Medellín
COLOMBIA
Cable Cars, Midgets & New Year's Eve
By AARON
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
So our impression of Colombia, and how friendly and helpful the people are, was only solidified more when we met Nelson, a Colombian who was taking the same bus as us from Cartagena to Medellin. Not only did he recommend a good hotel right in the heart of the city, but he called ahead to check on availability as well. Once we arrived at the bus terminal in Medellin, he escorted us to the hotel and wished us well. From past experiences with “helpers”, we were almost expecting him at one point or another to say “Okay, so that will be 2,000 pesos.” Shame on us as he was just another good-hearted man trying to help out his fellow persons. We shook hands, thanked him, and parted ways.
So Medellin is famous for a couple of things, but mostly for being the hometown of Pablo Escobar, Colombia’s most ruthless drug lord. Since his death in December of 1993, this is a reputation that Medellin has shrugged off and replaced with cultural centers, art museums, and a great public rail system for transportation. Another claim to fame is that Medellin is also the hometown of world renowned artist Fransisco Botero, who is recognized for his paintings of EXTREMELY fat people, and fat people sculptures. The main square in central Medellin is home to the brilliantly named “Museo de Todos” (Museum of Everything), which in itself is a tribute to Fransisco Botero and his numerous works of art. Outside this area are huge fat person sculptures sure to brighten anyone’s day when they gaze upon the majestic “fat man riding fat horse”, or the sensuous “fat woman posed seductively” works of art.
On our first full day in Medellin, Lyndi and I decided to ride the rail system to get our bearings on the town, and also to look for another hostel to stay in for the next night; because good as our place was it didn’t have a kitchen we could use, and there were no other travelers we could talk to and meet. At one of the hostels we ran into some of our friends from the Stahlratte, Dion and Linda. We immediately decided to make plans to go to Mango’s the next night, which is the most famous bar in Medellin, known for its beautiful women and dwarfs who serve you drinks. We were stoked.
The next day we moved to a great hostel called Palm Tree, which is in a safe part of town and reasonably priced. We decided to take the cable cars, which are an extension of the Medellin Rail System, that take you up the 2 sides of the mountains that surround the city. On our way up one of the cable cars, we looked below us as people bustled around markets, kids flew homemade kites, and men peed off the side of their roofs.
That night, we headed to Dion and Linda’s hostel to meet up and head to Mango’s, for tonight was August 29th, so naturally they were throwing a “New Year’s Eve Party” for all their loyal patrons. As we arrived, we were greeted by women wearing skimpy Santa suits, and dwarfs dressed in pig outfits handing out drinks. I can’t make that up. We reluctantly paid the $30,000 peso entry fee (about $15US), thinking that this would include our drinks for the night, or at least one free drink. We were sorely mistaken. Not only were no drinks included, the beers cost $10,000 pesos each, so after only 10 minutes of experiencing the magic that is Mango’s, we had already spent $40,000 pesos each. Now we were just worried about having enough for a cab fare home (just to put it in perspective, beers at our hostel cost $1,500 pesos). So for the next hour, all four of us nursed our one beer, and watched salsa dancers, also in pig outfits, dance on the stage, while I bummed shots of Aguardiente off of an ex-Marine Recon soldier from Houston, Texas named Greg.
After an hour, dwarfs or not, we came to two sad realizations:
1. We had just spent most of our days budget on one beer
2. None of us had the foresight to bring a camera to document any of this, so we should just go.
So after leaving Mango’s, we took a taxi to Zona Rosa, which is apparently where all the 16-19 year olds hang out and get drunk. Over the next 2 hours we followed suit as we sat in a park with about 100 other kids, bought a bottle of rum for 1/4 the price of admission to Mango’s, and enjoyed some rum and cokes before calling it a night.
Next day, which was to be our last full day in Medellin, Lyndi and I headed to Pueblito Paisa, which is a free park that offers great views of Medellin and also happened to have a live concert that day at the outdoor amphitheater. The concert happened to be electronica, and since I didn’t bring my emo jeans and hair gel, we decided to enjoy some arepas and take in the view of the city from above.
