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Me – Where are you staying?
Traveller – Poblado, you?
Me – Actually, La 70. If you are here for a while and want to live like the locals it seems to be an area where Paisas (people from Medellin) live and party
Traveller – (Laughs) Why would I want to live near locals?
This is a typical conversation had with a ‘party’ traveller.
They stick to the party hostel circle and then tell you the city is crap.
He should want to spend time with Paisas, it is claimed that the women are the most beautiful women in the whole of Colombia, even South America!
They also would take offence to this rejection as, according to our walking tour guide (more below), they think very highly of themselves.
This is down to their historical advancements in the coffee trade and the industrial revolution – they’ve always seen themselves a slightly superior!
Granted, we’ve only had three days, but here is our Medellin itinerary, Colombia’s ‘real’ city.
Real City Walking Tours
What a dude Pablo is. And by Pablo, I mean the guy who runs Real City Walking Tours.
Not the criminal with the same name, he was a horrible man.
I had a conversation with a guy in the back of a truck on the way back from The Adventure Brew Microbrewery Tour in La Paz.
The ‘know-it-all’ was discussing how cool Pablo Escobar was…
He had tunnels from his house all over the city of Medellín.
What a legend!
What an idiot that guy was, he needs to take a visit to Medellin and meet Pablo and Carolina, who run this four-hour walking tour to get some perspective, Netflix has a lot to answer for.
Wait until he hears that Carolina’s family had to flee Medellin when her uncle was kidnapped and later murdered.
Or about Pablo’s uncle, he was outside Pablo’s Gran’s house while his Gran was knitting on the balcony as Gran’s do.
She looks down from the balcony and sees men pull guns out on his son, her son.
Luckily, his fate was better than Carlona’s uncle’s and his life was spared.
Pablo told us that it is normal for most families to have a story like this; everyone has been touched by what was initially a civil war between the right and left, which resulted in a war between the right, left, drug barons, the army and rebels.
Everyone in Colombia felt the impact, but Medellín being the epicentre, the people here suffered more.
Politics past and present with Pablo
Why The Real City Walking Tour is Awesome
The Tour
The guides take the group around Colombia’s second biggest city (and man, it’s big, population of 2.5 million) on foot and stop at important areas to give you information filled with passion and emotion. It’s a surprise to hear that Pablo has an engineering background and not Broadway!
Stops include Plaza Cisneros (Plaza of Lights), which, Carolina proudly tells us, is an example of Medellín’s programme of regeneration called Democracy Through Architecture, aka “Urbanismo Social”.
And Parque Bolivar – one of Pablo’s favourite places because you see the ‘real Medellin’ where old men sleep on benches, kids play on bikes, young people smoke illegal substances, couples enjoy an ice cream, and drunk people sip on mentholated spirits (!)
We’re told Colombians like to ‘salsa’ between both sides of good and bad!
Does Parque Bolivar look familiar?
You may spot it in the Netflix, Narcos scene when Escobar is talking to his cousin.
The Locals
Love a good stare!
They come up to the circle during information time and often interrupt the team to ask what they are saying.
Hilarious!
They are also ecstatic that you have chosen to go to Colombia.
This guy in the photo joined the tour for five minutes, stood up and shouted, ‘Thank you for coming to Colombia.’
And he was not the first. Sober and drunk people alike acted this way.
In Scotland, if someone shouts anything, don’t make eye contact!
You’ll never get away from them.
The Questions
‘Our country is flooded by myth’, says Pablo, and he wants your questions to break down the stereotypes and challenge his knowledge.
A traveller says she read that Escobar built lots of hospitals, not a fable Pablo has heard before.
He debunks this and admits that yes, he built about 200 houses, which is nothing when you look at how many people live in Medellin.
Did he provide lots of jobs?
The jobs provided were ones of violence – young boys trained to be soldiers, security, and extortionists.
Didn’t the drug money benefit Medellín?
Only 3% of the gross income of the city is from drug money, so no, states Pablo.
And it doesn’t account for the amount of damage the cocaine trade did to Medellin through bombings, gunshots and the threat to democracy.
Politicians and judges had to flee for their lives if they spoke up.
Many would have taken backhanders out of fear and/or greed.
Some are still in power today, hence the lack of presence of real Medellín’s ‘painful past’ in the education system.
The Future
Pablo finishes the tour at San Antonio Park, I don’t want to steal his thunder as
- You must now book your tickets to Colombia
- Put Medellín on your itinerary
- Book onto The Real City Walking Tour
…but here he shows you the horror of his childhood/teens and compares it to the hopeful future of Medellin through the artist Fernando Botero. Unfortunately, 25 people had to die twenty years ago to give his analogy strength.
Troubles still occur however, the FARC (rebels) look to be moving as an unarmed political force as opposed to an army.
Those living in extreme poverty have halved (16% to 8%,) and Colombians remain the happiest people that we’ve met in our three months of travels!
- Times: 9.14 am or 2.24 pm
- Meeting Point: The north ticket booth of Alpujarra Metro Station
- Cost: Tips
- Contact: info@realcitytours.com
- Advice: Book early as it sells out fast (we have no affiliation with this tour, just loved it)
Medellin Itinerary – Accommodation
There is no shortage of accommodation in Medellín.
We visited Poblado, where most people stay, but I’d say it’s just an area with bars which have prices comparable to any city in the UK.
