Day 45: Medellin

Sunday, May 12th, 2019.

Todays plan:

“Medellin Bicycle tour

09:30 hrs at Parroquia de San Joaquín, Cra. 69 #30, Medellín by Green bicycle tours

During the tour you will visit:
Alpujarra, the administrative centre home of the municipal and departmental governments;
Parque de las Luces (Park of the Lights), which comprises careering clusters of bamboo, modern architecture and beautiful pillars of light scattered in different heights;
San Juan;
Parque de los Pies Descalzos, or ‘Bare Foot Park,’ a park filled with museums, fountains, free music, yoga, and relaxation;
Carlos E. Restrepo, a university neighborhood; the Atanasio Girardot Stadium, one of the most complete sport units and the better built in Latin America;
La 70, one of Medellin’s most popular nightlife areas; the Cerro Nutibara, from where you can see beautiful views of the Aburra Valley and the city; Parque Ciudad delRio, home of many urban sculptures, a high quality skatepark, a small rock climbing wall, many shady and grassy spots to relax or have a picnic, an amazing display of graffiti art, and the Medellin’s Museum of Modern Art (Museo del Arte Moderna); Parque del Amor; and La Presidenta Park, a green lung with more than 700 square meters with several trails that allow you to enjoy the gardens and interact with nature.
After the tour make your way back to your accommodation and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.”

I get up, the view from my room is super.

I go downstairs and have a selina breakfast.

No yogur, but something slimey, banana based. It is good.

Then I get a Uber to the meeting point (15000 pesos, 4 eur fir a 30 min ride). The drivers all did more than 1.000 rides …

It’s mothers day. It seems to be tradition to go to church. My guide comes with bikes and helmet and off we go.

The guide built up his business by himself. He looks forward to go to Amsterdam in 3 month for a new job. We talk a lot about Europe, cultural differences, education in Colombia.

We drive up to pueblito paisa. You can see there how the people lived in the past. For example one of the first video phones

After the tour I go with underground to the cable car to “Corregimiento de Santa Elena”. It is two connecting cable cars. The first one is included in the 2.000 peso metro ticket. It climbs up over the city into the mountains. The second one costs an extra of 6.000 pesos per direction and runs over the forest of the Santa Elena park without connecting stations.

The cable cars are full of israelian post army travelling girls. In the Santa Elena I do a one hour forest hike, then I take the cable car (telerifico) back down and the metro back to El Poblado. There I walk up to Selina, checking a laundry on my way.

In the evening I meet the French guys from lost city trek in the roof top bar of The charlee hotel. Cocktails are pricey as a full dinner.