16-17/1/2012 - Monday night misadventures in Medellin

Arriving in Medellin bleary eyed I headed to a hostel in upmarket neighbourhood near the centre with a Dutch guy I'd met on the bus. Almost immediately after arrival we joined some other travellers and headed off for a city bus tour. This is the first time I'd taken one of these and it was a mixed affair, some of the stops on the tour being more than a little redundant (a chocolate shop, a shopping centre), but nonetheless gave a favourable first impression of Medellin as a thriving city with plenty going on. Shame I only have one night here.

One of the stops on the tour was the central Plaza Botero. Botero is a Colombian artist who's style basically involves making everything and everyone fat (that's maybe a little unfair – he also plays around with proportions) and the plaza was full of his sculptures which I can only describe as “fun”. The style reminded me a little of Beryl Cook's fat happy people by the seaside; I wonder if they know about each other.

Beryl Cook?

Botero?

All through my travels in Colombia I'd been told about the beauty of Medellinian women and, although initially I wasn't blown away, after wandering around the city for a couple of hours I began to see what the hype had been about. It was the sheer consistency of good looks and fantastic figures which I found the most astounding; I wonder if statistics on this sort of thing exist.

Back at the hostel I had my first hot shower in over 3 months. I'd like to say it was amazing but truth be told, I'd pretty much gotten used to the lukewarm and sometimes outright cold offerings in all the others hostels I'd stayed at. On the other hand, I'm heading to cooler climates so maybe I'll start appreciating them soon.

In the evening a group of us (Dutch, Canadian & Israeli) grabbed a 1L carton of rum (yes, a carton) and then attempted to find some night life in Medellin... on a monday night. Asking around it seemed like we were out of luck but the taxi driver said he knew a place so off we went. Walking into the bar where the taxi had dropped us off, it quickly became apparent that it was a bar/brothel and we were the only patrons. Oops. For idealogical and financial reasons none of us wanted to stay so we said our goodbyes to the over-friendly staff, made a quick exit and ended up at a casino nearby. Note to self: don't try to find a party on a monday.

The next day it was time to move on again. In the morning I went on a ride on the cable cars (which are actually part of the metro system and included in the price) and took in a bit more Medellin before getting on a 17 hour bus to Ipiales: the last town in Colombia before the Ecuadorian border. I wish I could have stayed longer but, alas, time dictates that I am granted a mere taste of Colombia and, just like every other traveller I've spoken to, I hope to return one day.