Cartagena and Santa Marta

artagena de las Indies presented itself to me veiled with a cloth of morning fog and 30deg C at 7am. The flights in Colombia are often even cheaper than buses so I decided to fly from Medellin directly to Cartagena and save a bunch of time and km on the road. The first thing you notice in Cartagena is probably the humidity and heat that keeps you sweating through the day :) This is a photo of the new side of town with booming expensive hotel and office buildings. It's a peninsula that stretches out in the ocean.

Of course Cartagena is famous for its white collonial buildings and balconies, making it one of the most picturesque backdrop cities I've evern been in. This is in the old collonial town, surrounded by high walls, protecting it thus from pirate attacs.

The evening is probably the best time in Cartagena, this is when the breeze picks up and it's possible to be outside without feeling like you're in a sauna :) We picked up a few bikes and took a ride around the peninsula with all the new buildings.

By we I mean myself and an american couple from Oregon I met on the flight here. The Caribbean waters are soooooo warm though, it's probably one of the best places to just swim around and enjoy being a kid in the water again :)

Myself on my trusty transport with the setting sun backdrop.

Riding action shot.

Evening colors lighting up the port of Cartagena.

As the evening set up everything became just a bit more pretty. I didn't spend too much time in Cartagena because I was frankly a bit disappointed by it. The streets are overrun with vendors and sellers that try (somewhat aggressively) to sell you all kinds of tours and souvenirs, i understand that they're just trying to survive but it gets a bit too much. Also Cartagena is probably one of the most expensive cities in Colombia and staying there too long with set you back quite a bit even just in lodging.

Santa Marta

I visited Santa marta only for 1 day only so I don't have many photos:) This is a view on the main beach in Santa Marta. The city is actually very nice and more bearable from the touristic point of view than Cartagena.

The beach of Taganga, a nearby village. Apparently it's rather good and cheap to do some diving here. I might do that on the way back to Cartagena. The beach is very nice and worth a visit although the village of Taganga has really taken a reputation of being a major party village.

Gorgeous sunset at Taganga beach, probably made my day!

Medellin

Medellin alike Bogota is characterized for me as mostly out of city sights and activities, so that's how I'll retell it.

Piedra de Penol

This is one of the absolute things to see if you're in Medellin. Although it does require a day trip out of the city, it is fully worth it.

It's essentially a huge rock rising from the ground that people climbed and now built stairs for tourists, making it one of the things to do near the city. The nearby landscape is awesome as well and you'll see soon why...

After about a 2h ride from Medellin terminal I am approaching the rock. Of course they've now built a few cafes, restaurants on top of the rock, obviously they gotta make money.

The stairs are out of themselves a work of art. They are built into the rock where a natural crack exists all the way from the top to bottom, so the constructors used this crack for natural mounting points for the cement holding the stairs. But of course, they had to adapt to the shape of the crevice itself so the stairs are really weirdly shaped and feature tons of non-right angle turns and twists.

About midway to the top, there is a statue of the Virgin overlooking the landscape. The landscape is comprised from inundated small little islands with gravelly shores and interconnected between each other with cute little bridges. The islands have all different shapes and some are uninhabited. Some have huge hotel resorts built upon them (the western culture is slowly extending its hairy arm here, unfortunately). As far as your eyes could see the islands appear out of the water being surrounded by a range of mountains somewhere far in the background.

Climbing higher...

At the top, a shot with "kvitochki" :)

Unfourtunately my camera does not have a panorama mode, because that's essentially what I was trying to do :) as you turn around 360 the landscape doesn't cease to disappoint you.

The tower on top of the rock housing some restaurants and a gift shop and a mirador.

No comment...

I thought how awesome it would be to sail between the islands but unfortunately the high walls obstruct the flow of wind so you;d have to be rather creative to catch those sudden gusts channeled in an island corridor.

Pic of the day. you can almost see the curvature of the earth :)

THe little houses look so cute in the distance.

Leaving Piedra de Penol toward a nearby village, Guatape.

The village is famous for its colorful houses and balconies precipitated with flowers.

Children playing on its cobblestones streets, it almost seems like a town from a fairly tale.

The colors are really more impressive in person.

While on the rock I met with another russian guy :) the second one i meet in my 4 months of travels. At any rate we decided to take a pic for posterity with his son and his colombian "tesha" ;)

Medellin

The actual city of Medellin is very special, it has a very nice feel to it, a modern one, a progressive one. It imprinted in my mind as a much more pleasurable and calm feeling than Bogota, especially in the new up and coming part of Medellin, El Poblado, this is where most hostels are anyways. At night however it is largely run by tourists and you can almost speak english on the streets and expect someone to pick up on it. I didn't like that aspect of it but you can't have everything.

Another thing that Medellin is known for is its Explorer's Park (which is awesome if you have small kids and want to engrain in them a deep love for science :), the botanical garden and the planetarium all next to each other. I decided to visit the planetarium on one of my evening trips and it turned out to be a great experience, and i practiced some spanish while reading the spanish description of all the celestial bodies/events/ etc.

