Metro cable to Parque Arvi

This was the best day of our trip so far. Wow. 

We worked out that we could get to a national park with hiking trails by public transport and we set off after breakfast. First we took a taxi to a metro station, then took one line to Acevedo and then changed onto another line going to Santo Domingo. From Santa Domingo we knew we could take a cable car to the national park. What was amazing about this trip that the metro line that went from Acevedo to Santo Domingo was also a cable car and was part of the metro! I don't know of any other city in the world that has a cable car as part of the city's cheap public transport. 

The metro cable is about 10 years old and must have transformed the city. Many of the residential working class neighbourhoods like Santo Domingo are located high up in the mountains surrounding Medellin. Medellin centre is located in the basin made from the surrounding mountains and you can see houses on the the slopes in all directions. It's a pretty stunning city visually. Some areas of the city are almost 2000 metres above sea level. We had a good look at them through the window of the cable car.The air is cool up there, chickens, dogs and children seem to run around freely. Church services are held in structures that have no walls and a bit of tarp for a room, laundry dries in a zigzag of lines across flat roof terraces.

A taxi driver the night before had warned us that it wasn't safe to take the metro cable and we didn't understand why, so we asked him. He said that "comunes" get into the cars and cause trouble. Comunes? Delinquents. Kids from the poor neighbourhoods targeting rich out of towners getting the metro to the national park Fortunately, no "comunes" got on our cable car. A woman with her young son, and a family from out of town. We all chatted amiably. We learned that there were lines of over an hour during rush hour to catch a cable car. About 6 people can fit in one, so it would take a while for a queue to go down.

Santo Domingo was the end of the line - a barrio high up the mountain overlooking the city. We transferred to another cable car that would take us to the national park.

Jardin Botanico

To take a break from the craziness that was El Centro, we jumped back on the Metro and got off at Universidad. It's a quiet, spacious neighbourhood housing several museums, the university and the botanical gardens. We often seek out botanical gardens on our travels. Actually, our first date was a rainy walk in the botanical gardens in Sydney over 21 years ago. We have since been to botanical gardens in Argentina, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Singapore. We spent a couple of hours in the peaceful gardens here in Medellin along with the cats, giant lizards and snogging couples.

We learned a new word in the cafe there: "chorro". We guessed (incorrectly) from context that a "chorro" of milk meant a drop, but it actually means a "ton". Lukewarm milk with a hint of coffee was pretty hard to stomach. We were confusing it with una "gota" de leche. Won't make that mistake again.

For lunch we tried a menu ejecutiva which is a set lunch and very cheap. Everything seems to come with some version of fried bananas, rice, avocados, corn, arepas (fried cornbread with cheese) and refried beans. Lovely, but I might get sick of it quite quickly.

Plazoleta de las Esculturas and Museo de Antioquia

The artist (he of chubby dancers and the like) was from Medellin and his work seems to be everywhere. Actually, he donated all of the pieces in the museum including controversial painting produced in 1998 called "Escobar dying". The plaza outside contains around a dozen voluminous bronze statues. Inside the museum was also work by other Colombian artists. Another blogger took some photos inside. I like the chubby Jesus painting...http://bohemiantraveler.com/2010/12/botero-museo-antioquia-medellin-colombia/

Dotted around the square were vendors selling hats; clerks sitting at little desks, type-writers poised ready to type to order; people with weighing scales - for 2000 pesos they would tell you what you wanted to hear; jewelry sales people; people selling balloons; men offering to take your photo in front of a statue for 5000 pesos; and pigeons. Always pigeons.

Medellin

I have been too busy to write my blog which is a good sign that I am having a great trip!

We spent three fabulous and fun packed days and nights in Medellin. As we left the city in a taxi, I said to David that even if we did nothing else in Colombia, I would consider my trip to have been amazing. I hardly took any photos in Medellin as we tended to leave our phones safely in the hotel. I took my camera out a couple of times, so I'll be able to download my photos later.

