[pipdig_banner image=”https://martinemakesmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5685-2.jpg” pipdig_banner parallax=”yes”] Medellín was the most dangerous place in the world. With thousands of deaths a year, even murder capital number one. This city has been in the hands of Pablo Escobar and his Narcos, the Guerrillas and the FARC. Today, the locals no longer want to be reminded of the terrible history. Young and old are working hard on a new image. Projects have been started for children such as dance groups, libraries and music studios to keep them off the street and give them a good future. The walls are full of graffiti to brighten things up and to express feelings. The slogan that you’ll see everywhere in the city is “Medellín todos por la vida”. “Medellín all for life”. This slogan lives in the city and people here deserve to live in freedom like no other. The cable cars and subways connect the entire city. Trendy restaurants and cool clubs can be found throughout Medellín. Here you can read why you absolutely cannot skip this city!

WHY MEDELLÍN?

With 4 million inhabitants, Medellin is the second city of Colombia and is known as a city with a story. This has made the city stronger than ever. Medellín is currently a nice city with many possibilities. Tourism is very attractive, the terraces are busy until late in the night, you can walk, shop or spot one of the trendy restaurants. All places of the city are easy to visit thanks to the metro and cable car. Medellin has been transformed from the murder capital to a modern city where you can easily spend a few days. Learn to know the history and get to know the new city. Medellín is very impressive.

PABLO ESCOBAR

Do you hear Medellín, you may immediately make the connection with Pablo Escobar. The drug lord who was active in the 80s and tons of cocaine smuggled abroad. He could do this by bribing the government with the words ” Plata o Plomo ” which means, take my money and cooperate or you’ll get a bullet. Despite the estimated 8000 murders that Pablo has to his name, he was very popular with many locals. He had houses built in the slums. Because of this he received a lot of support from this population, which he needed. The Medellín cartel, led by Pablo Escobar, earned at its peak as much as $ 61 million a day. Pablo had several houses and even buried the money on pieces of land. The Escobar era came to an end in 1993. Some say he robbed himself of his life during his arrest and others claim that the police shot him. The Netflix series Narcos gives a good impression of the life of Pablo Escobar, but is not entirely based on true stories.

FARC

In addition to the notorious drug lord, the FARC has also contributed to a huge damage for Colombia. The FARC was established in 1964, which is an abbreviation for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia which means Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. They stood up for the poorer population, mainly for the farmers. Many of the members themselves were displaced farmers. The FARC was involved in drug trafficking and deployed child soldiers. From the late 60s, bombings, murders and abductions were carried out to achieve their goal. Around 220,000 people were killed during the civil war in the early 60s. The group consisted 10,000 fighters in the early 90s and is estimated to grow to 20,000 in the late 90s. After years of negotiations, the violence came to an end and a peace agreement was signed in 2016. The FARC got a place in the government in exchange for truce. 220,000 people have died in the last 60 years. Many of them are still missing. Medellín has been transformed as a result of this peace agreement. Because of this you can also visit Colombia as a tourist. Medellin has had huge misfortunes. Many residents have experienced terrible things that we cannot imagine. Today, the people of Medellín are working hard to improve their image and no longer want to be reminded of the violent past. Medellín is full of life.

PABLO ESCOBAR TOUR

Most people know the Netflix serie Narcos. As a result, the demand for the Pablo Escobar tours has increased. Many different tours are offered. You will be taken to a number of old Escobar houses, the apartment complex (the Monaco building) where a car bomb went off during his stay there, the house where he died on the roof and the prison he built for himself. A day tour cost around € 40.00 – € 60.00. Of course you should not do this. We cannot stand the idea that this man’s past with Medellín, despite all the history, still earns money. In addition, many things are fake to make the tour more interesting. When you have spoken with the locals you will understand this. Spend your money on the beautiful things in the city. The Monaco building of Pablo will be demolished this year (2019). Probably a memorial will be built here for all victims. The mayor of Medellín would prefer to see all the remains of Pablo disappear. The majority of the population agrees with this.

COMUNA 13

Medellín is divided into 16 ”comunas” which we know as neighborhoods. Comuna 13 was the most infamous neighborhood in the world with 17 murders a day. The city was in the hands of the Narcos and the FARC, as this location was ideal for criminal activities due to its location on the main road. If you read about this part of the city before you visit Comuna 13, you know what this neighborhood has been through in recent years. It’s beautiful to see how positive everyone here is today. Young talented locals paints their stories on the walls, children play football on the street, young people show their dance moves, they do everything to improve the image. The location of Comuna 13 is against a mountain and had many stairs. An escalator of 384 meters has been built in 2011, which offers tourists and locals an convenience. The residents of the neighborhood feel more connected with the rest of Medellín. We walked through this neighborhood with mixed feelings. It is great to see how the most infamous neighborhood in the world has been transformed and stimulated.

REAL CITY TOURS

Get to know Medellín by participating the free city tour of Real City Tours . A local takes you in 3.5 hours to the nicest and most beautiful places in the big city. This is extremely useful when you have just arrived. The tours are given at different times and are immensely popular! You must reserve your participation in advance via the website. You can reserve a spot 1.5 days prior to the desired date. Be quick!

WHERE TO STAY?

After the city tour you will see that the El Poblado area is the nicest and safest area to stay. Here you will find many restaurants and hostels. In the evening, the nightlife of Parque Lleras starts. You can party well here, but you can also have a drink on a terrace in complete safety. The El Poblado metro station can be easily reached on foot. Hereby we share the nicest hostel in Medellín with you: Maybe you scroll quickly on booking.com when you see the name YOLO hostel. I would like to tell you why you should not do this and what this hostel owes its name to. YOLO hostel is from the owner Federico. He used to be in class with Pablo Escobar’s son. As a result, he has experienced a lot up from close. He would rather not talk about this anymore, since a lot is already being invented about Pablo Escobar for commercial purposes. Federico was abducted a few years later. He suffered a lot of damage from this. He was about to go the wrong way because of the pain he suffered, but he has moved London for safety. Here he came back to himself and decided to do only good things in life. This puts his ”You Only Live Once” hostel in a completely different perspective. Federico supports young people in a better future.

ESCUELA SAN NICOLAS

One of his projects is supporting the San Nicolas school in Medellín. After his beautiful and inspiring stories, we wanted to visit this school. He sent a picture of us to the headmaster. We had to take the metro for 20 minutes and got off at the Alcevedo metro station. The headmaster was waiting for us at the exit of the metro station. Here we took the taxi to the school. We still have to drive fifteen minutes through the poorest areas of Medellín. Here we saw the real life of the Colombians and there were no tourists to see. We have put the money that we did not spend on the Pablo Escobar tour into the school by doing a lot of groceries together with the English teacher in a local supermarket next to the school. This made lunch for the kids. We also bought some sweets. We went through all classes with the English master. The children were allowed to ask us questions and found us very interesting. A very nice initiative from Federico in collaboration with our fellow Dutch men Bram and Nico. http://www.kidsincolombia.com

TAKE THE CABLE CAR

The cable car, or teléricos, cannot be missed in Medellín. They connect the entire city, so you don’t have to take all the stairs. For 2.400 COP (€ 0.75) one way you have unlimited access to all stations. During your ride you have a beautiful view of the whole city of Medellín. You pass the richer areas and the slums. The ride from Santo Domingo station to Parque Arvi is the best. You pay 4000 COP for this (€ 1.20) but it is more than worth it. Parque Arvi is a kind of nature park and fifteen minutes away from the busy city. Medellín is the example for many other South American cities. No matter how bad history has been, transformation can really be achieved. Medellín, todos por la vida. Wonderful to experience this.