Tales of Colombia cont…

As I land in Medellín after the quick 45 minute journey from Bogotá my hangover of the year seems to be passing. Thank you Latam Airways for changing my seat to an exit seat at the gate.

There are two options to make the 45 minute journey from the airport to Medellín. The bus is 14,000cop / £3.70 and as expected had everyman and his wife, child and donkey are waiting in the queue; or a white airport taxi that is 75,000cop £19 with no queue.

Hangover not completely averted and the thought of the Hotel pool, I go for the taxi. Forty five minutes of pure hell, holding down the vomit with each turn and bend as we go up one side and down the other side of a mountain.

I finally arrive at my last attempt of luxury and check into the Dann Carlton Belfort 5 star. It would seem the higher the star, the lesser the trust. I paid for my 2 nights in full at check in and made it to my room, with a massive bed and a shower big enough for the Colombian football team I was happy.

Unfortunately this 5 star establishment doesn’t permit guests of guests unless details and passport documents are taken. So no football team for me. Instead I get room service, watch some columbian tv and crash. Obviously I checked out the local talent too 😜 via my orange local guide app.

It’s my first full day in Medellín and im excited about seeing the city, I had arranged to meet Olivia and Luke who were friends of friends from London at the museum of Modern Art.

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Feeling a bit museum fatigued I decline to join them inside, so we caught up in the local park, where to my delight I am informed that all parks in Medellín have free wifi.  I wonder off and head into Poblado the epi centre for tourists and familiar myself with the surroundings. Already I am getting a completely different vibe to Bogotá, and I like it,  I like it a lot.

Evening arrives and I meet up with Olivia and Luke for food and drinks fresh from their kickstarter video, they fill me in on there fact finding mission about the Colombian narcos trade and the effects on the local community. The stuff you don’t hear on the walking tours.

Hearts and red balloons are everywhere, it turns out it’s Valentine’s Day, but Colombians are inclusive, in tell me its for friendship as well as love. The Bars and Restaurants around Parque lleras are packed with tourists and locals, you can feel the energy.  After dinner the guys decide to call it a night, but after quite a few margaritas I have the party spirit in me.

Sitting alone in a bar taking cover from the monsoon like rain pouring down outside, I check on my local guide app. Before I know it the guy on the next table has messaged me, so I message back. Turns out he can’t speak English and my Spanish was still to rocky to enter in conversation, so we translate using google.

I join him and his mates and go to the club upstairs for a dance. I meet a couple from New York and their friends and we dance and drink and dance and drink. Not content with our fill, we demand more from our local friends. Where to next we ask.

Six of us pile into the smallest taxi and head over the river to a bar/restaurant that was packed to the rafters (I cant remeber its name). A bottle of rum later (I hate rum) and few more hours of dancing I’m feeling woosey, and make my way back to the hotel at 8:30am. Suffice to say the next day was spent by the pool writing last weeks update.

Monday comes and so to does my first day at Spanish school, having decided to do three weeks of school while in Medellín. My poor tutor Julio, I think he thought he was getting someone far more advanced.

It turns out the online tutorials of daily Duolingo hasn’t made me 30% fluent the lying son of a… but I’m determined and ready to learn. The El Dorado Spanish School in Envigado is great and at a great price. One on one, 3 hours a day, 4 days a week 320,000cop / £80.

By Thursday my brain is well and truly fried from all the new information and my frustration was getting the better of me. I needed some fun.

Through the free walking tour  of Medellín, which I might add is well worth doing to get to know your way around the city. You see first hand the struggles of the past and understand the amazing journey, from the most violent city in the world to the city it is today, open to anyone.

As you may have noticed when on organised tours I tend to get talking to people and make them my new traveling buddies. This tour was no different and my new buddies and I decided to go to a salsa club. For those of you that know me, you know I love to dance 💃.

Son Havana was perfect, full of locals dancing salsa to a live salsa band. Sylvia my new Dutch friend showed me the main salsa steps and before I knew it my hips and legs were moving in time. I loved it and can’t wait to do it again.

