Medellin

Arrived to Medellin with Evie and Ben on an overnight bus. I'm getting very used to sleeping well on buses so the 16hours passed easily. Medellin is a really great city and I ended up spending 10 days here.

Accommodation:
Viajero hostel. It's a pretty nice one. Very busy rooftop bar.
Two other Airbnbs that I shared with Evie and Ben. Both were basic but cheap and around the corner from the Viajero

The nice thing about doing my route through Colombia is that I'm going the same way and same pace as most people I meet. I've been able to meet up with a lot of my original gang from Carpe Diem in Minca.
My days here are all a bit of a jumble between partying, days chilling and taking in some sights. We started off our Medellin stay with a local football match. The atmosphere wasn't as good as what we had been promised but it was still good to see.
I ended up doing Communa 13 twice. Once with Amy when I did the walking tour and again with Evie, Ben and Chandler. Comuna 13 was once one of the most dangerous areas in the world. It wasn't until 2011 that it became safe to visit. Because of the street art and performers it's now the most touristic place in Medellin.
I did the free walking tour and had an excellent guide. He touched on the Pablo Escobar era and mentioned how the people of Medellin really don't like to speak about him. Referring to him as Voldemort, he mentioned how some of his classmates parents were killed in random attacks and car bombings and he was always terrified as a child the same would happen to his.
I did a day trip to the town of Guatape. It's a very pretty town and climbed up to the top of a massive rock to take in the view.

Recommendations:
Real City free walking tour centre and downtown.
Go to a football match
Modern art museum
Comuna 13
Guatape day trip
Night life
Take the cable cars up to the park - we did this too late in the day to do any hiking in the park. Also the cable car takes a lot longer than expected.
Botanical gardens

Food:
Hijamia - exceptional brunch. I ate here nearly every day
Criminal Taqueria - great Mexican
Mercado del Rio - food court
German street food - stays open late
Olivia - good Italian

Make sure to stay in the area of El Poblado

*ATMs - Davivienda. No feesRead more