Blue Sky Mind

Flights

My mom and I flew roundtrip from San Francisco to Bogota for about $310 on United. No complaints. The trip was about 9 hours long.

Itinerary

Day 1: TRAVEL DAY

On day one, we arrived in Bogota near midnight and got a cab to our hostel.

Airport Cab Tip: In the terminal, search for the cab service counter. In this place you should give the address of where you are going, and the person at the counter will give you a paper with the information for the cab driver and the price you should pay for the trip. The price is $20,000 Colombian pesos (about USD$12). Dont pay more than the fare on the paper. Call your hostel if there is pushback.

We stayed at Kozii Hostel D.C. It was a cute & cozy place, but a little out of the hustle and bustle. I'd recommend staying closer to Zona T or Zona Rosa. We paid $105 USD for three nights.

A few notes about the city...Zona G, Zona Rosa, Chapinero, and Calle 70 are all considered safe. That was definitely our experience. You might not want to be around Calle 60, Carrera 7, or the Candalaria at night.

Day 2: BOGOTA

We used this day just to explore the city by foot. It was a Sunday, and museums are free in Colombia on Sundays, so we went to both The Gold Museum and The Botero Museum. Botero is a must, Gold you could skip.

We also explored the Candalaria, which was interesting and definitely safe enough in the daytime for two women, but probably the sketchiest part of Colombia we saw.

Day 3: BOGOTA

Today was our day to visit the Monserrate, aka the mountain in the middle of Bogota. I cant recommend this experience enough, simply for the cable car ride experience and the views of the city.

We followed this up with some exploring of the Zona T, a trendy area with shops, bars, and restaurants. This is Colombia trendy, not LA trendy. I think I would have liked to stay in this area.

For our last hurray, we "went out" to the famous multi-level Andres. It's very Senor Frogs, but the Colombians are quite proud of it. Definitely check it out for the massive menu and fun drinks. I heard from friends that Theatron was a fun place to go out, too!

Day 4: MEDELLIN

We flew to Medellin around 4 pm. The one-way, one-hour flight was $50 each on Avianca. No complaints.

Note that there are two airports in Medellin, one smaller inside the city and one larger one an hour outside. We flew into the farther, larger one and got a cab into the city.

For housing, we stayed at the Poblado Park Hostel, which was about $100 for three nights. We loved the location, but disliked how young and noisy the crowd was. Hostels are a very different experience when you're traveling with your mom - shocker!

Day 5: MEDELLIN

One of our favorite things we did in Colombia was the Real City Walking Tour in Medellin. You will see most of the biggest sites this way, it is free, and so informative and fun.

Tour Tip: Allow about half a day and wear comfy shoes

After the tour, we rode the city's famous Metro Cable Cars up to Parque Arvi, which sits on top of the city. One hundred percent recommend the cable cars, but only halfway up. No need to go all the way to Parque Arvi, in my opinion.

Other sites and activities recommended by friends. We only made it to the first two via our walking tour:

Parque Lleras
Plaza Botero
Coffee Tours & Barista Workshop
Toucan Cafe: http://bit.ly/245vhQg
Biblioteca Espana
Museo de Arte Moderno (MAMM)
Café Pergamino
Salsa dancing

And some restaurant recommendations from friends:

Carmen: You can order ostrich here & apparently it's pretty good
Mondongos or Tres Tipicos: Traditional Colombian Food
San Carbon: Good steak

Day 6: MEDELLIN

Escobar & The Rock Tour. Just do it. This was hands down our favorite day in Colombia. You will get:

Transportation to & from
Jeep 4x4 ride up to one of Pablo's "country homes"
Lunch inside
Tour of the property
Boat ride to Guatape
Transportation to El Penon
Sunset lookout
A bunch of foreign friends!

We booked this tour through our hostel on the day we showed up, so no need to book in advance. I think it was about $40/person.

At night, we met our friends from the tour at the Happy Buddha Hostel for Ladies Night, then went out to a Colombian dance club. Latino pop is life.

Day 7: SANTA MARTA

I had a raging hangover the next day and a 9 am flight to catch. WOULD NOT recommend. My mom literally just laughed at me.

We took a one-hour flight to Cartagena (CTG) on LAN for $51. From there, we took a tiny little Marsol bus from the outskirts of town to Santa Marta. The bus took four hours and cost $20 each. The bus system was really pretty archaic and a little sketchy-seeming, but we got to our destination in one piece with all of our luggage.

We were only stopping over in Santa Marta on our way to Tayrona, but we had an amazing hostel called the Masaya. It was $47 for the night, but truly luxurious for a hostel. Totally recommend.

Day 8: TAYRONA

In the morning, we took a public bus to Tayrona. It was a strange as it sounds. But $3.50 for a one hour trip is very economical, and again, we arrived intact.

