Sunriser

While Sunriser stays in the harbour in Curaçao, we explore Colombia.

The 2 biggest cities are Bogota and Medellin, which we both visited. The difference in vibe between them is enormous. In Bogota we felt unsafe in many places, even in the touristic parts. We were instructed to carry the backpack on our chest, otherwise someone would cut the straps and run away with it. Corruption is a problem in the whole of Colombia, but in Bogota it was the most visible. Unfinished skyscrapers (builders left with the money to Panama), no water in the whole city for 24 hours, so many museums were closed and no shower or flushing toilets in the hotel.

There were some exceptions however which we enjoyed a lot. One was the gold museum with beautiful gold art from all ages.

The highlight was the bicycle tour through the most prominent ‘barrios’.

The guide was a grafitti artist, so we saw a lot of street art, some by our guide himself.

Other sites we visited were the fruitmarket and a statue from Fernando Botero. But the more interesting were the guide’s stories on the violent times and how it influenced the city and its inhabitants. Sadly, the drug problem is visible everywhere in the city.

After 2 nights we had a 11 hour bus trip to Medellin. Although also this city has its share of crime, we never felt unsafe here. The old city lays in a valley with suburbs build on the surrounding slopes. The cable cars that go up the slopes are part of the public transport system. We used these during our guided walk to comuna 13, a former very dangerous place, but now a tourist hot-spot. It felt like Camden Town in London. There we met again our friends from Blue, Peter and Catharina.

Also in Medellin there is a lot of nice street art.

A popular day trip from Medellin is el Peñol de Guatapé, a huge rock in the middle of the fields. According to the story, the landowner wanted to sell the land as he could not use it for his cattle due to the rock. The current owner bought the land, including the rock, for 3 cows. He cleverly saw the touristic potential of the site and now he is one of the richest persons in Colombia.

The nearby village of Guatapé is a very ‘instagrammable’ hotspot.

In the 1950’s the area was flooded to create a big artificial lake which is now a holiday place for the people of Medellín. We took a boat tour and admired some houses of famous Colombians, like Shakira, and reggaeton singers we never heard of.

A bit tired of the city life we now look forward to explore the Colombian countryside.