I love Medellin, but I love nature more. So I head out to Guatapé, while David want’s to stay in Medellin. I need to take a bus to get there. I talked about the metro system the last post already. You get direct walkways from the metro to the terminal del norte. It is one of two big bus terminals in Medellin. In my opinion, it is really well designed. You don’t even cross pathways with the highway or any car. Just unbelievable!

I catch the bus and it is mostly going flawlessly. Of course, though, it took longer then anticipated. At this point you can just laugh at this common theme throughout Colombia. Again just calculate twice as much time as Google Maps is saying. It is still the Semana Santa (Easter) and everything is bustling with Colombian activity. Guatapé is supposed to be one of the most colorful cities of Colombia. In my opinion it lost a little bit of flair, as there is too many ugly hotels around already. You can still find some beautiful streets, that show you it’s charm.

My initial plan was to head to Guatapé for one night. Head to San Rafael the next and then head back to Guatapé for the following night. My plans were changed since everything was booked out in San Rafael. Something to keep in mind, when traveling during Semana Santa. So I book another night in the hostel. I mean, for six bucks I can’t complain. I also meet Raphael. A guy I met in El Salvador. We never exchanged numbers, but here we meet again 1800 km south… Tell me what are the chances? He reminds me of an interview an El Salvadoran did with us. If you want to see me struggling with Spanish check it out.

The next day I head to El Peñól del Guatapé. It is a big rock, which gives you an amazing view of the surrounding area. Did I mention that it was Semana Santa? Because the rock was pretty packed with people. Everything was super crowded and it took me forever to get up and down again. The view was pretty good, but for me with the amount of people there not really enjoyable.

Tip: If you stay the night in Guatapé, head to El Peñól early. The day tours of Medellin arrive around 11 a.m.

See this gorgeous lake? It is artificial and created by a dam. There is a city submerged under it. Apparently the church is still peaking out. I decide to check it out and do a boat tour. The boat tour was pretty insignificant though. The only thing I worth mentioning, was that my ass hurt from sitting on the seats for an hour.

The next day I want to rent a scooter and check out San Raphael. In the hostel I meet Pawel. I share my plans with him and he wants to join. We search for a scooter rental. Once there they ask for a drivers license. Shit… I left mine in the big backpack in the hostel. Pawel doesn’t have a drivers license. Frustrated we head back. I get it and we get back to the rental. We get a scooter and cruise into the mountains. Neither the velocity or the fuel gauge work. Who needs those anyways? We get to the mountains and we can’t believe our eyes!

It starts to rain a little and it is quite cold. We push on to San Rafael. Winding through the curvy roads unbelievable scenery flashes in front of our eyes. After half an hour we reach the little village. Now this is what I’m talking about. No gringos around. There is a little ceremony in front of the church, where it seems almost the whole village has gathered. We have some cake and head to a river where you can swim. I let Pawel drive. Later he tells me that he doesn’t have a drivers license. Good that he just told me this afterward! For that he managed pretty well. We get to a spot and we can see how the rural parts celebrate the Semana Santa. They cook stews on the open fire, smoke joints, drink beer and relax with their families.

We explore the area more and hike through the jungle. It starts raining and we find a small roof, where we can stay. Here we want to wait until the rain stops. Until person appears. He seems to be very distressed. He has a little blood on his face. He seems pretty drunk. We ask ourselves what happened. He tells us that someone wants to kill him. Pretty crazy story and we were afraid to get involved. We escort him to the way we came from and get him to a restaurant, but we don’t want to get more involved.

We have to make a decision, if we still want to see the waterfall. We decide against it and start to head home. On the way home I often had the feeling that our scooter was out of fuel. Up the mountains it was rattling and making weird noises. The gauge didn’t work so I wouldn’t really know. Luckily we made it back to Guatapé right before dark and the scooter didn’t disappoint.

I head back to Medellin. It seems that Omid, Jolisa and Teresa made it to Medellin as well. We plan a picnic in the botanical garden. I’m glad to see Omid again. His attitude, his openness and willingness to share everything combined with the sentence “I’m so happy to be here” makes him just a fun person to hang around with.

We snack the food and chill in this heavenly place. By the way, foreigners can come for free to the Botanical garden in Medellin. I don’t like this discrimination, because locals have to pay to enter. Either everyone pays or no one… Otherwise it is a really beautiful place to be. Later we head out for something to eat and into the chaotic parts of Poblado. It reminds me of Amsterdam Centraal. A place that is only designed for tourists nowadays… Still we can have fun and go out right?

We end up in a club called Mad Radio. A really cool place to check out if you like Techno. They also stream their music and sometimes dj sets on their website.

After this, it is time for me to say goodbye. I will leave Latin America soon and I have to head to Bogotá. Five month have been gone by so fast. I got used to speaking Spanish and I got a little sad when I think about it. I will miss the crazy street foods, the snack shops located every corner and the crazy friendly people. Bogotá is elevated 2700m above sea level. Compared to Mexico city which is 2100 meters, I didn’t have as much problems here. The city itself is beautiful and ugly at the same time. The colonial part is very beautiful. The rest is plastered with different kinds of architecture.

I get reminded again how Latin America works when I want to use the busses. To be able to use it you need to have a card, or you can also ask the locals to let you in with their card. Most of the bus stops in Bogotá have entries and exits like a metro. I ask one person if I could pay him to let me in. He looks at me and just climbs over the gate. He looks at me again, like he invented the idea of free public transport. He inclines me to do the same. I am hesitant and a little afraid of the consequences. Then I just climb over and he looks at me with a big smile. I look back to the security. Phew, seems that no one cares. Oh Latin America… I will miss this attitude.

I stroll through the streets, until a spontaneous idea pops into my head. I should check out that mountain Monserrate. I head there and it is all uphill. I take a cable car and admire the pristine views from the 3000m above sea level. Here I begin to see the grasps of how big Bogotá really is.

I am enjoying the view. It is quiet up here and the air seems to be fresher. I walk around and find the Casa Santa Clara, a French villa up here. Yes it is a literal French villa that got imported from France in the 18th hundreds. Today it has been transformed to a really good restaurant. If you are there, I can definitely recommend to eat at the Casa Santa Clara

When I decided to head back down, I queue in the line and stumble once again upon the way Latin America works. Some people were cutting the line. Telling me they are one big group. First I was really angry at them. What do they think they are better then everybody else? At some point I just did the same and said I was belonging to their group. In my surprise I was not greeted by anger or mad people. It is just the way it is in Latin America. Additionally I was encouraged with a happy face and the words “Oh you learn fast.” They happily started a conversation without any anger or despise. At that point I must have made myself interesting to talk to. Half of the group is from the Dominican Republic. I told them that I have been there and you could see their faces light up in happiness. In the end couldn’t help it but just smile. These things make traveling so fun. Cutting the line would never go in Germany. YOu would have been stared to death by other people. But here it created a fun experience and was socially acceptable. More or less…

Until next time cheers!