After a quick hop from Cartagena we’ve arrived in Medellin, Colombia! We’re super excited to be back in a bigger city (2 million people here).
From what we’ve seen so far this city is filled with beautiful people. Everyone seems to work out or do yoga and nearly everyone we’ve seen dresses to slay.
Weather (Celcius)
Elevation (m)
Planning Notes: Medellin, Colombia
http://wikitravel.org/en/Medell%C3%ADn
The City of Eternal Spring and capital of the Antioquia department is famous for having a large textile industry, which produces top quality clothing that is sent all over the world. It’s also the birthplace of master painter Fernando Botero, therefore it houses the great majority of his works.
http://www.quora.com/South-America/What-are-some-cool-places-to-go-in-South-America
The wealthiest and second largest city in Colombia located high in the Andes. One of the most beautiful big cities in South America. Advanced subway system. Spring-like weather year-round. Very friendly inhabitants. Botero square in the downtown area features fascinating sculptures from one of Colombia’s most celebrated artists. Also, fun to be had in the Zona Rosa/Parque Lleras area of El Poblado (the wealthy area of Medellin).
To Do
- Festival of Lights going on from Dec 7 to the second week of January.
- Cerro Nutibara for a panoramic view of the city.
- Paisa Road 30,000 COP Pablo Escobar tour.
- Zona Rosa is the night life district.
- Museo Interactivo just west off the Alpujarra station.
Getting In
- There are shuttles that run from the airport to downtown for 7500 COP and take one hour.
- Collectivo costa 11,000 COP and takes 45 minutes.
Sleep
International House
- ihmedellin.com
-
1 specialty lodging tripadvisor
- 85% hostelworld
- 5 tripadvisor
- $20/private $125/week
- $10/dorm
Su Casa Colombia
-
1 BnB on tripadvisor, Travelers’ Choice 2013 Winner
- 5 tripadvisor
Hostal Casa Ram
- casaram.co
-
2 BnB on tripadvisor, Travelers’ Choice 2013 Winner
- 4 1/2 tripadvisor 100% recommend
- $12.50/dorm 20 beds
- $12.50/dorm 14 beds
- $45/private shared bath and view of the river
- $45/private shared bath view of the swimming pool
- $57.50/minisuite view on river
- $90/suite with private kitchen
- $77.50/suite with jacuzzi, private kitchen
Our exact location is Calle 11a No. 42-05 Medellin
From the ‘El Poblado’ park, you just need to ask for the ‘Pomona’ supermarket which is located at one of the corner of the park and we are located just behind it.
To reach the park, you can either:
- take the metro and get off at the station ‘El Poblado’. It is a 10 minutes walk between the park and the station or a $2 ride by cab.
- take a taxi from the airport international ($20)
- take a taxi or bus from the bus terminal del Sur, just ask if the bus goes to El Poblado.
getting anywhere of interest requires a 15 minute walk to the metro station and then 3 stops/a 15-minute ride to the main metro line of Medellin
Waypoint Hostel
-
3 specialty lodging on tripadvisor
- 91% hostelworld
- 5 tripadvisor 97% recommend
- waypointhostel.com
Casa Kiwi
- Party hostel near Zona Rosa
- casakiwi.net
- 86% hostelworld
- 3 1/2 tripadvisor
- $12/dorm
- $35/private shared bathroom
Address: Carrera 36 # 7-10, Medellin, Colombia The Zona Rosa, Barrio El Poblado, 5 Blocks from Parque Lleras Telephone: (+57-4) 268-2668 or (+57-4) 352-1109 GPS coordinates: N 06* 12.394’ W 075* 33.953’
Black Sheep
- Spanish School
- blacksheepmedellin.com
- 89% hostelworld
- 4 tripadvisor 79% recommend
- $10.50/dorm 8 bed
- $11.50/dorm 6 bed
- $12.50/dorm 4 bed
- $40/private bathroom
- $32.50/private shared bathroom
Travelling from Cartagena to Medellin
We’ll be taking an Avianca flight ($86.63) to Medellin this afternoon at 2PM.
| Time | Location |
|---|---|
| 9:30AM | Woke up. |
| 11:30AM | Shopping while we wait for Restaurante 1595 to open. |
| 11:39AM | And we’re in! |
| 12:01PM | Sounds like it’s raining outside? |
| 12:20PM | Aaaaand Cartagena’s flooding. |
| 12:43PM | In a cab on the way to the airport. |
| 1:18PM | Checked in and bags checked! |
| 1:23PM | Got a Vanicanela at Juan Valdez. |
| 3:47PM | In the air. |
| 4:45PM | Landed! |
| 5:40PM | Ate some crappy airport food. |
| 5:57PM | On a shuttle to Medellin ($8000 COP each). |
| 7:20PM | Cabbed to our hotel ($8000 COP). |
| 7:43PM | Waiting for our AirBnB host. |
| 7:56PM | And we’re in! All settled. |
Shamrock Bar & Grill
We found this place on AirBnB the night before we left for Medellin. The rooms are built over an Irish Pub that Zach (the host) manages. We’re glad we checked out AirBnB for this place because it’s not listed elsewhere as a hotel/bnb.
