I arrived at about 1am, got my baggage quickly but when I went to tried to get money the ATM didn´t work (this is normal apparently) and I was uncertain my hostel kept my reservation from the day before and turning up so late tonight. I was unable to check so as you can imagine I was slightly concerned about this. To make things worse the Kindle I bought with me had also stopped working (so no guide book, dictionary or reading material).
A cabbie, although not speaking much English offered me his mobile phone to call but the number I had didn´t work. By some stroke of luck or as I see it, great planning, I had American dollars with me and the cabbie accepted them, before promptly taking me to the hostel where they welcomed me with open arms and sparkly lights. The cabbie stopped on the day and I took photos of Medellin at night, its an amazing city. How nice is this place?
The following day, I had a tour of the local ATMs, apparently they sometimes don´t work, but had a local guide so that was helpful, another nice Colombian. I then managed to fix my Kindle, well Amazon did by promptly phoning me straight away and assisting me - very efficient. I then managed to sample the local tropical street fruit...its peeled, chopped and sold for next to nothing (about 50p usually) and can consist of melon, watermelon, Guava, or pineapple. Mmmm....
The Jardin de Botanica was fabulous, as they always are, and I listened to an orchestra practice in what looked like a church for about an hour though I could´ve stayed for longer. There were a few of us around. I also hit the bus station to make sure I could get to the Carnival in Barranquilla OK. There was about 40 different companies to choose from with about 60 counters..and no-one spoke much English....I managed to book OK though. a helpful English driver got me to book with their firm but it looked big, reputable and they spoke some English so that was good.
There were a couple of other highlights in Medellin, the Francesco Batero paintings and sculptures were fabulous!! Lots of voluptuous people (not fat) developed that way to show sensuality.
Also, the cable car, which I accidently went too far on and ended up going into what can only be described as Jurrasic Park. Its a long story and maybe one for another day.
I didn´t go out and try the famous Medellin nightlife as the discoteques shut at 10pm in the week, as I wasn´t around at the weekend, although I may head back after Bogota as I also missed the Pablo Escabar tour...it kept getting cancelled when I was there. I also had to head off for Carnival.
I would say that Medellin is a fantastic place, lots of greenery, it seems like an oasis with building squashed inbetween the tropical plants and trees.
Until another time...
