Colombia: Medellín, Salento, Cali & Bogotá
- ionaweir
- Aug 12
- 16 min read
Updated: Aug 18
My bus to Medellín took around 18 hours, and unfortunately my prebooked window seat was ruthlessly stolen by a shifty guy with his hood covering his face literally the whole time, who held on tightly to his rucksack and did not sleep for the full journey. Weird. He also hid his face from the driver when he was id-ing all the passengers and THEN when we had a breakfast break at a service station the following morning he never got back on the bus. Very weird. I'm intrigued but I guess I'll never know.
I was very excited for Medellín as I'd heard such good things from other travellers and my plan was to spend two weeks at Blink Spanish school in the El Poblado neighbourhood (the gringo neighbourhood oops sorry). I'd also heard lots of good things about Blink - as well as being a school it's also a hostel (with breakfast and lunch included !) where all the guests staying are doing classes and can do activities and stuff, so it's super fun and sociable which is great for solo travellers. I arrived on the Sunday afternoon to be on time for classes the following Monday and basically ate a pot noodle and went straight to bed as I was so tired from my night bus.
My classes consisted of four hours of regular lessons in the morning, and then an option of different master classes in the afternoon, usually followed by some sort of organised evening activity. I was quite lucky as because I was a higher level of Spanish (flex), there were less people my level so for both of the weeks there were only two of us in a class. Basically private classes for a group price. Slay. Some of the master classes I attended were the subjunctive (boring) and Colombian swearing (not boring). ¡ Gonorea ! The evening activities were also quite funny. We did a salsa class which I can't lie I did leave halfway through to play monopoly instead as unfortunately dancing has never been my forte. Joke was on me though because we left to go to a rooftop bar at a hostel afterwards which just so happened to be halfway through a bachata class. Safe to say I decided to call it a night a head back to Blink.
Medellín is known for its Comuna 13 neighbourhood - one of its sixteen comunes - which is associated with its street art, bright colours and crowded buildings. It used to be super dangerous and had a lot of violence to do with drug trafficking, paramilitaries and controversial military operations but is now a vibrant community and a major tourist attraction. Sophia (the girl from my class in the first week) and I did a tour of it which was really interesting. We learnt a lot about Medellín's history and then got forced to do breakdancing which was mortifying. Bear in mind this was only the day after my traumatic salsa dancing experience. Too much. But the locals' dancing was great. What's also really cool about the neighbourhood is that as it's built over lots of hills, they've now installed escalators on the streets so you don't have to walk. Brilliant ! We took advantage of this and went up to a bar with the other people from the tour and had a really cool view.
The next day's evening activity was a big Tejo game - Colombia's national sport according to some. It's basically a traditional throwing game where you get given this heavy metal disc (the tejo) and have to throw it a target which is filled with gunpowder, and you get points based your proximity to the target and if the gunpowder explodes or not. It was actually quite fun although I think I may have let my team down slightly - turns out alongside my dancing, my aim and throwing abilities are not so good either. We went out after which was fun as Medellín is known for having pretty good nightlife. I can't say it was especially 'good' compared to the clubs I like in the UK but it was a lot of fun. I actually went out quite a bit in Medellín so safe to say I was feeling a bit rough. I tried going to the mall when I was hungover on Saturday and literally went straight to Starbucks, sat there for about 20 minutes regretting all my life choices, and ubered straight back to Blink where I spent the rest of the day on the sofa and then got pizza.
The following day we went to a football game, Colombia's other national sport. I'm really not into football personally but it seems like a big thing to do in Medellín plus the tickets were cheap so why not. The atmosphere was quite good at the start, even though apparently we were watching Medellín's not so good team, but in the second half some of the men started to get a bit more aggressive and rowdy and I felt quite uncomfortable being there. They only serve non-alcoholic beer within the stadium to avoid this but I heard that people just sneak in coke instead as you can hide it better. I have no idea if that's true or not. We were nearby the Laureles area of Medellín so after the game had a wander through there and ended up getting sushi burritos which I found a lot more fun than the football. It was a bit sad as people attend Blink on a weekly basis so a lot of people I'd made friends with left at the weekend, but then on the Sunday a lot more arrived, including a few that I'd met previously in my travels which was an extra exciting crossover.