Talk of paragliding the previous night turned into seven of us actually heading up to the top of Medellín, strapping up and taking the plunge. I can honestly say I have never been so at peace, being 3500m in the air, with birds flying below and no sound other than the wind whistling past your ears, an truly amazing experience. I can see why the instructor is happy to make 36 trips in one day. It is an experience not to be missed. 145,000cop £36 or 165,000 cop £45 with an SD card for videos. We used Zona de Vuelo, but there are a few outfits that can be used that take off form the same place.

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Saturday like for so many in the world is a day for football, and no where more so than in Colombia are they mad for it. Me on the other hand, only ever watches England play in the Euro or World cups and thats normally only a maximum of four games, as they tend to get knocked out by some other country quite early on.

Fast forward and it’s 4pm in the stadium, I’m wearing my newly purchased Medelliín home shirt (my first ever), standing on the seats with 20 or so other foreign travellers and 16,000 Medellín supporters.

The atmosphere and passion was electric, with their own brass band in the terrace and 16,000 fans singing chants at the tops of their voices, jumping up and down on their seats, it was like nothing else I had witnessed before. Within 10 minutes a spectator was stretched off by an ambulance crew, due to falling from the upper terrace from too much excitement.

The Medellín fans put a lot of time into creating the chants, a shame the players didn’t spend as much time on their game. They just didn’t know how run forward or kick into the box. When the away team scored, there was and eerie silence, as only home team fans can spectate in Colombia. So after the second goal scored by the away team, the chanting and stamping got louder and finally Medellín scored with 6 minutes to full time. Sadly not enough to win.

One thing I have learnt about Colombians and especially Paisan´s, is that they are full of optimism and will celebrate the smallest of wins, especially in the hardest of times. This mentality has certainly proved to serve Medellín very well.

Its Saturday night and I have been invited to a BBQ by the friends of one of my local guides Kevin. We turn up to what can only be described as one of the best penthouse apartments ever. It’s has everything, the view, the cinema , the jacuzzi; oh and racing pigeons.

As always I was made so welcome by the hosts and all their friends, it’s just the Colombian way. I think the giant bottle of aguardiente certainly helped.

Hello Colombia

 

As I left London it dawned on me that I’m going to be without my family and friends for the longest time ever and that this trip, my first ever solo could be quite lonely. Well that was London, fast forward to me arriving in Colombia´s capital city Bogotá and I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I arrived at the airport at 3am, the Avianca flight from London to Bogotá was perfect and I would recommend this based on some of the stories I have heard about the BA-Iberia flight from Madrid.

Having taken a mild sleeping tablet on the flight and sleeping 6 hours, I arrived into Bogotá airport with my brain not functioning quite as it should.

Thankfully my first Colombian angel saved me from making a big mistake, that every guide book and practically every traveller says ” DO NOT GET A TAXI WITH A RANDOM MAN..” thankfully my angel saved me and put me in a yellow taxi straight to the hotel. Taxi to Candelaria was 38,000cop or about £9.60.

I arrived at the lovely Hotel Casa de La Vega at 4:30am, 13hours before check in. Thankfully the young night porter checked me in and took me to a great room over looking over the court yard. Now I wasn´t 100 percent sure, but my gay dar is normally pretty good and he was definitely a friend of Dorothy. Maybe it was the bleached blond hair, or the shy smile he gave through his eyes every time I saw him.

It turned out my hotel was in the perfect location for seeing the old part of the city, Candelaria. Like in most capital cities, there are lots of museums to visit, like the gorgeous Bodero museum, a must to visit for the artists famous paintings of funny looking oversized people and objects.

Bogota being one of the highest cities in South America at over 2000m above sea level, most travel books advise you about the impact of altitude sickness. Now the highest point I had probably previously been would have been skiing in Val d’isere and at no point then did I ever feel this effect. Feeling out of breath from the smallest walk up an incline, or slight light headed ness and just being damned tired from a few hours walking. Don´t over do it on the first day is all I can say. Having said that..

I ventured to the highest point in bogota, Cerro de Monserrat. The cable car (teleférico) takes you another 1000m higher. This now being the highest point I have ever been while on dry land, and it certainly had its effect. Just walking the 10 steps from the cable car, I had to sit and catch my breath, I felt like a 80 year old man, not a relatively fit 30 something. It was way worth it, the views of Bogotá were incredible. Cable car cost 19,000cop/ £4.80 return.