Parque Arvi

This is another day trip totally worth doing. The north part of the city is bordered by a huge reservation, parque Arvi. To get to it you take the metro and then the cable car service, part of the metro system, so you get a decent top view of the poorer suburbs of Medellin. I can't call them slums, because I've seen worse slums in China, but they are on the poorer side of living, somewhere where the tourists don't usually venture, but it brings perspective.

As the cable car takes you higher you get to see Medellin on the palm of your hand. It's a really brilliant idea to build cities limited in growth by mountains, it certainly prevents the abhorrent expansion of suburbia.

The park itself is rather gorgeous, the tall trees almost breathe a new life into you with their massive coronas and strong posture.

On the trail...

The path is really gorgeous, between a combination of pine trees and large foliage bushes with a narrow path guiding your way...

...across a really cute bridge :) Needless to day I fully enjoyed that day although I couldn't help but think that it would have been even more amazing if I had someone there to share it with - "happiness is only real when you share it with someone".

The next day I climbed upon a little hill close to El Poblado right in the middle of the city where they have built a few houses in the Antioqian style (traditional houses from the Medellin area). The highrise ground offers brilliant views of the city and it's red brick construction.

History and progress coexisting. The metro is one of the coolest things to do in this city, it's especially refreshing given that you can't find this anywhere else in NE south america.

More shots of Medellin's highrise brick buildings.

Botero plaza being overlooked by an old cathedral, chess style :)

The Botero plaza in the center of the city is a place of walking stone paved streets, huge mall centers and everyone selling everything in the streets...oh and chain food restaurants that always try to lure you at any price.

As i was leaving this city i took this last shot to remind myself of everything it offered me. It's true what every traveler I've met has said about Medellin, it's got a certain feel about it. Everyone's got a different explanation and description as to what it is but at the end it's just a nice, warm feeling that keeps you wanting to return to this place, with its progressive tendencies, nicest people and brick highrise buildings...some feelings are just not meant to be given a name and classification...i think.  

Bogota

Bogota, the capital of D.C. (district colombia, this one is the actual one :) home of 12million people. A city that is stretched between 2 mountain ranges (just like Quito) but on a much grander scale. A city that is full of whatever and whoever you want to find, locals, extranjeros, drug dealers, police, etc etc. but mostly it's a huge metropolis for really good people, colombians that are always willing to help you out with advice or directions and will genuinely greet you "good morning" every day :) My stay in Bogota was shaped more by its surrounding natural wonders, parks and habitats more than the city itself. But here's a shot of the city's night skyline.

One of the days I went to the Reserva, this is a park situated on a mountain that marks the city's natural borders. It's sort of an escape to nature between the city's brick buildings...

Here's me with my trusty trekking pole contemplating about the path just traversed. The air is really different here, with all the pine trees keeping it fresh and clear while the sound of the city roars below with its rubber tyres and revving engines.

The city mirador opening through the tree branches.

On top of the mountain, there is a small statue of the Virgin where we took a rest.

On the other side of the mountain, sweeping hills define the landscape. I am examining them in a true trekker fashion, as if looking for Chingachgook's lost trails.

The pine trees shed their foliage every season and this place never gets cleaned so that the ground is always covered in soft goodness. So much so that it sometimes becomes a trampoline you can jump on.

The way down from the moutnain leads on a stone paved trail.

Cathedral de Sal
This is a must see tourist attraction near Bogota, it's about 30min outside the city. It's an old salt mine that was remade into a place with a religious content - a cathedral. When you get there, do take a tour because you will get so much more out of the visit, it really is a magical, underground place.

The cathedral is full with these long deep tunnels that used to be blown up by explosives to get the salt. The lighting is amazing by itself.

The marble kneeling places add to the entire charm or mysticism of the place.

Finally you get to the main hall where there is a huge cross chisseled in the wall and backlit marvelously.

You don't need to put much work in  making this place look amazing, since the minerals do the job for you, as you can see with this ceiling with salt grain boundaries resembling the flow of the water that formed them millions of years ago.

The waterfall of salt.

Me emerging from one of the crack-tunnels of the cathedral.

A brilliant realization of God giving life to Adam.

Light games as we ascend toward the surface...

Parque Chicaque
This is a huge park south of Bogota. It has awesome scenery, waterfalls, camping spots and even a very expensive cabana with an overlook of the entire park.

The midday greeted us with fog engulfing the tropical trees.

Inspecting the trail to our next destination from the height of a fallen tree :)

We climbed to a mirador (which essentially was a huge stone) overlooking the valley below. It was amazing! There were tons of condors, or vultures, circling in the thermals produced by the valley.

The valley was intensely green, since it rains often in the central region of Colombia and this zone seems to house tons of fog all the time due to the mountain ranges that keep the fog from dissipating.

I'm enjoying a little bit of sun on the giant rock :)