WARNING TO MOTHER AND ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS A TENDENCY TO WORRY ABOUT ME... YOU MIGHT WANT TO SKIP READING THIS ENTRY!

Medellín in Colombia is famous for many different things: abundant surgical enhancements, consistently good weather and of course, Pablo Escobar and his cocaine trafficking goldmine. Whilst the rain meant that I could not agree with the city's reputation for good weather, I spent my time in Medellín finding out more about the other two famous elements of the city. No, don't worry... I did not take lots of cocaine and get breast/bum implants; I just spent an afternoon in Hooters and went on a "Pablo Escobar" tour.

Due to the fact that I am not fan of rain, nor am I a man who is infatuated by all of the women of Colombia, I did not get trapped in Medellín for a prolonged period of time. I had been forewarned that there are very few female backpackers in Colombia, particularly those who are solo, yet still I was surprised when I arrived to my hostel and found I was the only girl staying there! It's a good job that I generally get on better with guys, and enjoy playing pool, drinking beer and watching the World Cup, otherwise I might have had the loneliest few days of my trip so far.

I arrived to my hostel after a rather long journey from Quito as I chose to miss out the south of Colombia to give me more time up on the coast. It took me from 6am to 2.30pm to get to the border town on the Colombian side (Ipiales), from where I had planned to take the 3pm bus to Medellín. This would've been perfect timing had it not been for the fact that this bus was full... therefore my only other option was the 7.30pm bus. I had been told by various people, and also read in various places that, under no circumstances whatsoever should you go on the road from Ipiales to Cali at night time as hijackings are still rife - hence why I was planning on taking the 3pm bus, but I was not left with a whole lot of choice as I did not want to stay the night in this dull border town.   

So, I bought my ticket and asked the ticket man to look after my backpack for the afternoon as I had a little wander around. Five hours passed by very slowly, and when I finally got on the bus I set about finding good hiding places for my valuables, ready for the imminent hijacking that night. After about half an hour I was set and had crammed everything between seats, inside the cushions and under my chair; I did not put anything on my body, or in my pockets and my small backpack was pretty much empty. Needless to say after all this preparation, our bus was not hijacked and my sleep went uninterrupted until we arrived in Medellín the next morning. In all honesty I was a little bit disappointed at this as I was all prepared, but it's probably for the best! Fortunately there were not many people who braved this route at this time, so none of my fellow passengers were in a position to see where I had squirreled everything away, and I managed to recover all of my possessions before disembarking. 

Having arrived safe and well into Medellín, I decided to walk from the bus terminal to my hostel as these were the directions they provided on their website. Forty minutes of walking uphill later (with a good 20 kilos strapped to me), I finally got there - for anyone who is going there, I would recommend taking a bus! I had heard mixed reports of the safety of Medellín before I arrived, with the main consensus being that it is a hell of a lot safer than it used to be. I agree with this, but you can also look at it from the flip-side - it is still a very dangerous city indeed, and the murder count still sits in double figures per week... but, having said that, it is a lot safer than it used to be!  

Shortly before I got to Medellín I had heard that a certain hostel had been the site of a gang rape against a lone female backpacker, and for some strange reason there were no girls going there anymore. Therefore the hostel was offering free accommodation to any girls for a limited period. Despite being tempted as I always am to save money, I decided against taking them up on their offer and chose to stay elsewhere. So, when I arrived to my hostel and i was the only girl, I was a little concerned that the gringo rumor-mill had misinformed me on which hostel to avoid! The fact that I had to pay was my only comfort as I checked in.

Zona Rosa is the area where most of the hostels are located due to it being one of the safer neighborhoods and home to various clubs and bars. I was rather unnerved to hear a story of a man with a big gun and an even bigger grudge against a nightclub owner, who had taken his revenge by randomly shooting in the nightclub one night during my stay in Medellín... fortunately I was in a different club that night, but it really does make you think twice about going out. I had a great night watching a hilarious member of the public who was a perfect cross between Superbad's "McLovin'" and Napoleon Dynamite dancing away in a vaguely Michael Jacksonesque style on the stage... at one point he even winked at me, providing much entertainment to the guys I was out with! There was also a shooting outside one of the other hostels which is just down the road from the one I stayed in, but that was just after I had left so I didn't see any of the commotion there. And, whilst we're on the subject of shootings I also heard a really sad story about a guy that was staying in my dorm room with me on my last couple of nights. He had gone to Medellín for a salsa convention, and shortly after I left he was in the downtown area and got in some kind of bother which lead to him being shot dead. I couldn't believe it when I heard it, and it was just yet another story that is being passed around about all the bad things that happen in Medellín. So, it seems that saying Medellín is a safe place to be is like saying that the weather is always nice there!

