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The word “Colombia” is named after Christopher Columbus, the explorer who began the European colonization of the Americas. In 1819, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama declared independence from Spain, and formed a country called “Gran Colombia“. The beautiful country of Colombia  is known for its emeralds, the myth of El Dorado, its tropical landscapes, and its cities nestled in the Andean peaks. 

Medellín is Colombia’s second largest city, set in the Aburrá Valley of the Andes Mountains. The metropolitan area of Medellín lies within the Aburrá valley at an elevation of 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) above sea level and is bisected by the Medellín River (also called Porce), which flows northward. It was founded in 1616 but remained a small, under-the-radar city until the Colombian coffee boom. It later became the center of a textile industry, and today is a modern, vibrant city. Medellin is a principal manufacturing and industrial area, as well as a commercial flower-growing region, particularly focused on orchids. In fact, Medellín is often called the Capital of The Flowers and The Land of Eternal Spring.

We arrived in Medellin after a short flight from Panama City after 11 pm. Our flight from Newark to Panama City was long and boring. We pre-arranged a van to transport us from the airport to our hotel and got checked in without much difficulty. From the initial interactions with locals, it was as becoming clear that language is going to be a huge barrier. Google Translate  to the rescue. 

We had a busy day planned for our Day 1 in Medellin. We started our day with a visit to El Castillo. A castle built in the medical gothic style in 1930. Formerly a private residence, it is now a museum with a excellent landscapes gardens.

Our next stop was Plaza Botero which is known for the. oversized bronze statues created by famous columbian artist and sculptor born in Medellin. His signature style, also known as “Boterismo”, depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor. We were warned that there are a lot petty criminals in this plaza and that we needed to be very careful with our belongings. Luckily, we did not have any trouble.

After a visit to the plaza and the surrounding areas, we started looking for lunch options. We found an Indian restaurant ( Restaurante Vegetariane Govindas), but we decided to go to a Peruvian restaurant ( Into Cocina Peruana). We enjoyed the Peruvian food. The restaurant is on the second level overlooking the street.

Our next stop from here was Comuna 13,  which was on the other end of town. Traveling around in Medellin was mostly by yellow cabs (mostly Hyundai / Kia compact cars) or Ubers. Uber coverage is very limited and service not so good in many parts of the city.

We arrived at Comuna 13 by Taxi from Plaza Botero. We ran into some really bad, India style traffic congestion. Quite painful. Comuna 13 ( District 13) also known as San Javier is a hilly area, primarily residential on the western edge of Medellin. It was a very unique experience, discovering the reality of Comuna 13 and walking through the narrow streets filled with colorful buildings, cascading along the hills. This is a district that saw the worst of times during the drug and criminal gang days of Columbia in the 90s. Many young residents of Comuna 13 choose hip-hop music and graffiti to show opposition toward criminal groups. “They express themselves through the art and believe that together they can solve the deep rooted social problems of the area. The graffiti and music simply showing the authentic history of Comuna 13, and the huge impact on their lives.” It was quite a unique experience. There are a set of escalators that take you all the way to the top of the district. You can get fantastic views of the entire Aburra valley from the top. This also gave us a very up and close peek into the local communities of Medellin and their way of life. While the El Poblado area where we are staying is very modern, Comuna 13 shows you the true spirit of the Columbian people. Yes, there is a lot poverty, but the people are happy, friendly and hardworking. 

Our next stop was the Acevedo Metro station. I had read a lot about the modern metro transport infrastructure in Medellin. We were about to experience this with the Metro cable car system. A truly unique cable car system to enable the public to commute to work and back home from the bottom of the valley all the way to the top of the mountain slopes. We boarded the cable car at Acevedo Metro Station and went all the way up to Santo Domingo. A 12-15 min ride up the mountain slope. The views from the cable car are stunning. You see the entire city of Medellin in the valley and up the slopes of the Andes mountains. You can see the modern high rise towers and the the red  brick shanty towns / settlements as well. Quite a unique experience. 

