The flight was over before I knew it. Plenty of work done on my travel blog draft. This definitely beats the long flights I have been having previously! Medellin airport is incredibly high up, can almost feel my ears popping! It then took me a good fourty minutes to get where I needed to which was smack bang in the middle of the city, or so I thought…

My taxi driver pulls up literally a few minutes away from my hotel, due to it being based on the other side of a very busy main road. I realise as I get out of the car I don’t think this is where I ought to be! The city appears huge but there isn’t one single gringo in sight! I am looked at by locals as if I am the Elephant Man! Don’t get me wrong, everybody loves a bit of attention in life and that obviously applies to myself but I was getting it not because of my skin colour but probably more or else to do with the blonde floppy tied back hair, blue eyes, wearing Toms and big blingy watch! “Wake up Bill, your in Colombia!” I best fix up look sharp I think! It wasn’t particularly comforting but hey let’s not write off the place just yet eh!

After checking in and finding out I have a luxurious big double bed ensuite all to myself to look forward to and a birds eye view of the city centre itself. I realise this is in a prime location. I feel a bit safer up here but I know Parque Lleras from research was the place to be here in Medellin for meeting other like minded travellers like myself but me being me I had to go one step further didn’t I. I like a challenge so to get to Parque Lleras it’s going to be a twenty minute taxi ride altogether there and back that I’m lumbered with. Lucky the cabs are cheap here!

I see it benefit me to grab a taxi to take a little trip around town as I felt a tad anxious walking around where I am based but I need to get familiar within this environment I think. I got dropped near Parque Lleras and explored the beautiful side of Medellin. Nothing beats that buzz of excitement when you get to see a city for the first time. Waterstreams, woodland villages, very new surroundings and it generally seemed really nice and clean here. A striking resemblance of how safe it felt in Cartagena, actually I got the exact same vibe. It’s apparently the worlds most innovative city! Few more photos below this time near Parque Lleras.

It really was remarkable how poor the city seemed to look where my hotel is to where I am currently. I kept walking further up and realised I actually am very close to San Javier Antioquia which is as dangerous as the rather well known ‘Comuna 13′. Comuna 13 is an over populated and low socio-economic zone that runs up into the west hills of the city based within the rest of the other La Comunas, Comuna 13 being particularly the worst! There are thousands of brick and cement homes stacked close to one another. It was a area for paramilitary guerrilla and gang activity and it made it ideal for crime activity back in the day as it leads directly to the main highway, making it easy transportation for guns, drugs and money for Cartel drug lords. Particularly a well known name you probably have heard of before,’Pablo Escobar’. Medellin was his most favourite city and I can clearly see why. I am in Cartel Capital people!

Anyways back to all that later. At least you have a good idea of what I am getting at and exactly where I am at. Time for food and empanadas are on the menu! I am starting to grow a big obsession to Colombian food but saying that though they certainly like their fried chicken out here! It’s not the KFC kind either. Carne (beef) and Pollo (chicken) empanadas are cheap and very tasty so they come with a big recommendation as a nice pastry snack.

After lunch and what seemed like a long walk I headed back to my hotel and literally moved all bits from my rucksack into my room as if I lived there. Going to be here a week so might as well make most of it and make myself kind of at home even though I was clearly in the wrong side of town! Only complication I had was the hot water in not just Medellin but all throughout where I have visited in South America so far is extremely temperamental when taking a shower! You never have any idea if it’s ever going to be a hot or not!

The next day I did some research and being as I had been on the Metrocables in La Paz Bolivia previously, apparently here it’s one of the things as a must see and do according to my trusty TripAdvisor search. The hotel organised me a taxi and it was here I formed a close relationship with my new found driver Mr.Wilson! I gotta say his English was about as non-existent as my Spanish but we both used the very basics and hand gestures in our ways of making communication. One thing he did have was a friend on his phone who could translate back to me in English what he was actually saying to me. For me, some of la lingo was actually starting to stick and I was getting used to certain words in particular but he was making it obvious to me that he was going to make sure I was going to get the best experience a backpacker could get from the Medellin Metrocable day out.

With a small trip on a rather futuristic subway train Mr.Wilson made me aware to watch my phone and valuables for the trip up ahead. The trains and further north you go the more dangerous the environment becomes for a Gringo to be stuck in. According to what I had read earlier that day muggings and shootings still happen a lot in certain parts of Medellin but I am here now so if I am going to bail out here it’d be a heck of a way to go out on a high eh! Time to prove myself and some others wrong again I think!

