Guatapé has a big rock ⛰️

11/3/23

We had wanted to spend our Saturday in Medellin so we could try a lively night out in the favoured Colombian city, but sadly all the fun hostels were booked so we decided to change our plan and head straight to Guatape, a ‘nearby’ town that most people did as a day trip from Medellin. We decided to stay there a couple of days since it was meant to be pretty and seemed as good a place as any to chill a bit. We had a breakfast stop in the bus station in Medellin before getting another bus to Guatape. I also bought new bikini bottoms in the bus station for a £1 since mine had died in Banos’ hot springs and were becoming increasingly baggy!

On arriving in Guatape, we went for a nice lunch and then had a mooch around. Then we took a much needed rest after spending over 15 hours on a bus! We went back out for drinks in a bar with a live band and then ended up having burritos there too, which were delicious! We got stuck talking to a very drunk touring carpenter for quite some time before I could fully enjoy the music in peace! Afterwards, we took a stroll before sleeeeep.

12/3/23

Today was rock day. Guatape is known for ‘El Penon’, a very steep, lone rock, which you can climb up using a series of steps. Today was the day for us to visit and we wanted to go early to beat the queues on the steps. We headed out around 8.30 after a quick bakery breakfast of bad coffee and a croissant. We caught the local bus that goes past El Penon, which forgot to stop at the walkers stop, and then we started our walk. The view was already impressive, just a short way up the walk preceding the entrance.

We paid entry for the rock and headed on up. It took maybe twenty minutes of constant stairs to reach the top and have epic views. We enjoyed at least an hour at the top, from which you could see loads of little islands and a huge lake, in a strange formation due to a dam being built before. It was stunning. After we headed down, we got a fancy ice-cream each and then walked back into Guatape on foot, sometimes on the road and sometimes via steep winding packs up and down on the edge of jungle. We also crossed a very rickety, bouncy bridge. I stopped to get a fried doughnut, which a lady was making fresh on the roadside, but sadly she gave me an old, cold one, which I ended up donating to the street dogs! 😂

We wanted to kayak on the lake in the afternoon, but by the time wed had lunch, the rain was hammering down, so we took cover! We went for coffee and cake but the evening’s weather didn’t improve so much so we went to a rooftop (covered) restaurant for dinner before returning to the hostel to chill.

13/3/23

Today we were heading back to Medellin, but after a crepe breakfast, the sun was shining and we decided we may as well get our kayaking in. We walked along the promenade by the lake and found a guy with a kayak. Sadly for us, they didn’t have two solo kayaks so we had to work as a team to kayak, which always seems to be a challenge, unless I’m kayaking with my mum, in which case, it’s okay! We investigated various corners of the lake, trying to avoid the wake of large boats and jetskiiers, before heading back to shore. We had some lunch and then got the bus back to Medellin.

We arrived in Medellin 4 hours later in the dark, and took the metro to the hostel. When we arrived at the cute hostel we had booked, they let us in before showing us to a different hostel down the road, which was a lot less cute, since it was still being decorated. The owner was very friendly though. We headed out for food in the local area and ended up finding amaaaaazing arepas. Only locals were eating there, it was cheap and so tasty! After dinner, we chilled in the hostel and then slept.