Colombia- Medellin & Guatapé

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Lili, your co-editor.

In the 1990s, Medellin was often the city with highest murder rate in the whole world. To be specific the rate has its peak with 380 people out of 100 000 per year. Today this rate is just 25 and Medellin is an attractive tourist destination offering plenty of activities for every taste.

Lili’s 7 good-to-know things when travelling to Colombia:

• Take an adapter for the electric outlet – they use the American version  
• If you travel close to the jungle or at the coast, take an anti-mosquito sprays. Actually the biggest problem are not the mosquitoes, but the sand bugs which bite and leave bleeding spots or blisters afterwards. I didn’t want to start the article in a negative tone, I will post a picture with sand bug bites on my skin later on.
• Colombia is rather safe nowadays, but of course you have to be cautious where you go. Just an example- the district which in the past was one the most dangerous neighborhoods in Medellín- Comuna 13, is now accessible for tourists and you can join a free city tour. However during our stay they cancelled the tours as there were some gun shots the day before.  
• The local currency in Colombia is a Colombian Peso. It is marked with a $ sign in front of the digits. If you have cash (better do so as not everywhere you can pay by a credit card), have in mind that it is quite difficult to find places to exchange Euro. You can exchange US dollars at every bank while for Euro you have to go to special places. ATM is a good alternative. Beware that there are two types of banknotes in circulation presently: a new issue and an old one. You can read more information here
• Smoking is not allowed even in open-space restaurants in many cities  
• The number in case of emergency is 123 (and not 112 or 911)
  
• You can bargain for every good or service without a list price. In Bogota and Medellin in many shops you can negotiate prices of clothing and souvenirs by 15-20% down, while in the Caribbean region- up to 60%.

In order to set the right expectations about what you will read in this article, we will start with the program of the our trip (we were a group of five). We landed in Medellin (we wanted to avoid the chillier climate of Bogota). We stayed there for 3 days and visited Guatapé in a one-day trip. Then we took a flight to Santa Marta where we stayed 6 days for our beach holiday. We had one day in Cartagena before the return flight. Like in every other trip, we traveled only with hand luggage (in order to see how we do this, you can read the section with Tips for travelling).

Transportation  

Here is some general information about travelling around Colombia:

• Flights 

If no visa is required for your passport (which is the case for many world countries), there is only an arrival declaration to be filled-in for the customs (the airline was providing the form before landing). Bogota airport is  quite big and in case you have a domestic flight after the long haul one, you need to go out from the terminal and then re-enter. Colombia is a big country with still underdeveloped road infrastructure, so it is better to take flights to cover long distance. We tried Viva air for our flight from Medellin to Santa Marta and it proved to be ok (no delays, no specific problems with luggage permissions), so I can only recommend it.

• Metro

We tried only the subway in Medellin and we can highly recommend it. The metro is a source of pride for the locals and they keep it extremely clean. The price is COL$ 2,400 (less than 1 Eur)  for a single trip and it connects main places of interest in Medellin. 

• Buses

We took a local bus from Medellin to Guatapé. Unlike other countries where the local transport is something you will not consider using, here in Colombia it is really acceptable. The roads are good (at least where we travelled), but there are a lot of turns and this makes the journey quite slow.  

• Private transfers/ taxis

This was something we used quite a lot in order to save time. As we were 5, it was even cheaper to book a whole van for all of us. The prices were not high at all. For example from Santa Marta airport to our hotel which was 1.5 hours drive we paid COL$ 170,000, around 55 Eur, and we also had the comfort to stop at a local supermarket in order to buy provisions for our stay.

• Uber

It is available in Colombia. Check the rates as depending on the city it is either cheaper or more expensive than the prices of the local taxis.

Medellin  

Medellin was the first stop of our 10-day journey in Colombia. In order to get fast to the city (yes, it’s quite big, 3 mln inhabitants), you can take a taxi which costs COL$ 70,000 (around 20 Eur). The city is 35-50 mins away from the airport depending at what time of the day you are travelling.  

For our stay we chose a decent hotel close to San Antonio square- Hotel 47 Medellin Street.. It had a very nice rooftop terrace restaurant.

If I have to describe Medellin with one word, it would be colourful- this is the town with most graffiti I have seen so far. It was surprisingly clean everywhere, the houses even in the poorer areas were built out of bricks and there were graffiti even on the roofs. This definitely gives a distinctive look to the whole surrounding.

Things to do in Medellin:

Free walking tour in the city center

Usually we never use them as it takes a lot of time and we do not have the freedom to take proper photos. Moreover these tours happen during the busy time of the day when there are crowds of tourists everywhere. However this time we had only one day in Medellin and we wanted to make the most out of it. We chose this company- Real City Tours. You can click on the link and check where these tours start. Our guide was Caroline, a 30-year old Colombian girl who told us many things about the city and its history.  

