Medellín is probably most well-known for the Medellín Cartel, headed up by Pablo Escobar, the infamous coke kingpin, along with the Ochoa Vázquez brothers. Wikipedia tells me that the cartel made $60 million dollars PER DAY which is just fucking insane. In 1989, Forbes magazine ranked Escobar as the seventh richest person in the world.
All of this kind of sucks, because what people really should know is all that crazy violence and corruption somehow turned Medellín into this amazingly progressive city. In 2012 they won an international award for their cool ass cable car public transportation, which allows the poorer citizens an affordable, quick way to get down from the slums in the mountains into the wealthier center for jobs and education. Crime still exists, but not anywhere near the astronomical rates it did in the 70's and 80's.
The city's surrounded by a ridiculous Jurassic Park level of greenery. I don't think I've ever seen so many crazy trees in my life.
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| El Piedra de Peñol |
That big rock is El Peñol, and they built stairs into it so you could climb up and enjoy the view. Up close it's stripey and awesome.
The Metrocable system.
We had an amazing time in Medellín, save for the gross bros who go there for the prostitution. The city is full of gorgeous healthy people and that's made it somewhat of a center for the seedier type of sex tourism that happens with all kinds of disgusting first worlders, but it's an easy scene to avoid, even if you're out partying and drinking all over the place. In contrast with Bogotá, it's a way more developed city with an incredibly temperate climate (70s-80s fahrenheit the whole time) that gives it a certain paradisiacal feeling. There are remnants of the edginess that made it the murder capitol of the world not so long ago, but we never felt any of it, and there will never be anything but a soft spot in my heart for the place.
