertaining and insightful tour. I stayed at Yolo Hostel in Problado. It was the tourist friendly part of Medellin. Met a lot of interesting people while I was there. There was this cute and petite Colombian working the front desk. I saw her running around with another traveler. They were inseparable. I assumed they were a couple until he left a couple of days later and she started to seem more welcoming to me. There was a lot to see in Medellin and I wish I could say that I saw it all. For the most part, I saw a small glimpse of it and it was breathtaking. ... read more

Now in the few final days in Bogota before a return home. It’s been a busy couple of weeks since Cartagena. There's still too little free time just to sit and write, so a summary will have to do: Mompox From Cartagena, went by bus south about 3 hours to Mompox, a small colonial village on the banks of the Rio Magdalena. Once strategically located, the decline of river transportation left the town isolated and declining. Though isolated in most respects, it’s been found by tourists and was a pleasant place to spend a quiet few days. One afternoon of those days was spent on a boat tour on the river for bird watching, general relaxation and a quick swim. Isolated though the town is, it draws 30,000 people to an annual jazz festival. How the ... read more

Suzanne here... Although we weren't ready to leave Guatape, sadly we had to. The Medellin bus filled up very quickly, so I was glad we'd bought our tickets the previous day. It was another lovely journey with stunning scenery. We reached Terminal del Norte at 2.30pm. Given the bargainous cost, a taxi was the sensible option. But after the faff with the last guy we couldn't be bothered. We much prefer public transport and there was a metro line from the bus station to a stop ten minutes walk from our hotel. It worked really well and at 3pm we arrived at the Orange Travellers Suites. We were staying in Medellin for six nights so we'd booked an aparthotel, i.e. a room with a little kitchenette. As soon as we walked in we were happy. Clean, ... read more

The 6-7 hour bus journey from Pereira to Medellin was beautiful but incredibly windy- there wasn't a single straight away until we got to the isolated valley where Medellin sprawls up the steep hillsides in a blend of traditional homes with terra cotta roofs, shelters in the poor barrios built with sheet metal, and high rise apartment buildings. It was difficult to capture it all in a photo from the valley. Medellin, the city of eternal spring (not unlike Pereira), was a comfortable place to spend some time in a city and to use as a base to get to Peñol / Guatape (see othe blog entry). While in some ways it's just as hectic as Cartagena, it's cooler, has a clean and efficient metro, and has very few tourists, except in Poblado- and even there ... read more

Just like Colombia, Medellin has a lot of history...unfortunately a lot of it bad. At one point it was named the most dangerous place in the world. A stigma very hard to shake. Despite its history (again, just like Colombia) however, the people here are some of the most positive and friendliest people we've ever met. Which is probably the reason we've managed to stay in one country for so long. Medellin is a huge modern city with many boroughs stretching on for miles, surrounded by beautiful green mountains. It's a very friendly, clean and welcoming city that's not too fast paced. Most people not familiar with Colombia will probably have heard of either Bogotá (the capital) or Medellin (home to one of the richest & ruthless criminals to date:Pablo Escobar). Medellin is more than just ... read more