At my hostel I bumped into a couple of brothers that I had met whilst I was working in Mancora, and together with a couple of other lads from the hostel I went along to my second ever Hooters. Many of the guys in my group seemed to be connoisseurs of Hooters, and I had it on very good authority that this is the best Hooters in the World. I have to admit, I was quite blown away... I saw some of the largest breast implants I've ever personally encountered, and saw bum implants for the first time since I was in Brazil! Here in Colombia there is absolutely no social stigma attached to plastic surgery, and its low price tag along with the high number of sugar daddies means it is incredibly common. Beer, chicken wings and monotonous dance routines - what more could a girl wish for?!

The next day we went on the newly set up "Pablo Escobar" Tour, which has the potential to become a great day out. However, in its current form it leaves a lot to be desired. The "tour guide" Tatiana is more of a translator to allow questiond to go from the guests to the driver (Jaime) who used to be Pablo's personal body guard. However, her English is not all that great, particularly considering she lived in London for a year and so I personally found it much better to just ask Jaime any questions directly, as something would always get lost in translation with Tatiana. It would be much more beneficial to have a guide who actually knew more about Pablo Escobar's history than the average guest, even if their English was not any better than hers.

The tour began with a visit to Pablo's old 'mansion', which looks more like a disused apartment block to me. This is the place where his wife and kids lived, and suffered a car bomb attack which did not hurt anyone. We were not able to go inside the building, nor enter gates of the property as it is now owned by the government who do not know what they are going to do with it. We were however given permission by the security there to walk up to the gates and take photos. Personally I think that anyone who bought this premises and converted it into a hostel would have a very successful business on their hands, if it were not for the huge amounts of debt on the overheads which have continued to accumulate since Pablo's death in 1993! What backpacker would ever choose to stay anywhere else but the "Hostel Pablo Escobar"?

The next stop was to the grave site of Pablo Escobar and friends. This was quite interesting to see, although again it was more of a questions and answer session with Jaime via Tatiana rather than any information being provided up front. Following a brief stop at the graveyard we drove over to the home where Pablo was shot. During the journey, a video of family-owned footage/pictures was shown with Spanish audio and no subtitles (which apparently they are working on). I am pretty confident I would have understood the gist of it and learned quite a lot had I been able to hear it. However, rather than letting us listen, or providing a translation, Tatiana used this time to flirt with all the guys on the bus - although I think the majority of the passengers quite enjoyed this part of the tour!

Once we arrived to the home where Pablo died (whilst trying to escape the Police), once again we could not actually enter the premises/even see his escape route as someone else owns the house. By this point we had picked up a couple of random locals who had joined the tour, and they were deeply involved in conversation with Jaime, leaving the gringos with Tatiana and her lack of knowledge and random guesses. When we got back in the car I heard her ask Jaime for clarification on some of the answers she had given us, and she had got quite a bit wrong... something she failed to mention to us afterwards!

For a slightly additional charge, you can also visit the home of Pablo's brother, Roberto Escobar. Here, you can see a place where Pablo spent a lot of time hiding as well as a few of the fleet of vehicles that were used to smuggle the cocaine into and out of Colombia. Initally the cocaine would come from Bolivia in paste form, and would them be transformed into powder that would be worth US$80,000 per kg when sold in the USA! No wonder this guy made such a ridiculously high fortune.

As Roberto was on holiday when we visited, we got to meet his son, Nicolas Escobar instead. Like Jaime, he was a fountain of knowledge on all things Pablo-related and answered our questions and provided information via Tatiana. This part of the tour was by far the highlight and it is not worth doing it without visiting this house.

Initially they used to use motorcycles for the smuggling, but as the loads increased and the police discovered their methods, the transportation moved to small cars, to large cars, to boars, to planes and finally submarines! In the garage at the house, they have a motorbike, a small car and a large car that were used back in the day. The big car had bullet and bomb-proof doors and windows which were insanely heavy. They have also recently reclaimed a golden-laced bicycle which Pablo had made for Roberto, who was a cycling enthusiast. Currently they are in the process of getting more artifacts and converting the house partly into a museum. Once this is done, it will be much better and make the tour worth the slightly hefty price tag.

Other than the contents of the garage, we visited the living room where we saw a secret hidey-hole in the wall which was used to store drugs, money and/or people, and we got to sit on the sofas that are still there from Pablo's day. In the dining room, we were told a story about a birthday party that Pablo had whilst he was on the run, where he employed blind musicians to entertain them so that they would not know for whom they were performing. This story was very interesting when Nicolas told it, however many details were lost in Tatiana's translation. We also saw various wigs/other disguising apparatus that Pablo used to use when he ventured out into public!

As I said, it is a tour with huge potential which will hopefully be realised one day. The Escobar family name is still so heavily associated with Pablo's activities, and they have spent the last 15 years trying to clear their name with legitimate business ventures. This tour is interesting as it is based on the views of the family and close associates of Pablo Escobar, rather than the widespread version portrayed by the media and the Police. I am glad that I went on it, and would say that despite its problems, it is still worth it... if nothing else but to become facebook friends with the brother of Pablo Escobar!!