I had a new class and teacher for my second week at Blink which I enjoyed as the previous week had been more grammar focussed, which is obviously very useful but kinda long, whereas the following week was a lot more based around how to speak like a native rather than speaking like a fluent foreigner if that makes sense. A lot more colloquial language, slang and shortcuts, plus my new teacher Matteo had a lot of fun chisme. This week was a lot more chill for me as I'd done all the master classes I'd wanted to do the precious week so had my afternoons free, plus I had way less homework. I mainly just did a bit of shopping and went to loads of random hipster cafes in an attempt to force myself to successfully write my CV (which didn't work out so well). I went out again on thursday (of course), where many a man pissed me off for a multitude of reasons (of course), and accidentally slept in on the Friday, missing my final class. Instead of turning up late, I decided a way better use of my time was taking myself out for breakfast and then finally getting my hair done as I desperately needed a trim, my roots redone, and a hardcore toner as she was looking rather yellow. I just went with the first place I found with same day availability - a bit of a risk which I'm not sure payed off. My hair ended up looking great but it cost me eight hours of my life sat in a chair incredibly hungover. EIGHT HOURS ! No exaggeration. Never in my life have highlights and a trim taken that long. Colombian time for you I guess. Once I was finally released I had a quick turn around before going to meet Aiyana, Chelsea and Genny as they were going the opposite way to me through Colombia and we had a crossover in Medellin. Very nice seeing them.
For my final full day in Medellín we went to a market and bought every single type of fruit which we hadn't tried before, as Colombia's home to soo many new fruits. You can pay to do a tour but it cost like $30 so we figured it would be so much cheaper to just google the fruits and buy them ourselves. We literally had two full bags heading back to Blink to taste test them. Some were great, some were strange and some were absolutely awful but I'd say it was an overall success. I now know that I like mangosteen and zapote, plus I tried a dragonfruit with actual flavour for the first time and it turns out they actually do taste really nice.
After two weeks I was now all done with Spanish school and moving to another hostel nearby for one night. I was kinda sad to leave Medellín as the part I was staying in is so pretty. It's got like normal buildings but then there's just plants everywhere and it kinda looks like a jungle has taken over a city which is very cool. However, my next destination was a quick trip to Guatape with Aiyana. Guatape is a town a couple hours from Medellín and is a popular holiday destination for Colombians with a range of different watersport activities available. Pablo Escobar even had a few holiday homes there, which you can visit by boat tour. However, one of the main attractions is the Piedra del Peñol, which is a very very big rock with 750 steps and a beautiful view of Guatape and the reservoir.
The bus ride there was very pretty, although slightly bumpy but Aiyana managed not to spew, and we definitely weren't on the right bus but either way we arrived in the right place so no pasa nada. I was staying overnight in Guatape but Aiyana was just doing a day trip as she had a night bus to Cartagena that evening, so we dropped my stuff off at the hostel before wandering around and getting a drink, and then taking a tuktuk to the Piedra. I'd seen online about how exhausting it was going up but it was honestly completely fine. Although we were going up rather slowly as the man infront of us had severe vertigo so was crawling up on his hands and knees, whilst holding on to his girlfriend's hands very tightly. Bless. Once at the top we had a great 360 view which we enjoyed with a cheeky Colombian michelada and some good chat. Unfortunately I had a disgustingly gross cold so our chat was interrupted by constant sneezing and blowing of my nose but oh well.
We headed back down to the main square for a drink and a snack, before wandering around the town a bit more and sitting at the waterfront. I really quite liked Guatape. I'd heard mixed things from other people as it is really quite small and touristy, with not a huge amount to do if you're not wanting to pay to do watersports, but I thought it was quite sweet and pretty. It's super colourful and felt really safe, which after being in Medellin for two weeks was very much appreciated - it actually really reminded me of San Juan La Laguna in Lake Atitlán, where I did my first work exchange, due to all the murals in the streets and art work being sold everywhere. Although we managed to refrain from buying anything, especially as I'd done some serious damage at the mall in Medellin so had very limited space left in my rucksack. Anyway Aiyana left in the early evening and I just chilled at the hostel and ate a pot noodle for the rest of the evening which was very nice. There were so many kids playing out on the streets after dark which again was such a nice change from the cities. The town also had a lot of nice cafes, so I went to a healthy vegan looking one for breakfast the next day to try and cure my cold, where the lady took pity on me and gave me this fancy herbal tea with multiple pots and fresh fruit inside as I think she noticed my lack of voice and constant snivelling. I'm not sure it did too much but the sentiment was nice.
