Christi and I say goodbye to the Hacienda Bambusa today and rejoin the backpacker world for the 7-hour semi-cama bus ride aboard the Flota Occidental service to Medellin. Of all the drug-related stories in Colombia, those involving the Medellin Cartel are perhaps the most savage and infamous and I travel with a feeling of apprehension…
As the crow flies it’s only about 125 miles from Armenia to Medellin, but this barely begins to describe our journey. The Zona Cafetera is wedged between the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central, which means lots of steep hills – up and down. And beyond the town of Pereira (20 miles to the north of Armenia), the two-lane dual carriageway becomes single lane traffic. Double yellow lines down the center of the road mark the entire route and are completely ignored. Aside from buses, there are cars, huge numbers of annoying motorcycles buzzing in and out of the traffic, and worst of all, large slow-moving trucks. Everyone wants to get to their destination first so it’s a crazy free-for-all on the roads. And we have front row seats, which is not for the faint-hearted as the bus driver repeatedly hurtles passed slower-moving vehicles and especially so on blind corners. Quite how we don’t crash is beyond me.
Despite the frantic pace, the views are spectacular, particularly the agricultural terracing. Even on the most precipitous of slopes, the locals grow coffee and plantains/bananas. They almost need professional climbing equipment to tend to their crops. At the base of the largest gorge we cross, the river (the Rio Cauca) has flooded parts of the town (La Pintada), yet less than a mile from the affected area people are casually drinking coffee in outdoor cafes as if nothing is wrong. Yet again Colombia baffles me.
Medellin is a city of tower blocks. There are innumerable ugly tower blocks with an equally ugly river, the Rio Medellin, running through the center of town. But at night at this time of year, this riverfront area is transformed for the Festival of Lights. Although many cities in Colombia put on a show, Medellin has the most spectacular festivities. Which is why Christi and I have risked the wrath of the cocaine barons to attend.
I know we agreed to stay in slightly nicer accommodation in Colombia, but the quality has jumped alarmingly. And the Park 10 Hotel in the El Poblado section of Medellin is no exception. Our split-level room is spectacular. There is a downstairs living room with sofas, dining table, TV, bar and toilet and an upstairs bedroom with sitting room and a huge bathroom! Perhaps Christi has finally got tired of the backpacker lifestyle. I don’t complain. It’s hard to argue against a little luxury now and again, but we are not even half way through our Year of Wonder and we didn’t have that much money to begin with. I tentatively raise the subject, but Christi assures me our budget has not been decimated. So where is the money coming from? Why do we suddenly have lots of money to spend in Colombia? The answer…tomorrow!
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart, a gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching story.
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