The Vagrant Gypsy Life

Photos of Medellin

Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia and was the haunt of Pablo Escobar till he was killed. These days, it is safe and attracts a lot of tourists. I enjoyed my stay here and fell in love with the city. The people are very friendly (like the rest of Colombia), it is easy to get around Medellin and I enjoyed walking around, not to mention my visits to some of the museums.

I liked that they have a really good metro system in Medellin. It is convenient, safe, cheap and is very user friendly. Small touches such as a defrebillator in some of the stations and the fact that the police (stationed in every stop) help old people and blind folk off the metro and lead them to the exit.

Day 263 Sat 21/5
Arrived in Medellin after a 7.5 hour bus ride from Salento. After a shower, headed to the supermarket to get some food. The supermarket was huge and it took me a while to get my bearings! I went to bed, only to be woken up by drunken idiots who persisted on behaving like children and had a loud conversation outside my dorm. I requested them to be quiet and reminded them that there are other people in the hostel trying to sleep, but to no avail. They were quiet for about 2 minutes before going back to their high-“spirited” selves. I figured Sunday would be quiet and resolved to move to a quiet hostel elsewhere.

Day 264 Sun 22/5
A forced early start to the day, thanks to an inebriated bunch of nincompoops. I spent my morning at the Museo de Antioquia, which has a great collection of Colombian artists, especially Botero (born in Medellin), whose sculptures are displayed in the plaza just outside the museum. The museum also has some murals drawm be Pedro Nel Gomez, another famous son of the city. I walked around for 2-3 hours and was tired by the time I reached the hostel. Luckily it was quiet that night and I maneged to get a good night´s sleep.

Day 265 Mon 23/5
I moved to a quiet hostel in a residential area. Not too many people – 1 other foreigner and a couple of Colombians as well. The staff were extremely friendly and the lady who managed the place, Diana, made me glad that I did change hostels! Her smile alone was worth the price of admission.
I found a vegetarian restaurant and had lunch there the rest of my stay in town. It is called Govinda´s and is run by people who are drawn to Hindu philosophy. The place is adorned with paintings of Hindu gods and godesses; there is a shop selling Indian clothes and other items; the ladies who were serving the food wore saris; they played Indian music. The food was really good and filling, and importantly for a jobless bum, cheap.
Didnt do much that afternoon except wander aimlessly. Also watched Two Towers that evening.

Day 266 Tue 24/5
Took the metrocable to get a view of Medellin from the skies, so to speak. Walked around the city centre for a while, checked out the main square and Catedral Metropolitano, a giant brick cathedral (apparently the biggest, using about 1.2 million bricks), and the Universidad de Antioquia.

Day 267 Wed 25/5
I woke up early, but after bfast, gave into laziness and spent the morning reading a book in bed.
After lunch, I walked from the city centre to the Museo de Arte Moderno Medellin, which I didnt really enjoy. However, the walk there was nice and the walk back to the hostel, long and satisfying.

Day 268 Thu 26/5
My final day in Medellin was quite busy. I visited the Cementerio de San Pedro, the Iglesia Jesus Nazaren, and walked around the neighbourhood in the morning. Lunch at Govinda´s and it was time to head to Casa Museo Pedro Nel Gomaez. There were no other tourists, and the museum has a very nice collection. I enjoyed the visit very much. After that, it was time to stroll in the Jardin Botanico and rest in the shade of the trees, watching people and ducks.
Spent the evening chatting to Mauro and watching “Following”.

260 Wed 18/5 – 262 Fri 20/5

I left early Wednesday morning. Well, at least, I left the hostel early. The bus continued the tradition of Colombian buses leaving late from the terminal. We left an hour late and made it to Armenia in good time. From there, it was a half hour collectivo ride to Salento.

Salento is a small town with colourful buildings set among mountains. It is coffee plantation area and green to boot. After getting to Salento, I was quite disappointed that I hadnt left earlier from Cali.

After getting to Salento, I walked around a bit, walking up the stairs to a mirador, which offered some lovely views before it started raining and I headed to the hostel (Hostal Tralala). The owner has a really nice collection of movies and I watched The Shutter Island that evening.

I decided to have a fairly relaxing day in Salento and after again walking around in the morning, spent some time reading in the main square before rain forced me back to the hostel. That evening was spent watching another Dicaprio movie, “The Inception”

This had to be one of my favourite days in Colombia and the highlight of my trip in Salento. I woke up early and took the jeep to Cocora and 07:30 am. The half hour ride deposited me and about another 10-12 foreigners in the village. The valley of Cocora is beautiful and the main attraction is the Acaime reserve. The hike there and back is about 5 hours. I liked the trail so much that I extended my hike by a couple of hours by walking up the hill, past the reserve, to a mirador where I could see almost nothing, thanks to the clouds. The reserve has a lot of birds, especially hummingbirds. The price of entry also included hot chocolate.

After a shower, I settled down to watch “The kids are allright” and then had a nice long chat with a couple of fellow travellers – from Turkey and Poland. They were really a lot of fun and I wished that they had got to town a day or two earlier. We sat late into the night chatting and drinking some wine – my first cup of wine since I left Chile!

Valle de Cocora photos

257 Sun 15/5 - 259 Tue 17/5 Photos of Cali Got into Cali after a fairly comfortable 3 hour bus ride from Popayan. The taxi driver who drove me to the hostel tried to cheat me by asking double the price. ... [Continue reading this entry]

250 Sun 8/5 & 251 Mon 9/5 Photos of Tierradentro I got on a bus from Popayan early in the morning for what was supposed to be a 5 hour journey. However, the elements were against us. There was a landslide ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 247 Thu 5/5 - 249 Sat 7/5 Popayan is a lovely colonial town with a beautiful plaza and some lovely churches! The buildings are mostly white and some of them quite ornate. I walked for ages around the town and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 244 Mon 2/5 - Day 246 Wed 4/5 Pasto Pasto is a pleasant town, without being anything spectacular or beautiful. Needless to say, not too many tourists stop here. I wandered the streets for a couple of days before making ... [Continue reading this entry]

243 Sun 1/5 Otavalo/ Ipiales/ Pasto Certain days go well. Be it in normal life or as a wanderer. This was one of them. Roberto's kind and thoughtful gesture of making sure I managed to get on the proper bus made ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 242 Sat 30/4 Otavalo Otavalo is a small village in the north of Ecuador famous for its market. Saturday draws people from the surrounding towns and bus loads of tourists for a crowded, bustling experience. Streets lined with stalls that ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 234 Fri 22/4 - 241 Fri 29/4 Quito I left early enough on Friday from Cuenca anticipating a long ride. I wasnt wrong, as the travel time was increased by a breakdown as well. It was well after 7 pm ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day 231 - 234 Mon 18/4 - Thu 21/4 Cuenca Cuenca is a lovely colonial town and I felt relaxed and spent more time that I had thought I would. I also found a couple of nice vegetarian restaurants for breakfast ... [Continue reading this entry]