Days 99 to 106 - Medellin, CO (part 1 of 3)

Between finding tires for the bikes, repairing damaged bits, sightseeing, and riding, we ended up spending an entire week in Medellin. 

Coming from a wealthy country that Canada is, I cannot overlook the one issue common to all central and south american cities we have visited so far: the huge gap between the rich and the poor. Medellin is no exception, and it's always sad to see. On the bright side, it is a fun place to be and I think one can easily get stuck here for several weeks. 

We stayed in the El Poblado neighborhood, which is an upscale and trendy area of the city. Although a bit pricy, it is safe, has many restaurants and a good bar scene. Our priority in Medellin was to get some overdue maintenance done on the bikes, so we took care of that over the first two days there. Finding moto parts in central and south America can be challenging, as the vast majority of the motorcycles are much smaller than ours. Fortunately, Medellin and its surrounding suburbs having a population of 3.5M, there are several ''large'' bike dealerships, and conveniently most of them are in El Poblado, where we stayed. Mihai and I got new tires and an oil change, whereas Josh dropped off his bike at the local BMW shop, in order to iron out a few minor issues related to his crash two weeks ago.

With the bikes running like new again, we were on a mission to find a fabricator, as the side cases on Josh's and my bikes needed some repairs. One of the Josh's side cases got banged up in his crash three weeks ago, whereas one of mines had a cracked mounting point, due to vibration. Once again, we got lucky. We were referred to King Aluminum, a fab shop specialized in motorcycle accessories. The guys there were cool, and they fixed our issues at a very reasonable rate.

One the bike stuff settled, we spent a few days sightseeing the city and the surrounding areas. 

Panorama of Medellin by day...

...and by night.

Common sight in Medellin: street performers trying to make a coin at red lights by performing their tricks.

Riding on Medellin's modern subway.

Capoeira training 

Josh and one of the guys at KIng Aluminum, where we got our side cases fixed.

My side case, strengthened with a plate of aluminum from the inside. Cost: 12$ for both boxes.

While waiting at King Aluminum, this kid put a stunt show for us on his dirtbike. He's one crazy mofo.

Unfortunately, he ended up getting busted by the cops for wheeling through a red light.

MotoShop in Medellin, where I got new tires and an oil change. Very friendly guys.

Andreas from KTM Medellin. Great guy, gave us good advice about where to go riding around Medellin.

Random stuff:

It is a modern city. Particularly worth mentioning is the state of the art metro network.

Great climate and very scenic location. The surrounding countryside is beautiful as well, with many great roads that are a lot of fun to ride on a motorcycle. 

In general, people have been very kind and helpful, especially the guys in the motorcycle shops we dealt with: KTM Medellin, BMW Ruta 40, and Moto Shop.

It does live up to its reputation of the city of beautiful women. This place definetely stands out in comparison to all other central and south american cities we have visited so far. To me it seems that a lot of it has to do with the fact that the ladies here seem to put an above average effort to look elegant.

We stayed at 3 different places in one week, all within a range of 300 m from each other. The first hostel had a triple room with the best beds so far. We got there tired from a long day of riding, and were quite primed to get some good sleep in those comfy beds. Well, it didn't turn out quite as we were hoping: the room was above the hostel's bar, and a party started passed midnight, only to finish sometime passed 3 am. I am a hard sleeper, so it didn't bother me much, but Mihai and Josh barely got any sleep, even with earplugs in.

The next day, we moved to a nearby hotel, which had a really nice and big triple room for us. It was nice to scatter all of our stuff and still have plenty of space to walk around (it is rarely the case). We stayed there for 2 nights and decided to move, since they had no parking for the bikes, and no social scene neither.

The last hostel we moved to was just right. Nice rooms, good social scene (terasse, rooftop pool, bar and pool table), and secure parking for the motorcycles. It got loud at times, but all in all it is a very good spot. If ever in Medellin, I recommend staying at the Casa Kiwi hostel in El Pobaldo. 

Our second place in Hotel Paradiso. BIG room by latin american standards.

Moving to hour final lodging, hostel Casa Kiwi. We filled up this cab all the way to the roof with our crap.

Days 96 to 98: Cartagena, COL to Medellin, CO

We took 3 days to cover the distance from Cartagena to Medellin. We didn't take the shortest way to get there, as we were not in a rush and wanted to explore more of the north-western part of Colombia.

Day 96:

Cartagena - Tolu (200 km)

We left Cartagena at 9 am on day 96. Getting out of town was another crazy ride: three bikes swerving through traffic and trying to stay together. This used to be nerve wrecking, but by now I got used to it and don't stress it anymore. There is a lot of motorcycles in Colombia (most are 125cc or 250cc), and fortunately lane splitting is allowed. However, it is a little harder for us than the locals, as our bikes are much wider with the side cases on.

