MEDELLÍN

17th - 18th Nov 2018

Medellin bus station

Off to Medellin (pronounced 'Medesheen') by bus from the Terminal de Transportes, at Salitre, in Bogota. These bus stations in all South America are a cut above the scruffy thrown-together disorganised shelters we put up with in UK. They are more like airport terminals. They are the main transport hubs throughout the continent. Having said that, the 6.45am Colombinio service left 30 mins late and what should have been a 10 hour journey morphed into 11½ hours and we arrived at the Medellin bus terminal at 6.10pm. The bus was comfortable enough with 'entertainments console' but not quite up to the standard of Argentine buses which have cabin crew and food/drinks on offer. There were a couple of pit-stops for food and loo.  Also, little communication. At the stops you had to keep a close eye on the driver and/or other passengers because the bus would happily drive off without any warning.
I was sitting next to a very charming young agronomist (I know what that is now) who was going to visit his mother-in law in a village up the hills near Medellin. He spoke excellent English and provided much humour and good advice. Thanks David, if you read this! We passed through some spectacularly beautiful and 'green' countryside; through mountain passes and across verdant valleys. Most impressive scenery, following for a time and crossing frequently the vast River Magdalena, which empties into the Caribbean further up north. Pity the bus windows were so dirty or I would have got some good photos! Actually, pics through bus windows when moving don't, with my little camera and skill, work very well.

Medellin (left), the second largest city in Colombia (pop 3m), is the capital of Antioquia province. It is situated in a long north-south valley at an elevation of 1500ft and surrounded by steep mountains.
In the 1980s to 90s it had the justifiable reputation of being the narcotics (cocaine) capital of the planet under the brutal 'leadership' of the mega-rich and powerful 'narco-emperor' Pablo Escobar, plus other cartels, amid much murder, bombings, corruption and almost outright civil war. Those days are long gone and the city is now very safe, well run and remarkably civilised; but, as always, its past reputation is still determinedly fixed in the minds of those who have not been there recently. More about Señor Escobar later. He deserves a seperate chapter!

Medellin consists of the main city and several what were seperate towns and villages to the south. They are all now, more of less, joined together and part of the Greater Medellin Conurbation, althought the old towns still have their own mayors and councils and statues of Simon Bolivar in their Plazas (but not Christopher Columbus). I was due to stay in the district of Poblado, just to the south of the main city.

The first thing that impressed me was the 'over-head' Metro system. I was rather dreading the thought of trying to  get to Poblado in the dark, not knowing the way, by either taxi or something resembling Bogota's awful Transmilenio.
Right: The new, modern, spacious, quiet (although sometimes crowded) and reliable 'sky-train' Metro was a breath of fresh air. Easy to understand the routes; there are two main ones, north-south and east-west, plus another diagonal one. Trains every 5 minutes and one from the bus terminal to Poblado (six stops). So simple, and cheap ($2300, 80¢, for one journey of any length). And, as I discovered, Uber work well here also.

I found very suitable and inexpensive accommodation in Poblado, the Hostel Tamarindo, with a comfortable and clean en-suite room. Fast Internet/wifi in any of these places, bars and restaurants is taken for granted; a big advance on what is, not always, on offer in UK.
I quickly discovered that Poblado is popular with back-packers and other tourists. It is humming in the evening with noisy bars, restaurants and night-clubs! Loud music everywhere. It is difficult, but not impossible, to find somewhere relatively quiet to sit and enjoy a meal. I found a very pleasant little 'quiet' Vietnamese establishment which I frequented . The area is undoubtedly 'trendy' and more of a youngsters' hang-out, but quite fun nevertheless.


The next day I went touristing. First to the Museo Casa de la Memoria which was advertised as a 'harrowing museum dedicated to the urban conflict in Medellin during the violent days'. Sounded fun.
Left: The museo. It looks like a military block-house and not far from the city centre. In fact it turned out to be rather boring. Nothing of much interest on display on two stories. There were life-sized videos of various people giving their recollections of the violent period, in Spanish with subtitles, and a 'mood room' where you could linger in the half-dark and gawp at photos of people who had been killed or 'disappeared' during the dark days. There was absolutely nothing inside worth taking a photo of, so I didn't. There was a pleasant little park outside leading down to a fast-flowing and pretty stream. It would have been a nice place to sit and rest if it hadn't obviously been an equally nice place for night-time courting couples to visit and leave their unspeakable detritus.

