Medellín

The bus ride from Cartagena to Medellín wasn't too bad at all.

I had read somewhere that overnight busses in Colombia blasted the air conditioners to a point where the interior resembled more of an igloo than a coach bus.

Being the cold blooded North American that I am, I figured the air conditioning was just cold for the local Colombians, them being from areas so close to the equator (temps vary minimally year-round).

I shrugged this advice off, how cold could it really be?

Threw my tshirt, shorts, and sandals on like normal, and threw a long sleeve shirt in my bag just in case.

I was sweating when I got on the bus from lugging my bags around and the added stress of finding a good seat to stretch out. When I boarded the bus, it was AMAZING. I hadnt felt A/C since I got here, apart from quick trips into the supermarket, so this felt so good.

I should have taken a hint from my bus riding counterparts when they all started unpacking blankets, slippers, sweaters, hats, gloves, the works. I watched them apprehensively, but concluded to myself that they were just warm blooded people and that I would be comfortable. I think I settled on this conclusion for no other reason than the cargo hatch was shut, and all opportunity to fetch warmer clothes was left behind in the dust.

I damn near got frostbite. I was curled up in the fetal position trying to conserve warmth, rotating every 10 minutes or so to get my legs out of the arctic jet-stream above.

I actually slept decently. 14 hours after we left Cartagena, the bus arrived in the bustling city of Medellín.

From first glance, this place was on the exact opposite end of the spectrum from Cartagena.
Everything here looked new, shiny, and clean. The city is placed at the bottom of a valley, with the poor populares climbing around the city on the sides of the mountains.

There is a state-of-the-art metro system equipped with cable cars, and a highway that runs right through the guts from north to south.

Grabbed a cab, and set off towards the richest area of town (Poblado) in search for my hostel.

Since I got here I've been discovering new parts of the city everyday. The famous sculptor Fernando Botero was born here, hence many of his overweight sculptures pay homage to the late artist by gracing themselves in a few of Medellín's countless parks and plazas.

Myself and a Norwegian couple took the cable car up one day to see not only the view from above, but also an upclose look at some of the cities infamously dangerous neighborhoods.

The clash between the state of the art Gondola and the tin-roofed, dirt floor huts all smashed on top of each other is too obvious to ignore.

A woman I was chatting with on the cable car told us that some of the cars have bullet holes in them from the neighborhoods below. Crazy!

Also checked out the botanical garden for as long as I could stand (~15 minutes), and some fresh water aquarium. Got nothin on the Shedd.

Tomorrow I'm looking to get out of Medellin, and into some smaller towns. I've heard good things about Guatape, so we'll go from there!






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