We ended up staying here for a few days while we explored Medellin and met some of the other guys staying there more long-term. One owned a giant fluffy himalayan cat named Bear who would come visit our room through the window.
Thaico
This is my tripadvisor review:
This place is hardly worth the time to go to, much less write a review, but I felt it necessary to attempt to further this establishment’s drunken stumble down to tripadvisor’s gutters.
First off, this place doesn’t serve Thai food other than by name. Any of the traditional flavors you’re used to expecting from Thai food are conspicuously missing from every plate. To top it off, the flavors they DO have make you want to vomit during, immediately after, and for the duration of the evening following.
This terrible experience is compounded by the miserable staff. Don’t expect to get any service while you’re here without flagging someone down, and, when you do get it, don’t expect them to listen to any complaints about the quality of their food. Our waitress, upon being informed of the meat tasting like gutter, simply nodded and walked away.
Don’t waste your time or money on this place.
The Flip Flop Sandwich Shop
Cheap food and all day breakfast! Had a buffalo chicken sandwich and coke for $15,000 COP.
Monterey Mall
Wtf this entire mall is composed of shitty electronic stores. Went with low expectations of finding Jambox, left feeling overwhelmed by electronics for the first time evar.
Carmen
Just ordered the five course chef’s tasting menu. Let the games begin!
Overall the food was good but not mind-blowing. The service was also incredibly slow, totaling three hours all-and-all, averaging about half an hour between plates. By the time we finished the last course we were still hungry. We had fun ourselves anyway, but can’t recommend the chef’s tasting menu at all.
Starter
- Thai chicken with criminy mushroom on a chip.
- Veracruce sauce with green olives and capers on a yuca chip.
First course
- Blackened toast with squid ink and a shrimp salad inside.
- Japanese radish and shrimp bisque on the side
- Super tasty.
Second Course
- Octopus with sweet pepper reduction.
- Citrus fruits.
- Was ok.
Third Course
- Pork belly and pork tenderloin cooked sous-vide with squash and carrot reduction.
- Not cooked sous-vide. Really dry.
Fourth Course
- Remoulade of beef with citrus and cardamon.
- Jelly of mandarine.
Fifth Course
- White angel cake with strawberry chichichurri.
- Pickled strawberry with a crystalized basil leaf.
- Strawberry soup.
Pergamino Café
Really good coffee and croissants. They all wear hats. And they get their croissants from a place called Cocina La Maga.
El Centro is Crazytown
We spent the afternoon in El Centro. It seems like every thing is available in bountiful excess. You like hats? There’s a stand with hundreds of hats, and an identical stand next to that, and another, and another.
At A Mall
They really like LEDs here.
El Loco Carnal
Really good burritos in a crepe-like shell.
Mansion
Finally found some deep house! Mansion is a small club with big speakers and good ventilation, making it a solid place for us to dance our faces off. They have deep house on Fridays and Saturdays so we may come back tomorrow!
Crepes and Waffles
Finally trying this place out after seeing it in so many different cities. I ordered a Cafe Appasionato (double espresso and chocolate) and a Thai Chicken crepe, both of which were amazingly delicious. Really good prices for the portions, too.
The Metro Rail
Wheee
Library Atop The Hill
Quite the standout from its surroundings.
Royal Thai
Really good thai food.
Tiger Paw Hostel
Also really nice private for 70,000 with private bathroom. Has a small kitchen. Didn’t stay here.
Lenteja Express
We had veggie burgers.
Casa Kiwi
Moved here to check it out for a night.
Samán Hostel
Really clean and chill. Has a kitchen. 70000 COP for a private room and fruit for breakfast. We moved here after a night at Casa Kiwi to get away from the cat there (Laurence has allergies). The pic is the view from our room into an indoor garden area.
Cafe Appassionato
$5000 COP ($2.50) mocha from Crepes and Waffles.
Bought Bus Tickets to Cali
On our way to Cali for Christmas! Tickets were 50,000 COP ($25) each on Empresa Arauca.
Thundercats!
Found this at an Exito! Lionel! Schnyaarf!
The Taste of Victory
…is tennis balls!
More Lights from Poblado
Christmas lights hanging from all of the trees!
Mykonos
Really bad gyro with liquid tzatziki. The two for one happy hour drinks were pretty weak as well.
Bussing from Medellin to Cali
We bought tickets from the Empresa Arauca bus line yesterday for the 8AM bus.
| Time | Location |
|---|---|
| 6:02AM | Woke up. |
| 7:03AM | Eating breakfast. |
| 7:24AM | In a cab. |
| 7:33AM | At the bus terminal. |
| 7:40AM | Chillin’. |
| 7:57AM | Bags loaded. |
| 8:10AM | On our way to Cali! |
| 8:29AM | Stoppin’ somewhere. |
| 11:41AM | Took a solid nap while listenin’ to Avicii’s Super Glow set from 2012. Woke up to find out I’m in a dream (see pic). |
| 11:53AM | Stopping for lunch! |
| 12:33PM | Back on the bus. |
| 5:18PM | Arrived in the city of Cali! Driving to the bus terminal now. |
| 5:26PM | Arrived! |
| 5:42PM | Taxi’d to Calidad House and checked in. |
| Totals | Totals |
|---|---|
| Total bus time | 8:28 |