Getting a taxi or an Uber back to our hotel was a challenge. We went back to the metro station and took a train back to the El Pabldo area and then a cab to the hotel. Turned out to be a smart move, the rush hour traffic was horrendous. Metro trains were very clean, efficient and super crowded. Rush hour crowds reminded us of local trains in Mumbai. 

Dinner at an Italian restaurant in the El Pabldo area was a quiet affair. We were quite surprised to see that all restaurants in the area were shutting down by 9 pm. A couple of locals told us that generally restaurants and bars are open much later in the the evening  Thursday through Sunday evening. The Italian cuisine for dinner was not by choice, but the only restaurant open at 9.30 pm. 

We have an exciting day planned ahead for Day 2 in Medellin, a day trip to the town of Gutape. 

Guatapé is an Andean resort town in northwest Colombia, east of Medellín. It is known for its very colorful houses and the Penol Rock and water sports in the lake. It sits by the vast, man-made Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir. 

We left our hotel at 8.30 in the morning on our way to Gutape. It is a 2 hour ride into the country side, through farms, fields up into the mountains. We stopped on the way for some traditional Arepas (looks like a pancake or uttapam made of ground maize) and fresh Columbian coffee. 

Our first stop is the Penol rock, it is a  giant granite rock southwest of town, has about 750 steps to the top, where there are sweeping views. The Penol Rock looks very imposing and daunting at about 700 feet and a vertical climb. Our climb to the top of the rock took about 45 min, with stops along the way to catch our breath and enjoy the breathtaking views. The top of the rock felt like being on top of the world… there was a chill in the air, the excitement was palpable and the views incredible. We spent about 30 min on the top, after several dozens of pictures, we started our climb down. The climb down was a lot easier, though the steps were narrow and a little difficult to navigate at times. 

Next stop was the town of Gutape. After lunch at a traditional Columbian restaurant, we walked into the town of Gutape. The house and store fronts were colorful, very ornate, bright colors and very traditional. Residents paint their houses and businesses in gorgeous bright colors, and decorate the bottom of every building with panels called “zocalos.” I read that the zocalos tradition started more than a century ago and is now maintained by the locals in Gutape as it is a big draw.

We spent about 30-45 min walking through town. Interestingly, we saw several Bajaj auto rickshaws in town, most of them souped up and very colorful too.

Last stop for the day was our ATV expedition. We arrived at Curito ATV company at around 3.30 pm. The ATVs looked a little run down, but the ride promised to be quite exciting. The terrain was quite challenging and at the end of the 90 min expedition, we were ready to get back to the hotel to clean up ( and cool down with a Columbian beer).

After a quiet dinner at La Provinicia, a very fancy restaurant in El Poblado, we headed back to the hotel.

Our exciting stay in Medellin comes to an end.  Here are my impressions based on these two and half days here… 

• Medellín is safe for tourists, need to be careful in some parts of town (like in any other country), 
• very courteous and friendly people, excellent weather, 
• very very scenic, the Andes mountains, the Aburra valley etc make for a beautiful city
• lots of great food, fresh fruit, fantastic coffee (of course Columbian coffee is world famous), 
• Comuna 13 was quite an experience, the street graffiti tells a tale of what was and the aspirations to change the dark past
• the US dollar takes you a long way (1USD = 3200 pesos)… very affordable for the American tourist 
• Fantastic weather – it was 72-73 deg F on all days
• The investments in public transport system is very impressive – escalators, metro trains & cable car 
• I expected to see more of soccer, than we did. May be just the places we visited or may be it is just Medellín. 
• Columbians like to party!! Apparently Thu & Fri evenings is party time every week. 
• Lastly, Google Translate app is a life saver. Extremely useful and it would have been impossible to survive without it. Language is no barrier anymore. 

Off to Cartegana next…. a beautiful port city on the Caribbean coast.

We arrived in Cartegana from Medellín on Friday afternoon. It was a short 50 min flight from Medellin. As we were approaching the airport, scene was quite spectacular with the waters of the Caribbean Sea dotted with several small islands. It was much warmer here compared to Medellín and much more humid as you would expect in a coastal city. 

