After leaving San Gil, we took a night bus to Medellin. While we were able to sleep, night buses pretty much suck and in Colombia are only marginally less expensive than flying. We'll probably shell out the extra cash in the future for the increased comforts...
Anyway, we arrived in Medellin and made it to our hostel. Both Kadie and I were quite happy with the hostel, and were rather surprised at how hip and developed Medellin felt. In the Barrio el Poblado where we were staying, there are extensive numbers of bars, boutiques and every comfort imaginable. To me, it felt a lot like Berkeley, CA in many ways. Unfortunately, the nice hostel and neighborhood came at the expense of noise and major partying. Our hostel had the sound system going until around 4am, and while Kadie and I aren't prudish about these things, the awful nights sleep and waking up to bathrooms covered in vomit was enough to make us switch hostels...
Aside from this, Medellin seemed to be a very nice city. Extremely fashionable (Kadie couldn't resist a pair of locally made high heels) with a wonderful Botanical Garden, a huge downtown market, and great train system. Unfortunately, after changing hostels, our second night was only marginally better than the first, with still more late night drinking and noise, so we admitted defeat and left Medellin for the small city of Manizales in the coffee region of Colombia.
Upon arriving in Manizales, we were pretty impressed. The city is extremely hilly, and the entire downtown and shopping areas are built along a ridge with dramatic views of the surrounding mountains in either direction. After settling into a wonderfully clean, bright and spacious hostel room, we headed out to explore town and get some groceries for dinner.
Around 7pm, on our way home, we opted for a shortcut down a set of stairs not more than half a block from the door of our hostal. As soon as Kadie and I began descending them we both realized that it was probably not a good idea. While we were very close to two main roads with police, the stairs were dark and hidden from sight. We had just enough time to doubt our decision, before two young men came running down the stairs after us. Shaking a knife in my face, they cornered us and we willing handed over our bag of vegetables from the store and the $20 in my wallet. Because we were hidden in the stairway, they were able to take their time and search us for cameras, phones, jewelry, etc, but fortunately all these items were safely stored in our hostal. They explained they were robbing us because they were poor and hungry, and as they left I asked if they would mind giving me back my empty wallet. In response I was told to buy another wallet, and then they were gone. Within 1 minute of being robbed we waived down police officers and they took off to search in vain for the thieves. Annoyed by our poor decision, our loss of money and the disappearance of dinner we went home got more money and returned to the store to buy more groceries. All in all they were quite nice about robbing us, and neither Kadie or I really felt threatened, just more annoyed. We stayed away from the shortcut the rest of the evening and had a great dinner at home and a quiet nights sleep.
The following day we walked the streets during Ciclovia, where the streets are closed to cars for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. While there are similiar events in Portland, Ciclovia in Manizales at least happens every Sunday 8-12pm and involves a much broader spectrum of people than similar events in the states. Skateboarders, BMX’ers, families and dog walkers shared the streets and both Kadie and I were surprised to see so many young people out and about along with the regular family and fitness cyclists and runners. After walking a while we visited the big church in the center of town. While I felt a little claustrophobic in the cramped stairs, I loved the heights, whereas Kadie was pretty much the opposite. Regardless it was a nice view, and a good trip for the afternoon.
For now we’re waiting for Tuesday so Kadie can visit the immigration office and extend her visa, and relaxing in Manizales. While we will limit our time outside after dark, there’s tons of hot springs, coffee farms and a huge mountain range which we can visit during the days.
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