Medellin and the Colombian Coffee Region

After leaving Tagana for a second time we got a night bus to Medellin, Colombia's second largest city. Medellin is set in a valley and is surrounded by beautiful hills but the city itself is not the most picturesque of places. Medellin is perhaps best known for the conflicts between rival drug gangs during the 80's and 90's which resulted in it having the highest murder rate in the world. Fortunately things have calmed down considerably since then and Medellin is now no more dangerous than other cities of similar size in Latin America.

After we had dropped off our bags at the hostel where we were staying we spent an afternoon exploring the city. The first thing we did was take the Metro to a stop where there is a cable car that takes people up one of the largest hills. The cable car is there for pracitcal reasons and is mostly used by locals to save themselves the strenuous walk up the hill, but tourists also use it to enjoy the view. Maybe enjoy is the wrong word as you mostly see slum housing but it is still an interesting experience.

We then took the Metro into the city centre and wandered around there for a few hours. It is a typical hectic South American city centre with lots of market stalls and street vendors but doesn't have many places of interest for visitors. When we wanted to get back to our hostel we realised we were only one Metro stop away so decided to save a bit of money and walk. This wasn't the best of decisions as we ended up passing through some pretty dodgy areas and walked past a small park full of junkies. At one point we were walking across a bridge that crossed a busy road when a guy started shouting at us in Spanish. We couldn't make out everything he was saying but heard 'Run gringos, run...'

The following day we left Medellin and got a bus to Armenia which took about 7 hours. The journey was quite enjoyable as the route was scenic and took us through vast and spectacular mountains. We did have the customary distruption though of the bus being stopped and searched by Colombian military. We spent the night in a cheap hospedaje close to the bus station in Armenia then travelled the short distance the following morning to the village of Salento which is in the heart of Colombia's Coffee region.

Salento is quite high up in the mountains and therefore has a much cooler climate than the other places we've been to on this trip. It actually gets quite cold there, especially at night. It is a really idyllic place though and is perfect for a period of relaxation. The hostel we stayed in is a converted country house with a homely feel, large kitchen and amazing views from the garden.

One day when we were there we went to a place called Cocora so we could walk in the cloud forest and look at the 60 foot palm trees that are unique to the region. It took 40 minutes to get there in a small jeep. They somehow managed to fit 15 people into the thing. We were both standing on the back with two others and someone else was sitting on the roof!

On another day we went on a tour of a coffee farm that is owned by an English guy called Tim who also owns the hostel (and incidentially looks very similar to Jim Royle from The Royle Family). It was interesting to learn about the coffee making process and see the other fruits on the farm such as oranges, strawberries, pineapples and bananas.

That afternoon we went to the village plaza as they were having a food festival. This involved a number of stalls all with almost identical menus: sausage, trout (which is the local delicacy) in various forms and patacones (deep fried plantain in batter). There isn't much to do in the evenings so we have been taking it fairly easy which has been a welcome change.