Cartagena - a city hotter than the surface of the sun!

With time against us and the end of our trip in sight we didn't want to waste any more time on buses. It was time to hit the airports! Only problem was the weight limits on the Colombian version of Ryanair.

We have started to become compulsive buyers over the last few weeks, from purchases of hand held sewing machines ( argued by John "it will be useful, I want it") to large llama wool throws ("But Sarah we are homeless, where are we going to put it?"). Therefore our packs have escalated in size and weight from baby tortoise level to Winnebago!

Anyway, we make our flight and arrive in the Old Town which must have an invisible green house to ensure there is no air flow and the temperature is a constant 35C. Lucky our bedroom has a ceiling fan. The only problem is you either put it on full blast and then sweat from the potential danger of it coming loose from its mount or leave it on low and be cooked by the green house effect!

One positive on our first night was we met up with our good friend Elisa who was on her final night of a year long round the World trip. Did someone say Ceviche, Mojitos, and a Colombian with a crazy hat?

The following day we walked around the Old Town and enjoyed the views an the sun set. It's a beautiful city with colonial buildings and narrow streets.

Enjoying the sunset with a beer or two

 

As John was getting grumpy as he could not wear his pants for 3 days in a row in this heat, we decided to move on and take the four hour bus to Taganga. The cheapest place to dive and the start of our Caribbean holiday!

 

The Home of Pablo Escobar

After enjoying a relaxing time in Salento, we decided to take a short 6 hr "overnight" bus to Medellin! The home of the world famous drug lord Pablo Escobar. At one point one of the richest people in the world according to Forbes.

There is a great artist from Medellin, Botero, who paints everyone disproportionality, aka fat. This is his take on Pablo's murder (or suicide, if you speak to some people from Medellin).

Here are some of our other favourite Botero's

Adam and Eve

Perro

Viking (John's favourite)

Due to our over runs in other cities we were pushed for time in some of the central Colombian cities, including our stop in Medellin. We wanted to hit the Caribbean coast with as much time as possible. Therefore we could only fit in one night in Medellin, this was going to be hectic!

Day one - Pablo tour!

John really wanted to do this as he is mesmerised by Pablo! This is a guy who evaded the law for so long because no one could touch him as he was so powerful. He even held a political office at one point.

The tour started with one of his offices that was attacked by a rival gang. All his assets were confiscated by the Colombian government in '93 following his death, and this building is just starting to be renovated. Things happen fast in South America.

 

Next stop his grave - this was interesting as he killed so many innocent people, estimated to have killed several thousand people, yet there were flowers at his grave. This is because he realised he could never be truely safe in Medellin, unless he had the backing of the people. Therefore he built hospitals, houses, football pitches and tried to be a modern day Robin Hood. Taking $25m a day from the Americans and investing a small proportion in Medellin.

We then stopped off at his brother Roberto's house which is a shrine to Pablo.

Here is the first car Pablo used to smuggle drugs from Ecuador (the producer of cocaine), before sending it to the US.

One of his many jets

Us with his brother (the accountant of the cartel) with the wanted poster for his and his brothers arrest

Interesting Pablo facts:

1. About 1-2% of his gross revenue had to be written off due to; money being hidden and then lost; water damage; or rats eating it. That's about $100m dollars annually!
2. While the $10m wanted poster was out for his arrest he and his brother flew to the US in their private jet and took photos outside the White House.
3. He used to put on exhibition football games with a rival drug dealer, betting about $2m per game. They would select 11 players each from the worlds greatest teams, fly them in, let them play, fly them out, then settle up the debt; and
4. And finally at the end of our tour, his brother said he has cured HIV/Aids

Clearly his brother has been using to much of their product and is now crazy!

But Pablo is only one part of Medellin's history and we wanted to get the bigger picture, so the next day we joined the Real City Walking Tour of Medellin. We had been recommended this by everyone we know who has gone to Medellin. However our first impression of Medellin was nothing special, so our guide, aptly named Pablo, had a lot of convincing to do.

Our first stop was the tube station to get into the centre.

A great view of the city and mountains

Remember this city was more dangerous than Lebenon in the late 80's/90's. This is crazy considering that Lebenon was in civil war. However now it has been voted one of the most innovative cities in the world, and has hosted the junior World Cup and some athletics events.

This sculpture is meant to symbolise Medellin's history during its ups and downs

This large collection of pillars in the Parque de la Luz was once one of this most dangerous parts of Medellin, and is now a great place to relax. Although the lights on the pillars only began working this summer 4 years after the pillars were erected. Things take time in South America.

A great example of the South American, or more specifically this time, Colombian mentality. This beautiful building was designed and half built by a Swiss arcitect in the early 19th century. Due to pressure from opposite sides of the government the arcitect became fed up and left. Therefore the town was left to finish it itself. They didnt. They just turned an interior wall into an exterior one.

These two sculptures symbolise where Medellin was and where it is going. The bird on the left was blown up during a busy weekend at the square killing several people. The artist, Botero, wanted the remains to stay as a reminded to the people to help them strive for a better life, and so he installed another dove to symbolise this.

After 4 hours, Pedro had convinced us and we really had a great time in Medellin and as ever, wanted to stay longer. The empanadas were also incredible and helped with persuasion.

Next stop Cartagena!

 

Coffee time! - Salento

After one of the most scenic bus journeys we've had (which was a shame as we were asleep for most of it) we arrived at Salento, part of the coffee triangle.

The area was lovely, stunning views from our hostel which was also very nice, especially the free scrambled eggs for breakfast.

The next morning we went to a coffee plantation to do a tour. We learnt about the different processes involved in the production and then got to try some filtered coffee. The tour was in Spanish but we'd seemed to have tagged onto a university trip full of Colombian girls and their guide ended up being our unofficial English translator for the bits we missed, vey handy.

John picking some coffee beans

The beans dry in here

Doing the hard labour

We'd heard a lot about a great peanut butter brownie you could get in town. Never ones to miss out on good food, we went along, it was great, but it defeated us and we couldn't finish it, despite our best efforts. Could eat one now though...

There were lightning storms every night which was great to watch from a distance but tricky to capture on camera. We did iPhone versus SLR and the iPhone won this time!

The next day we wanted to do some more hiking so we went to the nearby Colcora Valley park to see the wax palm trees. They grow over 30 metres and tower above all of the other trees around them, quite a sight.

A bit misty, but the views got better as we got lower

 

We also got to see tens of tiny, beautiful hummingbirds which buzzed around us. Also hard to capture on film!

Then we managed to fit 12 people in a tiny jeep taxi, where the nominated had to hold on for dear life, especially on the bends!

After four hours walking with a tough uphill section, there was only one thing for it, to go get a burger bigger than our heads.

Impossible?

And then sadly it was already time to leave this gorgeous place of beautiful views, great coffee and great food for an overnight bus to Medellin, which used to be the most dangerous city in Colombia.