What a packed fun day. Today’s post is going to be a little longer as there is much to share and many pics. The agenda featured an all-day tour of Guatape and other municipalities of Medellin. Most iconically, the tour also included one of the most famous attractions in Colombia: La Piedra de Penol.
The tour guide asked us to meet at the main Poblado park at 7:45am sharp (only 4 minute walk from the Airbnb). Thankfully, there was an empanada shop open nearby for breaky. I noticed that one side of the road was closed off for what looking like a 5k or 10k race going on. Overall, Medellin is definitely the most active city I have visited so far.
The tour group consisted of about 25-30 people in total, mostly from the States. We got on a very typical large tour bus and the first thing someone asked when we got on was to turn on the AC. I will admit, a few weeks ago, that wouldn’t have phased me. But now, it slightly annoyed me a bit after seeing local people refusing to buy AC units for themselves for economical or environmental reasons. It felt a bit like all they cared about was feeling comfortable and not experiencing the actual tour.
The drive took about 2 hours to go from Medellin, through the countryside and smaller municipalities, to Piedra de Penol (a large volcanic rock in the middle of farmland that has been turned into a tourist spot). On the way, our guide, Sergio, explained some of the history of the valley in which Medellin is seated as well as the significance of some of the municipalities which we drove through (including Marinilla, Penol, and Guatape itself). We got to see some of the comunas that ride up the valley hills as well.
We were given an hour and a half to explore the shops near the base of the rock, make the ascent, take pictures at the top, and descend. At first glace, I was awed by how the stairs leading to the top were built into a large crevasse in the rock face. Halfway up the 743 steps, I stopped to admire the views of the reservoir surrounding the rock. It was definitely a good workout. I was also surprised by the quality of the staircases and overall construction. Nothing felt rickety or wobbly, which is probably good because according to Sergio, over 1000 people a day climb to the top.
There was a large flat space almost at the top that featured shops, food vendors, and public restrooms. We needed to take a small spiral staircase to finish the last leg and reach the final summit.
The way down actually followed a different set of stairs built further into the rock crevasse. The stairs on the way up faced more outward so people could stop and admire the views. The staircase down is built behind the staircase up because people have already had the chance to stop on the way up. Once I reached the bottom, I sat at one of the restaurants overlooking the reservoir and enjoyed another much needed Colombian coffee.
After loading back onto the bus, we took a 15 minute drive into the actual town of Guatape. Here, the guides had reserved an entire restaurant for the group and had already taken note of our food choices. I opted for the Paisa dish, which is a traditional Colombian food combination featuring beans, rice, chorizo, sausage, chicharones, plantain, and avocado. After lunch, Sergio recommended a dessert place.
We then began a walking tour around the actual town of Guatape to learn about its history. The town is very colorful with lots of artwork and intricacies everywhere you look. Contributing to this vivid color are designs called Zocalos, which are pictures built into the walls of buildings to represent individual families that live there. One of the Zocalos showed a scene of Donkeys being lead by a group of merchants, which Sergio explained actually functioned as a supply chain for the municipalities way back when. Each Zocalo had its own unique character and significance.
After the walking tour, we had time to explore on our own and shop around. Finally, the last part of the tour allowed us to see Piedra de Penol and Guatape from the reservoir itself. We boarded a boat that took us around different islands so we could admire the sites. Here are a few pics from the boat as well as more pics of the colorful town.
On the boat, there was a professional singer who trained at a specific academy to learn his art. Essentially, the songs he sang were improvisational. He asked people facts about themselves, then turned those facts into jokes that he then sang in rhythm. It was very impressive to say the least. Along with his singing was a variety of other reggaetón music playing over the speakers. I am looking forward to share all these new songs with friends back home.
Overall, the tour allowed us to see a lot in one day. The entire day cost about $25 total. One of my favorite parts was the people I got to meet. I sat next to a guy named Dan for most of the day. He is from Canada and he works in engineering consulting. We bonded about both being math nerds as he graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics. On the drive back, we covered so many topics of conversation from our backgrounds, to traveling, to politics, to academia, to the workforce. We even talked about Chegg:) I also got to meet an Indian couple from New York. I really feel like I’m getting out of this trip what I wanted. I get to see new places, experience the touristy parts, live like a local, and meet new people, all in the same trip. Today I felt very grateful for the privilege of this experience – the fact that I am able to expose myself to other parts of the world humbles me deeply.
Dan mentioned something interesting today that I feel is worth sharing. He emphasized the difference between experiencing a culture and knowing a culture. It bothers him when people say that they “love the culture of another country” after visiting for 2 weeks and only seeing the touristy parts. Yes, I do think they enjoyed the experience of the new culture, but it is a bit ignorant for people to assume they KNOW a culture after just a short introduction. I couldn’t agree more. I will say that I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a taste of Latin American culture in this trip so far, but I am also acutely aware of the vast amount of knowledge that is still left to learn.