The Metrocables were practically the same as any of the others I have been on so far but the height we got up to here was high enough to make my ears pop. We got up as high as 2,500 metres above sea level which is around eight thousand feet. The views are absolutely incredible up here. Plus with it being ridiculously cheap for a ticket also I can’t recommend it anymore as must do for a visit here. Word of advice though don’t go for a gentle leisurely stroll at the very top of San Javier Antioquia Comunas. Will get on to that bit shortly! Here are a few of the views up above the Metrocables provide.

The next day we travelled up to ‘Peublito Paisa’ which once again superb for views and scenary and this time well away from all the activity of yesterday. After spending a few hours taking in the views I wanted to get some more photos of Parque Lleras so I waltzed through the local parque passing some beautiful waterstreams and was approached by a few young local youths asking me in English if I wanted any weed or cocaine with Policia literally no more then a hundred yards away! “Come on man, this is Colombia” they say but I politely declined and didn’t fancy the risk of being thrown into a prison in Colombia, particularly more so in Medellin lol! Here are a few photos of Peublito Paisa.

Afterwards I was feeling rather daring and I asked Mr.Wilson to take me for a spin around the local comunas I spoke about yesterday and obviously when I actually get out of the car that he keep close to me at all times in case something bad may happen! Literally I get out of the taxi for five minutes and start taking a few photos around the place and immediately I attract attention from the locals. Might be fact I have my iphone out and am taking loads of photos looking like easy prey probably. This place looks very dangerous but this is something I just simply had to do. I even heard a loud bang near me which was either a firework or a gun shot of some sort I think! Maybe it’s somebody reminding me to get the hell out of their village pronto amigo! It was there I literally quickly got in as many photos as I could and got out of there #rapido! It is recommended not to visit the very own Colombian version of their own favelas but I thought it was defo worth it though for that pure based adrenaline rush! Mr.Wilson and me got our skates on and sped off in his taxi back to my hotel! Here’s some pics below for those adrenaline rush shots from inside San Javier Antioquia Comunas!

Now Parque Lleras was within close distance now and the sheer difference between the actual city and here is just huge! It’s a lot more traveller friendly and my luxurious hotel room is starting to lose it’s swag appeal. Plus not to mention where I was based wasn’t safe to go out at night ever for a Gringo! I took some great shots then went on and got a Mexican tex mex for dinner and head on back to the hotel. Parque Lleras is set up so it’s based in a square where your surrounded by bars, clubs, restaurants and comfortable environment these days but I can imagine back in the day this a lot like the Comuna’s it must of had it’s fair share of criminal activity also. If your visiting Medellin then you really need to visit here!

It was time to book my next destination trip in Colombia and this time I have chosen to head to Bogota! One of the colder parts of this country and literally just as I was getting used to some regular heat in Cartagena and Medellin! That’s the beauty of this trip when you don’t know what kind of weather awaits you. Bogota is once again only going to be a 45-50 minute flight at another ridiculously stupid price. With all of my next destination now planned I had one night left here in Medellin and it’s a Saturday! The best night to be here! Saturday’s here are much like how they are back in the U.K. so that can only mean one thing, let’s get out and amongst it and find out where the fun latino bars are.

On my way out I come across a couple of teenage lads who purposedly walked past me then turned back round to come talk to me. Looking as shady as they both were they asked me something twice in Spanish and I had no idea what they said. I responded in a confused and polite manner telling them I didn’t understand what they seemed to be after. This seemed to put them off slightly and they wandered back off but what I didn’t realise is a local girl came over to me straight after and explained to me that they wanted my money and that I need to be very careful around the city here, especially with how I look! This was probably a big eye opener for me and I was kinda glad I had seen all there is to see here in Medellin. I was very grateful for her advice but didn’t let it distract me from trying to have a night out in Cartel Capital.

That night I met some great people and learnt a bit more about the local culture environment that surrounded me. One thing is for sure, Colombians are packed full of energy and I discovered judging from the local crop of Colombian Latina women out in full force with next to nothing on what Shakira was referring to when she sings them lyrics ‘Hips don’t lie’!!

Let’s see what Bogota can bring me next….