The bus to Medellin takes us through some breathtaking countryside something Colombia is not lacking. The road is lined by rolling hills of green pastures with tall, really tall palm trees sprouting high into the sky. It is a strange sight and we can't work out the reasons for this seemingly man made landscape.

Medellin is a major city in Colombia and one associated with Pablo Escobar and the cartel he ran.

On our way into Medellin we notice a lot of locals running, rolling blading and cycling down a main road bereft of the usual miasma of taxis, motorcycles and lorries. Turns out every Tuesday and Thursday the town closes a long stretch of main road in the evening for the inhabitants to use for exercise.

We take a walk around Medellin and see the Botero statues in the main plaza. These statues are made from bronze and are predominantly depict overweight naked humans in almost a cartoon style. I think I'm more impressed by their construction than by the finished product. We explore the city further going on a metro cable car to investigate a fancy library building surrounded by poor communities. The library is obvious to the hill side with it modern architecture and it's dark coloured walls surrounded by small red brick building with corrugated metal roofs of the poor. We are told that the library is for the people and does a lot for the local community. We then take another cable car to what we thought was the top of the hill to look out over the city of Medellin but the cable car goes up and on and on. We finally arrive at a national park and are given maps and pointed in the direction of some park trials. Not that we are ready for any park trails it seems a shame not to.