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Printed: November twenty third 2022
Plans usually change as many people have realized all through our travels. The plan seems to be good and seemed to be manageable….however then….the universe strikes. For us it was our path to Medellín. As we had been driving from the airport in Pereira on our method to espresso nation, our information talked about that the path to Medellín might take as much as 20 hours.What?…. how can that be? We had been to be pushed there in a number of days. It will usually take about six hours, however apparently some truck drivers are fairly upset about will increase in gas prices by the federal government and have taken to blocking the primary freeway to Medellín. The considered spending 20 hours in a automobile wasn’t a nice one, so we contacted our fixer and so they put us on a one-hour flight from Pereira to Medellin. Drawback solved courtesy of an airline aptly named Straightforward Fly.
The flight on a twin prop aircraft took us over the mountains and into town. Medellín from the air appeared magical as it’s positioned in a valley and constructed up on both aspect of the Aburrá Valley to the highest of some fairly tall hills, as town itself is
virtually 5000 toes above sea degree to start with. With a inhabitants of over two and a half million folks, that is no small metropolis and is unfold out. From there, a brief experience to the resort and we had been safely ensconced in a metropolis that to most People and others previously held the title of one of many world’s harmful cities. A bit on that later….
Our first night time in Medellín included an opportunity to re-connect with a fellow TravelBlogger, Johnny, who has lived right here for nearly three years. Appears he found we had been on the town and we received to spend a really nice night getting caught up as we hadn’t seen him since Paris, virtually six years in the past! He met us on the resort the place we took a pleasant stroll by way of this contemporary slice of town, which is named Zona Rosa and has fairly the colourful night time life. The air was full of the sounds of pulsating music and the youthful crowd was simply beginning to start their night time in town.
Communa 13
Medellín has many various boroughs as it’s unfold out so huge. Our first day of exploring took us
as much as Communa 13, which has a relatively darkish and checkered previous, however now could be secure and residential to many road artists. The world is closely populated and again within the day was a middle for paramilitary, guerilla and gang exercise. The crime and homicide price was exceptionally excessive at one time.
The wall artwork is spectacular and the realm has embraced tourism as a method of financial help for its residents. We’re instructed the bars and eating places come alive round 4pm and go previous midnight. The views of town beneath confirmed simply how a lot elevation change there was from this borough all the way down to town middle. Many areas of city are poor however this one specifically stood out because it was tough to stroll to different components of city because of the steep hills. One of many objectives of native leaders was to create a approach for folks relatively far-off and up in these elevated boroughs to get to the middle of town, the place extra alternatives for work existed. A sequence of escalators had been put in and these proved to be most helpful because the ascent to this explicit borough is sort of arduous for
most in addition to time consuming. The folks of this part are now not remoted and may get higher paying jobs within the middle of town.
The Metropolis and Intercourse Tourism
We made our approach all the way down to tour town sq. the place we noticed many Botero bronze statues and sadly, prostitutes. Intercourse tourism is a significant downside in Colombia and intercourse trafficking is an enormous problem for the federal government. We noticed many very younger women who had been scantily clad and smiling at anybody who would look their approach. Total, Colombia is a poor nation and being a intercourse employee could be extra financially rewarding than most of the jobs obtainable. The minimal wage in Colombia pays about $200 a month.
Subsequent up was a experience on the metro, which Medellín is sort of pleased with. Appears they received one and Bogata nonetheless has not….they prefer to brag on this. We had been crammed in like sardines and our information talked about that it was not even rush hour. We put our masks on and rode six or seven stops, the place we received off and hopped on a tram that took us up the aspect of town and supplied
us with expansive views. Again down we went and took the metro again into town for a really good lunch. We’ve famous that the meals in Colombia just isn’t notably well-spiced and could be bland total, however the soups could be fairly good.
Climbing El Peñol, Pablo Escobar and drug trafficking
A day journey was within the offing the following day and we got down to go to Embalse Peñol-Guatapé the place a big reservoir was created by the development of a hydroelectric dam that gives virtually one-third of the electrical energy in Colombia. A ship experience enabled us to see the highest of a church spire within the water, which was previously positioned in the course of the city. Folks had been relocated a number of miles away by this undertaking and this should have precipitated some consternation among the many locals on the time.