Medellin is quite different from other parts of Colombia. Firstly, the climate is absolutely perfect. It's known as the "City of eternal spring" as the temperature stays at around 25 degrees all year round. Secondly, the people proudly "Paisa" which means that they are very proud of their Antioquia roots. People from Antioquia are known to be hardworking and independent. The region seems to have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and is the main place for coffee growing and exportation. The "Zona Cafetera" is also probably still the main region for drugs...Medellin has had a fairly violent recent past, and today it is still considered to be a little edgy. It's only listed as the 14th most violent city in the world now. Big time drugs gangster Pablo Escobar was killed in 1996 and although there are still a lot of small drugs cartels based around here, it is nothing like it used to be.

We had booked a hotel called the Dan Carlton Belfort in the leafy Castropol area of the city between the neighbourhoods of Poblado and Industriales. It was a fairly traditional, but beautiful 5 star hotel up in the hills with good views of the city. They upgraded us to a suite which made me very happy after 12 hours on a scary bus.

I'll post some highlights as separate blog entries

Pool time

Love the constant Colombian tango music!
http://youtu.be/HK2tB-ASa9w

Yummy breakfast

Beans & rice, eggs, mini choris, spicy relish and

Hooray! Upgraded to a suite in Medallin

Danger, high risk of accidents

Roller-coaster ride through the Andes

Were we out of our minds? Why on earth did we think that it would be a good idea to take a bus from Bogota to Medellin? It only costs 50 dollars to fly there and takes an hour. By bus it costs 30 dollars and is supposed to take 8-9 hours. Obviously we got there in one piece or I wouldn't be writing this blog entry, but there were times on that hellish journey that I thought we wouldn't make it. Let me back up and explain why we decided to take a bus...

When we travelled in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, we mainly travelled by bus.  It was a fantastic way to see the countryside and, because of the huge distances involved, we frequently spent 24-30 hours on a bus. The buses were very safe and comfortable. The drivers drove carefully, there was entertainment and regular stops. We'd forgotten the nightmarish bus trips in Peru and Bolivia. The human mind is very selective and tends to blot out the less positive memories when making decisions. Predictably, we remembered our experiences in Argentina fondly and decided to get the bus.

The receptionist at our hotel in Bogota, Paola, called us a taxi and asked us what our plans were.

Us: We are taking a bus to Medellin

Paola: Por que? (Why?)

That should have given us a clue...

We bought tickets at the bus terminal, grabbed some water and a couple of chocolate bars, went through security and got ready to board the 9am SuperExpress to Medellin. The bus came in at 9 and on we got. There was plenty of legroom and the bus was clean. So far so good. One of the staff members from the bus company, Bolivariano, got on once we were boarded and explained the rules. She then took out a camcorder and recorded all of the passengers "for your own protection". I'm still not sure why they do that. We had to show ID to buy bus tickets and they had our names. David had some theories which did not reassure me. There was also a camera on the bus recording everything. They never did that in Argentina...

The first part of our journey was on a dual carriageway and I relaxed, read my book enjoying the scenery and the Colombian fiesta music. I stopped reading once we got to the Andes as the road became very windy and it made me feel a bit sick. I guess I should have looked at the route more closely before deciding to take a bus. The entire journey is through mountainous areas. There is only one lane in each direction and the road is full of massive trucks and big buses. We wove up and up and the road became more and more windy. This is fine, but I can't believe the speed we travelled at for the rest of the journey. Each time we came up behind a truck (mostly enormous gas ones with PELIGRO (danger) written on it), we'd put our foot down and overtake. This meant going onto the other side of the road. At top speed. On bends. Agghhhh!!! Absolutely terrifying! Other buses and trucks coming the other way were doing the same thing of course. In order not to die of fear, we rationalised this practice. Thousands of vehicles make this journey everyday, but we didn't see any evidence of accidents and we hadn't been warned of the danger. Presumably there is a system whereby you expect to meet another vehicle coming the other way and are ready to break / let someone in / swerve so that there isn't an accident. 

