No Fixed Plans

We had to leave villa de Leyva at about 7am and drive 4 hours back to Bogota, where we then boarded a flight. While we were waiting at the gate, we were planning on listening to our ceo talk about the history of the currency and who was on each of the notes, but instead there was a Christian group there and their leader decided to start giving us the same sermon and recommending a book for us to read. After the flight, we had about a 30 minute drive to our hotel. We all had 20 minutes in our rooms (which is when I realised that my only cord for my phone had broken and my phone was on 40%). We all met in the lobby and went to Frisby’s (Colombia’s local fast food chain) for lunch. After this the ceo took us on the metro to go to a local shopping centre/ art gallery. While there, he took me across the road to buy a new phone charger and then we went back. The top two floors were both art galleries which we walked around before meeting the rest of the group. 

We then went back to the hotel, relaxing a bit before redeeming our free cocktails on the hotel roof. The only one being offered was a mojito, which we all could’ve sworn had no alcohol. 

After this we went to get empanadas/ pastries for dinner (I didn’t get any) before heading to a strip of local bars. While majority of the group stayed out until 4am, 3 of us went back at 1am, all pretty happy. 

The next morning we had a tour around Medellin, however only 5/12 ended up not being too hungover to wake up and go. We got taken to government building, saw some street art, went to the local square and finished within a local market. After this, I went with one of the women to check out her room at a local school that teaches Spanish that she had booked while everyone else went back to the hotel. Upon getting there, we both decided it was really sketchy and bad vibes so she decided to cancel it and continue on the tour with the rest of us. We then went back to the hotel, chilled in our rooms for a bit, and then went to a close by restaurant that mainly focused on vegetarian and vegan food for lunch. After this, we went back to the rooms for a bit before meeting half the group in the lobby to go to Comuna 13 with our ceo. He first took us on the cable cars to see the neighbourhoods from different angles, and talked about how different governments and gorilla groups impacted the areas. 

We then took a bus to the neighbourhood and walked through it. We then met with the rest of our group at a bar and had a few drinks with them, as well as taking photos on the roof. 

After this, we all went to a dinner closer to the hotel. Afterwards, majority of the group went to a pub to get drinks but myself and the 16 year old on the tour decided to go for a walk instead. We did a loop around the block and were sitting on stairs a 7 minute walk from the hotel. We knew if we wanted to keep talking that we would have to stay out due to the time (about 11:30pm) and the fact that the hotel made voices echo all the way up. When we decided to go back we saw a guy who was clearly homeless and on something walking up to us and saying something. We assumed he’d behave like everyone else we had encountered and leave us alone when we ignored him but as we were walking up the street we heard a large leaf snapping behind us (despite knowing no one was walking other than him and us) and it sounded like running. As the 16 year old was walking slightly ahead  of me she turned to look at me, noticed it was the same guy coming. This is when we decided to run until we knew we lost him. 

We got back to the hotel with no further issues. 

The next day we had a free day while half the group had booked a Guatape tour. Our ceo had decided to take those of us who didn’t go to the house that Pablo Escobar was shot at and then to the memorial park for his victims and give us a lot of more information at 2pm. I decided to use the morning to find a card for him. After about 2.5 hours of looking, I still had no luck but I did have luck finding a small A5 notebook and stickers, as well as a pouch for us to be able to tip in. 

After this, I messaged the rest of my group telling them, decorated the front of it with some of the stickers and then chilled out until 2pm. 

The ceo took a lot of time explaining things about the Pablo Escobar period in a lot of detail, so much so we ended up finishing back at the hotel at 6pm. We all decided to go to a sushi place for dinner, one of the people from the Guatape tour joining us. 

After this, we all went back to the hotel and those who were choosing to go out drinking again did (however many didn’t due to our flight the next day)