Getting to Tayrona Tip: The trick is to have your accommodations in Tayrona written down on a piece of paper, along with any instructions the owner can provide, in Spanish. Give this paper to the bus driver and preferably use what little Spanish you have to confirm he knows where to drop you. You can follow along on your iPhone GPS, because even without wifi, the satellites pick you up. Just make sure to pin your destination while in wifi!

Our driver knew where we were going, since the Playa Pikua Ecolodge is right next to a very popular hostel. You recognize the stop by the motortaxi's waiting alongside the road.

We loved our little ecolodge in Tayrona, after getting used to the open air nature of the place. It has very cool, minimalist, romantic vibes (hi mom). It's super private, with only three huts total, but located right between two hostels that have a vibrant traveler scene, so there are friends and food nearby.

For three nights, we paid $252 total.

Day 9: TAYRONA

Since it's a little tougher to stay inside the park, we opted for accomodations a few miles away. To actually get into Tayrona National Park, we grabbed a motortaxi to the entrance.

Tayrona Tip: You MUST bring your passport to get in! Bonus points for your student ID, which will get you a discounted entrance fee.

The park entrance fee in 2016 was $19 + $1 shuttle to where you begin walking. You can walk, motorcycle, or take a horse all the way through.

It's about a 10-mile walk in and out, but in about 90 degree heat and 90% humidity. We wore super loose comfortable clothes & tennis shoes, stuffing food, water, money, swimsuits, & towels into our backpacks. Dont forget sunscreen!

Day 10: TAYRONA

Finally, a day to rest. We had breakfast on our porch, then I did beach yoga at the hostel next door, fell asleep in a hammock reading my book, and tanned on the sand while meditating to a Tara Brach podcast.

A day of rest is essential for me when traveling for multiple weeks. This was truly my day to find the blue sky in Colombia.

Day 11: CARTAGENA

Back to Cartagena! Playa Pikua booked us a shuttle back to Santa Marta for $3.50 each. From there, we got on a bus to Cartagena for $17 each. We arrived in Cartagena after dark, so this was a full day of traveling.

We stayed at El Viajero Hostel in Old Town Cartagena. We thought this was a great hostel for travelers. Note that the AC shuts off during the day, so you cant hang out in the rooms. Which is tough in Cartagena, where the humidity is always about 80-90%

For two nights, we paid $116 total.

Some advice I recieved when picking a place to stay:

Stay in Old Town or Getsemani
Try for Baru
Avoid Bocagrande

Day 12: CARTAGENA

We only had one full day in Cartagena regrettably. We started with a free walking tour through Old City, then wandered around on our own for the day.

We ended the night at Cafe Havana, a famous Cuban music club with live salsa dancing. It was a blast, but neither of us could stay out very long. We were tired from our travels.

I would have loved to have another day here to explore the nearby islands. I heard Playa Blanca and Rosaria Beach were lovely.

A couple other sites & activities to possibly check out:

Castillo de San Felipe
Castle Federale
Mud Volcano Bath

And a few restaurant recommendations I collected:

Don Juan: Probably the best value meal we had in all of South America
Alma: On the fancier side
Cevicheria: If you like ceviche, this is the spot!
Cafe Abacoba: Cool cafe
Demente

Day 13: TRAVEL DAY

We flew home at 2 pm. We took a taxi from our hostel to the airport. Flights from Cartagena to San Francisco were about $421 per person, with a quick stop in Ft. Lauderdale. I slept the full six hours from Florida to California.

Cost Breakdown:

Transportation:
- Estimate: $777
- Actual: $833
Housing:
- Estimate: $240
- Actual: $311
Food:
- Estimate: $180 (12 days x $15/day)
- Actual: N/A
Attractions:
- Estimate: Idk, not that much!
- Total: N/A
Total:
- Estimate: $1,197
- Actual: ~$1,244

For the long & involved on each of the cities we visited, check out the full length post for each below:

Stay connected to the Blue Sky Mind adventures by subscribing to the blog today!

Medellin was my absolute favorite place in Colombia. It is so rich with history and culture, yet easily the most modern and progressive city in the country. We only spent two full days here, and we would recommend at least two more days to anyone who plans to go.

How To Get To Medellin

We flew in from Bogota (read that entry here) on a $51 Avianca flight.

Note: There are two airports in Medellin, the larger of which is about an hour's cab ride outside the city. We flew into the airport farther away and were very alarmed when Google Maps first gave us directions to our hotel.

Where To Stay In Medellin

We stayed in Poblado Park Hostel, which we mostly really liked. It was in a great location, but very youth-oriented and super noisy at night. To this day, I do not travel without my heavy duty silicon ear plugs.

The super hip outdoor patio bar at Poblado Park Hostel.

Delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, & granola at the hostel.

Things To Do in Medellin

First of all, just walking around the Medellin city center is a blast. The city has a really vibrant restaurant, bar, and going out scene, to the point that it kind of surprised me. You can easily wander around and eyeball the cool places from the street. There's also a ton of cute shops that we didn't have time to check out, so build a little shopping time into your schedule.