The journey took 12 hours in the end with only one 20 minute stop to shovel down some chicken-rice.

Any positives? Gorgeous scenery. Mountains. Villages. Rivers. Farms. Oh, and we didn't die. Also, we have a sense of smug satisfaction that we roughed it and live to tell the tale. As someone on Radio 3 said last week you don't feel that you have travelled properly if you just teleport in. We are still flying around Colombia from now on, mind.

Changing of the guards in Bogota

Ten second video clip of the marching

Road from Bogota to Medellin

Terrifying trip. This is a slow segment of our journey. Listen for the fiesta music over the telephone conversation that the woman in front is having!
http://youtu.be/mdxK_9hoQFU

Sightseeing in Bogota

After the detour to the commercial district, we got on track with our sightseeing proper. Sorry to list these like a shopping list. Might be boring to read, but I have done this for my benefit so that I don't forget all the wonderful things we saw today. You might enjoy the pictures, but for some reason I can only get them to go at the end of the post and not under the relevant text. iPads can be very annoying sometimes and I can't be bothered to faff around with the html.

1. The cathedral on Plaza Bolivar. 

The plaza was interesting. Full of pigeons and traders. The cathedral was rebuild in the 1800s and is vary spartan inside. One point of interest was the gruesome stations of the cross posters. I'll post a picture of the Plaza I took from the Museo de la Independencia.

2. Museo de la Independencia / Casa del Florero

A beautiful and old, old building that was once a home on the corner of Plaza Bolivar. Nice exhibitions with text and recordings that really stretched my Spanish. I'll post a photo I took in the courtyard of the house.

3. Museo del Botero

Botero is an artist from Medellin and I'm sure everyone has seen his iconic painting of the chubby dancing couple. It's housed in the Botero museum in Bogota along with paintings and bronze sculptures of other voluminous people, animals and fruit. There are also some nice pieces by other famous artists - Picasso, Lautrec, Renoir, Miro, Henry Moore. I'll post a pic that David took of the enormous bronze hand at the entrance to the museum. If you want to see more of Botero's work click here.

4. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Centre

It's a centre named after the writer - there isn't a museum or anything. Actually, we just went to the Juan Valdez cafe which is a bit of a cultural icon in itself. It seems to be Colombia's answer to Starbucks. Loved the place, but I wasn't keen on the dishwater coffee.

5. Changing of the guard

This was very cool. We saw the parade in and out of the Casa de Narino (presidential house). I'll post pics and a video clip of this.

6. San Augustin church

Very beautiful and peaceful church built in 1575. You can see this church in one of the pictures of the marching guards.

7. El Claustro

A university owned building. Beautifully restored housing an exhibition on forensic science. I'll post a photo of the cloistered courtyard.

8. Santa Clara church

9. Museo del Oro

Wow. Mind blowing. A huge gold collection containing 55,000 pieces. I loved the Offering Room which showed how gold was used for rituals. Must go back as there was too much to take in all at once.

10. Drinks on a terrace overlooking the street 19

We looked at our guidebook and decided that we'd go to Medellin next. Time for a look at Colombia's hard working, hard partying city.

Unplanned visit to the commercial district, Bogota

On our first morning we were up and about before the museums opened, so wandered around in the sunshine. We found a bustling area where traders were selling their hearts out. There were enthusiastic calls for just about anything. Mostly, traders were trying to entice people into their shops. Where there were no shops, there were shopping trolleys full of stuff. No shopping trolly? No problem. Load up a child's push-chair (stroller) and get selling. Actually they do that on Henry Street in Dublin too. It seems that some traders run thriving businesses this way. All you need is some merchandise (lollies, popcorn, soft toys, fruit, pictures of saints, lotto tickets, lighters, bootleg DVDs) and a trolly or basket and some pegs (so that you can clip said merchandise onto the sides of the basket or trolly). Another successful business model is to chain up a couple of mobile phones to your cart and charge people 200 pesos per minute to make a call.