Cartagena is a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. By the sea is the walled Old Town, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. Our ride from the airport to the Conrad Hilton was uneventful. The  hotel about 20 min from the airport. 

I read that the old city in Cartegana was the “happening” place with lots of bars, restaurants and nightlife. We took a cab from our hotel to the old city, about a 20 min ride. As we approached the walled city, we could hear loud music and knew that the Friday evening partying had already started. There were at least 2 huge parties in the historical city center with live bands / DJs playing very typical Columbian music. 

Colombia is known as “The land of a thousand rhythms”. Since it straddles the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, the music scene is influenced by both regions. Colombian music blends Spanish-influenced guitar and percussion instruments. The Salsa and Reggae are the most popular genres. The local flavors of music are the cumbia and vallenato. Cumbia is most most popular in the Caribbean coastal cities like Cartegana. 

We joined one of the parties for some time to join in the fun. This was also a good way to get to understand the local culture, people and the traditions. The Cumbia music was loud and people were enjoying the music. Lots of beer and salsa dancing.  We noticed that several people had some white powder on their face. Never figured out what was significance of this. 

After a few beers, we decided to walk around old city before heading to a Columbian restaurant for dinner. 

Cartegana is a paradise for sea food lovers. There is a huge variety on the menu in any Columbian restaurant – fish, octopus, squid, shrimp etc. We also noticed that Peruvian food is very popular here in Colombia and very similar to columbian cuisine. We dined at Peruvian restaurants for 2 or 3 meals. Vegetarian choices are generally limited in most restaurants, most restaurants are able to improvise and cook a vegetarian meal. Rice seems to be an integral part of the meal. We were served coconut rice in a few restaurants – looks like brown rice and was sweet (and salty ?). Arroz con coco (coconut rice) is a traditional dish from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It has a very distinct flavor and is yummy. 

After a fantastic dinner – Shrimp in garlic sauce, Arroz con coco and a side of Patacones (fried smashed plantains) with Plantanitòs (plantain chips) for appetizer. And of course some more Club Colombian beer to make the meal complete, we took a cab back to the hotel. 

The next day we were back in old city to do tour of the walled city. We took a lot of pictures and did some shopping in the several handicraft stores. There were a lot of tourists – local and international. Tourism clearly is a big industry here. With a tropical climate and beautiful beaches, the city attracts tourists from other Colombian cities and from the US. We were the only people of Indian origin that I saw here during our 3 day stay. The locals  are mostly very warm and friendly. Barring a couple of minor incidents we felt very safe here. 

We finished the day with a sunset cruise into the Caribbean Sea. A late afternoon thunderstorm ensured that we would not see any sunset, but that did not stop us from enjoying the cruise.

We had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant – Cuzco Cocina Peruana. I ordered Arroz de chaufa Pollo. It was my best meal in Cartagena. Arroz de chaufa is a Peruvian fried rice dish. It is a chifa style dish, a mix of Peruvian and Chinese cuisine. 

Our last day here in Cartagena was mostly spent at the resort. This was a relaxed day after a lot of sightseeing and adventures over the last 4-5 days here in Cartagena and Medellin. We spent a few hours at the private beach owned by the hotel. We enjoyed the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and some more chilled Club Colombian. Some more shopping in the evening and it was now time start packing our bags to head back home. 

Impressions of Cartagena;

• Great party town- it is a happening city. Music, dancing, salsa bars etc.
• Fantastic music – the beats of the Cumbia will get you dancing right away…
• Old city is beautiful – enjoyed the cobbled stone streets and colorful buildings
• Food here is amazing – enjoyed the local cuisine and Peruvian food 
• People here are very warm and friendly. They seem to love people from India. 
• Weather – warm and humid … reminds me of Chennai
• If you are shopping here, be sure bargain a lot. Most stores give you huge discounts. 

Our Colombian Expedition was coming to an end. We had a lot of fun and excitement. Great food, lovely people, excellent weather, lots of history, amazing sights made for a fantastic vacation. Traveling with a great group of friends made this experience even more enjoyable. Viva Colombia 🇨🇴