1992's most dangerous city

Friday, March 08, 2019
Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
After Guatape, I only had one day to explore Medellin, which wasn't really enough. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to go back there one weekend. 
Medellin is most well known due to Pablo Escobar and his influence there in the 80s and early 90s. Medellin was considered the most dangerous city in the world in 1992. However, things have changed and Colombia's tourism industry has grown by over 300% since 2006 and many people visit the city of Medellin. 
First stop in the morning was Comuna 13, a large neighbourhood which is built into the mountainside and was once one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Medellin. It has undergone a massive transformation and is now considered safe to visit. One of the main things which has helped its change are the 6 electric escalators which make the comuna accessible for local people and it is now known for its graffiti, street art performances and walking tours. Emil and I joined a walking tour. There were about 50 people overall, luckily they split us into two groups. Even with 25 people it still felt like a large group traipsing round the small windy streets of the comuna.  
Our guide, Laura, was a local lady who had grown up in Comuna 13 and told us she used to be ashamed to tell people she was from there, but not anymore. She learnt english through a social programme in her neighbourhood and has been taking tours for 3 years. The tour took us around the comuna and explained some of the street art, how the comuna has been transformed and included a break dance performance from the local dance crew. 
Afterwards a group of 7 of us from the tour, including 2 dutch, 2 english, 2 Swedish and 1 Danish, took the cable car, a common form of transport in Medellin, to the top of one mountainside. The views at the top were incredible and we couldn't imagine how anyone who lived even halfway up the mountain could have commuted into the centre without the cable cars before. The first cable car was opened in 2004 and I imagine they must have transformed many lives by making education, employment and healthcare much more accessible.  
We then decided to go all the way to the other side of the city to Arvi Park. Arvi park is an ecological nature reserve and covers 16,000 hectares, 1,760 of which are natural forests. I didn't realise quite how big or how foresty it was!  It took quite a long time to get there and consisted of 2 metro changes and 4 cable car stops. By the time we arrived we only had time to do an hour walk through the forest, before catching the cable car all the way back down. 
Later that evening we all met up again at one of the biggest hostels in Medellin, where 4/7 of our group were staying. It had an amazing rooftop bar, although the view of the city was slightly hindered by a cloud of pollution similar to in Santiago. That evening we went to a salsa bar, which was pretty empty sadly and then one of the main party areas in the city, Lleras, which was much livelier. 
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Comments

Carynm
2019-03-16

Good to read that a city has been transformed. Just goes to show that it really is possible to turn things around if there is the will to do so. Lots more great street art and views xxx

2025-02-15

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