Colombia – January 2019
This travel story begins on the roof terrace of the Sugar Cane Hostel in Medellín, Colombia. Here I meet Kaitlin from New York and Kaj from England at the Sunday barbecue. Over roasted sausage and potato salad, they tell me about the day trip they’ve been dying to take. It’s super easy to organize, they say, and all the travelers you’ve talked to have been there. So we speak to the German owner of the hostel, he calls the tour guide and we are booked for the next day.
Luckily we are picked up in front of the hostel, so we only have to roll out of bed and walk down a few stairs. The half-full van is already there and our guide Pablo greets us. We claim a still empty row for ourselves and on we go to the last pick-up. Here we wait for quite a while until Pablo finally inquires about the missing guest at the reception. A few minutes later a very hungover, but beautifully made up American woman gets into the car. Now the rapid drive up the hills around Medellín begins.
After a 40 minute long, winding drive we finally reach the first stop. In a villa in the green, high above Medellín, we have a typical Colombian breakfast. Athena (the American who overslept) is the center of the conversation, especially when she disappears with Pablo before we leave. When everyone is back in the van it is quickly clear that the two have shared a digestive joint. The atmosphere is lively, not least thanks to Pablo’s special playlist “Do it in a Van”. Although the genres are wildly mixed, everyone sings along loudly. We make a short stop at a river on the way to Guatapé (I don’t remember exactly why, but something about a bee chasing after Athena).
We have only just moved on when Pablo asks the driver to stop. He runs to a roadside stand and comes back with a big bag full of round, orange fruit. He explains that this is his favorite fruit and it is called “granadilla”. No one in the group knows it, so he shows us how to open it. He hits Athena on the head (thanks to her voluminous hair it doesn’t hurt) and the hard shell breaks with a soft crack. Then he slurps the little seeds, which look a bit like fish spawn, noisily from the halved fruit. Of course, everyone now begins to smack the fruit around the ears of their seatmates and after we overcome the texture, we have to admit that it tastes very good.
Around noon we finally reach one of the real highlights. The Peñol de Guatapé. The vast number of tour buses gives an idea of the number of tourists who are trying to climb the 770 steps to the top of the gigantic rock at the same time as we are. After climbing about 300 steps in the blazing sun, I’m quite happy that the granny in front of me slows down the queue a bit. At the top we take a breather and enjoy the wonderful view of the lagoon landscape far below us. When we have then gone down the 770 steps again and arrived at the bottom, it goes on to the well-deserved lunch.
After about 15 minutes drive we reach a luxurious villa with pool, next to which a long covered table is prepared. In the shade of the open kitchen, a huge buffet with all kinds of specialties is prepared. Hungry from the strenuous hike up the Peñol, we strike and eat almost everything. Only after the feast do we discover a gap in the hedge around the garden of the villa, through which we have a wonderful view of the huge rock. Only now we realize its real extent. Unfortunately, we only have a short time for a digestive nap in the comfortable deck chairs next to the pool. Then an excited Pablo chases us already back into the van.
The next drive is also short. We have almost made it to Guatapé. We all originally decided on this day trip because we wanted to discover the pretty colonial town. In the meantime, however, we have already experienced soo much that we are quite exhausted. After a tour with some background information about the colored tiles that decorate the facades of the two-story houses, we get an hour to look around by ourselves. Some people want to buy souvenirs while Kaj, Katlin and I go hunting for Micheladas.
We find what we are looking for and relax with a cool beer and lemonade in the shade of a narrow alley. Then we just barely find our way back to the agreed meeting point, where everyone is already waiting for us. Pablo lets us know that no further stops are planned on the way back to Medellín. And soon everyone is peacefully falling asleep while “The Real Slim Shady” is blaring from the speakers at full volume. When we arrive back at the Sugar Cane Hostel, the owner naturally asks us how our trip was. Of course we rave in the highest tones and some other travelers are directly inspired by us and book the tour for the next day.
Another memorable day trip took me to a small village in the jungle in Laos. Read more about it here.
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