Pushing Pesos: The up and coming city of Medellin Colombia

Rumour had it that Medellin held the most beautiful women in the world and you could get new boobs and butt for just $1,500. I cant say I was tempted but the streets of Pablado did boast very well made pretty girls. We stayed in a hostel called Casa Kiwi in an area called Pablado, quite a well to do area compared to the rest of Medellin.

Medellin in the past was better known as Pablo Escobars hunting ground, one of the most notourious drug cartel leaders in the world. There is no denieying that his legacy sticks to them like a bad smell. Everyone associates Colombia and especially Medellin with Cocaine and the drug trade. We had an interesting time in Medellin as we learnt how much they have moved on in the last 10 years from the violence that has become them for so long.

We did the Pablo Escobar tour run by Pais Tours which was very good. Alternatively, you can do a tour run by Pablos brother but we had heard that it is very biased and paints a rather different picture of Escobar and not to do it. So we went on the recommended tour and we learnt a lot about this evil corrupt man. We were taken to key places like his old buildings and shown the gun shots that still mark their surfaces. It is a sign of the dirty drug war that once ruled the streets of Medellin. Pablo was born to a middle class family and raised in Medellin and at a young age his ambition was to become a millionaire. He first started making this dream a reality at 11 when he and his cousin would steal grave stones and sand down the names to sell them on. This business then progressed to stealing cars to eventually becoming a runner in the drug trade. He became the meet and greet guy that would set up the businesses and eventually as we know he became the leader of the whole show by his early 20s.

Pablo at first was thought of as a succesful business man as he laundered a lot of his drug money into a lot of businesses and properties. Pablos properties all have a signature look of white washed walls and palms trees that he would import from States at a ridicolouse price. People eventually realised that perhaps he had dealings with the Medellin Cartel when the opposing Cartel placed a car bomb outside his house and this was the first declaration of war on streets of Medellin. From then Pablo became more powerful and confident as he even got voted into congress by using drug money to buy the affection of the poor by building them houses and giving them money. Escobar would recruit young teenagers from the poor neighbourhood to do his drug runs for him. The killings became so bad that in the early 90s no one in Medellin would leave their homes because people would often be murdered. If pablos men wanted to kill somebody they would not wait till that person was on their own and kill, no, they would just gun down the target and the people around them.

The tour ends at the house where Pablo Escobar was gunned down by the military on a roof top as he tried to run away. Escobar was eventually hunted down when his crimes where finally aired and America wanted him as part of their Drugs on War charade. The Colombian goverment had no choice but to cooperate and imprison him. Escobar escaped the prison and went into hiding where eventually he met his untimely fate and was killed. There is far too much information about Escobar to cover in this blog so I would advise that you do some research yourself. Its an incredible story of how one man came into so much power and the volume of corruption that went on. The woman giving the tour was born and raised in Medellin and you could hear the bitterness in her voice as she talked about this man and the goverment responsible for so much hurt and blood shed. In Medellins darkest days she was around 6 years old and she said that the ongoing joke in the school playground was "What does Pablo Escobars daughter get for Christmas.. a barbie car bomb". This just illustrates the darkness of the times when even the children were making jokes of murder as it had become the norm.

We then did the free walking city tour run by a 25 year old guy called Pablo and it was brilliant. He relies soley on tips but he was very good and gave us another perspective of Medellin. He was very animated in his speech and captivated a crowd of people well. He explained to us the history of Medellin, how the settlers where from the Basque region of Spain. He talked how in the last 5 years Medellin has changed so much. In the centre of Medellin he asked us to picture a dark square with prostitutes and drug dealers everywhere. A very hostile place where people avoided but now it has been cleaned up and tall lights scupltures stand tall there, the lights represent hope. He took us to some areas that still felt unsafe reminding us that Medellin is not completely there yet.We passed by a church in the centre where prostitutes hung outside, we made sure we didnt stare too much. However, it has improved so much and the fact that we tourist were even here in Medellin doing the the tour was a testament to that.

He then ended his tour at a plaza that had a Botero statue of a bird. Fernando Botero is a famous Colombian artist, he his known for his technique of making his paintings look big and bulbus. Now on this square in 1995 lots of families gathered as it was a national holiday and children where playing around the statue when it was blown up and it killed many of the children around it. To this day they do not know who set of the bomb but it was just another example of the violence that takes place here. He said the statue was ordered to be removed when Botero himself told them not to touch the statue as he thought it should be kept to remind the people of the terrible event that happened. He also made the exact replica of the statue and placed it next to the bombed one to show the contrast. Pablo gave a tear jerking finishing speech next to the two statues as he said that the bird destroyed represents the old Medellin that lived in fear, that kept people inside their homes and the new bird represents the new Medellin and hope, hope which they never had before. I tell you everyone had a tear in their eye, it meant so much to him and you could feel that he spoke for the all the people of Medellin. Things where really changing and it meant a lot.

For this Medellin was a really interesting place to visit. In actual fact Colombia is because you can witness it at its brink of change. Change that countries like Venuezula hope for. It was very moving and once again educational. After this we took another bus to head to the coast for some beach time! Here are some pics.