If you are looking for the real Medellín, then your hostel of choice is The Wandering Paisa.
Proudly, its slogan is ‘the other side of Medellin’, and it is situated close to LA 70, which has lots of local bars (local prices!) and restaurants on it.
Remember, everything is connected by the metro (Estudio is your nearest stop).
The Wandering Paisa is owned by two North American lads from Seattle, but we never met them.
Gisela, a Paisan, was our main point of contact, and she couldn’t have been more helpful.
She gave us an extensive map created by Paisa Road, which was extremely helpful and neatly packaged, so you don’t look like a tourist.
We decided to cook most nights since we were next to an Exito supermarket (why is the service so slow?!) and Wandering Paisa has a decent-sized kitchen and facilities.
And for once, we stuck to it, well done to us!
- Address: Cl 44A # 68A-76, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
- Contact: +57 311 3342729
- Cost: £5.83 – £13.91
Thanks to The Wandering Paisa for our stay, as always, an honest review.
Metrocable – Cable Cars
Do like locals do in ‘real Medellin’ and hop on the cable cars (from Santo Domingo Sabio metro station)! For 2000 COP / 50p, you can go anywhere in the city using the metro and cable cars (like the ones in La Paz, Bolivia).
This was part of the Education with Dignity policies, which aimed to improve the future of Medellín, opening up access from the outskirts to the city.
Do like gringos do and pay the 10, 000 COP / £2.52 to take the additional line over the park.
It takes 25 minutes each way and is bonito (beautiful).
We really loved Medellin and are keen to return (maybe live?) With a population of 2.5 million, we can only pretend to present the real Medellin in three days, but we hope you can add to our recommendations in the comments below…
Going to Medellín?
Hover over the image and pin for later!
Thanks for this great blog. Will be heading to Colombia and this really helped me plan ahead.
I am jealous! Have a great trip and let me know how you get on.
I’m from Medellin and since two friends form Japan are coming to visit me I was looking for a foreigner point of view of Medellin and thi is my favorite blog post so far, is great to see my city from other’s people eyes, thank you for being so clear, honest and kind with us, If you come back some day please feel free to contact me, I’ll be happy to guide or help you with anythig you need.
This is one of the main reasons that I love your country – the people!! Have you read our post on Bogota about Ricardo? You Colombians are the best! I hope that do get back for a visit and I will get in contact. I hope your friends have a great trip!
Hello Scots!!!!
I met you briefly in Medellin at The Wandering Paisa. I dunno if you remember but i was of to La casa en el aire (The house in the air) which is a hostel hanging of the side of a cliff. It was amazing! If you ever go back you must visit i recommend it to all other travelers who read this blog. It is only two hours outside Medellin
I also went to to the cup final in Medellin which was a great experience. Ended in a slight bit of teargassing but all part the fun!
Ps i had the same guide his passion was incredible
Sam! We do remember you. I have seen that hostel on Pinterest and IG and I am very jealous. Pablo was such a dude! Where are you in the world now? We’re in Vancouver.
I lost my camera the day after visiting which was a real bummer. I’m back in the UK its cold and wet as usual. Heading of to Japan/ China/ North Korea/ and SE Asia in 3 or so months. I’ve seen some of your pictures in Canada looks unreal! If all goes as planned gonna try and get some ski season work out there next winter but I know visas are hard to come by. I take it you would recommend Canada?
How much longer you guys travelling for?
100%, best country ever! We have friends on the IEC visa so it is doable – just do your research before the launch dates and have everything ready (release dates have been December, January and March in the pas1t!) You need to be younger than 31 I think but you can now get two years which is awesome! I”m getting excited for winter! We leave in Jan but don’t go back to Scotland until August 2016. I would love to go to Japan. We’ve got some stuff on Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. We were there in 2013.
Such a great post. I wish I could read it before my trip to Medellín. I love Colombia and wish to go back there one more time.
We are with you Anna, we loved Colombia so much and would be keen to go back. Thanks for the kind words!
This is such a great post. I learned a lot! After first learning of Medellin, I was actually looking to move their to teach English. Then I started reading in various places that it’s boring and not worth it. Now it makes a lot of sense to me that those aren’t the types of travellers that I should be listening to!
I would be so jealous if you do move there Marie. It’s a great city and green space park near it!
It looks like you two scots abroad have slotted right in as paisas haha!!!
That will be the good looks part then?! Ha!
Medellin is absolutely one of our favourite cities thus far. We stayed there for five weeks this February and it was VERY difficult to tear ourselves away!! And Pablo’s city tour was great fun – I think he’s the best tour guide I’ve ever met!
I am so jealous that you got five weeks there. Emily – another traveller said he had been following a site called ‘Along Dusty Roads’, I was like, I know them, beautiful site! You are right about Pablo. I wish we could be his friend!
Wow – that’s really cool!
Meant to say before that your comment about Exito was spot on – I think in our three months in Colombia we must have spent several days just standing at the check-out. Trust us, it is not Medellin specific! 🙂
Not the first traveller to say that about Exito. We had a ‘situation’ in Cartagena where we waited an age on a sales assessment who had a bad case of ‘resting b*tch face.’ When we finally got served two women barged in to try and get a receipt problem sorted. In broken Spanish I told them to ‘bolt’ as we’d say in Scotland. Lots of dirty looks passed my way! It brings out the worst in us.