Medellín

To see details of this section:

https://strava.app.link/Fce9j3CmEJb

We woke with a fair degree of adrenaline in anticipation of the climb that was ahead of us. The weather was very atmospheric and we could see the valley below us with wisps of cloud hanging to the trees. 

We climbed pretty much the whole day. Even though it was Sunday there was still a fair amount of truck traffic. They were very courteous to us. They are clearly aware of their turning circle and gave us a wide berth when passing on a right hand bend to make sure that their tail end didn't squeeze us of the road. Rachel did a good job of capturing this shot of traffic free road! The only other road users were buses and motos: there were virtually no private cars. ALL road users passed slower vehicles when it suited them rather than when there was a clear line of sight. However it seemed like everyone expected this and drove accordingly, expecting an incoming vehicle at any point.

Water was in abundance and a creative entrepreneur had built a small dam around this waterfall to make a swimming pool. If it had been hotter we might have paid for a quick swim in it.

It was very cloudy for the first part of the day which meant two things: super high humidity and few views. It did mean that whenever we got a glimpse of the valleys below they were really special.

The clouds did move on later in the day for the final climb but the road at that point wasn't very photo worthy. We celebrated our achievements at the top and grinned our way down the short descent into Yarumal. 

We weren't really sure what to expect of Yarumal and it took us completely by surprise. It is a thriving town stuck to a hillside. Because of the grid network of streets they are either level or incredibly steep (if they go up/down). It has a great parque principal with this imposing church overlooking the square. The whole square is pedestrianised and there is some great plants in and among the seating areas. As it was Sunday afternoon the whole place was filled and had a party feel. A couple of tall gringos wandering around is clearly not usual and we attracted lots of friendly attention. 

Imagine our delight when we discovered a pizza place just round the corner doing authentic Italian pizza. The fact that it was run by a man from Madras who had met his Colombian wife on holiday in Spain only added to the joys of the day. 

We woke the next day to bright sunlight. The air was so clear at altitude it made a stark contrast to the hazy skies we have been seeing for so long. The blue was very vivid and the land so green that it took our breath away. 

Having reached this high plain there was a change in vegetation. The dense diverse forest of the climb was replaced by lush green pasture. The cattle were all Friesians rather than the Brahmas we had seen lower down (that tolerate heat better)

Fruit was in abundance and we treated ourselves to glasses of freshly pressed orange juice. 

Whilst it might look like the colours have been enhanced in this shot, the image is a true representation of what it looked like. The white lines are covered paths that are fenced in each side. We assume that the cattle are funneled into these for milking and they are covered to keep they dry and stop them getting churned up through repeated use. 

We stopped in Santa Rosa de Osos. So called because of the dense bear population when Spaniards first encountered it. The bears are celebrated in the central roundabout at the entrance to town. 

We booked our accommodation for the next few nights in Medellín selecting the 'non-refundable' option to keep the price down. Shortly after we both realised that something we had eaten did not agree with us. Thankfully it was only a mild upset and we were able to ride the next day albeit feeling a bit weak. 

The route for the day dropped about 1000m so we knew we had gravity on our side. More wonderful twisting roads and best of all: cool, fresh mountain air. We had been fantasising about this all the way through the heat of Central America and it was great to be riding in it. 

We were really happy to be seeing these signs indicating descents.

We could not help ourselves stopping at this point as we were so stunned by the view that we needed time to take it in. We could see right down into the valley that would lead us to Medellín and it seemed REALLY far below us. We could hardly believe what we were seeing. 

Before we got going on the descent we were waved to a stop at a police check point. It turns out that we hadn't done anything wrong and Victor and Javier were simply interested in our bike and our journey and wanted to speak to us and get our photo. They gave us a hearty welcome to Colombia.

The descent was steep. We crept out way down it to keep the bike's speed in check. We were glad that we had opted for the main road descent as the back road route was even steeper.

We hit the valley bottom and started the run into the centre. We were in need of an energy boost so stopped at a roadside stall advertising 'mazamorro' with no idea of what it was. It turns out it is a chilled maize chowder. It was perfect for our needs: savoury, cool, tasty and filling. Alexandra, who ran the stall, was great fun and delighted to be asked to be in a photo for us.

We had about 25km of riding through the city to reach our accommodation. The traffic was dense so no chances for photos. Despite the density of traffic and cars, buses and motos going in every direction at junctions we felt safe. In fact I've felt a lot more scared cycling in traffic in the UK that I felt the whole way through Medellín.

We did manage to pause for a moment to snap this church. Very impressive from the outside but in the scale of what the city has to offer, it isn't much special.

We are staying at a hostel in the backpacker zone. This means several things: every other building is a hostel, lots of cafes and restaurants (we found a vegan one only 2 minutes walk away), lots of activities to take part in, lots of travellers to share stories with and funky decor. 

We filled our bellies in the vegan cafe, signed up for a free walking tour in the city centre for the next day and crashed out. 

Medellín has been our focus for ages and we need to spend some time planning where to go next and how far we might reasonably get in our remaining time.

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

Email miketoyn@gmail.com if you would like an email update whenever there is a new blog post or if you want to get in touch

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/two.boldlygo/