Guatapé
Day 5 - Day 8 // Medellin - that is what we said in the introduction. In our last post, however, I mentioned that we only spent one day in Medellín. So what did we do? The answer is really simple if you spend mere minutes googling trips from Medellín: Guatapé. It is a small town some 2 hours by car from Medellín with a must-see Piedra del Peñol. It's the perfect trip, both the rock and the city are really one-of-a-kind sights.
 |
| People and buses on the left for scale :) |
To get to La Piedra we booked a car (with the driver) via our hotel. It wasn't the cheapest option but we were able to have the flexibility we wanted. That meant leaving Medellín at 7am and going straight to La Piedra. The weather was pretty sad that day, we even considered changing our plans and going to the town first. In the end, we decided to stick to the plan and started with La Piedra.
 |
| Couch potatoes - keep away! |
The way up and down takes at least 30 minutes (if your hobby is running up and down the stairs then it might take less) and you need to conquer 705 stairs. No need to count, they painted the numbers there for you. The good thing about the way down is that you take a different set of stairs so you don't bump into people going up.
 |
| The western view |
At the top, there are some shops (snacks and souvenirs) but nothing special in my opinion. The view is amazing, even if you aren't lucky weather-wise (which we weren't). I am sure it must be even more amazing when it's sunny.
Useful tip: No need to skip this one even if you suffer from vertigo. There are spots that you probably won't be keen to take a photo at but other than a couple of those it's fine. Yes, it's true I needed to be touching the stone wall continuously but I made it without crying and tantrums :D. Just a tiny bit more nervous than on the ground.
 |
| The eastern view |
You can also book a boat trip or a heli ride there. If you're not short on cash, go for the heli. It must be fantastic to get the bird's eye view from every direction.
Useful tip: If the driver of the bus/car/whatever the hell you arrived by is willing to stop and let you take the photo of La Piedra from farther away, go for it! We stopped on our way back from Guatapé the town.
 |
| Not even the donkey wants to work |
Guatapé is a couple of minutes away from La Piedra. The town is cute, there is no other word for it - and I don't like this word at all. The town is full of colourful houses with different zocalos painted on them and small narrow (some a bit hilly) streets. You can get lost there for quite some time, especially, if you start checking out different shops and cafés. We managed to find physalis jam (that Telchac is obsessed with) and also small versions of zocalos that we couldn't choose from.
Useful tip: I think the zocalo tile is the ultimate souvenir. It's the usual magnet/key chain/mug type of thing and you can hang it on the wall/door and just display it somewhere.
 |
| Zocalo nb. 1892 - there really were lots of them |
The only thing that we were missing at that point was some food, and after we dealt with that, we were ready to go back to Medellín. On our way back, our driver suggested stopping at the replica of the (original and) flooded town of El Peñol which is pretty much a cluster of souvenir shops by now. However, that wasn't what surprised us there. It was the group of maybe 18-year-olds enjoying the ultimate pleasure of Colombian coke. This was the main topic on our two-hour ride back to Medellín because we just couldn't understand that especially because: 1) they were really young, where do they get the money from? and 2) they really had no problem going for it when there were lots of other people around. At least, we had something to discuss :D.
 |
| Please read in a teenage girl's voice: "Oh, it's so cute!" |
In my mind, this (not the coke, but leaving Medellín) meant the end of the second part of our trip. We were looking forward to getting to the sunny and hot Cartagena because Medellín was pretty rough and chilly when it came to the weather. Day 8 was all about packing and checking out and boarding and checking in again, but I'll tell you about that in two weeks. Till then - keep safe, plan your travels (we are certainly doing so!) and C U then!