Medellin, Colombia

After waiting 3 hours at immigration in Ecuador just to get my exit stamp, I finally walked over that bridge and into Colombia. It's always fun entering a new country and getting a new stamp on the passport. Fortunately, I met some other gringos in line to help kill the time and eliminate some stress that goes along with crossing the border. After having some confusions of what day it was (it is quite hard keeping track of days while traveling), I changed my mind and decided to take a directo bus from the border town of Ipiales to get to Medellin for the weekend and the start of La Feria de los Flores ("Flower Festival" - the most important social event for the city which is every year.) It is a week long festival full of events, concerts, parades, and exhibitions.  

Santuario de Las Lajas

I had about 7 hours to kill in between buses. The border town of Ipiales, Colombia is a great place to kill that amount of time. 15 minutes outside of the city is a beautiful church (Santuario de Las Lajas) built inside a canyon.

a view point of the church

My bus left at 7pm that night, and didn't stop for food until almost 1pm the following day.  We stopped at some restaurant, where I finally had a chance to get some food (after going more then 21 hours of not eating), I ordered Bandeja Paisa, which is a traditional dish consisting of chicken, fried plantains, fried eggs, refried beans, and avocado. While on the subject of food, I would like to mention their love of cheese here in Colombia. Fruit and cheese. Chocolate with cheese. Ice cream with cheese. I did fall in love with the Obleas, which are waffers with arequipe (similar to dulce to leche or caramel), and of course, cheese.

 


After a long ride, I finally got to Medellin, where I met up with Duffy and Lewis (two guys that I did Peace Corps with) at the Palm Tree Hostel. This hostel I would highly recommend. Here you will get the friendly, warm intimate feeling where you will likely befriend & spend your time hanging out with everyone in the hostel.  The great staff and warm enviroment make up for the not so comfortable beds (only downfall).  

My first night we went to a concert, the Gypsy Kings, a band from Spain who sing Bamboleo, Bamboleo. The following day I went with some Danish girls up the cable cars (a transportation service developed to reach the suburban areas in Medellin) to Santa Elena.  Santa Elena are where all the flowers come from for the festival.
 
Below are some photos from the Flower Exhibition in the Botanical Gardens: