In the 90s Medellin was one of the most murderous cities in the world. However, during our stay I felt we experienced every dose of Colombian culture, both past and present. Whilst blood was once shed daily, it is now one of the most modern cities we visited in South America.

We stayed in the area of El Poblado, here the living is easy. Travellers often say Medellín is one of their favourite cities in South America. In my opinion, what they are actually referring to is not the whole city but this particular district. Here it feels more like LA: Affluent, great cafes, restaurants, boutiques and the heart of the party district.This is not to say other parts of the city are unlikeable but there is more grit, modern in spots but visible poverty in others.

The sun shines daily in Medellin, averaging late 20s, what we Brits would call a perfect summer's day. This undoubtedly adds to the feel good factor. EL Poblado also feels extremely safe. We'll forget the part whilst at our hostel Happy Buddha, we heard the shots of a drive by shooting in a cafe nearby. The staff ran inside, clearly as shocked as us so it was a rare occurrence for an otherwise ideal location.

To delve in to the past is to learn about Medellín's most notorious criminal, Pablo Escobar. Once cited as the most prominent man in the world after the Pope and US president, he was the narco leader in the 80s and early 90s of the Medellín cartel. So rich he was earning 70 million dollars a day and offered to personally settle Colombias public debt at the time. We took a tour controversially ran by his brother Roberto who is now out of prison (you can meet him but he was on holiday during our visit).

Our guide gave an account of Pablo's life that essentially was Pablo was always a bad man. As he talked through the history we saw his grave, which is replenished with flowers daily. A minority of people see Pablo as a modern day Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving back to the poor. However, he lived life lavishly buying multiple properties (we visited one of his first sites), had his own zoo and even bought two local football teams. One example of his brutality was when his team lost to their rival Cali, he ordered a hit on the referee. His view was everyone has a price, it was either plata o plomo, money or lead.

Pablo eventually became number 1 on the DEA's list to be extradited. His biggest mistake locals say was involving himself in politics, becoming too obvious to the world. On the run he eventually died with two bullet wounds. His family state the second shot was by Pablo himself, better to be in the ground in Colombia than locked up in the States.

Cocaine and Colombia still go hand in hand. The estimated world production is still at 60% but now the Mexican cartels command the supply chain. Smaller units operate in Colombia. One way to entice the revellers in El Poblado is 'chewing gum stalls' that are littered everywhere in the city. You just need to walk down the street and someone will try catch your eye.

Cleaning up the drug barons changed the city but what the locals are most proud of is their metro system. First opened in 1995, it connected the favelas (previously disconnected in the valleys) to the centre of the city. This was a huge push for middle class life to develop. Lonely planet mentions it is one of the best cheap tours you can do anywhere, Rory and I saw the entire city travelling on two of their cable cars. One of which reaches to Avri Park, an ecological nature reserve.

We used the public transport to get to Parque San Antonio. Having been to Botero's museum in Bogota, we were keen to see his sculptures in his home town. There were 3 sculptures in the park, the most interesting were two Robins. One a fragment of its former self after being blown up in the 90s from a guerilla bomb attack killing 23 people. The other, a pristine version placed in 2000 named 'Bird of Peace' to demonstrate the futility of war.

We explored the surrounding areas also of Medellín by visiting Guatape, a picturesque town surrounded by lakes. A two hour trip unless you and the rest of Colombia are going and it'll take 5 hours. It was a bank weekend, the equivalent of Brighton beach on a hot day but with shorter and tighter clothes. We stayed the night and the following day we climbed a total of 650 steps to reach the top of La Piedra rock. Colombians aren't the fittest of people so we moved at a funeral procession pace. They do however love to have a good time and were boozing on the way up at 11am, ready for the viewpoint where Latin rnb was blazing.

Speaking of partying, this has started cultural but 50% of the time we were 'out out'. It was me and the lads and we started with the Colombia Argentina quarter final game. A big screen up, everyone drank Cuba Libre in the square as we watched them lose on tense penalties. Penalties were followed by further drinking, Colombians seem to commiserate in style.

The next night we were out again, this time we ended in a local club, fluro stripped lights, a bottle of rum for a group of 10 and live music playing. Amazing. What we experienced next was a little bizzare. 3 local girls competing in a twerking competition on stage. Each one dancing with a dwarf, all part of it. With that over, we were ready to head on to our next stop Cartagena. With Rory's Irish friends joining us R&R was unlikely to follow.