You do have the option to walk up or down or both, but having heard about a couple got mugged a few days before, I decided not to risk it on the first day of my travels.

The best way to see the city is to take advantage of the free walking tours by http://www.beyondcolombia.com. The tours start at 10am and 2pm everyday from the museum of gold (El Museo del Oro). They last about 3 hours and give you whistle stop tour of Colombia´s history and Bogota´s key points of interest.

They also do a food version where you get to try the local cuisine while you see the city. Try the local dish ajiaco, a potato soup, with chicken and a side of corn, rice and avocado. Simply delicious and sets you up for a days walking.

Well, Who knew Colombia´s name originated from Christopher Columbus, yet he never actually set foot in the country. Not me until now. Take the tour and find out so much more.

As a solo gay traveler, where would we be without our social apps for finding other gay men. This has proved to be an excellent way of having your own personal local guide to show you the city and go to places only locals go. I found 4 personal guides over 3 days, one lunch and one dinner paid for. Result!! For

As most books tell you there are a few days trips you can do from Bogota but, what they don’t tell you… Is if you try to book online, they are not for the solo traveler. They are all geared towards two plus people and are expensive if on your own. It just means being brave and doing it alone.

A couple of my local guides had told me not to miss the Catedral de Sal (salt cathedral) which was only 30km outside Bogotá in a small town called Zipaquirá. Again the organised tours were for couples or more, so I decided to navigate Bogotá´s bus network and make the 2 hour journey myself. Yes 2 hours to go 30km… Bogotá’s traffic is mad, avoid traveling after 4pm.

The B74 from Las Aguas bus terminal to Portal North was simple enough, you buy a plastic bus pass for 6500cop/£1.50 which includes your bus fare. Walk to platform 2 through the underpass to catch the B74, don’t wait under to sign that says B74 as it’s wrong and you will wait like me for twenty minutes before you realise this isn’t the stop. The bus network is pretty impressive and easy to use.

After about 45 minutes your arrive at Portal Norte, and you go through the barrier to the intermunicipal platform and look for a bus with Zipa in the window. Get on and a young guy will take your fare once you are on the road (5000cop/£1.20). The bus takes about 45 minutes, once in Zipa get off around carrer 10a and then walk the rest of the way to the Cathedral. It’s a small town and easy enough to find the cathedral from the main square.

You won’t be disappointed. I did think why would you want to build a cathedral in a salt mine!!! All becomes clear once you take the tour. It lasts an hour and costs 50000cop/£12.70. The great thing about tours is your meet fellow travellers. Here I met my first fellow British travellers Henry and Reid. Both would become my drinking and dancing partners for my last night in Bogotá.

 

 

Most countries have a national drink, and Colombia is no different. Aguardiente is Colombias, its like sambucca but less syrupy and it gets you in the mood for a good night.

After 4 days, tonight was my last night in bogota, and I had finally acclimatised to the altitude and was ready for a night of drinking and dancing. First stop was Andres DC, a crazy six floor restaurant full of dancing and drinking. Very popular with the upper middle classes of Bogotá. Thanks to Andrea, a local beauty we got treated especially well.

Sharing a bottle of aguardiente between 3 is defiantly the way to make the night fun, but oh my do you pay for it the next day. Lesson number one, do not order a bottle of aguardiente when flying the next day. 🤢

From Andreas DC I took my 2 new traveling pals to what is meant to be one of the biggest gay clubs in South America, Theatron. It did not disappoint with its 13 different clubs, each with their own theme and type of music. A defínate must for any one that likes a club, regardless if you are gay or not. Both my partners in crime for the evening were straight and loved it just as much as me.

I aso had my first merengue dance lesson from a cute Colombian, and he seemed impressed with my hip action.

Sadly It is time to say good bye to Bogota and head to my second Colombian city that is Medellín, where the weather is much warmer and isn’t referred to as the “London of South America” like Bogotá. Bogota you were great, but 4 days was enough to experience what you have to offer.