Medellin (Pronounced Medagin)

Day 1 – Former Murder Capital of the World

Getting up fairly early, we packed and had breakfast before getting a taxi to the familiar place of Bogota airport (third time we had been here) to wait for our flight to Medellin.  We had been told it was only marginally more expensive to get a flight there and it was better than a long uncomfortable bus journey, it cost around £30 each!

We were pleased to note that this time our flight was on the departures board and after passing through customs we were soon boarding our flight. The flight was only 50 minutes and we were soon touching down in Medellin, which was once considered the murder capital of the world but had now turned this around and is a destination frequented by lots of backpackers.

From the airport we caught some local transport into the city which was 35km away.  We had to wait until the mini-bus was full-up before it departed and after a while we found ourselves descending the picturesque mountains that led into the city.

Once in the city we were deposited in a bit of a side street and told it was the end of the line.  So we got off the bus and walked down the road for a bit to try and find a taxi.  Waiting at the corner of the street we had a nice welcome to the city as we were verbally hassled by a couple of local drunks, which after ignoring them resulted in one of them throwing his cap in our direction.  Luckily before we received anymore abuse we hailed down a taxi and were on our way.

As usual though the taxi driver got us to the area where our accommodation was and then struggled to find it.  Fortunately, Shell had contacted the owner of the place we were staying at to let him know we were on our way.  As we muddled round the streets Shell spotted a guy on the curb checking out the taxi and we stopped and found this was Arthur (a French guy) who owned the property and was looking out for us.

Arthur then took us to an apartment where we were staying it was in a very nice suburban area with tree lined streets with plenty of restaurants and hostels around.  The place itself was more like a Air BnB place apart from it had a few rooms with other people staying there, it also had a shared kitchen and living space.

We had to wait for a while whilst the maid finished cleaning our room, then we unpacked and had a coffee before deciding what to do.  We got chatting to a Dutch guy that was staying there and seemed quite nice but soon he was heading out to his Spanish course, he was doing this to help with his career back home.

Checking the map on the hostel wall we then headed out to have a look around and we went in search of where we thought the lively back-packer area was. We walked around until we found the nearby park and wandered around there for a bit looking for a bit of bar life. It did not seem that lively though, maybe it came to life a bit later in the evening, plus it was a Sunday when everything is usually closed in South America.

We had spotted a small local’s bar located on the corner across the road from the park so we headed there and sat down to a ‘welcome to Medellin beer’.  As usual this one beer turned into a few beers and we entertained ourselves by watching the local police pull in lots of motorcycles in a bit of a sting operation, which led to quite a few bikes being confiscated. 

Pretty much as soon as we sat down one guy offered to buy us drinks but I turned this offer down as we hadn’t even spoken to the guy and I was wary of a scam.  However in the early evening we got speaking to him and his mate (well trying too anyway in our limited Spanglish!) and soon we were swapping rounds, one of the guys urging us to ‘Speak Spanish!!’.  The other older guy doing some salsa dancing at the side of the pavement trying to encourage Shell to join him, it didn’t happen!

A bit later that night we said farewell to our new friends and headed back towards our apartment.  On the way back we stopped off at a local supermarket and picked up some breakfast materials for the morning and a bottle of Chilean red that we liked the look of.

Once back at the apartment we enjoyed the bottle of red in the living area before heading off for bed.

Day 2 – Getting to understand the locals

The plan for the day was to do the city free walking tour but the day before when we tried to book it we found that the morning tour was fully booked and so we could only book on the afternoon tour.

As we had no other plans we had a bit of a relaxed morning, making ourselves some breakfast and trying to do some planning for the rest of our time in Columbia. We also contacted Arthur to ask about extending our stay for a couple of nights, which he originally told us would not be a problem.  However, he came back to us saying unfortunately he had nothing available, so this meant we would have to find somewhere else to stay for tomorrow.

We didn’t really see this as a problem so we headed out around 11 to check availability in the nearby hostels only to find they were full up or what we considered to be quite expensive.  After consulting Bookings.com we located a couple more hostels a little way away, but there was still no joy, one telling us it was full even though it showed space on Bookings.com.

Getting a bit fed up with trying to get a room we decided to give up and head to where we were going to start the walking tour.  Firstly we had to walk to the metro station that was a little way down the road and after purchasing tickets it was about three stops down the line.

When we arrived at the station we were due to pick up tour from we were quite early, so we thought we would have a little walk around. In the nearby area there did not seem much of interest so we headed back to the station and got a coffee whilst we waited.

Before too long we spotted the guys that were running the walking tour and were then amazed by the amount of people waiting to do the tour, there were also standers-by waiting to see if they could get on the tour.  We waited in line for a while as they checked everyone’s booking confirmations, before being pointed in the direction of one of the guides.  It was the biggest walking tour group we had come across so far, 3 guides with 30 people each, no wonder you had to book.

The guide then took us from the station to the cities administration centre where all of the governmental buildings were located.  Here he sat us all down and found out where we were all from then he went on to tell us all about the national identity and why the people from this region (Paisas) consider themselves better and cleverer that the people from the rest of the country.  The reason he gave for this is that this region was the first to industrialise and export coffee, thus making them richer and better businessmen.

Once the guide had filled us in on the background stuff he then took us to the old railway station, responsible for Medellin’s business success, now no longer running due to government corruption and the building of better roads.

After the rail station he took us to a square with lots of tall poles were (an art installation) and a very large library on one side.  He explained that this was a classic example of how they have been able to change the city, the square used to be a no-go zone, the highest number of murders in the city.  However after years of trying to clean up the city with police and troops they are now having massive success with a new philosophy, a type of urban regeneration (although he called it something else). It works by introducing artwork and educational facilities into these area’s as this gives the local people hope and turns the place around, its working!

 

From here we headed up the main shopping area where some of the roads had been shut off to traffic as the street traders had encroached so far into the roads that the government had given up trying to manage this and just closed the road.  We then went inside the old palace of justice which had been turned into a large shopping mall, ironically most of the shops here were selling knock-off’s of international brands.

 

Shopping area covered,  we then entered another square where the guide pointed out a church which had a large number of prostitutes outside (the guide said it would be a warts and all tour).  Apparently what happens here is a guy picks up one of these ladies, goes round the corner where there are hotels that charge by the hour.  Once finished the guy then goes back to the church, confesses his sin and then it’s as though nothing has happened as his sin is forgiven.

As we moved further into this square it soon became apparent that this was Boteli Square (guy that paints things fat) as there were dozens of his sculptures here.  Once again we were explained these figures were not fat, but proportionally over-sized as some may have a fat body but normal sized head.

It was then time for a break and the guide pointed us in the direction of some of the best food stalls in the area and Shell and I were soon munching into some of the best empanada’s we had tasted in South America.

After a twenty minute break we were now on the move again and we then stopped next to a mural that depicted the history of the city.  At this stop the guide explained a bit more about the psyche of the Columbian people.  The guide told us that the reason Columbian people are always smiling or appear happy is that they bury their past, despite all the conflict and misery they have suffered instead of dwelling on this they think about the good things in their life however small.  The point in case being the metro system that was completed about ten years previously, the people consider this is a symbol of hope that things are improving in the city.  The people are so proud of this that the trains and stations are pristine, no graffiti on the trains and people won’t even eat or drink whilst travelling on the system.

The tour continued through a few more squares passing by the side road of one church which was doing a rip roaring trade in hard core porn dvd’s (the road not the church!) and another square where some mad speaker was busy denouncing the church and telling people not to go inside. Although, apparently if you went round the back of this church you could pick up a rent boy, so maybe he had a point!

Our final stop on the tour was in another square where we were shown another Boteli sculpture of a large bird, however this had been blown-up.  What happened is that there was a large pop concert in the square but one of the terrorist/guerrilla groups had placed a bomb under this sculpture which had exploded and killed lots of people.  The mayor at the time had then ordered for the trashed sculpture to be removed but had been surprised when he received a very angry phone call from someone, it turned out to be the artist, Boteli.  Boteli insisted that the sculpture should remain in the square as a symbol of remembrance and he would commission a copy of the original sculpture to sit right next to it.

 

So now in the square you have the blown-up sculpture with a plaque underneath naming all those that were killed and alongside the new sculpture which again is considered a symbol of hope for the people, very powerful stuff!

Here the tour ended with a very heartfelt thanks from the guide for visiting his city and country as he said tourists making the effort to come to Columbia is also a symbol to the people that things are improving in the country.  It is also why the people want to come and say hello to you as you walk around.  We have to say that this tour was one of the most insightful ones we have been on and gave us a really good understanding of the people, which was very interesting and a different approach than other tours.

Once we had given the guide our tips he then led quite a large group of us to a traditional Columbian bar quite close to one of the metro station.  About 10 of us sat down in this large but quaint bars and had a couple of beers together whilst swapping travelling tips and advice, also sharing a  few party tricks too!!  If you ever meet an Israeli ask them to do their snappy fingers thing, apparently, they all can do it!

 

We then left the bar and had agreed with a few of these guys that we would go back to the Budha bar/hostel where they were staying as it was having a backpacker party.  We all jumped back on the metro and after a bit of a walk we arrived at the party which was in full swing.

The party was more like a lively bar with overpriced beers but we stayed for a while chatting to a couple of young German guys who were on the walking tour.  It was quite interesting as they had  both studied to be doctors (something they are short of in Germany) and they were taking a break before starting work.

After a few beers and not really being into the young back-packer vibe (plus the beer was bloody expensive) we thought we would call it a night so headed for home and bed.

Day 3 – Move Accommodation

At some point the previous day we had eventually found another hostel to stay at, but this meant that we would have to hang around all morning until we could check in. So after cooking ourselves some breakfast we then just hung out in the living area catching up on some blogging and doing a bit of trip research.

Around midday we left the apartment and dragged our bags up the hill to the hostel we had booked which was just next to the local park/square.  When we got there it still wasn’t time to check in so we left our main bags there and went to a nearby café and got some drinks whilst we waited.

At about 2/3ish we checked into our room which wasn’t too bad apart from it was quite small and the light for our bathroom, after much searching was outside the front door which was a bit odd.

In the afternoon and with the help from the receptionist managed to book some online tickets for transport to our next destination and because we enjoyed the walking tour so much, we booked ourselves on the graffiti tour for the following day.

It was now getting later in the day so we headed back to our locals pub at the corners of the park to have a couple of drinks, chat to our new friends and watch the police nicking motorcyclists once again.

As we had not done much today we decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal so we headed back to the nice area where our apartment had been and to an Argentinian steak house that had been recommended to us by Arthur.

The restaurant was quite expensive for our budget but none the less we both opted for a nice steak accompanied by a good bottle of red wine.  The steaks turned up and were very good and made a nice change from fried food and the wine was so nice we had to get a second bottle.

After eating we then asked for the dreaded ‘la cuenta’ but when it turned up, although expensive they had only charged us for one bottle.  So quickly paying we swiftly left the establishment and scuttled back to our hostel for the night.

Day 4 – Dodgy Barrio

We had booked to do the Graffiti tour in the afternoon so after preparing ourselves some coffee we just relaxed in the common room and caught up on a bit of blogging in the morning.

Around midday we headed to the café next door where we ordered an early lunch, a set menu that cost us about £4 each for a three course meal.  We thought we would eat early so we did not have to worry about it later and to be fair for the price it wasn’t too bad.

After lunch,  we headed to the agency where we had booked the walking tour and it was going to take us to one of the no-go neighbourhoods from a few years back, where one of the major guerrilla groups used to operate from.

We were introduced to the guide/translator who walked us to the local metro station where we caught a metro to the end of the line.  Interestingly, at the end of the line,  there are cable cars which go up the mountains that are also considered part of the metro system.

When we exited the metro station we were met by the official guide who was a local and well known hiphop-artist from the barrio and he would show us his neighbourhood with the help of the interpreter.

Next we were all (about 12 in the group) bundled on a local bus that took us up the hill and into the barrio proper.  After being dropped off we walked for a bit until we reached the first bit of the graffiti where our guide started to explain some of the history surrounding his neighbourhood.

The guide told us that because the area was so dangerous and notorious eventually the government decided to cleanse the area via military means.  The troops were overzealous and just sprayed bullets everywhere, at pedestrians and through buildings.  He told us that the official body-count was around 100 but the locals know better as there were so many people missing and he pointed out an area where there was a mass grave off over 300 people.

He went on to tell us how that he and a  group of friends decided to try and make the area better for the children and youth by setting up a hip-hop collective of musicians, dancers and graffiti artists.  We were taken to an area where a child was shots in the troubles and it was transformed with artwork and a set of slides (as going down a slide puts a smile on your face).

We walked some more through this colourful and vibrant area until we reached a viewpoint over the whole of the barrio.   Here amazingly they had installed a number of sets of escalators that descended further down into the barrio, another way of trying to improve it.  Also, a local brewery had donated roofing materials to the locals to repair their properties and a local paint company had donated paints so the roofs could be painted, once again improving the image of the place.

Using the escalators, we went further into the barrio and checked some more artwork, one of which was a pair of love birds which was positioned over a bench where young lovers made out.  However there is a shadowy painting nearby of a woman, said to be a mother-in-law that is keeping a watch on proceedings.

Next, we stopped at a little house that apparently had what was voted as the best ice-creams in the barrio, so we indulged in what was a very nice home made (frozen fruit and cream in a plastic cup with a stick in it) ice-cream, which was welcome as it was fairly hot.

The guide also told us there were quite a number of graffiti artists at work here and quite a bit of competition going on.  The general rule was you are not allowed to deface or paint over someone’s art unless what you do is better than the original artwork, so there’s a very high standard.  Also most of the artwork has some profound story or meaning behind it.

Continuing through the streets we then came to a large mural with a lot of great artwork on it and here the guide gave us the full explanation.  On all the pieces of work he pointed out that there was a white sheet held by the different characters.  The explanation to this is during the problems they had a building  which was sprayed by government bullets and inside an old man was hit and seriously injured.   However the old man was not on his own he was with is 14 and 17 year old grandsons, as they took him out into the street to get help one of the boys was shot. Taking shelter by the side of a house dying an old woman came out of another house with a white sheet and soon was joined by more people carrying white bed sheets, followed by a large number of the community.  Basically, it was a passive protest signalling that enough was enough, this is what is represented in the mural so it is never forgotten, very moving!

From here we were then taken to the nearby cemetery where lots of people that had been killed were buried.  Once again the community has tried to make this a positive by making the gardens there very nice. The guy that looks after the cemetery runs a program for the locals showing them how to plant and grow plants/flowers.  They plant something for each new person that dies and the walls of the cemetery are covered in grow bags where this is carried out.

Now came the fun bit and the bit I had been dreading, the guide had earlier in tour told us that we were all going to have to do a hip-hop rap.  Firstly, he asked us to introduce ourselves and tell us what our favourite animal was (Shell Elephant, Me Tiger).  Next, he got us to stand in a circle and start a beat by clapping and stamping our feet, which was OK.  However, then he picked people out to do a rap, the twist being you had to do it in the noise of your favourite animal, the smart arse that had said Unicorn didn’t see that coming.  It was very amusing to be fair, especially seeing Shell trying to rap Nelly the Elephant style!!

Finally, the guide took us to the community workshop where he showed us where the young people came to make music, be taught how to be graffiti artists and generally hang out.  At the end he took us outside to a black board and handed out cans of spray paint for us all to have a go at tagging.

The tour was really good and insightful and once again showed how this city is trying to turn things around and improve things using art and education instead of violence.  The only thing that let it down was that the Hip-Hop guy was so passionate, but the translator did not really communicate all that he said very well to the group.

When the tour finished, we were taken back to the metro station and were left to catch it back to where we started.  We had been chatting to a couple of lads from Holland and they walked back with us to our area, at which point we pointed them in the direction of a few restaurants as they were hungry and going to catch a flight later on.

We decided to go and visit our locals bar and were soon sat down and chatting to our Columbian friends that we had met a few times here.  The two we got to know the best were Juan-Carlos and Wilmer, Wilmer was a character that Shell had decided should be called Chaplin, which really amused his mates.

It was a great atmosphere as we were also joined by a 70’s rock fan who I swapped band names with. Suddenly another guy, Neilson had bought us some drinks despite not having spoken to him, he then joined us.  Also another guy was in the group and was assisting with translation duties, both him and Shell using their translation apps on their phones when things were a bit unclear.

The drinks flowed and we couldn’t work out the round system, it was explained to us it was not 1 for 1, it was when people had the money they bought drinks, when they didn’t they didn’t, that’s the Paisa way!  The hospitality was lovely, even to the point that Wilmer disappeared and then he came back with empanada’s for Shell and I.

Still more beers, Juan-Carlos continuing to berate us ‘Speak Spanish!!!’ I told him he would have to make do with Spanglish!  Wilmer was back to Salsa-ing on the pavement trying to entice Shell to join him, that wasn’t happening so I got up instead much to their amusement.

Many drinks were consumed and we had a great time but believe it or not Shell and I hit our limit and thought it best to make our way home.  We said goodbye for the last time to our new friends and staggered by to our hostel. Goodbye Medellin, we really enjoyed you.