I spent one more night in Medellín, where I managed to bag some bright red magic pills which completely eradicated my ailments. I'm not sure what was in them but I'm sure it's not legal in the UK. I should have bought extra to take some back with me. I was meeting up with a friend from Blink to head to Salento, which is an Andean town around 8 hours from Medellin, known for it's coffee estates and mountainous landscape. It's also supposedly the town that the film Encanto is based off of, as most people stay there to go to Cocora Valley, which is a section of Los Nevados National Park and is renowned for its Quindío wax palm trees, which are the tallest palm trees in the world. However, before we could see all this we had a whole day to kill in Medellin before our night bus left at 12.30am. Yikes. I don't usually find night buses too bad but this one was kinda rough - the roads were super twisty and it was a very small bus so we were all squished - unfortunately something no amount of melatonin could overcome. We also arrived a few hours early, which usually I wouldn't complain about but it meant we arrived before 6am and obviously no one was working at the hostel yet, so we had to sleep on a weird net on the hostel floor looking like crackheads before heading back out. Luckily they did have a shower I could use. Night buses always seem like a good idea until you realise you've fucked up your whole day as you're so delusional from your lack of sleep.
We had breakfast then went up to a mirador point where the only photos I took had a massive tree right in the middle. I'm not sure why I did that. We'd booked a coffee tour for the afternoon so went to the main square where we got a lift to the finca. In Salento their taxis are all 4x4s which you sit in the back of and if you're the last ones on (which we were because we were late), you just stand on the back and hold onto the roof which is quite fun. We got to the finca in one piece and ended up having a private tour, where we got given "traditional" ponchos and hats to wear, although I doubt the farmers actually wear the ones we were given - I feel like that was more for their own amusement. We got shown the finca and different coffee trees, and also got to try fruit from the trees, some of which had worms in... yummy. We also saw these really crazy looking caterpillars and then got some patacones, before making our own coffee from scratch. It tasted okay. I do much prefer a chocolate tour though.
The next day we went to Cocora Valley, which was around a thirty minute jeep ride away from Salento. There are a few different trails you can do there but we decided to do the one up to the top of Cerro Morrogacho, which I don't think I was fully aware of at the start as I'm not sure I would have agreed to it otherwise. However, it was a very nice hike with some amazing views of the palm trees, although lots of steep inclines - one of which was so steep I didn't remember going up it at all when we went back down it as I honestly think I blocked it out in the same way a woman forgets the pain of childbirth because it's so bad. We did eventually get to the top and shared a celebratory dragon fruit as a reward. Luckily I'd brought my spork otherwise who knows how we'd have managed to eat it. Thankfully the way back down was much easier and we went to a cafe afterwards - where I got a cheesecake AND a chocolate con queso, which is a very Colombian delicacy of hot chocolate with blocks of cheese inside. It was actually quite enjoyable but I did end up feeling a bit grossed out by the amount of dairy I'd just consumed. I also found out that day that part of Blink Spanish school had collapsed due to a rainstorm which was quite concerning. There were quite a few people I knew there and they all said it was super scary. Luckily no one was seriously seriously injured but obviously not good. Other buildings on the street had also collapsed so I think everyone was quite shaken up. Very scary.
After all this we chilled at the hostel for a bit then headed out for a few drinks when around 200 motorbikes (with people on them) arrived at the main square. I asked the bartender what they were doing here but he had no idea either. Bear in mind Salento is quite a small town so I'm not too sure what purpose 200 bikers had doing there, but maybe they just wanted a Friday night out to play Tejo. Who knows. The streets were quite lively to be fair - there were lots of street perfomers and live music, although we did just end up sitting on a bench with beers bought from a shop. I'm not sure why. I feel like we could have done better there.
