Arrival in Medellin

A few days ago I changed my travel plans and booked a flight to Medelllin from Cali, as I did not relish the though of another long bus journey and I am glad that I did.

In the early morning I met up with my Y' again for breakfast, and take a short stroll around Chipichapi Mall again, as all the nearby restaurants from my hostel were not open this early in the morning.

I got back in plenty of time to check out and get a taxi to the airport, but the rain had started and when it rains in Colombia, few people walk, so the taxi took almost half an hour to arrive and by the time that it got me to the airport my flight was already checking in and letting you go direct to the gate in preparation to board.

Cali airport is a little on the small size, and I found very little to do once I had checked in, and with no obveous wifi stations I was prepared to just wait when a friendly German hairdresser started to chat with me for the duration. In no time at all we were old friends and a few times he started talking in German, then checked himself and apologised but said that I looked German so his brain just assumed it before he put his brain into gear.

Sadly we were not seated together on the small propellar plane from Cali to Medelin, but we had already agreed to split the cost of the taxi fare from the airport into the city centre, which would save us both around £6 so was well worth it.

On the way we chatted about lots of stuff and by the end I had given him my card and told him if he wants to meet up to email me as my phone is normally switched off, and he said that he might but if he did it would be from someone else as he didnt like computers very much and had nothing set up.

I arrived in the Hostel and found that it was a nice place, in the south, but with a good reputation and filled with English Speaking tourists, although for some reason I just wanted to get out and about and find a map, as typically they gave me one that was about 4 roads in all directions from their hostel, which is only good for directing taxis to but not much cop if you plan on journeying out.

I walked and walked and eventually came to a big shopping plaza that was just past McDonalds that was all geared up for christmas and luckily had city maps, so I bought a main one and a mini map for taking with me on excursions into the city.

Getting back was a bit more of an effort, as I tried to use the map I had just bough and found that it was a bit out of date, as there had been a lot of new construction in the last 2 years and now many extra turning and sidings were there that are not on my little map, thus taking the second left or right no longer was correct.

I did manage to make it back after dark, but I was extremely shocked and disturbed to see a couple of girls, no more than 13 get picked up at the end of the road, first one and then the other by the same large black 4x4, and I really disagree with young teenagers doing that sort of thing.

Back in the hostel I found that my friends here in Medellin were still in hiding, and with the weather very rainy that night I made my mind up to cut and run early instead of to stay for the full three days and try to make better use of my time in Manizales and Medellin where my friends were in regular contact and eagerly waiting to meet me.

At 11pm I was the first person to go to sleep in my dorm room, and also the first to wake up at 7am the following morning.

I had checked the weather forcast and it said that it would be hot and sunny during the day and only start chucking the rain down again at about 5pm, so I figured that I could get a good half day in the city centre before grabbing a long distance bus from here to Manizales.

I strongly suggest that all tourists use the metro to get around in Medellin, as it is cheap, fast, easy to use and best of all it is not underground but overground high above the streets and houses, with an impressive view of the city and a perfect place to take photos or to spot where you visit.

After reaching the centre I spend a good few hours walking around, taking photos, getting lost and then finding myself again somewhere totally different and I got so turned around that I picked up the metro to come back a good three stops away from where I arrived.

It is true that Medellin is the centre of the world and hub for all the most attractive looking women in the world, and I can see men come here to find girlfriends or wives as they were everywhere and I had a new favourite every few minutes. In fact I strongly was tempted to go high up in a restaurant, set up my camera on digital video and just let it run, but then that would be considered rude and intrusive.

As it was I just had to enjoy the view walking around the town, content that as this was the same the second time that I visited this city it is unlikely to be a fluke and there would just as likely be many attractive women the next time I come here when the weather would be better and so hopefully would my Spanish.

Having now been to several latin american countries I have seen, heard and witness a phenomenon enough time to know that it is genuine and not just internet hype or camp fire stories.
Generally Latin men seem to be very bad to their native women, both verbally, physically and dating several of them at once, that a growing minority of latin women are eager to find a suitable gringo and marry them instead. Of course, some tourists are taking unfair advantage of this, but most often the westerners are just astounded when these beautiful latin women are willing to bed and marry them, more so for their kind nature more than their wallets or passports.
In fact, the few that I have talked to are much more interested in finding a gringo that wants to move and live over in South America than they are interested in uprooting themselves and coming to live in Europe, and when you experience the weather and the cost of things you can see their point. Europe is no longer considered the ideal place to live and western men are no longer being so sought after just as a way of entering into the country.

