Intercontinental Hotels Medellin

... trying to meet up for awhile so it was really nice to chat and exchange stories. After they left Devin and I had a wild, late night. We stayed up till 1 AM drinking beers and discussion politics, jewels, and travels with a couple of guys from the hostel.

In the morning we are heading to the Cafeteria Region, were they grow all of the world famous Colombian coffee.

... the first five hours out of Medellin through the winding curving roads and the sudden braking left me wanting to throw up the hot soup I'd managed to get down when the bus stopped for dinner. It was extremely cold all of a sudden and we hadn't remembered to grab my sweater from the front of my pack. Big mistake. Bring a blanket, some nausea pills, and your ipod. And hold on tight.

... out of respect for any other mourners that might be present - it would seem a bit disrespectful to genuine grievers if a bunch of be-shorted gringos were rubbernecking the headstone of a notorious criminal - but the truth of the matter is that we were too lazy and disorganised to manage it. And it was raining.

Anyway, after the weekend we decided to cut short our stay in Medellin and head for the Caribbean coast for some fun in the sun (hopefully!), so next stop: Taganga!

... girl about why it was wrong of us to throw our hard boiled egg shells on the pavement at the bus station. Me and Justine couldn´t do anything except laugh at the craziness of the situation. We ended up eating bread for dinner and I think I won over the egg shell hater by giving her some of our delicious bread. Despite all of this, it was a hilarious and fun experience. We are now in Manizales, while we make our way down to Quito.

... thing in this situation was clear...we needed some pollo (chicken). So Puas checked with the security guard with the big gun that the bus station was safe and asked him to look after us while he went off to get the pollo. We had a midnight bus terminal feast and chatted and played a lot of cards and watched more violent films. Somehow the time flew and it was very good practise for our Spanish...he didn´t speak any ...

... areas out of the main towns are very pretty, both the houses and gardens are well looked after even when the people are obviously poor. One thing difficult to understand is how they build a small community right on the peak of the hills; there is just enough room for the road with a house each side and then a very steep drop either side. We are now parked up for the night at Camping Los Fallerones, a tent camping site with a couple of large swimming pools and a restaurant.

... without the "jumping" material. In its place were strips of trampoline material formed into a weave... that you could climb through! And of course you bounced as you climbed... (the pictures better explain this!) What a hoot! THIS was the highlight of my Guatapé trip!!! Forget the views- WHO invented this??? And how in the world is this safe?!? :) What a blast! There are also a few photos from Medellìn. Ciao!

... of Pablo's bombed out summer palaces. The man made lake reminded me very much of Lake Bunyoni in Uganda and was muy lindo. The center piece of the area however was a giant monolith perched on the banks of the lake that afforded spectacular views. I also found an expat bar that had the NBA finals that thankfully allowed me to see the manhandling of the Lakers in game 6.

... el metro mas ancho en el que he viajado jamás y buen lugar para cortar la jornada. 16 hours of bus journey to remember ourselves that we are in South America and no in Central anymore. It is curious the mafia around the ticket for the bus, if you ask in the ticket office they will tell you a price buy if you bargain around the station or speak with the bus driver you can get half of the ...

... to the hills of Medellin to escape the violence after both had suffered some of their children being killed by paramilitaries. When they first moved to Medellin, they had no support from anyone, and had to start from scratch, building their fragile houses on the steep hills. They said that they often used to be demolished by police and military...and also the weather, but they kept on rebuilding. Now there are several thousands of houses in their barrios ...