Day started as they all do, with the free breakfast in the hotel. As a bonus treat, fresh pineapple was on the menu. Love it.
We walked around near the hotel for a little bit, and stopped by a Starbucks for a good coffee ( the hotel coffee not that special.). After watching the people pass by for a half hour or so, we found our way to the metro (similar to. Skytrain) and took it most of the way through town to where we switched lines and took the cable car (which makes up part of the Medellin transit system). The cable car connects parts of the city that previous didn’t even have roads or access to the rest of the city (without a massive uphill hike). We took the cable car all the way to the top of the hill and Parque Arvi, which was about a 45 minute ride.
On the return ride, we shared the cable car with 2 ladies (Marisol and Lauresa) and their 3 boys, David, Juan and Francisco. The ladies are teachers, one from Bogotá visiting the other, and the 3 boys totally entertained us with trying to get us to talk to them more in our Spanish. Entire ride had quite a lot of spanish practice. Lots of fun.
Next, we walked around one of the poorer parts of Medellin (still very safe though), giving Chris a chance to experience the other side of the city. Already 2 in the afternoon and with bikes to pick up soon, we caught the metro line back towards our hotel.
On the way, we decided we had time to sneak in a side trip, so we transferred lines and went out to an area called San Javier. Not as well to do as Poblado, not as poor as the areas we had just seen,San Javier would maybe be Colombian middle class. Very quant and nice area. From there, we went to the escalators. These are outdoor covered escalators, scaling quite a hill, and connecting communa 13 to the rest of the city. 20 years ago, communa 13 was one of the roughest parts of the city, basically lawless. The city decided that the problem was due to lack of connectivity. No roads up the hill meant no access to jobs etc. So they built the escalators to connect it. As an added bonus, they have become a popular tourist destination, with shops, tour guides and more. The area now is quite safe and charming.
We took the metro one last time back to the hotel, and quickly grabbed our riding gear before heading off to get the bikes. About 15 minutes of our sales guy (Julian) explaining the bikes and we were off, right in the middle of rush hour. 15 crazy minutes of psycho cycle and we made it to our hotel.
We spent the next few hours in the hotel parking garage setting up the bikes. Adding our rear racks, lights, charging ports etc. I got mine done really fast and was proudly testing it out when the wires to my chargers suddenly started melting. Chris cut the wires and the fire was averted. Last thing I need to be known for is the Canadian that torched Medellin. Looks like the cheap china USB charger was the problem, and another hour later I have everything else working. Chris is also for the most part all set up.
We end up with a late dinner, and then cruise around the party block people watching for an hour or so before bed.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 