The scary fact is that western women often find latin men attractive and exotic, so perhaps in future there will be many more mulatto babies and being of clear racial descendents will become much harder to prove.

Around 4pm I came back to my hostel to check out and grab a but before it got dark, but as it had just started to rain waiting for the taxi took longer than it should and I missed my bus by a few minutes, having to wait for almost an hour for the next one.
The bus was a six hour ride, and thankfully they showed a couple of movies, the first was Indian Jones 4, and the second was a strange Indian film about a boy who lost his sisters shoe and then all the fuss he has to try and get it back, to let her use his shoes to get to school an then he finally runs a long distance race and ruins them so that they both had no shoes to wear. I didn't really get the point of it, plus it was in quiet dubbed Spanish, so when it was over I was as confused as I was when it started.
The rain was really chucking it down when I arrived in Manizales around 11pm and thankfully the taxi driver knew where to go and I decided to splash out and treat myself to a private room for $30,000 pesos a night, which works to be around £8 for the privacy it was well worth it.

When Your Handed A Lemon...

Just a quickie this time round, but I wanted to share one of my favourite quotes, and this one goes a long way in explaining why I always try to make the best of even a bad situation.

 

"I'm a great lover of fresh orange juice, but when they hand me lemons hey, I make lemonade"

 

You see, if your real thirsty and go down to the shops to get some oranges but all you can buy is lemons, you basically got two options :-

 

a) You could piss and moan and complain that you aint got your orange juice, go thirsty and sooner or later the lemons will go off.

 

Or b) ... you can shrug your shoulders, think "oh well, it could be worse" then carry on regardless and make a refreshing lemonade to quench your thirst.

 

My trip to Colombia started off as bas as bad could be - delayed flights, lost luggage, alone in  a strange country and let down by those I thought cared for me, and I could have let this get my head down and think of it as a failure.

 

But instead, I refused to let it beat me, made a few adjustments to my schedule, went out and got a new suitcase and clothes, still did all the stuff I normally like doing and ensured that when I made it to Medellin and met up with the good folks out there I enjoyed it as much as I could too.

 

It wasn't what I planned, but I like to think that I made the best of the situation.

 

So ... when life throws YOU a lemon, make lemonade

Images of Colombia

A Night to Remember in Medellin

So anyway, David who seemed to have appointed himself as my personal guide for the day, said that we were going to have a traditional meal at Paula's Aunties house, but he may as well have said feast. There was nothing lavish, but a huge plate of home made food that tasted as good as anything I've ever tried and even belching there was just too much to eat in one sitting for a small guy like me.

They made a joke about rude guests who left food also left by a window, so after struggling for almost an hour to finish it all, I had to reply that I think I was in need of a parachute or a pair of wings.

After lunch we went to one of the highest parts of Medellin, a place where they had recreated some authentic buildings and were doing their best to make it like a living museum, which was very cool.

There were a few souvenir shops, but they were all tastefully done and without the private hawkers / sellers in the main square made a refreshing change from the usual tourist trap, as did the fact that the legitimate sellers who were their didn't pounce on you the second you came within a potential snaring range.

The view from the place overlooked the city centre, and you could see the plans for the new rail link, the old cathedral and everything in between. I have to say that I was surprised the amount of tall skyscrapers there were in Medellin. Not only do they show that the industry and economy are again higher than I expected, but with all the vast areas of the country undeveloped it strongly suggested at prime city space being of premium value.

Stopping for a cool beer and ice cream we then made our way back down the windy road to the city centre before driving to a cool place for some drinks. At this stage Davids cousin called in a couple of her friends, and if I had trouble keeping my thoughts pure before now it was impossible. Three young, happy, sexy singletons who all were all a bit curious about the new addition to the crowd and who he was { me } was more than enough to put a huge smile on my face { and create a huge something else that I need not go into right now!!! }.

It was the perfect spot for a few drinks, and with prices of three for one of cocktails all day long, a few rounds of drinks for seven only cost me about £30, and it only cost me as this was indeed my round, with them not even trying to take advantage of my "white thus rich" status.

