Arriving in Medellin

We finally arrived at our hostel at just after 2.30am!!  As we arrived in Medellin, we hit tons of traffic!  Someone called Ryan Castro had been performing at the city’s arena and the concert had just finished.  We managed to negotiate the madness and didn't get held up too much.

From what we could see in the dark, Medellin is a huge sprawling city.

Some general info about the place: 

The vibrant city of Medellin is Pablo Escobar's old stomping ground.  It is situated in a narrow valley.  Its skyline sets high-rise apartments and office buildings against a backdrop of jagged peaks in every direction.  Its pleasant climate gives it its nickname - the City of Eternal Spring.  It's a bustling place of industry and commerce, especially in textile manufacturing and the export of cut flowers.

When we arrived at the hostel, we found out that there were no private rooms available, so we are sharing a dorm with Mark and Chris, Greg and Britt, Derk, and Ritchie for the next three nights.  It’s disappointing, but there's nothing we can do about it!  At least we have individual pods again, and there is a shower room and toilet for our exclusive use. 

We were all incredibly tired, so got to bed as quickly as possible.  Frustratingly, I woke up at 5am.  I was knackered, but I was definitely not going to get back to sleep!  I lay there for an hour or so and then got up.  Mark was up, too.  We headed downstairs and found that the majority of our group were already up, too!  I guess all of our body clocks are out of kilter 😀.

The hostel started serving breakfast at 7am.  There were several delicious choices.  I went for a bacon and egg seeded bagel (Mark had half of my bagel), and Mark chose eggs benedict.  The coffee they served was lovely and strong.  It was a good start to the day.

After breakfast, we organised our laundry, chatted to a few people, and then went downstairs to the co-working area for me to catch up with some posts.Read more