Summer at Medellín
Part 1. Arrival
May 27, 2017: Shanghai - Frankfurt - Bogota, after more than 30 hours of flight, the plane finally landed in El Dorado airport. I was feeling so excited. For me, Latin America is such a far-away and mysterious land. I knew almost nothing about it, and had never thought I would once ever had the chance to step in.
I then arrived at Medellin airport after taking another domestic flight from Bogota. It was night when the driver picked me up at the airport, but I got a chance to see an amazing view looking upon a beautiful scenery in the city valley, when the car drove all way down the hills. When I finally arrived at my apartment, it was deep dark, but I still saw an amazing view on the balcony.
The next day when day broke, I saw such a beautiful picture from my apartment. I lived in a nice apartment with two floors and four rooms. In the following three months, I had several roommates from the U.S, Guatemala, France, Netherlands, and the U.K.. I am lucky to spent many wonderful times with them.
The apartment is called Torrens de Patio Bonito, located in El Poblado. El Poblado is the wealthiest neighbourhood in Medellin, and most foreigners live here.
With blue sky and so many green trees, the neighbourhood looked so lovely.
The next day, I took a walk on the main street, El Poblado Avenue. It was a Sunday morning, so the road is closed to traffic. People went jogging and had fun with their pets on the street.
I went passed by La Strada. It’s a nice place with so many delicious food. I went to many restaurants in the following three months - had delicious hamburgers, tasty Mexican food, and Colombian locally-converted nice Sushi!
Then I went to Oviedo with a huge green apple at the entrance. Oviedo is such a big shopping mall! It has a strange construction. Later, I lost my way inside many times, and cannot find the exit.
Santafé is another giant shopping mall located at El Pablado. This is a picture I took at the main entrace.
The first day I went inside Santafé, I saw a huge giant slide!
I then went to Jumbo Supermarket inside Santafé, and got super terrified when I first saw such huge avocados and bananas!! (Later I got to know the giant bananas are not bananas, and it’s called plantains (or cooking bananas)).
I also had my first local Colombian food inside Santafé. The restaurant is called Cazuelitas and the food in the picture is called paisa. It was sooooooo delicious and I quickly fell in love with Colombian food!! The only pity is that I do not like beans at all, while traditional Colombian dishes usually have so many beans.
Part 2. City Center Tour
The next weekend, I went to Comuna 13 Graffiti Tour at San Javier. San Javier would be probably be the poorest and most dangerous neighbourhood in Medellin a few years ago, mainly because it used to be controlled by guerrillas and drug group (and the remaining impact after the death of the notorious Pablo Escobar). Comuna 13, thus as one of the community in San Javier, suffered a lot from dangerous and disturbance.
This is one of the pictures I took at Comuna 13. I can see from the top that the houses are really, really crowded. However, the views are still really amazing. The tour guide introduced us the story of this neighbourhood. Also, I heard locals there telling their stories – how they suffered from violence, how they went out of sufferings even after losing their loves, and how they reconstructed the neighbourhood and welcomed a new life. I got really touched.
Now Comuna 13 has become a safe and lively neighbourhood. It was not dangerous at all! What makes such transition? One thing is because all the colourful and creative graffitis painted on the wall. Graffitis are really everywhere! With arts, the neighbourhood was transforming from a dark area into an innovative and energetic place. There are so many good paintings with special meanings, although I failed to record most of them.
This is another view of Comuna 13. The neighbourhood has so many steep hills.
I am lucky to attend this tour. It provided me with a good understanding of the history of Medellin. We all know some of the bad history of this country, but that is definitely not what it is today. I am delighted to see how people themselves recover from wars and embrace their new life with optimism and passion. I’d say I am not a big fan of graffiti, but I have seen its meaning as both inspiring art and a source of vigour. Also, the views of the whole neighbourhood is definitely amazing!
Part 3. Guatape Tour
The other weekend, we went to a small town (and municipality) called Guatapé. It is around two hours of bus ride distance from Medellin. Guatapé should definitely be one of the most popular places for the visitors in Medellin.
There’s a very large rock in Guatapé, named El Peñón de Guatapé (English: Rock of Guatapé). It was 740 steps and we climbed for around an hour to the top of the rock.
It was a little bit foggy that day, but the view from top was still amazing.
After climbing the rock, we were treated with a large plate of dish. It was also traditional Colombian Paisa, with beans, white rice, chicharron, ground meat, plantain, avocado, arepa, etc.
We then took a boat to Guatapé town. Can you see the rock from this picture?
Guatapé town is a very small town, but all the houses are very colorful and painted carefully.
This may be the most beautiful sight in Guatapé town. There are so many tourists! Nearby are many stores selling ice-creams and souvenirs with really good business.
In all, I think it’s a nice and worthy tour. Guatapé should definitely be one of the sights to visit in Medellin.
Part 4. Comuna 13 Tour
The next weekend, I went to Comuna 13 Graffiti Tour at San Javier. San Javier would be probably be the poorest and most dangerous neighbourhood in Medellin a few years ago, mainly because it used to be controlled by guerrillas and drug group (and the remaining impact after the death of the notorious Pablo Escobar). Comuna 13, thus as one of the community in San Javier, suffered a lot from dangerous and disturbance.
This is one of the pictures I took at Comuna 13. I can see from the top that the houses are really, really crowded. However, the views are still really amazing. The tour guide introduced us the story of this neighbourhood. Also, I heard locals there telling their stories – how they suffered from violence, how they went out of sufferings even after losing their loves, and how they reconstructed the neighbourhood and welcomed a new life. I got really touched.
Now Comuna 13 has become a safe and lively neighbourhood. It was not dangerous at all! What makes such transition? One thing is because all the colourful and creative graffitis painted on the wall. Graffitis are really everywhere! With arts, the neighbourhood was transforming from a dark area into an innovative and energetic place. There are so many good paintings with special meanings, although I failed to record most of them.
This is another view of Comuna 13. The neighbourhood has so many steep hills.
I am lucky to attend this tour. It provided me with a good understanding of the history of Medellin. We all know some of the bad history of this country, but that is definitely not what it is today. I am delighted to see how people themselves recover from wars and embrace their new life with optimism and passion. I’d say I am not a big fan of graffiti, but I have seen its meaning as both inspiring art and a source of vigour. Also, the views of the whole neighbourhood is definitely amazing!
Part 5 - Part 11
Oppps. I think I do not have time to finish up the following parts recently! Hope I can complete them in the future…