Here are some  general facts about Colombia which we find interesting and we want to share them with you:  

• There are 4 stages in the modern Colombian history:

1. Origins

Marked by the time when the aura tribe was living in Colombian lands. Around the year 1500 the Spanish invaders came to these lands, looking for gold. They never found any gold, but a few decades later they started living in these lands mainly due to the good climate.

2. The growth

This period starts around the year 1800 with the international Coffee boom. During a very short period of time the city of Medellin grew 7 times. They connected the two areas, which did not have good connection about 10 years ago.

3. The tragedy

It happened around 1970. The business of the drugs arrived- locals didn’t take them, but were using them as a barter for importing alcohol and tobacco. What the infamous Pablo Escobar did was uniting all the families in the drug business into one big cartel. In general Pablo is a very contradictory personality for the Colombians – those who love him are the youngsters (who did not live during the bad times- there is no history as subject at school, they have history, geography and democracy in one subject, so they do not know anything about the reality during Pablo’s times). Those who hate him are more than 30 years old who lived in the most dangerous times.

4. Transformation

Period between 2002 and 2010. In 2002 the whole transformation in Colombia started. A period marked by a revival in economy and “cleaning” of all the crime in the country. One of the symbols of the transformation period in Medellin is the subway which finally connected the two parts of the city.

• Another interesting fact is that Colombians actually like touching. A local can sometimes approach you  and  just put his palm on your shoulder and smiles at you.
• The biggest wealth of one country are its educated people. In Colombia the coverage of high school is 55% (it decreases significantly from primary through secondary and high school). One non-standard approach for universities is that they define the payment based on the income in the family. I would say Colombia is a social-oriented country.
• Colombians are in general happy people– they try to find the small things which make them feel proud and they do so. It is a big event when a Colombian wins a certain contest, when their football team participates in a Mondial, etc. And I can confirm this- for the 10 days we spent in the country, we met mostly smiley faces and kind people.

Now back to the places of interest in Medellin.

• Revolution monument

It is a mixture of social, agricultural, religious meaning and is located on a square between the City hall and the Palace of justice. They are all located in the central Alpujarra district.

• The Antioquia Railway

You can see remains at the old railways station close to the Revolution monument. It is a historic railway system which used for a very long time to link the districts by the Magdalena river. Antiquia was a region known only about its gold mining and the railway system was owned by it. Its main purpose was to connect Antiquia with Medellin.

• Park of Lights (once called The Crime Square)

It used to be a central market with a lot of prostitutes and also crime. It was buried and turned into a beautiful square (with bamboo-like pillars).

• Carabobo (stupid face) pedestrian street

This is the main shopping street of Medellin where you can just stroll and watch the trade happening around you.

• El Palacio

This building was once the palace of justice, nowadays turned into a shopping mall (it was built in 1920s).

• True cross church

The church was built by foreigners. There are a lot of prostitutes in this area. People used religion to clear their sins (as just before entering the church they used these women); there are a lot of cheap hotels in this area which are used mainly for hourly stay :).

• Botero Plaza

It is an outdoor square showcasing 23 sculptures. It has the name of the artist Fernando Botero who created the statues. The interesting thing about these sculptures is that they have disproportional forms.

• Palace of Culture

Designed by a Belgium architecture Rafael Uribe who left as the locals did not like his work. The sculptures around look a bit fat (another examples of democratic architecture), they were donated by the sculpturist, they are not proportional. The warrior in from if the building- they believe if you touch the penis, you are going to find a boyfriend/gf.

• Berrio park

The park is dedicated to the governor who settled the creation of Medellin. The place is meeting point for street musicians.

• 3 gondolas (cable cars)

Actually they are part of the city transportation and you can use some of them with the ticket you had purchased for the subway. There are three cable cars- North, East, West. The best recommended one is North one, although most of them offer very nice view to the city. We had taken the longest one which actually consists of two parts. The second section actually brings you outside the city, high in the mountain (around 2700m in height) where you can do some mountain trekking.

• Comuna 13

This is something which we consider one of the most interesting things in Medellin and something you cannot find in many countries. Unfortunately we were not able to visit in the period. All the tours were cancelled as the previous day there were some gunshots and the guides wanted to take precautions (unlucky timing for us: there were no tours just for a couple of days, which coincided with our visit). Comuna 13 is the district where the drug cartels used to live (and most probably they still do). 10 years ago a tourist could to even think of going there, but nowadays it is relatively safe and quite popular place to visit.

• San Antonio square

Birds of Peace park- the most interesting thing about this place are the statues of two birds- the wounded bird and the bird of peace, a symbol of transformation. The first one- the wounded one, is half destroyed and it has quite interesting story. There was a concert on the square and there was a bomb during the concert put exactly in this statue (23 people were killed). The statue was half destroyed and instead of removing it completely, the mayor of the town requested that it stays there and they added a new one. Thus the old one reminds the locals about this tragedy while the new bird is the symbol of transformation, of the positive present and future.

Where to eat/ drink in Medellin:

We had only three nights there, I can share only those things which we tried and we were happy with:

• Salon Malaga – the oldest beer bar in Medellin. It has special spirit and obviously is not that popular. There weren’t as many people as one might expect for such a place. We were there during the day and this might have some impact.

  

• Area with a lot of restaurants – near metro station Poblado. You will find plenty of options to eat there. La Poblado is also the safest area for accommodation. This is true, but this has nothing to do with the rest of the city- you will not feel the real Medellin there.
• We recommended Envy rooftop bar located in The Charlee hotel. As it is mainly a sushi place and we wanted to experience the local cuisine, we just had some drinks. We enjoyed the nice atmosphere and view and then we went downstairs in some of the places around.

Envy Rooftop Bar offering very nice view to the surrounding 

• A nice and very lively bar&restaurant is 37 Park Medellin. It is a popular place also among the locals. It would be better if you book a table before you go. They have a nice garden and you sit on small wooden chairs. Of course this is a modern, hipster place, so do not expect to taste traditional Colombian food.

Guatapé and La Piedra del Peñol  

This can be a one-day trip from Medellin, but you can also spend a night there. As we didn’t have that much time, we went there for a day trip. My advice will be that you take one of the first buses departing from Medellin, so that you can enjoy the beauty of the huge rock free of many tourists (we took the first bus at 5:30 and this was enough to get there on time for the opening of the rock). Buses depart from the northern bus station in Medellin located at Caribe metro station.

The bus ticket to La Piedra del Peñol (which is located 5 mins before Guatapé) costs COL$ 13,000 pesos and it takes around 2 hours to get there. I would recommend that you visit the rock first and then go for a walk in Guatapé. La Piedra del Peñol was formed from an eruption of a volcano and is nowadays located amid a huge dam which makes the surrounding pretty amazing.

The rock opens at 9:00 and closes at 5:30 as afterwards is becomes dark and it can be a bit scary (it is also high and the weather conditions change fast). The entrance fee is COL$ 44,000. You have to climb 657 stairs to the top which would take between 20-30 mins depending on how fast you are. It would be wise if you bring some water with you (there are a few cafes on the top, but better have your own one).

The view from the top is rewarding for the effort to climb all the stairs. Early in the morning it is quite cold up there, so bring a scarf or something to put on you.

In case you do not want to stay on the top, you can as well enjoy a good view from the restaurants at the bottom- they are also located in a small hill and overlook the dam.  

Once you finish with the visit of La Piedra del Peñol you can catch one of the buses passing by. These are the same ones you took from Medellin. For the fee of COL$  2,000 you can get to the town of Guatapé. The town suffered a lot in the past. There were floods many times. Afterwards they completely restored the town . Even with the first steps you make in Guatapé, you realize that it is different from everything you have seen. At least this was the case with all the people from our group.

Some might consider it too artificial and mainly made for tourists, but we really liked its cuteness and colorfulness. The town is quite small, so spending an afternoon or maximum a night there is really enough. What makes the town special are the colors of the houses. Every single house (I’m not exaggerating) has different color. Also there is special object in the lower part of the wall.

The original design is a flower, but later on people realized that they can be more creative. Nowadays they paint other objects. Some of the them are very thematic – if there is a souvenir shop, you will see some Colombian signs. If it is a barber, the objects are scissors, and many others. The town is not big (not at all). You just spend a lot of time taking photos of these lovely houses.

Main places of interest in Guatapé:

• Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Carmen – this is the main square of the town. 

  

• The fish square– it is simply a nice square amids many colourful buildings which has a big fish sculpture around it.

 

• Craft shops– you will find a lot of them. Besides typical souvenirs, you can buy handmade jewelry, shoes, clothes and some pieces of art.

  

• Pablo´s abandoned mansion “La Manuela”– we did not have enough time, but it is located in the Guatapé area and it might be interesting to see.

After you finish your walk, you can enjoy a meal at one of the restaurants around the main square.

As the buses for the way back can be quite busy, make sure you take your ticket well in advance.  Do not wait for the last 5 mins before The departure of the bus you have chosen.

The other interesting places we visited in Colombia- Tayrona National Park and Cartagena, as well as recommendations from the local cuisine, you can read in the next post about Colombia. More inspirations for long haul trips you can find on the link.