Day 515 – Medellin

Getting to Medellin

As we woke up in the morning, we were still on route to Medellin from Barranquilla. When we stopped at the Brasilia Express Bus Stop, we had been on the bus for 12.5 hours. It was cold outside. Luckily we could keep warm with some cheap coffee.

After the breakfast stop, we continued for another two hours to reach the outskirts of Medellin. We passed red brick houses and saw people exercising on the outdoor gym equipment. There was also a cable car into the hillside.

Medellin

Two and a half hours later, at 9.30am, we arrived at the Medellin North Bus Terminal. The 700km journey took 15 hours. As the name suggests, the terminal is in the north of the city. Our hostel, Living Hostel, was 12km south of where we were. 

We saw a Tourist Information Desk, where the English speaking staff member explained the best way to get to our hostel. The best way was with the city’s Metro system. He walked us to the close by Caribi Metro Station. 

There was a massive line for the metro station, but he walked past it and took us to a smaller line where they were handing out Metro Cards (like Myki Cards). Our passports were required to issue the free cards. 

After receiving Metro cards, we got back into the long line for the ticket booth. We needed to load cash onto the cards. We told the staff, which station we would get off at and they told us the fare. It was very straight forward. 

As soon as we got to the platform a nice clean train arrived. All the seats were full, but there was plenty of standing space, so we could easily manage with our backpacks. The whole system was impressive. 

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Along the way, we could see the city on each side as the metro system runs on a raised platform. Medellin appeared to be built in a valley with mountains all around. Twenty minutes later, we got off the train at Aguacatala Metro Station. 

From the train station, we had to walk a short distance to Living Hostel. There was a confusing roundabout, which got us a little lost. A friendly security guard at a housing complex was able to point us in the right direction.

Once we found the hostel, we were welcomed by the owner. She recommended that we upgrade to a room with a private bathroom for a small fee, since they had a male teenage soccer team staying there. Our previous booking would have meant we needed to share the bathroom with them. We graciously went for the upgrade.  

After settling into the room, we walked to the large Santafe Shopping Centre. They were packing away the Christmas decorations but from what was still out, they had gone all out. There was a massive Xmas tree, thousands of lights and an ice skating rink.

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We had some bento boxes from Sarku Japan followed by dessert at Waffles and Crepes. My cousin mentioned that all the staff at Waffles and Crepes are single mothers, which is a cool concept. 

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We headed back to the hostel to catch up on sleep and plan the rest of our time in Medellin. For dinner we came back to Santafe Shopping Centre and had burgers.

Travelled January 2020

Main Expenses

• Metro – Caribi to Aguacatala – 2,400 COP (~$1 AUD) per person
• Lunch – Sarku Japan – 38,800 (~$16 AUD)
• Dinner – El Corral – 47,800 (~$19 AUD)