I left Medellín a little bit earlier than I would have liked to, in order to visit Parque Tayrona before its closure. So after a couple of weeks on the coast, I decided to head back to Medellín to see some things I didn't have time for the first time around.
I checked in to the Black Pine hostel, which was in a quiet area in Poblado, with really helpful staff and where I met a couple of great girls.
First up for me was a day trip to Guatapé, an easy two hour bus ride from Medellín (the ride felt really long to me, and then I realized it's about the same as my normal commute!) The big attraction there is El Peñol, a huge rock. The cool thing about the rock is the amazing view from the top. After tackling 657 steps, you're rewarded with amazing scenery in every direction.
View from the top of the rock.
So many stairs up to the viewpoint!
The town of Guatapé is also worth a visit- it's a UNESCO World Heritage site, and wandering it's adorable streets was a nice way to spend the afternoon. I also had a completely random and delicious lunch of Indian food at a restaurant called Don de Sam (or maybe Donde Sam, not sure). They offered Colombian, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian food, but given that the owner and chef was Indian, I decided to go that route. Yum!
All the houses have different paintings on the walls (sorry these ones are a little covered by the trash!)
That night, I met a Canadian girl named Jenna in my room at the hostel, and we then met another new German friend, Beccy, at breakfast the next morning. We all wanted to go up the metrocable so decided to go together. Oh, also this was my birthday!
The metrocables are part of the Medellín public transportation system, allowing more disadvantaged people living up the hills of the city to easily get into the city for work. It also offers a great view for tourists.
We rode the metrocable all the way up to Santo Domingo, and then transferred to another cable that's more for sightseeing than for local transport. At the end of the line is Parque Arví. For some reason even after more than two weeks in the city, I had no idea that there was basically a forest with hiking at the end of the metrocable! It was a nice surprise, and we all decided to go on a 45 minute hike, even though we weren't really prepared for it.
At the end is a tree and a sign about hugging it and breathing deeply and communing with nature, so obviously we did that.
Beccy, me, and Jenna. We didn't want to actually hug the tree because there was a lot of sap on it :)
After our little outdoor adventure, we took the cable back down to the Santo Domingo neighborhood and had a typically bland Colombian lunch.
Since it was my birthday and all, I decided to treat myself to a massage. It was....okay. It was mostly a leg massage, with a healthy dose of stomach massage (that was new for me), and about 5 minutes of back massage.
The other girls decided they wanted to cook dinner that night, so we made tacos (actually really tasty!) and I bought myself a birthday cake.
The next day it was finally time to bid farewell to Medellín for good :( ...and head to Salento!