You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. – Dr. Seuss
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 (DAYS 387 & 391)
Woke up at 7am after practically no sleep thanks to the snoring monster in our our 6-bed dorm! Even as I fight through the exhaustion I am ready to explore Medellin and learn more of the history that is notorious for the drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar. Thankfully I was given metro cards from Josh and Iefke, since Medellin is the only city in Colombia that has a mass transit system. On our walk to the station while crossing the street I see a familiar body even from the back. Then it hits me. It’s Karleen! Sneaking up behind her as we are in the middle of a busy street I grab her and as she is ready to turn around and smack me she sees that it’s me and huge hugs are exchange. As we continue to walk to the train station we realize that we are heading to different parts of the city, but agree to meet up for dinner. Char and I head to the Universidad Estacion first where we plan to take the Metrocable, which is a gondola ride that overlooks the city. After reaching the top and taking in the view of the slums below, I adventurously decide to walk through the narrow neighborhoods instead of riding the gondola back down. Passing children playing soccer in the streets, and smiling at local merchants and women sitting on their balconies enjoying the sights and sounds of the neighborhood, it made me feel glad to be immersed in a vibrant Colombian community where people stop to greet each other with hugs and conversation.
Woke up at 7am after practically no sleep thanks to the snoring monster in our our 6-bed dorm! Even as I fight through the exhaustion I am ready to explore Medellin and learn more of the history that is notorious for the drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar. Thankfully I was given metro cards from Josh and Iefke, since Medellin is the only city in Colombia that has a mass transit system. On our walk to the station while crossing the street I see a familiar body even from the back. Then it hits me. It’s Karleen! Sneaking up behind her as we are in the middle of a busy street I grab her and as she is ready to turn around and smack me she sees that it’s me and huge hugs are exchange. As we continue to walk to the train station we realize that we are heading to different parts of the city, but agree to meet up for dinner. Char and I head to the Universidad Estacion first where we plan to take the Metrocable, which is a gondola ride that overlooks the city. After reaching the top and taking in the view of the slums below, I adventurously decide to walk through the narrow neighborhoods instead of riding the gondola back down. Passing children playing soccer in the streets, and smiling at local merchants and women sitting on their balconies enjoying the sights and sounds of the neighborhood, it made me feel glad to be immersed in a vibrant Colombian community where people stop to greet each other with hugs and conversation.
The second night of attempting to sleep in the room with the snoring monster from Bogota, I could take it no longer. Even after Char out of sleep deprivation sat up in the bunk above me and threw a shoe at the guy, this did nothing to stop the horrific sounds. Looking at my watch it was almost 4am, and so I knew that I needed some rest so I got up and grabbed all of my bedding and headed out of the room to the only hammock in the hostel and snuggled in for some peace and quiet. Aweeee silence. This only lasted until about 7am when the cleaning staff began making noise and I was so disoriented I almost fell out of my hammock. Walking back in to the dorm everyone was awake with bloodshot eyes, the two Brazilian guys, Char, and the guy from Chile. All we could do is scowl at this guy still snoring away. Since Char was leaving on an overnight bus that evening I told her that I had to change hostels just for the sake of getting a proper night’s sleep and after fifteen-minutes of wandering around the neighborhood I found a hostel, Hostel Tamarindo, that had a free dorm bed and I told the woman at reception that I just needed some sleep! Even by the look in my face she knew I was exhausted, but unfortunately I couldn’t check in until after 3pm, but I was welcome to leave my bags there. I quickly returned to my hostel and packed up told Char goodbye since I had already planned to do the Pablo Escobar tour that left at 10:30am with friends from Nicaragua, Shane and Emma, and headed out.
The minibus picked up our small group of seven around 10:30am at Kiwi Hostel, which was conveniently located right next door to my new hostel, and while this was my first choice they were unfortunately fully booked. As we set out on our tour the first location was a building that was bombed by the Cali Cartel and was still in ruins as there are very mixed feelings about a drug lord that accumulated over a billion dollars in his reign of power. To me, this was not a typical sightseeing excursion but more of an educational part of history that surrounded one individual that carried so much influence and while to some he was a beloved by the poor yet to most of the world he was a ruthless murder. One of the films we watched as we were driven to different sites was the ESPN 30 for 30 film - The Two Escobars, which was very interesting and shows how much influence he had in a variety of issues within the Colombian and International community. While the tour only lasted a half-day, when we returned back to Kiwi Hostel at 1:30pm we sat around and discussed for several hours the effects Escobar had on modern day Colombia as well as the fact that even in the 21st Century 80% of the cocaine in the world is still produced in Colombia. However, by 5pm I was too exhausted to continue any type of human interaction and took the short walk to my hostel, grabbed a shower, and was passed out by 7pm.
After almost 13-hours of much needed rest, I wake up fully rejuvenated and ready to start the day. Since I have yet to secure my transportation back to Bogota and realizing that Semana Santa is quickly approaching where prices on almost everything typically double if not triple and accommodations dry up, I decide to walk to the local supermarket where there is a flight center inside. Since I was hoping to enjoy one final day in Medellin I ask the attendant about the cost of a flight to Bogota for the following day and he tells me that there is one available and it is actually $5 cheaper than taking the local 9-hour bus for only $30,000 pesos ($31.79). Done, I tell him. After a few short seconds he apologizes and tells me that the cost of this cheap flight is actually for today and departs in 4-hours. I ask him about the next day and that’s when the prices begin doubling and tripling. After a quick debate I choose the flight and have to rush back to check out of my hostel before the 11:30am check out time and pack up. I've realized that if you are unable to find a flight center in a supermarket in South America, which are quite common, the locals use Despegar.com whether domestic or international flights. I would equate this almost to Southwest Airlines in the United States. An excellent resource that a Peruvian girl told me about that saved us over $200 when we were looking to get to Cusco from Lima.
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