As the night went on, I decided that David's cousins was indeed a true cutie-pie and I could not but hope that I would see her again the next day. However the night wasn't even over yet, and so David suggested we went to a new spot, where the drinks were more expensive but the women even hotter { was that even possible ? }, and of course he was proud to be able to show off even more of his city at the same time.

This was the only truly sad part about the whole trip, for as soon as we got there, for some unknown reason that came as fast as a runaway train, one of David's friends got all up in his face and they came to blows. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe the heat, maybe just the Latino passionate culture ... maybe even something I had done without realising it, but whatever it was, it came out of the blue and ruined an otherwise perfect day.

So after everyone tried to calm them both down, after about an half hour we called it a night and David drove me back to his place with his cousin. Up to this point, I was due to spend the night with Paula's auntie but the boys were her two sons, so this was impractical and as they speak but a little English and I speak but a little Spanish and David was doing all the driving ... it made sense all round for me to go with him.

Back at David's I was again impressed with the decent furniture, decor and high-fi equipment. He had made a very nice little pad for himself and again showed that a hard worker in Colombia could have as nice a standard of life as a hard worker in the UK.

We stayed up and chatted for a few more hours and he introduced me to his girlfriend, need I say that she too had looks a model would be jealous of, I doubt it! Me and Davids cousin did a bit of a nighttime stroll though the city on our own, which is always something I love to do anyway, while we popped out for more drinks { the local rum is like water to them ... well almost } and then at about 02:00 I had to call it quits.

Up until then my body was still on UK time, which meant that over there I was waking up at 04:00 and going to bed as early as 19:00, but that one night sort of violently shoved my body in Colombian time properly, and it was no more early nights for me after that.

Even More In Medellin

Well I got back home yesterday morning at around 09:30 and after a short trip to my mums for her birthday party I came home, thought I would have a quick kip to rid myself of any overdue tiredness and then slept for fifteen hours. Wow, I never realised I was that tired but the travelling must have totally knocked me for six, as I've not slept that much undisturbed sleep in years.

And then as soon as I woke up and checked my blog I realised, Oops, I didn't really finish the last post properly, so here is the rest.

The people, ahhhh, the people.

I've been to quite a few places now, but the friendliness and warmth that I felt from these wonderful people still takes my breath away.

I had chosen to visit Colombia because a good friend at work, Paula, is from Medellin and she said it was the best place on earth. Knowing how few true friends I have made from work and the fact that I've already met her friends, brother, mum, dad and even cousins, when she suggested I go to her home city and meet more of her family I could not really say no and I am sure glad that I went.

From the moment they met me at the airport to the moment they dropped me off again I felt like I belonged. At no stage did I feel like I was a stranger among them, nor that I was a foreign VIP that they needed or deserved to receive any special attention. I was just at once part of their lives.

I did my best to speak Spanish wherever I could, which was more and more as I continued to create many new mini sentences by dredging my memory for every last word I knew, and I always introduced myself properly in Spanish before adding the line about my Spanish being poor.

The fact that I tried and kept on trying I believe was one of the big reasons why I didn't feel out of place, as they felt at east speaking in Spanish to each other and to me, unless they had something they really wanted to get across to me without any chance of confusion, when they would turn to David and he would translate perfectly for me.

The other reason was that I have always tried to be a good guy, honest, trusting and humble. I do not go throwing around me past, successes or money in other peoples face, and am happy most of the time to applaud others for there's.

So anyway ... after I was met at the airport and a long drive through the most idyllic countryside imaginable, we made it to central Medellin and to my friend Paula's aunties house.
Colombia and Medellin are not as poor as the media like to make out, and just because they are in South America, do not be fooled that the property or staying in a hotel will cost you pennies.

A good night in a decent hotel in Bogota would still cost you a tidy sum and to buy a large estate with a fancy town house on it you are still talking more than the average westerner could afford on their normal salary.

Sure, the Colombian government are selling off some of their cheaper end of the range apartments for around £20,000 but then you can go the the worst place in Liverpool and do the same thing, just without the hot weather, the superb mountain backdrop or the friendly natives.

