Heading From Bogota to Medellin, COLOMBIA (Medellin is Gorgeous!!!!)

We woke up at 4am and had a quick coffee before some last minute packing and route checking. We checked out at around 5:00am and walked down the dark streets to Parque de Hippies where we waited for the first bus to the airport (M86 or K86) for our flight at 8:45am. The bus arrived at 6:00am, and we got on an already pretty busy bus (it would get MUCH fuller). The bus ride took about an hour and it was so packed at one point that the air was pushed out of my lungs and I thought I might be crushed to death against a window. We arrived at the airport around 7:00am. The walk to our security area was long, but security took a matter of minutes and we were through to the gates. We chose a restaurant to have some breakfast and coffee at and ordered eggs with tomato and a corn like bread ball to dip on it. It was pretty good for airport food.
We then made our way down to our boarding gate and sat and read James Bond books as we waited. Our gate got pretty empty, and we realised that it had been changed, so we moved to the new gate. The flight was full. An older couple had just decided to take our seats. As we tried to explain, a flight attendant came over and spoke to the couple. We said not to worry, we would sit in their seats, separated by the aisle so that they could sit together. This way we both got the aisle seat anyways… plus it was a 20 minute flight so it really didn’t matter to us. We arrived in Medellin exactly on time, 9:45am. From the arrival area you turn right (and walk a little bit) to find the buses. We looked for one that said “San Diego” as we were staying just south of San Diego and that was the best bus stop for us. We got on the small white bus and waited for it to fill up. The trip cost 15,500 pesos each which you pay as you get off the bus.
The trip to Medellin from the airport, goes through a newly made tunnel and takes about 45minutes. It was a beautiful winding drive with views over the city. We arrived at San Diego mall at about 11:00am and paid our fare. We then walked about 5 minutes to Exposiciones station.
This area is supposedly a very sketchy area in Medellin, but after Bogota it felt pretty safe. We bought a metro pass from the machine and put enough for two fares on it (I wanted to add more but the attendant was helping us and I couldn’t find a way to express this).
We then took the Metro to Ayura Station which Google told us was the closest walk to our hotel, but google messed up. We should have got off at Aguacatala, but instead Google told us to walk on a highway back to the previous station.
The whole walk took about an hour but it was 99% uphill at a 50 degree incline. It was a sweaty horrible workout. We later braved the buses and found a much easier way to make our way between the hotel and the metro station.
We arrived at our hotel at around 1pm. They offered us a welcome drink of water. Carlos, the lovely receptionist fella, told us all about the hotel. It really was a beautiful trendy looking place, maybe too trendy for our sweaty gross asses.
We then went to our room which was on the 8th floor overlooking both the city and the mountains with a big balcony that opened up onto the room. The room was decorated with retro green and orange and had posters of mushrooms and the colour wheel.
We rested for a bit and eventually walked to a grocery store nearby to get some beers and groceries. It had been a long day, so we decided to stay in and use the hotel’s pool and sauna, which was really lovely.
Continued at.... https://bumblingtourist.com

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