Medellin

Medellin

Once again, we embarked on a winding journey. We had just missed the last bus in Salento and had to take another one to Medellin. We had to wait for 2 hours and passed the time playing card games.

There were many curves, but surprisingly we slept very well. When we arrived at the hostel, we both fell ill. Coughing and sneezing. Muriel decided to rest a bit and I went to explore our neighborhood. The former most dangerous city in Colombia is now one of the safest and most beautiful. Why was it once so dangerous? The reason was the most powerful cocaine drug dealer of all time, Pablo Escobar.

Doesn't he actually look dangerous?

However, they shot him in 1992 and the terror came to an end. I then walked past a German Döner shop and couldn't resist. Only 5 and a half months until we're back in the 'homeland'.

It was a modern neighborhood with lots of bars, clubs, restaurants, and shops. Very green as well. I discovered another bistro. I went back to the hostel and woke up Muriel saying, 'I have a surprise for you!' We went to that bistro together. It was called Swiss Bakery and it was owned by a young man who emigrated 3 years ago and now owns a great bakery.

Muriel ordered a fresh braid and I had a cold Ovomaltine, it was like a dream.

You can't imagine how good it was. Later in the hostel, we booked our return flight to Switzerland. We will be flying from Havana to Frankfurt on April 16th and from there to Zurich, arriving on April 17th at 17:20.

The next day, in the afternoon, we went to the 'Comuna 13' neighborhood. On the way, we wanted to see something else. We walked from the hostel to the metro station and realized it was only 1 stop away. I thought it would be smarter to walk! So we walked through one of the 'most dangerous' areas of Medellin. Well, of course, we also saw the industrial zone of Medellin! Then we arrived at Comuna 13. It used to be the most dangerous neighborhood or favela in Medellin.

But today it is very safe and the people are very friendly. We took a free walking tour and our female guide grew up in Comuna 13 and still lives there. We walked around and she told us what happened back then, what Escobar did, how the military attacked the entire neighborhood with helicopters and special forces. The reason, as mentioned before, was the entire drug trade, and they wanted to end it. Especially when they killed Escobar, they took the opportunity and immediately struck when the cartel was weakest. Today, the neighborhood on the hills is very colorful with lots of beautiful murals and nice restaurants.

We went to a bar that had a pool with lots of colored balls, as you may know from McDonald's.

After 2-3 beers, it started to get louder. The 'No throwing balls out of the bar, no shooting at the table or other people, and no jumping' rule was quickly forgotten.

From minute to minute, it got wilder. Balls were flying all over the bar, and one bartender ran from guest to guest, saying that if they didn't stop, he would kick them out. Most of the time, he got hit in the head with a ball. Everyone else who managed to work there took it with humor and laughed most of the time. Those who came down the stairs into the bar were usually greeted with a hail of balls. Muriel was against all of this, anyone she saw was not safe from her, so she had many opponents. It was extremely slippery, but the atmosphere was great (except for one bartender who was pissed off). However, the next 2-3 days we had terrible muscle pain in our arms from shooting.

Muriel had been having toothache for a long time. Part of her back tooth had broken off, and we thought it would be best to address the issue in Medellin. So on the third day, she finally went to the dentist. A great team took care of her after lots of email correspondence and treated her on an emergency basis. The next day, we went on a two-day trip to Guatapé, but you can read about that in the next blog. When we returned from Guatapé, Muriel had two more appointments and we extended our stay at the hostel. However, we didn't do much during those two days. We cooked our own meals, spent half a day searching for an ATM that worked, and planned things for the next few days. And of course, I got fresh bread for breakfast.

Then we took the overnight bus to Cartagena, which is located on the Caribbean coast in the north of Colombia. But we were quite lucky on the way there, why? You'll find out in the next blog (Cartagena).

Next Stop: Cartagena, Caribbean

See you soon,

Ernesto and Muriel