Comuna 13 - from terror to triumph

This is the community where Pablo Escobar really came into himself. It was a ragtag slum of dispossessed people that fell victim to the corrupt governments of the 1950s. Desperation was one of the building blocks and this inevitably led to crime, gangs and utter lawlessness. The government turned a blind eye after razing the area a couple of times and let the area develop "off grid", meaning no services or utilities. This seems to be how Escobar endeared himself to the citizenry originally. He finagled a governmental position, giving him a veil of legitimacy, that oversaw the comunas in Medellin and it introduced him to the poor and desperate people of the city. He poured in cash (both illicit as well as government backed), ensured "protection" and calmed the simmering cauldron of terror - well, removed competitive threats, at least. You wouldn't have wanted to cross him, to be sure.

Escalators heading up the steep hills
of the Comuna

Finally, as the war on drugs spiraled out of control, all of the murders, drugs and violence became too much for the residents and they decided to say "No more." It was a bold move. Especially in the face of well armed guerrillas and cartels. They focused on art, music and strength of community. There's a great rap culture in the area and it's vibrant with murals. The government finally took note of the changes in the early 2000s and invested some money to make the area more attractive to tourists.

While the houses seem small, and are stacked up a precarious hill, there is little remnant of it's bloody history, except for the odd reverential picture of Escobar visible through a window or doorway. The people are welcoming and the Comuna has a festive air to it, like at any moment a neighbourhood party could break out.

View from the upper reaches of Comuna 13

Fun way to get back down the hill

It's a pretty dramatic testimony to the will of people with a common cause, no matter how tired or scared. It gives hope for the future.

Medellin - City of Eternal Spring (Sort of)

That's the official tag line of the city: "eternal spring". You might be more familiar with the city through TV shows like Narcos which, admittedly, colour the city with a particular light. As to the eternal spring thing, I don't know any Canadian that's going to call 28 & 29 degrees Celsius, "spring", but I guess for a tropical city, they can get away with it. 

Medellin is definitely different from Bogota. It's located at a lower elevation and a bit closer to the coast, so it has a very verdant vibe, especially in the neighbourhood of El Poblado. (It's super posh, one of the most expensive parts of the city.) It's also amongst the safest, which is why we decided to stay in the area. Add to this the fact that there are heaps of restaurants nearby, in the Zona Rosa and it was a major win for us.

The drive in from the airport took about 40 minutes and included a very long tunnel (actually a couple of tunnels) that required a toll. The traffic seems less manic here, but that could just be me, after the pure insanity of Bogota traffic.

Our hotel entry

Our hotel is located at the top of a steep hill, just because, near the end of a cul de sac. So whenever we want to head out to find something to eat, we trundle down the hill and then have to hike back up to get back home. (I tried to think of it as a built-in exercise program.)

Deceptively quiet Zona Rosa

I was still fighting my cold a bit, which was an added strain, but seem to be slowly recovering. That didn't stop us from getting out to see what the heck El Poblado is all about. We trekked down the hill and checked out all the interesting restaurants and goggled at the highrise condos. We finally decided to stop and try a Japanese/Peruvian mash-up that offered excellent sashimi and sushi, plus a nice environment for us to dip our toes into the Medellin culinary experience. We weren't disappointed. (My taste buds were still a bit off, so my margarita wasn't the absolute best, but we can't blame the restaurant for that.)

After the hubbub of El Poblado, I was quite relieved to have a quiet dinner at the hotel. We both ordered pasta and were happy with our choice. 

The next day we decided to do something crazy: take the metro. Medellin has a pretty famous (for all the right reasons) light rail system and we wanted to head out to Parque Explora - a science park, with a freshwater aquarium and replica dinosaurs. 

The aquarium is really the main draw. It hosts displays of all of the Amazonian fish and is one of the largest freshwater aquariums in the world. (Or so I believe.)

Oh, and I saved Ron from being devoured by a Tyrannosaurus Rex...that's me, a big hero, sacrificing myself so others could live.

Since the botanical gardens are right next door, we stopped there as well. We had to show ID to get in, but there was no cost, which was a pleasant surprise. The main entry, that usually houses their orchid exhibits, was a really interesting structure that had a Zen feel. The only down side was that most of the orchids were MIA.

Teddy and me posing with the huge roots
 of this tree

After enjoying both, we stopped in El Centro to visit the Plaza Botero, which hosts a dozen of his bronze sculptures. The energy in the centro historico is frenetic. There are vendors everywhere, each with a megaphone or boombox.They had almost anything a person might want, from underwear to books, jewellery to charging cords. There also seemed to be a lot of working girls in the Plaza and a bit of research told us that prostitution is legal in Columbia. The press of humanity was quite overwhelming, but we still got to see the sculptures before hopping back on the metro and heading back to our own neighbourhood, where we stopped for a quick lunch of tacos - yum.

I then had a very satisfying nap and we finally headed out for dinner at a burger joint, trying to keep our budget under control, after our splurge on lunch the day before. They do make pretty solid burgers in Columbia. As a weird aside, if you want fries you order your burger  "francesa".

We climbed back up the hill and watched a bit of TV before crashing and burning. 

Up next: Comuna 13

Columbian Pesos - How Great Thou Art

When I say great, I mean HUGE...the numbers, not the notes. It took a few days to wrap our minds around the exchange and how prices are displayed. At this point, for a very rough exchange $1 Canadian is equal to about 3000 Co$ (pesos, but they use a dollar sign, quite frequently.) They can also be known as COP.

Next to the # is a tiny "mil",
meaning 1,000

Note that the bills get increasingly larger, as the value increases.

When you look at menus, you'll see prices like: $30,000 (a mid priced entree) or $9,000 (local beer). It can be quite overwhelming, especially when they tell you the total verbally...in Spanish. The actual currency notes are less challenging, as they sort of drop the final three zeros, so my North American brain can wrap itself around it. What's crazy, at least to me, is that they are unapologetic about the huge numbers. I'd be tempted to write 1m or 25m on a menu, price tag etc. Generally, this isn't the practice in Columbia, and they go whole hog.

The coins are a bit crazier. The largest coin I've seen is $1,000 and the smallest $50. There seems to be a range of sized for the $100 peso coins, which makes it that much more difficult, as relying on size goes right out the window.

It's the size of the numbers that is strange and takes some time to adapt. We had a receipt today for $247,000...crazy! And our hotel was over 1million COP for the week. Heart stopping, at first glance, at least. 

Eventually, you'll get the hang of it, but be prepared to just trust the change you're given for the first day or so.

Up next: Medellin...but, maybe I said that before.