We rode 200 km to a small town on the coast called Tolu. Josh was sick, and we were not in a rush neither, so we called it an early day at 2:30 pm. 

Day 97:

Tolu - Apartado (320 km)

We stayed to the coast as long as we could and then took the most western road of Colombia. Pretty flat dull riding once again, and in very hot weather. Knowing we would be in the mountains tomorrow was what kept us going. We did get a lot of dirt riding in due to road construction and some of the roads just being dirt. No photos from these two days, as there was really nothing that stood out.

Day 98:

Apartado - Medellin (300 km)

We reached the mountains and the riding finally got interesting. There was a heavy military presence along the road. I'm guessing that it had to something to do with the proximity of the Darien Gap (drug trafficking) and the fact that there is still some FARC rebel activity in the region. We got stopped once at a checkpoint, but the soldiers were friendly and just curious about the motorcycles. At some point, we rode all the way up to 2000 m altitude. At about 80 km from Medellin, we descended into a valley, and the temperature rose drastically to something that felt like 35+ deg. C. We noticed several upscale hotels and gated communities. Looks like this is the get away spot for the wealthier residents of Medellin.

We finally rode into Medellin around 6 pm, and navigated once again in chaotic traffic to the El Poblado neighborhood, where we intended on finding a hotel.

On of the side cases on Josh's bike got beat up when he crashed a week ago. He's had to use ratchet straps since then to hold things together. Since the roads were rough, some readjustment was required every once in a while. 

One of the several mud slides we came across on the road to Medellin. Fortunately they were already cleaned up and we were able to make it through.

Not much left of pavement here.. Pot hole fest.

Days 93 to 95: Cartagena, COL (cont'd)

Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena on June 1, 1533. It was named after Cartagena, Spain where most of Heredia's sailors had come from. Cartagena was a major trading port, especially for precious metals. Gold and silver from the mines in the New Granada and Peru loaded in Cartagena on the galleons headed for Spain. It was also a slave port and together with Veracruz, (Mexico), were the only cities authorized to trade African slaves.

Cartagena is the most visited town in the country by tourists. The city has basically two main parts where tourists go: the walled colonial city ("ciudad amurallada"), which is beautiful and has many fancy restaurants, clubs and hotels; and a long strip of hotel towers and condos fronting onto the beach, known as Bocagrande.  We chose to stay in the Getsemani neighborhood, 5 minutes walking distance from the old city. It is where most of budget hostels are, and therefore the area is very popular with backpackers.

Getsemani itself is an interesting place. A little run down, it is quite touristic, but at the same time still inhabited by working class Colombians, so there is a genuine ''flavor'' to it. It also has a few good spots to go out at night, even though some streets a little seedy after dark.

Getsemani - Cool plaza where tourists and locals alike gather every evening to hang out. Great atmosphere.

Getsemani - Still inhabited by working class Colombians, this neighborhood has something genuine about it.

Getsemani - Main street

Our room in Hostel Familiar. Musty smelling and no windows... Not my favorite.

With all the electronics (notebooks, ipods, helmet communicators), we're always on the lookout for electric outlets. In this room, we only had one. Good thing we got a splitter in Mexico. It has been very useful so far.

The 3 days spent in Cartagena were lazy ones. I think the heat and the fatigue from the 36 hours of sailing on the Stahratte caught up to us. Time wise, it also the mid-point of the trip for me: we left Montreal exactly 3 months ago. It just felt right to take it easy for a few days, before continuing with the south american leg of this journey.

Day 93: 

We wandered around the old part of town in the morning, but it was very hot and we decided to return to our hotel for an early afternoon nap. Later, we hooked up for dinner with Josh, who drove into town on the previous day. It took him 3 days to ride from Bogota to Cartagena. He got into an accident on his way up, but fortunately got away with no injuries and  only minor damage to his BMW. Some moped ran into him as he was passing through a small town.

Day 94:

We spent most of the day walking along the beaches of the city. Since it was Sunday, it was very crowded. Unfortunately no pics from that day, as I was a little worried about getting my camera stolen, and left it in the hotel room. 

Day 95:

We finally got our insurance policies around lunch time, so we agreed to leave town towards Medellin the morning after. We spent the afternoon exploring more of the old city.

Main entrance to the fortified old city

Police parade. No idea what was the occasion.

Police in Colombia mostly moves around on motorcycles. They even have Suzuki DR 650's, just like ours.