Medellín & Salento
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It took me most of the day to fly from Quito in Ecuador to Medellin in Colombia. It took 2 hours standing in a line at customs, however, whenever I felt annoyed at this I thought of Lucas on his 2 full days + 1 night of busing to get to Medellin. Money can’t buy happiness, but in this case, I think flying bought me happiness.
It was just me for the first 2 days in Medellin and I filled it with wandering the streets, a Comuna 13 tour, finding all the traditional Colombian food, and cruising at the rooftop pool/bar listening to the DJ’s.
The Comuna 13 tour was really interesting as it used to be the most dangerous neighbourhood in all of Colombia, while Pablo Escobar was alive. It was where the gorillas based themselves. If you don’t know much about the history of all this then you should look it up, or watch Nacos.
I tried many traditional Colombian dishes while in Medellin including bandeja paisas, arepas, patacones, and obleas. In my opinion, Colombia (and ecuador) has had the best food out of the countries we have visited.
The day Lucas arrived we went off and did seperate things in the morning as he wanted to do the Comuna 13 tour which I had already done. I took the metro to walk up Pueblito Paisa and visit the botanic gardens (which ended up being closed). We met back up for lunch and swim/spa before we headed out in the afternoon for a free walking tour of the area we were staying in, El Poblado.
The tour was super interesting and we learnt a lot about El Poblado. El Poblado is one of the richest areas in Medellin, however, barely any locals reside there permanently as it is more tourists and people renting or staying short term. It has bars and clubs everywhere which go off every single night of the week. It’s very popular for the distribution of cocain, with people asking you as you walk past them during broad daylight “what do you need”, or straight up “do you want coke”. Good to buy local right, very sustainable ;)
The next day we caught a 2 hour bus to Guatapé to check out the dam, climb El Peńon rock, and wander the town. Very nice area, but very touristy. That evening we did a “dance hall” class which is Colombias version of hip hop. We actually thought we were signing up for salsa lessons but when we got there and saw the teacher in track pants and sneakers we knew something was up. For those that know me well will know I learnt hip hop as a kid so I actually picked the moves and routine up pretty quick haha.
After this we had a couple drinks at the rooftop bar before wondering up the road to one of the clubs for “gringo Tuesday”. We were keen to experience nightlife in Medellin and this was one of the two nights we could both make work. The music being played in the club was mostly reggaeton so we got to watch the locals dancing, and try replicate it. It was fun!
The next morning we woke up early to make it to the bus terminal in time for our bus to Jardin. Unfortunately the bus was cancelled due to flooded roads, and the next available bus was going to mean our time in Jardin was going to be too short for the effort of getting there. Instead we pivoted with our plans and ended up busing to Salento that day which was next on the destination list anyway.
Salento is a small rural town known for its coffee, the Cocora valley hike (with the tall wax palm trees), and colourful buildings throughout the whole town (even on residential buildings). Below are some photos of what all the buildings looked like in the town.
There was also some cool wall art outside our hostel.
On our first day in Salento me and Lucas did a 7km loop to view Cascada Santa Rita which was pleasant but nothing too exciting. That evening Ash arrived and we went out for arepas and played boggle.
The next day we went and did the 12km Cocora Valley hike which took us past the giant wax palms. Another pleasant walk, but again nothing too exciting to write home about. The tall wax palms were pretty impressive though, especially against the contrasted farmland and native bush.
That evening we went to a restaurant called Super Patacon which only sold patacones, I don’t even think it had a menu. OMG, great find Ash! Patacones are flattened and fried plantain, loaded with meats, cheese, guac and salsas. We each had a plate of food as big as the below, but we didn’t even consider leaving any on our plates because of how good they were. For under $10NZD also. The service there was amazing, with the owner bringing out more guac and sauces when we wanted them. Not to mention the view of the valley we had as we watched the sun set. We saw some cool birds also.
After this we wandered to the local pub that ran a game called Tejo, a traditional Colombian game. It was kind of like our version of a lawn game where it was the first to 21 points and you scored points by getting closest to the ring. Another way to score points is by hitting the ring and setting off the gunpowder in the white parcels around the metal ring. When the rock lands on the metal ring, the impact causes the gunpowder to go off which is hilarious because it’s super loud, especially with 7 other games on the go, and the whole room smelling like gunpowder. A very unique game.
The next day Lucas and I caught a long bus Bogota. So far we are both really enjoying Colombia!
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