Similar shops cluster around the same street. For example, one street had three hat shops on it. I liked "Sombreros Brando" best because of the name, but all three seemed to have the same hats. I love that there are hat shops in Bogota. And gentlemen's clothing shops. It's from another age.

Another street was full of bookshops and sellers were outside pushing their wares. Many were very persistent: "Books, books..Want some books?". We always want books, but this time we said "no, gracias". I can just imagine how that conversation would have gone if we had said "si, claro". They would have desperately tried to get us to buy one of their medical textbooks.

We found a lot of soft toy shops. Three floors of little furry faces squashed against the window. You'd almost want to rescue them. There were malls full of jeans shops too. All the mannequins were much curvier than average. Much closer to shapes of real women. Hooray for Colombia!

So, we went out to see museums and churches, but ended up in the commercial district. However, we really enjoyed this unplanned detour. We turned back when we got to Plaza Jimenez, a massive tatty square lined with hardware stores containing a heavy presence of riot police, a few protesters, lots of pigeons and scattered litter.

Parque Berro

This place was a blast. So many things going on. A lot of men aged 60+ hanging out - all wearing checked shirts; vendors of just about everything; musicians; pigeons. The noise was deafening.

We popped into the beautiful basilica and then did a lap of its outer walls. They were lined with knock-off DVDs - religious films one side, porn and everything else the other.

On the other part of the plaza was a busy market. We followed the crowds. Men sat in bars drinking beer. Vendors peddled fruit we'd never heard of. Ugly 1960s tower-blocks loomed. Outside the casino (across from the church full of people singing praise to a fiesta beat), prostitutes waited for business. Central Medellin is a crazy place. We loved it.

La Candelaria, Bogota

We are staying in the old town or "La Candelaria". Our hotel is in a Spanish colonial building and has simple rooms around a series of courtyards. It's a bit more rustic than we are used to, but it's quite charming. Whitewashed walls, wooden floors, exotic plants on the patios. Our room is tiny and the floorboards creek and move when you walk on them sending the wardrobe wobbling. The safe is in the bathroom. That's a new one. Despite this, we had a great night's sleep last night and the breakfast was fabulous. Juice, fruit, bread, eggs, cafe con leche. We sat on a little balcony looking over rooftops below and Montserrat Church high in the mountains above. We are within walking distance of Plaza Bolivar and most of the museums, so the location is pretty good. Even at night, the streets around us are fairly busy and it doesn't feel dangerous at all. There are a couple of universities nearby so there are always plenty of students around. We walked around a bit last night from dusk. We stayed off the quiet streets. We aren't so naive to think that the whole city is as safe as La Candelaria is. There are a lot of police around. With guns. 

Why are you going to Colombia?

Good question. We've been asked that a lot lately. We've had a few wise cracks about picking up packages and hanging out with drug barons, but mainly people have just given us funny looks. Why are you going there? A few reasons:

• Do a Google Images search for Colombia. Go on....! It looks like a gorgeous country. Who wouldn't want to go there!
• We've always wanted to go. I think I trace my interest back to an international exhibition I went to in Valencia around 1995. There were beautiful posters on the "Colombia" stand, friendly people, and I think we even tried some Colombian food
• We travelled for 8 months in South America, but never made it further north than Peru. It's my favourite continent, so this needs to be rectified.
• I learned salsa for a while in Abu Dhabi. It's great fun. Salsa is really big in Colombia.
• I long to speak Spanish again.
• I have only been on a Caribbean beach once when we were in Mexico. Shocking. This needs to be rectified. I'll never forget how sugar-soft that white sand was.
• I have always wanted to see the beautiful colonial city of Cartagena.
• I love the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Imagine going to the place where "El amor en los tiempos del colera" was written!
• I have sponsored children in Colombia for about ten years so I feel a connection with the country
• The flight was reasonable. We got a good deal with Air France via Paris.
• It's apparently not as dangerous as it used to be.

11 damned good reasons for going. I'm so excited!