Traveling through Colombia - 1st stop Medellin

in #travel7 years ago (edited)

Let me guess: you saw this title, and immediately thought about Narcos and Pablo Escobar.

Unfortunately, Colombia and especially Medellin suffer a bad rep thanks to Pablo, and even today still scare off many tourists who believe that they might be kidnapped or murdered by a drug cartel.

Sometimes I think that’s a good thing, as it will keep the country from becoming too touristy too fast, and inevitably more expensive. Right now, it is ridiculously cheap to travel to Colombia, compared to many other Central American countries including Panama, where I currently live.

Colombia is the new Central American hot spot, and since it happens to be my neighboring country, I thought I’d go check it out for myself and not buy into all the stereotypes. I didn't regret it!

First stop Medellin:

From Panama City in Panama, Medellin is only a short 1 hour flight away. When we arrived, it was already 9pm, so unfortunately I can’t tell you much about my first impression of the city, as it was already dark.

The airport in Medellin however was extremely well organized, more so than in Panama, and we could easily find a collective bus that would take us to a stop near the city. From there, a young couple was waiting for all the passengers, and made us form a line to place us in taxis. What impressed me the most was the fact that these kids didn’t seem to be working for anyone, but were extremely polite and professional. I believe the taxi drivers gave them a cut of the fare, but regardless of who they worked for, it was efficient.

We stayed in a nice quiet neighborhood called El Poblado, which has many little restaurants and bars close by if you want to get some nightlife action. I would definitely recommend staying there, as it’s just a short walk to the subway station (Poblado).

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Everything in the center is easily accessed that way. Don’t even bother taking taxis, the Metro is extremely practical. Did I mention cheap????

Worth seeing in Medellin: I only spent 3 days there, but I really enjoyed the following sites:

The Botanical Garden

I’m a bit obsessed with my fruit and veggie garden, so it was the logical first visit for me. We found some cool “local residents” along the way =).

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The garden is located right next to the Universidad subway station, and is definitely worth a visit. They even sell plenty of seeds if you want to try and grow your own exotic fruits at home!

Plaza Botero

Plaza Botero was fun to stroll through, and pretty cool if you’re into Fernando Botero’s art. You’ll find 23 of his bronze statues in the park, and his museum is completely free of charge, so you’ll have no excuse to take in some local culture.

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Shopping at El Hueco

If you’re into shopping for some clothes and shoes, you cannot miss El Hueco which means the hole in English. You’ll have to have patience and time, as you won’t believe the quantity of shops you will see one next to the other, all selling similar items. It’s cheap to shop in Colombia, so get ready to go on a shopping spree. I highly recommend paying with your credit card in order to avoid getting ripped off by exchange offices, who always charge a hefty fee. With your credit card, you’ll be charged the actual exchange rate, so it makes much more sense (or go to an ATM and take out cash there with your debit card).

Parque Arvi

This was probably my favorite part of our Medellin trip. You will need to take the metro to Santo Domingo station first, and from there you transfer to the Metro Cable which will take you over the mountains, into the largest Eco-reserve of the region. If you don’t like heights, maybe reconsider this one =). But it allows you to enjoy the view of Medellin from up above, and is truly impressive.
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Once you arrive at the top you can hire a guide and go on a hike, but Carlos and I decided to go eat something first since it was lunch time. We found this little place which was not inundated by tourists, and ordered some local food.

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While we were waiting, we were approached by a friendly Colombian who wanted to present us his coca products. Coca is the raw ingredient used to make cocaine, and has become the new super-food in Colombia. The Indigenous have been chewing the plant for centuries, as it allowed them to work hard for many hours at a time without getting tired. Coca leaves will give you energy, and have many other health benefits. Products are sold in the form of coffee, ointments, tea, powders that you can add to your smoothies, and even flour.

The guy was funny and not pushy at all, which is why we humored him and kept listening. His Coca and Marijuana products are locally produced by the Colombian indigenous community (they are the only ones allowed to grow and harvest coca leaves). He even brought us some dried coca leaves to chew on. My mouth went immediately numb (coca leaves have analgesic properties).
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So we bought everything you see on this photo.

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We had fun in Medellin, but 3 days aren’t enough to see it all. Soon, we will plan another trip to discover the other sites, and of course I will blog about it. Stay tuned for the next blog about Cartagena and San Andres.

Cheers =)

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Nice pics, especially the one with the storm. Looks like a very nice city! Would love to visit South America one day.

thanks, @stabilowl =). You should definitely visit, I'm sure you'll love it!

sorry @evecab I just wanted to ask @stabilowl something important: I was checking you were able to get good steem power in low time on steemit, I see you transferred to your account Steem Coins. I would like to learn a bit on your formula, what is blocktrade? are you doing cryptotrading? I tried to look for you on the steemchat but no luck, maybe we can chat privately? sorry, I don't want you to think I am stalker =)

@el-cr That's OK there's nothing special about it. Blocktrade is the trading platform on steemit. If you go to your wallet there should be a button that says buy STEEM. It will take you to the Blocktrade page where you can buy and sell STEEM using common cryptocurrency such as bitcoin or ether.

Thank you!

It is great to read about different places, especially ones that are not so popular. Love those pictures. I am jealous but motivated :)
Keep having fun and posting us :D

Nice post fellow Blue Belt! I've lived in Medellin for the last 5 years and now happily call it home. I just started with SteemIt but your post has inspired me to do a proper write up of Medellin shortly. I've always wanted to check out San Andres but after your post I can honestly say no tengo mucho ganas para ir. I will one day but living in Medellin one can get spoiled and not really want to go anywhere. I'm looking forward to your write up on Filandia. My boss has a finca there and I absolutely fell in love with the town and surrounding area. I had no idea the pueblo was so happening on the weekends until I saw it with my own eyes. My plan is to acquire a few hectares, build a nice home and do a proper permaculture design such that I can be completely self sufficient. Anyways, good work!!

OMG @patriciorayaz that sounds like an amazing plan! My parents just moved to Filandia , so I will make a detailed post about it as soon as I'm going =) Also, welcome to Steemit! Good to see more BJJers here!

No way... did they get a finca in the surrounding area? My bosses finca is right off the road leading to Filandia from the highway between Pereira and Armenia. I just took my parents there for the first time when they were visiting and they fell in love with it. Look forward to seeing your Filandia post.

they are looking for land now, and in the meantime, they rented a house =) I will keep you posted for sure!

Thank you, for this! My wife, @dianarpo is from Colombia and I've had the good fortune to have visited Medellin around a dozen times in the past 12 years. I'm happy to report I've never had any trouble, and am still in awe of the physical beauty of the place and generosity of its people.

Oh that's great! Is she from Medellin, or from somewhere else? My parents actually just moved to Filandia, so I will definitely go to Colombia much more often now...

Yes, she's from Medellin and I neglected to mention I visited other places, too, like Bogota or Cartagena. Wishing you happy further discoveries in the Colombia!

time to plan my next trip!

good post....pls follow me

nice, I like it, 🤗😍

Nice post! I look forward to making my first visit to the city next year.