A few years back Medellín had the reputation to be the most dangerous city in the world, mainly because of the Medellín Cartel. In the 1980s under the violent but ingenious leadership of Pablo Escobar Medellín was the capital of world's cocaine business. Gun battles were common and the city´s homicide rate was amongst the highest on the planet. (Unbelievable side note: At one point Pablo Escobar, one of the world´s richest people according to Forbes magazine earning 1 million US$ a day, offered to pay off Colombia´s entire foreign debt in exchange for immunity from prosecution.)
Luckely times have changed and after the death of Escobar in 1993 Medellín became a lot safer and is nowadays even one of the safest cities in Latin America. And that was exactly how we experienced it.
We decided to explore Medellín by public transport, with includes a really new and clean Metro and some cable cars (yes - a Gondel-Öffi!). With on of the cable cars we went up to "Parque Arvi", which is a national park just above Medellín, however as we arrived we felt like back home in Austria, so we just enjoyed some fresh straw- and blueberries and went back down again. :)
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| Welcome to the coffee area of Colombia! |
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| View over Medellín from the Biblioteca España |
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| Öffi-Gondl |
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| Even the dogs are really relaxed in Medellín |
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| On the way to Parque Arvi - feeling like back home! |
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| Medellín at night |
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| View from our hostel rooftop terrace |