And the women. Boy oh boy, I never believed Paula when she said that back home she was just one of the girls, not until I had seen it here with my own eyes. Here in Medellin was the home of the sexiest women on the planet.

Now I don't want to sound rude or arrogant but this just isn't a normal city. Ive met stunningly pretty Chinese girls but wandering around China the average woman was fair but nothing special. Same about English women, Spanish, Romanian ... go anywhere else in the world and you will meet a few sexy women but the Jane average of their cities are exactly that, average. Not in Medellin.

Here it seemed that almost EVERY woman was a knockout. The woman selling T-shirts, the woman behind the grocery counter, the barmaid, the neighbour, the neighbours younger sister, the woman pushing the pram down the road ... everywhere I looked was a vision of beauty, that I would be equally proud to have on my arm. Everyone with curves, long dark hair, olive skin, slim, pretty face and an air of happiness that I have never experienced anywhere else in the world.

Why the first time a guy goes out there with a girl he would have to be wearing blinkers like a workhorse not to have his eyes stray, though I suppose in time any amount of beauty becomes common place, but for a tourist or visitor ... it was paradise!

And the guys ... well I'm straight, but the guys here are no slouches neither, and I'd be willing to bet that the young ones would have no problem finding a girl in any part of the world they were in.

Arrival in Medellin

So anyway ... my holiday in Bogota wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, mainly because despite having a few Internet contacts they all ended up blowing me out or not replying to my emails when I got out here, and thus ended up spending all my time alone, apart from the times when I was spending money like in the shops, the hairdressers, the restaurants or whatever.

But this was only the prelude to the REAL holiday in Colombia, the trip to Medellin to hang out with some of Paola's folks back where they all started and have their roots. This was the reason why I came out here in the first place, and without this I would have shelved Colombia way to the back of my list of places to visit, especially going solo.

It started off with a few names on a scrap of paper, with phone numbers and a vague promise of meeting up if I should make it all the way to Medellin. Well fly out to Colombia I had, and then onward to Medellin I did, so it was a very welcome sight to find a shop at the airport lounge that sold mobile recharger's or there is not telling what might have happened.

When I arrived at the airport to find no one with my name on a piece of paper and all the other passengers got picked up I made the call. I called my contact, who then said that they were at work until 6pm, but had arranged to send someone else out here to pick me up. Not a promising start.

An hour later, after making a few lengths of the entire arrivals hall, this car pulls up and seeing as I was the only left standing on the platform, and I am of course easily spotted as being Caucasian, they spotted me first and came up to grab my stuff.

Relief instantly flooded through me ,as along with my friends auntie who speaks limited English, there was also a guy that was doing the driving and he was really something else. He had a really calm attitude to him, he was friendly and approachable on a lot of subjects and having lived in London for 4 years and New York for 15 more, there was no problems with language other than he still had a slight Yanky twang as it were.

This guy, who had also done a fair amount of travelling, was gonna be a good pal while I was out here, and that was alright by me.

Driving through the countryside from Medellin airport to the city was really something else and if you have never seen a complete vista of a lush green mountain range in the full 360, speckled with small hamlets all around then you have not seen anything. This place was like the best parts of Spain, New Zealand and Dominican Republic all in one, and I could instantly see why Paola is proud of her heritage and city ... she has every reason to be.

This place had warmth, plenty of greenery in all shapes and sizes, olive skinned beauties everywhere I looked, and an air of post Mexican cowboy & western films of the John Wayne or Ronald Regan era, I mean it really had it all.

The drivers all seem to be Jedi masters, as they weave in and out of each other be it in a old beaten up Beetle or brand new BWM, and then of course you have to add the thrill of the motor cyclists and the horse carts as well. The law out here stated that every motorcyclist has to wear a big puffy safety jacket with their registration number on the back, and with the heat that's a receipt of bad BO and several showers a day.

All the buildings had their own character and each street was unlike any other, as one minute you could be driving down a fully tarmacked road with car showrooms off to one side and high skyline hotels the other, but 2 minutes later if you hang a right turn you are suddenly going down a wide dusty path with no pavement on either side and the rust and boned of broken down buildings almost encroach on your car as it drives by.

But no matter where you are, or what direction you look in, look, in the distance you will always see the pastel greens and browns of a distant mountain range reaching high up above where you were.