Medellín - Part 2

Monday 21st February 2011

Dizzy heights.

Having spent a pleasant couple of days in and around the city, we decided to take a trip out of the city to El Penol. About 1.5hrs bus away from Medellín, the main attraction here is a pretty stunning rock and surrounding reservoir. The rock is said to be the 2nd biggest natural rock in the world, although we're not 100% sure if that's true or what the other contenders are. Answers in the comments please. Luckily for us there is a natural crack in the rock and this has enabled the locals to turn it into a tourist attraction, building a 649 step staircase into the crack. A spectacular feat. We made it to the top in 15 minutes and spent time taking in the views. On our return to ground level, it's fair to say our legs were jelly-like.

60km of reservoir.

Next we made our way 3km to Guatape, a quaint little town famous for its socalos, the colourful painted images on the outside of all the town's buildings. With the sun shining and hanging baskets looking very bright, it almost looked to good to be real.

Socalos.

Pretty street, more socalos.

Our return bus journey was most entertaining. We had the pleasure of a couple of Colombian teenagers at the back of the bus. They spent the majority of the 1.5hr trip pretending to drive the bus, including all relevant sound effects. They even got money out to pay the toll! Slightly nutty.

Tuesday 22nd February 2011

A space to sleep in.

For our last full day in Colombia we decided to explore more of the city. In the morning we hopped on a bus and headed to the 'Parque de los Pies Descalzos' (barefoot park). On the way and elderly gentleman on the bus offered to help us find our way (although James was of course in control), another example of the friendliness of the people here.  Getting back to the park, it's a good example of urban regeneration in the city. Surrounded by concrete buildings and roads, it's a tranquil place to escape the heat or, as one couple were doing at 11:30am, have a beer.

In the afternoon James dragged Emma onto the 2nd cable car. Not really knowing where it went, we were pleasantly surprised when it continued over the top of the huge hill and ended up deep in the middle of a forest. Again you have to do these if you are ever in the city.

Not much heat on Emma.

Our next place on the day's itinerary was the 'Parque Explora', a huge science museum with lots of interactive games and puzzles. This was most definitely a James choice although Emma was surprised to enjoy it too. Little did we know that we'd be experiencing a hurricane and an earthquake during the day. The earthquake simulator was pitched at 6.4 on the Richter scale. Spookily this is close to the same number as experienced in New Zealand on the same day. We struggled to stand up and we really got a sense of how frightening an earthquake of this scale could be.  Our thoughts go to those people in Christchurch.  The most interesting part of the afternoon was the confirmation that Emma's hands really are like blocks of ice, proven by the heat sensing cameras. There was some warmth found elsewhere so it's not all bad news.

We're sad to be leaving Colombia and feel there's much more we could have seen. Maybe we need another trip...

Next it's onto Ecuador and Quito, arriving on Wendesday night. The journey continues.

Observation:
The only metrotrain stop not to have disabled facilities is 'Hospital'. What's that all about?

Eh?