We left the next morning for Cali, which was only around 4 hours on two buses from Salento so quite an easy journey. I hadn't been too sure if I'd go to Cali as I'd heard quite mixed things. It's known to be the Salsa capital of the world and is very lively, especially the nightlife, but it does also have a bit of a rep for being quite dangerous so given that I didn't have that much time left in Colombia I wasn't sure if it was a priority for me, especially given my disagreements with Salsa dancing (side note - I love salsa in general - i think it's so much fun and looks so cool - I just hate dancing it myself lol). However, Fergus was keen and I figured since I'd be going with a guy it wouldn't be so bad so I begrudgingly agreed. However I'm very glad I did as I had such a good time - we only had one night there so went for food then went to a local salsa bar. The music was so so good and the bar felt really authentic and had pictures everywhere, plus they played loads of Buena Vista Social Club so I was instantly sold. I also found it funny because girls were allowed in for free but guys had to pay. Although it was actually me who payed because Fergus had no cash. But I liked the principle. We were quite rough the next morning and had the whole day to fill as we had yet another night bus that evening for Bogotá. We checked out as late as possible then went for brunch where I got a sandwich bigger than my head, and then weren't sure what to do with ourselves as it was a Sunday so lots of things were shut - so somehow ended up at Cali zoo. I don't even really support zoos but it was quite funny, although very overstimulating on a hangover. I also got my gatorade confiscated at security but everyone else seemed to be able to take them in so I actually think the security guard was thirsty and liked the look of my drink. We then headed to the San Antonio neighbourhood which I'd heard was quite nice and wandered around there for a bit, where we found some live music with marimbas (my fave), and then headed up to a really nice park with a viewpoint of Cali. We stayed there for a while before heading back to the hostel to collect our stuff and go to the bus station, where I had my final destination in Colombia ! So sad !
This night bus went slightly better than the last, but I was still delusional when we arrived in Bogotá. We ate breakfast at the hostel, then as it was too early to check in we once again had a nap in a random part fo the hostel. Luckily this time there was a room with sofas we could sleep on, although it was quite funny as there were quite a few other backpackers with the same idea so there was just loads of us asleep of the sofas. This hostel was extra fancy and had a spa, so I could shower and feel clean again which was obviously quite nice. We went out for lunch and wandered around the area a bit, before heading back to the hostel to check in and had another nap this time on actual beds. We reemerged once again for dinner; got Mexican food and a michelada; then went back to bed. A very exciting first day in the Colombian capital.
The next day we went up to Cerro Monserrate, a mountain which overlooks the city centre of Bogotá. There's a church on top with a big Jesus shrine, as well as a few cafes, gardens and market stalls, so it kinda feels like a small town on top of the mountain. You use a cable car to get up, for which we ended up queueing around 2 hours in the sun to get in as it was quite busy, which didn't help my pre-existing patchy sunburn. We spent a couple hours up there - around the same amount as time we queued for - looked at some of the stalls and I got an arepa de queso before we headed back down, luckily in a much shorter queue. After this we went to the Gold Museum, mainly because it was already 4pm and most of the other museums were about to close but this one closed at 6pm. I had heard it was supposed to be quite good, which it was but I kinda felt like once you'd seen one floor you'd seen everything, so we needn't have worried about being pressed for time.
We then headed back to the hostel to use the free spa as it would have been a waste not to. It was my first time in both a sauna and a steam room and jesus christ I was really not expecting them to be so hot. All of my metal jewellery was burning me and it was really quite painful. We couldn't even use the pool to cool off as that part wasn't free and we were too cheap to pay. There was quite a chatty man in the sauna called Matt who was quite entertaining and made the experience a bit more amusing, although I will say I'm not sure I felt much better after my spa experience. Mainly just sweaty. We then went for dinner and to an Irish pub (of course) for the last night, and went to the Botero museum the next day which was really cool, before Fergus flew home and I had a day in my private room (what a luxury) literally just watching tiktoks and doing admin (another luxury) before my flight to Costa Rica the next day.
I was really quite sad to leave Colombia as I had SUCH a good time. It was my first time properly solo backpacking so I was quite nervous but honestly didn't even need to be as I had so much fun and met so many nice people. My only regret is that I didn't have enough time to go to more places. Especially Jardín. Will just have to visit on my return to Colombia xoxo
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