Pro Tip: People will recommend that you try the famous Colombian dish of mondongo, but beware: It is soup made of cow or pig stomach.

Cute little restaurant/bar we stumbled upon.

A couple of absolute must-do's in Medellin:

Juan, the best Real City Walking Tour guide of all time.

Botero Plaza in Medellin, with a little Botero statue in the lower left corner.

The Real City Walking Tour is basically free, and it was easily one of the trip highlights. They request a donation at the end, which you will be more than happy to give because of the awesome value and now you also might be a little in love with your tour guide (no? only me?).

You'll get to see a ton of the key sites in Medellin (Botero Square, Bolivar Park, etc.) and learn a lot about the history, especially as it pertains to drugs, kidnappings, and civil war. Our tour guide, Juan, had unfortunately lost friends and family members to all three. It was a really tangible way to learn about the impact that the drug trade has had on everyday Colombians, and a good reminder of what Pablo Escobar means beyond the hit show on Netflix.

Pro Tip: Allow half a day for this walking tour and wear comfy shoes.

The beginning of the famous cable car ride up to Santo Domingo.

From our walking tour, we took public transportation to the foot of the famous Medellin cable cars. The city prides itself on having built the first Metro line in all of Colombia - it's part of what has helped them progress ahead of the rest of the country.

Because the city sits in a valley, houses that sprawl outside of the city center have to progressively move up the mountains encasing Medellin. To help provide access to these citizens, Medellin has a cable car line as a part of its metro, which my mom and I rode to the very top. There, is the famous Parque Arvi.

Middle of the cable car ride, outside of the city now.

This was such a cool experience, watching the city shrink below you and finding yourself high above the mountain green. It was one of those breathtaking exercises in perspective, too, seeing what life was like from above for the many who are still very poor in Medellin. These are the people that end up living in shanty houses on the hillside.

Pro Tip: There are two points on the cable car ride at which you can get out and turn around. I would only go up to Santo Domingo. You dont need to make it all the way to Parque Arvi, as there's not much up there to see and it costs more money.

Old school Jeeps that carried us out to Pablo's estate. It was so fun to ride on top!

Finally, day two: our Pablo Escobar, Guatape, & El Pinon tour. A lot of people do these activities separately, but I cannot emphasize enough how awesome they were all together.

Posing in front of Pablo's lagoon, beer in hand.

We were able to arrange this tour through our hostel, and all we had to do was show up at the meeting point. We were whisked off in a van with 20 other tourists, all of which we had befriended by the end of the day.

From our van, we were put into and on top of Jeeps to make the off-road journey to one of Pablo's old properties. Riding on top was a blast. Once we got there, a hearty lunch was served and our tour began. Again, the story of Pablo is both fascinating and heartbreaking for the Colombians who lived in his era.

My mom and I riding in style on top of the Jeeps.

The ruins of Pablo Escobar's Guatape estate.

From Pablo's estate, we all got in a boat and headed for the small town of Guatape.

Beautiful blue view on our boat ride to Guatape.

There is not much to do in Guatape, but the architecture alone is worth making the trip out. Every building is brightly colored like you're in Disneyland, and there are a lot of shops that are perfect for grabbing souvenirs.

From Guatape, we were transported to El Penon to begin our climb. El Penon is a monolithic rock just outside the small town, the second biggest in all of South America, according to our tour guide.

The climb looks really intimidating, but is completely manageable for anyone in relatively good health. Everyone on our tour made the trip up, including my mom and I. As you can see below, my Converse were perfectly fine for this.

Ok, I lied. It was 740 steps to the top. Those are my shoes & feet - I did it!

Amazing panoramic views from the top of El Penon.

The panoramic view from the top is so incredibly worth it. We didnt get a better view in our two weeks than from the top of El Penon.

A photo that obviously doesnt do the Colombian sunset justice.

To round out the tour, we headed to a lookout point on our way back into Medellin to watch the sunset and enjoy a few well-earned beers. This picture hardly does it justice. Despite being hungry, cold, and tired, the blazing pink sky over our new favorite city was pretty magical.

As mentioned, we ended up making great friends on our full-day tour. People from the Netherlands, Belgium, India, and Australia. Mom and I had dinner with our two new Belgian friends at famous Argentinian steakhouse Malevo, then met the rest of the crew at their notorious party hostel, The Happy Buddha. From there, we drank and went out to a Colombian club. Party girl Mom stayed out the entire time!

Double fisting for a night out in Medellin.

Party girl Mom keeping me in check, along with our new Belgian friend, J!

Despite the fact that I was miserably hungover for our early flight to Cartagena the next morning, the night out was worth it. We had so much fun with our new friends and felt like we got every ounce we could out of Medellin.

Photos and events from October 2016.

Two Weeks in Colombia: Quick & Dirty Itinerary

Flights

Itinerary

Happy Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Medellin, Colombia

How To Get To Medellin

Where To Stay In Medellin

Things To Do in Medellin