Medellin
The city of Medellin is about half the size of Bogota and much warmer and at a lower altitude. It is the only city in Colombia to have a metro and is famed for having the most beautiful women in Colombia. Medellin is quite safe now after they killed Pablo Escobar, the drugs lord, who ran the city with his ruthless gang for almost 2 decades until the early 1990s. His Medellin cartel controlled 80% of the global cocaine market and Forbes magazine estimated in 1989 that Escobar's personal wealth was US$25 billion. After Escobar's death and the fragmentation of the Medellin Cartel, the cocaine market soon became dominated by the rival Cali Cartel, until the mid-1990s when its leaders, too, were either killed or captured by the Colombian government.
Medellin has a European feel to it, with a large university, and a great night life, full of chic bars and clubs. Medellin is situated in a valley and there are cable cars taking people to the top of the mountains to get a nice view of the city. There is a beautiful nature reserve on top of the mountain range overlooking Medellin, called Arvi. It is full of lush green fauna and forms an important biological nature reserve for plants and animals native to the area.
Although Couchsurfing has mostly good people, as with any institution, there can be a few nutters as well. I stayed with this one guy the first night (43 years), who was originally from India, but had lived in the US most of his life. He was into meditation. Anyway, when I arrived at his small flat, he showed me the couch and said that his energy level was low so he was going to go into his room for a couple of hours and then we could go out as it was Saturday night. He also said that he was in a bit of a depressed phase currently and that when he heard the news about the world, it made him feel even more depressed.
Later, we went out and sat down outside a local fast food place where he ordered some chicken with a sauce that he removed with a napkin, but then ordered the same dish again. He basically just stared ahead into space without saying much, but uttering a few words here and there. He had a couple of beers and said he felt much better. He then said he wanted to go salsa dancing so we hopped into a taxi and went somewhere, and then he suddenly opened the door and got out without saying a word. I didn´t know whether he had had enough of the taxi or if he wanted to pee or if we had arrived. I just paid the taxi driver and then followed this guy to the salsa club. He drank a few more bottles of beer and started to shake his bushy hair wildly on the dance floor. After that, he tried to touch his toes with his fingers and was in that position for several minutes, just swinging his arms as he bent forwards while everyone else was dancing salsa with a partner. After midnight, he suddently said let´s go and we went back to his flat. I couldn´t wait for the morning to arrive to get out of there, especially as it was going to be my birthday. At 10 a.m. he was still asleep so I wrote him a goodbye note and left his flat only to be met with a locked gate that the security wouldn´t open until they got the guy´s authorisation to do so. Therefore, they woke him up and he said they could let me out. I got a taxi to a big hostel and I stayed there in the heart of the city in my own room because I couldn´t stomach staying in a dorm with 10 to 14 people. The kitchen had pots and pans without any handles. They had been broken off over time, being used by thousands of backpackers over the months. I made friends with a Medellin guy who used another kitchen there to cook for guests so he let me use his nice kitchen with all the equipment. I came down with the flu for a few days so ended up watching around 4 movies a day in the huge tv lounge area that had massive couches and bean bags.
When I got better, I met some locals who took me Salsa dancing. I felt like a fish out of water, trying to find the rhythm and dancing in step with my various dance partners, but managed to pick it up in the end and was complimented by my dance partners, one of whom was from Cali, which is supposed to be a major Salsa centre in the world.
My Date With Johanna : 127 Hours
I went on a date with a 34 year old Medellin girl called Johanna. She showed up, which was a miracle, because it is quite common for girls in Colombia not to show up for dates, and if they do show up, it is usually an hour late. Johanna ended up bringing her older sister and was surprised that I didn´t bring anyone. I told her that I didn´t realise that I should have. Her sister got bored so went home. Me and Johanna ended up going to a restaurant that she had chosen. There was no one else there but the food was good and it had couches. Anyway, over ribs and side dishes, she insisted on telling me about her previous boyfriends, one of whom had been an American whom she had met via a dating website, the same one that 2 of her sisters had met their American husbands. Her ex had been visiting her every month for 2 years (he must have notched up some major air miles). Suddenly, Johanna started crying uncontrollably and I was busy trying to wipe my own hands of the ribs sauce and also to wipe the tears from her face and to comfort her with a hug. Quite a juggling act ! I had been carrying a dvd with me called 127 Hours which is about a guy who gets his hand stuck while hiking in Utah and subsequently cuts his arm off (true story!). I had bought this dvd when a street seller had approached my taxi on the way to meet Johanna. Anyway, Johanna said she wanted to see this movie and that we could go to her apartment which she shared with her mother, father, and younger sister.
Unfortunately, the dvd player at her home was not connected properly to the tv so Johanna asked me to help her to move the large wooden cabinet forward a little so that she could see the wires at the back. This cabinet had vases and statues on various shelves. As I was trying to shift this thing, I banged my head and a couple of the statues fell down and smashed. The mother was mortified and the sister was in shock as she had bought these for the mum. I was just staring at the broken pieces on the floor and shaking my head at the way this evening was going. I offered to pay but Johanna said not to worry and that they weren´t that expensive. Then the sister started crying and going berserk on the phone to the brother because he was firing her from his restaurant as the manager and replacing her with his wife. So, the mum was trying to calm the sister down. Finally, Johanna and I started watching the dvd but when it came to the guy cutting his arm off, she was feeling ill so I couldn´t wait for the film to end so I could get out of there.
El Penol
Around 90 minutes drive from Medellin is a very unusual place called El Penol. There is a massive black rock jutting out of the ground, a bit like the ones you see in Arizona. You can climb up this rock using the steps that they have provided. The view is amazing. There is a lake all around with many small islands in it. The landscape is all green and lush, and makes for a lovely day trip. I randomly bumped into a couple of American guys when I was at the Medellin bus terminal. They were coming to El Penol as well, so we shared a cab there and back. It didn't cost much money. I think it was around US$15 per person there and back. Of course, we didn't pay the taxi driver until he returned us to Medellin so that he wouldn't take off without us. The 2 guys I met were real characters. They were around 30 years old and self-confessed Pick Up Artists, trying their luck in Medellin, where they were currently living. The Medellin women are absolutely gorgeous and love foreign men, so these guys were in their element.
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