14/3/23
Today we had a hostel breakfast before heading out to see Comuna 13, a place famous for being one of the most dangerous places in the world only a few years ago. We were going on a tour of it, as it has since been turned around into a thriving tourist business after government wanted to turn it around and an NGO was given money to go in and promote and enable art and dance. Amazingly, this worked and now Comuna 13 is bustling and most importantly safe. Our guide had grown up in comuna 13 and could remember a time when he could not leave his specific neighbourhood or he may be killed. When we were there, they were doing a TV interview on a football pitch that was used to torture people that ‘assisted’ the paramilitary by ratting out the guarilla groups. There were stories of shootings, ‘false positives’, a regime that was used to make the statistics of reducing guerilla groups look good by murdering innocent peie that only lived in comuna 13 but were not guerilla, and sadly, stories of kids caught in cross fire from paramilitary groups while they were playing outside or on there way to school. The stories were so powerful and the place so vibrant. We were shown one of the largest mass graves in the world, high on a hill on the opposite side of the valley where many of the innocent people were buried. Apparently, the government does not recognise their involvement in this and won’t help to recover the bodies to return to the families for some much needed closure. We watched an incredible street dance performance, which reminded me of Britain’s Got Talent and then continued with our tour. We went to a playground, which used to be a rubbish dump, which was revamped to become a playground in the name of a kid that was caught on crossfire and died instantly due to a head injury. The playground had a large slide and we were talking about kd to go down the slide in the child’s honour and to enjoy the small things in life and not to be afraid to play like a child. It was a powerful tour and we also saw plenty of street art with layers of meaning, although in my personal opinion, Bogota’s street art is better!
Afterwards, we wandered a little more around the commune and then got a bus back to the main part of town and headed to the main square. The main square was odd because the subway ran through the middle of it obstructing half of the square from view. We got some lunch, a menu del dia, off the square and up some stairs above a load of phone shops. The food was good, the standard soup and then meat with rice and patacones (fried plantain) in the main square and then we looked for the tourist sites. There seemed to be limited things to do, and so we toured round a square full of my favourite artist Botero’s sculptures and were of course very mature about the nude figures!!
Afterwards, we got a coffee in a cafe on the edge of the square and chilled awhile. Then we headed through town by foot to look at an art gallery, a food market and food spot, recommended to me by my first friend in Ecuador, Kai. The walk was long and we walked through squares, down many roads without any tourists, including a road full of garages, where rsaurs were being made on the street, with spark flying. It’s on this street, we stopped at a bakery for cake, and then the lady in the shop gave us avena (a spiced oat milky drink) to try for free. It was so good, we ordered more. The lady was excited to know that we were from Europe, and particularly that I was from Reino Unido (UK). We were welcomed and sent off warmly by everyone in the cafe. We continued our walk past the art gallery and to the did market, which was more like a series of small restaurants and bars thst sold international cuisine. We sat in a cute shady square awhile and then continued to a different part of town. We made it to the famous Mondongos restaurant in time for dinner and ate very well. Afterwards, we went for margaritas (many) at a few different places before heading to a bar for dancing. The bar wasn’t so busy so we danced a bit, had a final drink and then got a taxi back across town. We had walked a longggg way that day!
15/3/23
Today I was off to Jardin, but had one final morning to enjoy in Medellin before I hopped on a bus. After the hostel breakfast, alongside a cute Costa Rican pup, we headed out on the metro to a museum town made in the traditional style of country towns in Antioquia, the region we were in. The town was small and cute and from above it, there were great views of the whole of Bogota, from the outskirts by the mountains to the airport, from communa 13 all the way to Mondongos on the opposite side of the city. It was beautiful. Afterwards, we got the metro back to the main part of town and got lunch before I headed off in a taxi to the bus station.
The bus took a long old time and the supposed three hour journey took five hours meaning I arrived late to Jardin and in the dark. I grabbed a bakery cheese bread before checking into my hostel, and realising that leaving Jardin in the afternoon the following day direct to Cali would be a struggle. I rang Clare for a late night (early morning for her) catch up.
16/3/23
Today I was determined to make the most of my one day in Jardin and got up early to have a quick hostel breakfast before gadng out on a countryside walk. I walked through the town, checking on the bus situation en route, before crossing a suspension bridge over a river and waterfall out into the countryside. I walked along countryside lanes and small trials, skirting around some houses and farms. The scenery was beautiful with hills high above the town on both side of the valley. At one point, I had to walk across a yard and three dogs all started following me and barking. I kept walking and kicked near them and while they kept barking once I had crossed the yard, they stopped pursuing me. My nerves were shot, but my legs were fine! 😂 I passed a few waterfalls alobg the way, although annoyingly, one had been blocked by a private viewing platform that was closed to the public so I could only see the waterfall from afar. The other waterfall was a lovers waterfall, just at the side of a track, which was pretty!
I walked back into town after and decided to have a nice coffee and read in the main square, much like the toy town I had visited in Medellin. I had coffee and chilled before bumping into the same two Dutchies I had met in Otavalo, Ecuador and then again in Cali and Salento. Small world. I told them of my bus struggles and then went back to the hostel to get my stuff. My plan was to try and hitchhike to the next town, a wee 2.5 hours away and then take a bus to where I needed to be. I needed to hitchhike because the only bus left that was going that day was at 2pm which meant that there was no connecting bus for me to continue my journey that day. I walked to the top of the road, at the edge of the town, with my rucksack and waited. There were barely any cars on the road at all – it was mainly motorbikes and the odd tuktuk. The cars and lorries I hailed and pretty much all of them stopped bar two, but they were not going to where I needed to be, only a few minutes down the road. It seemed more risky to begin the journey and potentially get stranded somewhere completely isolated so I continued to wait. I decided I would only wait an hour and then head back into town and book a bus back to Medellin and then take a night bus from there. Many folk were helpful and recommended the bus or checked I was okay, but in the end noone was going to Riosucio on a long, slow windy road. You couldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t opt to do the journey often either! I walked back to town, went straight to the bus station and booked my ticket for 4pm. Then I left my big rucksack at the bus stop (shop) and headed out for lunch. I wanted something nice. I found a super cute cafe with a glorious courtyard to sit on with trees and snacks for the birds and sat there for an hour or so, enjoying the menu del dia with unlimited fresh juice. Life was good for a day that hadn’t gone my way. Afterwards, I went for a mooch around the shops before settling I to a small but perfectly formed coffee shop. I ordered a match latte and a cookie and sat there relaxing until I had finished my book. The heavens opened at some point while I was in there and I sat watching the rain bounce back up from the pavements. At some point, I had to make a dash for it, to get to the bus stop and get my bag.
The bus journey was uneventful – I had more space than on the way and it was a faster journey. I met Paolo in the bus station around 20.30 for a final catch up before I took a night bus all the way to Cali, where I was going to be reunited with Luna, one of the original Cali girls. In the station, there was a salsa class hoi g on and to my amusement, it wasn’t Calina, but corssbody salsa they were learning! It seems Cali is the only place they dance Calina salsa dsnd everywhere else does corssbody or Cuban. Classic! What was the point of even learning Calina if noone knows it?! Ach!! I got my 10pm bus and 11 hours later, I was back in Cali, having slept most of the wat, even with a slightly bizarre man next to me!
wanderingwelshie2 travels 