Friday 16 August - Monday 19 August

Medellin, Colombia

Another overnight bus journey via Bucaramanga brought us to the sprawling city of Medellin, nestled comfortably in a valley flanked by two mountains, infamous for it's hosting of drug lord Pablo Escobar, who met his bloody demise in '94 whilst fleeing police across the rooftops of Medellin. But the less said about him the better, because, as pointed out by our city tour guide, whose name was also Pablo, the people of Medellin, the Paisa's, prefer to have a bad memory, its what makes and keeps them happy.

Pablo explained to us that Medellin was once so violent that a square in the centre of downtown, now a beautiful light forest by night, was statistically more dangerous than being in Beirut in the height of its civil war, and this was mostly brought about by the drug trade as government and opposing cartels clashed with each other. The Paisa's built Medellin before the drug trade even began, they had a stash of gold which they used to build themselves a railroad which brought on the industrial revolution and the city flourished. They quickly forget the dangerous times in Medellin brought about by Escobar and his cartel, and with the help of the Iron Fisted government they now have control of their city. They built a metro with cable cars linked to the people in slums on the outskirts of the city so they have cheap reliable access to and from places of work within the city. The downtown squares are now reasonably safe to walk around as a tourist, although some parts are slightly less so, but which city in the world doesn't have their dodgy areas? Its a remarkable, humbling story.

Medellin has a lot to offer. Its a very vibey party place especially within the Zona Rosa. We had a dip into the local club scene one night but couldn't make it past 1am......sober. The realization that we're 'getting on a bit' was the excuse, a poor one.

We rode the metro and then cable car up into the less affluent areas and were amazed at the sight of a giant, modern library swelling out of the hillside. Education is their key to empowering Paisas from all walks of life...these guys have it right! Further up the cable car we discovered the line didn't end just at the top of the slums but instead kept snaking over the hilltop and at the end we were rewarded with a gateway to a beautiful National Park... the PNN Arvi. This was a pleasant surprise. A brilliant idea to have a cable car running from the city straight into a National Park where you can go running, trekking, horse riding and even stay in a hotel on the lakeside, or as we did, enjoy some honey malt wine and a manly vegetarian lunch on the hillside.

Medellin also houses a very large collection of their beloved son, Fernando Botero's art, in the Antiquioa Museum which he donated to the city, where we enjoyed hours musing at his obscenely fat sculptures and paintings of the bourgeoisie. I learn much from Dons' appreciation of fine art. Botero?........yeah, I'm a fan.