Medellín

ABOUT MEDELLÍN:
The rapid transformation that has taken place in Colombia's second largest city is one like no other. Having spent the 1980s and 90s with an international reputation as one of the world's most dangerous cities, Medellín has indeed turned itself around. Once synonymous with the infamous Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel, the city suffered a severely damaged reputation amongst international travellers and has only recently become a popular destination amongst backpackers. The Paisas (as people from Medellín are known) have strived to change the city's reputation, and almost nothing of those former days can be seen in the character of the city today - visitors can comfortably enjoy the beautiful architecture, excellent facilities and all round well-developed city! Set amid the rolling green hills of the Aburrá valley and with a warm climate and comfortable altitude of 1538 metres, Medellín has seen more and more travellers flocking to the city in the past few years. With some of the country's finest museums, parks and most impressive architecture as well as a much safer and comfortable atmosphere, it’s easy to see why. Medellín is also one of Colombia's most accessible cities to get around with the immaculate and convenient metro system passing all the main points of interest.

20/08/2018
I like most people have always pronounced it ‘Mede-y-een’, however, I've now learned it's ‘Mede-jj-een’ in Colombian Spanish, and this was the place I was looking forward to the most in Columbia.

Today began with a 5 am alarm to pack down the tent for the first time and leave by 6 am. Today was a long, windy, and boring driving day only broken up by a stop every c2 hours for a leg stretch and toilet stops and a lunch stop. Lunch was cooked chickens and salad in a wrap. Even with the minimal stops, we didn’t arrive until 9 pm. We were all shattered, we claimed a bed in the 8-bed dorms that we were to share for our stay in Medellín and promptly went out for dinner. Six of us tried to find a local Columbian restaurant but couldn’t find one. We settled on an Argentinean resturant, where I had a perfectly cooked sirloin steak. It was after 10 pm when we had eaten and paid, and we all retired to bed.

21/08/2018
Woke up to have breakfast of scrambled eggs and watermelon juice. We had a walking tour of the city and visited Parque de Los Pies

Descalzos (Barefoot park), which is a Zen-inspired public park funded by the nearby company EPM for it’s employees only, but has since been opened to the general public. The park includes a green area with gardens and bamboo, a sand area, and an area with water fountains. As suggested by its name, people are encouraged to play in the park barefoot.

Next, we moved to Botero Plaza, a square that displays 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who donated these and several other artworks to the Museum of Antioquia for renovation in 2004. Next we caught the metro and gondola up the mountain to Santo Domingo, where we explored the community and had a beautiful view of the city.

Tonight I started my Insanity exercising and both Jen and Nathan decided to join in. Afterwards, we all went to a local Salsa dancing

club, where we were the only gringos and danced the night away until it closed at 2 am.

22/08/2018
Today, along with the rest of the group, was a lazy sleep-in day after the late night. Today’s plan was an optional Pablo Escobar tour of the city, learning more about Escobar was something I was looking forward to doing. Firstly, we visited one of his houses in Medellín, which is a bombproof, eight-story building with his name written on the front (now faded away), to show the people at the nearby country club his name after they refused him access because he was unknown. Medellín is trying to forget the past, and therefore this place is guarded by the military and has sat abandoned for many years. As the place is bombproof, it is challenging to destroy, however, the government has recently allocated money for it's

destruction in December.

Afterwards we took a 45 minute drive to Esobar’s “Prison” (La Catedral), which was built to specifications by Escobar himself, under a 1991 agreement with the Colombian government in which Escobar would surrender to authorities and serve a maximum term of five full years, and the Colombian government would not extradite him to the United States. In addition to the facility being built to Escobar's specifications, Escobar was also given the right to choose who would guard him, and it was believed he chose guards loyal only to him. Moreover, the prison was believed to have been designed more to keep out Escobar's enemies and protect him from assassination attempts, than to keep Escobar in. La Catedral featured a football pitch, giant doll house, bar, jacuzzi, disco, waterfall, and helicopter pad.

The government was willing to turn a blind eye to Escobar continuing his drug smuggling, however, the arrangement fell apart when it was reported he had four of his lieutenants tortured and murdered within La Catedral. The Colombian government decided it had to move Escobar to a standard prison, an order Escobar refused. In July 1992, after serving one year and one month, Escobar again went on the run. With the Colombian National Army surrounding La Catedral's facility, it is said Escobar simply walked out the back gate.

Thirdly, we went to one of many soccer fields that he built for the children to use. This was not entirely ultruistic of him, as he reportedly used these fields to recruit children into his empire, using them to do his dirty work, such as placing the bombs that he had made. This was because of Columbian law, which prevented children from serving time in jail for any crime.

Finally, we visited Escobar’s grave, which I was very surprised to learn was in a public place. Our tour guide told us of the various people visiting his grave ranging from pissing on his grave to bringing cocaine and doing lines of his tombstone.

Continued with Insanity tonight, this time alone.