A pleasant stroll to the city centre along the various Carreras and Calles and I still haven't quite got the hang of the street designation system described previously. I use the sun so I know which direction I am heading. Most maps (that I am used to) are conventionally orientated with North to the top. For some reason, probably just to coincide with town dimensions, the Colombian maps do not follow this convention so it is sometimes misleading as to which way you should be facing.

Right: Even though a prosperous looking city there were quite few of these down-and-outs flaked out on the pavements.

Left: An interesting statue at one of the main city centre road intersections. Perhaps this is the statue 'In Honour of Pigeons' I was referring to earlier. There are no pigeons sitting on it; out of respect I suppose.

On to the centre and the Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe (his name does have two Uribes). This striking black-and-white neo-Gothic edifice is a 1920s construction which houses art exhibitions. It was designed by a Belgian architect apparently. I didn't go in. 

Coincidently, or not, I have a contact in Bogota called 'Uribe Uribe'. He tells me that Rafael was a Great Uncle of his.

In the Plaza surrounding it were several Fernando Botero 'larger-than-life' bronze sculptures. There are many more all over the city. He must have been a very busy artist and I think his works are rather fun. Left, and below: A few examples.....

This one (left) closely resembles someone I know near where I live!

Right: A voluptuous reclining nude.

Left: This was entitled 'Adam and Eve'. You can probably just make out Adam's little willy. It  is polished shiny by people rubbing it! (for good luck?). Maybe it was once much larger. Click on to enlarge.

Right: 'Horse and Rider'. I think the rider is putting up a bit of over-weight! The wee horse is not exactly starving either, crushed by its rider..

Left: Yet another 'El Flako' plus guard dog. I was surprised to see so many, and they weren't even begging.

Right: Under the Parque Berrio Metro station. A large street market was setting up. The Metro runs above all this.

Next on, by Metro, to visit Cerro Nutibarra. This is a large hill in the centre-south of the city and prominent in guide books. It promised 'great views' of the city and has a 'city' museum at the summit. I consulted my map and got off at a Metro stop, Expositions, and it seemed a short walk to the base and steps up to the top. Having got off the Metro, I saw one sign telling me it was in the area. For the life of me I couldn't work out how to get there. No more signs and lots of roads between me and it. I asked for directions at a garage and of a couple of pedestrians. They didn't even seem to have heard of it! How weird. I have found it odd when asking directions here. I have very limited Spanish, and explain this by saying "No hablo Español" or similar words indicating "no comprendo". It doesn't stop them launching into a long and complicated explanation of which I "comprendo nada"! Why can't they just point? They must realise that they are wasting their breath, I would have thought.

I met up with an equally baffled couple from Spain who had experienced the same problem. Between us we found a gate (no signs) which led to a path and steep steps which took us to the summit. It was quite a sweaty trek. At the top are several cafés and this statue (left).
There is a large viewing area overlooking the city from which I took the photo (above). Not a bad vantage point.





Right: This view to the south-west features the airport. Poblado, where I was staying, is just to the left of the photo.












The 'city' museum consisted mainly of photos of famous Medellinians (or Medellionistas?) in various political, sporting and artistic spheres. Left: There is one photo, taken in the 1970s, featuring my now favourite artist Fernando Botero. He is the chap on the right.

Don't they all look very respectable? Haven't a clue who the other artists are. or were, because I wasn't interested.

After a much needed beer, or two, I set off down again. What I hadn't noticed on the way up was that there are several paths spreading out in all directions from the top. Of course I got lost and ended up scrambling down various muddy and slippery paths. I ended up in a circus which was performing near the bottom. A kind circus-hand pointed me in the direction of another Metro stop, Industriales, which, if I had known it, was closer to the hill I had just been up and only one stop from Poblado. I'll know next time.

More to follow from Medellin. So far it appears a much more up-market, organised, cleaner and user-friendly place than Bogota.