We were often behind cavalcades of trucks...
And the scenery was gorgeous...
Chocolate brown rivers...
Colourful towns...
And the Sky was so large...
We stayed in the Laureles neighbourhood outside the city centre in a small apartment building with a view to the street below. This lady was out every morning sweeping the sidewalk...
It was a short walk to the Metro which was one of the best we have seen anywhere in the world...fast, clean and reliable. The people of Medellín are very proud of this system as it was the first major public works project that actually got completed after many years of struggles and corruption.
It was very easy to use and got us to all parts of the city.
Twenty -five years ago, Time magazine dubbed Medellin as “the most dangerous city on earth”. Drug lords lived like princes, judges and policeman were regularly assassinated, paramilitaries invaded neighbourhoods and ordinary people disappeared overnight without trace. And if you have seen Netflix’s Narcos you know it was home to the notorious Pablo Escobar. The locals we spoke to were very happy to see us visit their city and most always told us to tell our friends that Columbia and Medellín are safe and welcoming. And they don’t idolize “the man”, in fact they won’t mention his name!
Medellín today is becoming a very modern city with much wealth, though still a big disparity between rich and poor. We walked through very well to do neighbourhoods...
Lovely apartment buildings...
Lots of art installations like this one...
Great restaurants...
The city is nicknamed, “ The City of Eternal Spring” because of its temperate weather which we found to be quite lovely as well. But of course lots of walking makes us thirsty so we are always looking for a place to have a cervaza...
Oh, found one!
Because of its’ isolated location in a valley between two mountains ranges it was not colonized like much of the rest of the country so the city Center does not have the same historic feel as Bogota. Though we did a walking tour with a young engineer who makes his living as a guide and it helped us understand some of the history.
In modern history Columbia has had its’ share of civil war and then the illegal drug wars so as a country they are still relatively new to peace and look forward to prosperity. This can be seen in Medellín where dangerous spaces have been transformed into places that people now congregate...
This is the Plaza of Lights, a huge installation of high columns which illuminate at night...
At the end of the Square is a new library building, one of many built around the city to encourage the literacy of the residents.
Another transformed area is Botero Square where the artist who was born in Medellín donated many sculptures to enhance the area...
In a more dangerous area of the city we saw evidence of the violence of the 1990s when a bomb went off during a concert killing over 20 people. It was hidden in a Botero sculpture and badly damaged it. The mayor wanted to remove it but Botero insisted it remain as a reminder of these times so then installed a new one alongside it.
In the area of the government buildings there is a huge sculpture depicting the history of Columbia, a magnificent piece of art...
Older buildings have been transformed into shopping centres....
Very busy pedestrian walkways...
And lots of flowers for sale with the export of fresh flowers being one of the main industries...
The life of Medellín not only exists in the Center of the city and the leafy neighbourhoods but in the hills surrounding the city which are accessed by Metrocable Cars. The system of cable cars access the hillside neighbourhoods that have had a violent pass and encourage residents to access the city with its’ services and jobs. We took the cars up to the top of Santo Domingo neighbourhood and it was a fascinating ride...
They go from the bottom of the valley to the top over many neighbourhoods so from the gondola you look right into the life of the residents....
They go very high and provide a great view of the sprawling city below...
When you go over the edge it feels like you are dropping down into the city below....
Some street scenes from one of the stops...
We then took an additional cable car to Parque Avi which is a huge urban nature park at the very top of the mountain. As we stepped off the platform there was a great food market...we will take one of every thing...
On our final day we did a walking tour of Comuna 13, one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods that cling to the hills of Medellín. We met our guide who lives in the neighbourhood at the metro station and started our long walk up the hillside as we listened to her stories about the neighbourhood...
At the beginning of the neighbourhood are very nice apartments in what she describes as the legal settlement as opposed to the illegal residences at the top of the hill...
The communas were populated by people fleeing violence in other parts of the country and had no where else to go so they came to Medellín even though there was no place to live so they started to build on the hillside with no services and support from government. Because there were transportation routes just over the mountains, the area became a major route for drug cartels and the violence that brings. Over the years there have been many lives lost to the drug wars as well as government’s efforts to clean up the place resulting in the lost of many innocent lives. But now there is renewed hope for the future as we saw in our walk....
This is the new high school which was built on the foundations of a building they called the morgue since that is where the victims of the violence would be brought...
At the new community library seniors were exercising while students were using the wifi...
Students saying hello...
Colourful houses...
Street art is also transforming the neighbourhood with much of it making political statements. This one shows government aircraft shooting at the residents of Communa 13 in a raid a few years ago...
As we climbed the steep steps there was art everywhere...
Artists from all of the world come to Communa 13 to contribute...
There is color everywhere...
Another recent urban revitalization project here in Communa 13 is a series of escalators that go up the mountain again giving access to the city below...
The neighbourhood...
There has been a long tradition of break dancing here and this group shows off the moves for the tourists, they were amazing...
Beautiful views all around...
And to the city below...
Our guide told us that things are better here but far from perfect, there is still much poverty and the gangs still control the neighbourhood. But instead of killing each other they have a uneasy truce where they have divided the community into sections and each one of them controls their part. They still move drugs and make money from extortion from the residents and there are still violent gun fights, but there is also hope for the future. More young people are staying in school and tourism has brought more money into the neighbourhood which helps the economic situation. We learned a lot that day in Communa 13!
This is our last stop in Columbia and we both agree our time was too short here, so much more to see and it actually made the list of places we would like to return. We didn’t really know what to expect coming here given all the bad press, but we have been pleasantly surprised and would definitely recommend Columbia has a tourist destination. Now on to Peru!
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