The reservoir can be residence to one of many trip properties or social gathering palace of the notorious Pablo Escobar. How notorious you could ask? He was the only real head of the Medellín Cartel of the Nineteen Seventies and 80s. On the time of his demise, he was reportedly price $30 billion. It’s estimated that his cartel was
bringing in over 70 tons of cocaine month-to-month into the US utilizing a community of smuggling routes from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, by way of Colombia that led finally to the US. We had been instructed that about 40% of the jap aspect of Colombia is jungle so there isn’t any was to trace what goes on. In 1991 he surrendered to authorities and was sentenced to solely 5 years in a jail of his self-built jail La Catedral and likewise dodged extradition to the US as effectively. He escaped after the federal government wished to switch him to a extra normal jail and was hunted down and killed by the Colombian Nationwide Police.
Regardless of his brutal historical past, he additionally was very philanthropic, constructing homes for low-income folks amongst different initiatives like energy traces, soccer fields and the like. To some, he was often called “Robin Hood Paisa.” He was even an alternate within the Colombian Meeting. All this time, there have been massacres on the streets of Medellin and different cities, together with cops, judges and the like, making Medellin the “homicide capital of the world.” That mentioned….he was one bad man.
However again to the extra sedate and
lovely websites….we additionally climbed the 700 plus stairs at El Peñol, which is often known as “La Piedra” (The Stone). It is a 200 meter-high rock which gives some gorgeous views of the encompassing lake. Fairly a climb, however we made it! After we had been half approach up our climb of El Peñol we observed a medic. We requested our information to seek out out if anybody ever had cardiac arrest and he had to offer CPR. We had been instructed about two every day and as much as six or seven on weekends. We mentioned that have to be medical consideration not CPR. He emphatically mentioned CPR. We nonetheless suppose one thing was misplaced in translation and people quantity mirrored the necessity for oxygen or medical help. We’ll take images of the climb to our doc to show we don’t want a stress check!
After this feat, we traveled a brief distance to the close by city of Guatapé, which was a captivating village. As we wandered about, we stopped at an artist’s studio as we noticed a portray outdoors which caught our eye. We chatted with the artist for some time and talked value and delivery. After an exquisite lunch at
an Indian restaurant, we returned to the studio and purchased the portray. On our approach again to the resort in Medellín, we additionally stopped on a hill which supplied yet one more good view of town and a thunderstorm that was close by, however apparently not too threatening.
A darkish previous
On our final morning in Medelíin, we visited the Casa de Memoria, which is a historical past of the violence in Medellín from the early 1960’s till peace was solid early on this century. Free to all, it’s yet one more sobering reminder of how violent folks could be. FARC was answerable for over 200,000 deaths, however there have been additionally paramilitary teams which had been shaped initially for defense for the rich which grew to become infamous in later years.
Colombia is a really advanced nation with a darkish previous. Not till we got here to Medellín did we now have a real understanding of the multi-layered crime, greed, homicide and corruption that has plagued this nation. Prior to now there have been many authorities officers who had been corrupt and so they fought with and in opposition to the army, the guerrillas and the para-military. The para-military alone is believed to kill practically 250,000
folks. Earlier than 2002, when issues on this nation calmed down folks would disappear incessantly and nobody was sure which group was accountable. The para-military had been usually employed by the rich households for defense as they did not suppose the opposite teams had been serving their curiosity. In Colombia, there’s a stark distinction between the individuals who have cash and the acute poverty within the different sections of city. On one hand Medellin is trendy and thrilling … alternatively it’s uncooked, gritty and poor. The present President was a guerrilla fighter, however now could be representing a extra leftist agenda, which is a change within the political management in Colombia.
As we traveled across the nation we met a number of ex-pats. It is a very inexpensive nation to dwell in and the value for housing, Colombia is providing a digital nomad visa, which is encouraging extra foreigners to dwell and work right here. That is most definitely going to be extra frequent in additional nations world wide because the digital age is most definitely upon us.
The place we stayed:
Lodge Diez
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