We headed into Bogota refreshed from all those fresh Peruvian vegetables, and a bit tired from our major treks. We were anticipating gorgeous jungles, great weather, and views similar to this slice of heaven. What we ended up with, though, was a helluva lot of violence. And it was a BLAST.
Let me explain. We had 3 nights in Bogota (2 too many if you're looking for Colombia recommendations), and had heard of this local game called tejo. It's like the Colombian version of bowling: loud music, friends, alleys, cold beer. The main difference is instead of throwing balls at pins, you THROW ROCKS AT GUNPOWDER. Total win, friends. Total win.
I actually suck at this (no one should be surprised- my mom saved all of the hand-eye-coordination womb juice for my brother Andy), but Ben absolutely killed it. One of the hardest things to do is to hit a pocket of gunpowder, and still have it land in the bulls eye. Naturally, Ben nailed that on his 3rd throw.
Other than tejo and cheap, delicious food in Chapinero, we were underwhelmed by Bogota. Sometimes big cities lose their identity because they're just so big, and that felt like it was certainly the case here. Also, the traffic here is horrible (2 hours to go 2 miles- not even joking), and it was pouring rain the whole time. Regardless, we definitely had some wins:
After a few quick days we hopped a flight to Medellin, looking forward to exploring the set of Narcos. Right?! That was totally what I thought.
Turns out, Medellin is a happening, super-hipster, incredible place that is mostly very safe (it is a huge city, guys). We LOVED Medellin.
We only had 2 days there, and started out with even more violence at Pablo Escobar's summer house: PAINTBALL! We did a whole day tour with Escobar Paintball, which included a tour, paintball, a tour of Guatape, and a hike. SO much fun. One of the best coordinated tours we've done on our trip.
The grounds of Escobar's are incredible (what else would you expect from the summer home of the once 6th richest man in the world?), and paintballing was a riot. I got annihilated, and have been hobbling around in pain since, but so worth it. [PSA: Don't pick Ben to be on your paintball team. He just hides].
We spent the rest of our short time in Medellin exploring our neighborhood, Laureles, and drinking tintos (Colombian coffee). We had an AMAZING Airbnb right in the heart of Laureles, and ended up spending the whole evening chatting with our hosts (yay #spanishpractice!) and drinking wine.
After a crazy start to Colombia, we are excited to cool our jets for a week in the mountains before our last stop: the Colombian coast!
I actually suck at this (no one should be surprised- my mom saved all of the hand-eye-coordination womb juice for my brother Andy), but Ben absolutely killed it. One of the hardest things to do is to hit a pocket of gunpowder, and still have it land in the bulls eye. Naturally, Ben nailed that on his 3rd throw.
- Club De Tejo La 76: A mostly local place that will way overcharge you for being white, but they have beginner distances, cold beer, and a friendly guy who can explain the game in broken English.
- Salvo Patria: Affordable upscale bistro with incredible coffee. I ordered curry which was fine, but Ben's pastrami sandwich gave me food envy.
- CASA: A Wisconsin supper club in the heart of Bogota! Fried fish sandwiches, delicious mushrooms + toast, and to-die-for cocktails. Beware: it's spendy, and fancy.
- Mistral Panaderia: Okay food and expensive coffee, but great WiFi with a lovely patio to hang out and get some work (lol jk) done.
- Areapas La Reina: Delicious, affordable Venezuelan arepas. The owner is SUPER friendly, and amazingly hospitable. This was probably the best food we had in Bogota.
After a few quick days we hopped a flight to Medellin, looking forward to exploring the set of Narcos. Right?! That was totally what I thought.
Turns out, Medellin is a happening, super-hipster, incredible place that is mostly very safe (it is a huge city, guys). We LOVED Medellin.
We only had 2 days there, and started out with even more violence at Pablo Escobar's summer house: PAINTBALL! We did a whole day tour with Escobar Paintball, which included a tour, paintball, a tour of Guatape, and a hike. SO much fun. One of the best coordinated tours we've done on our trip.
The grounds of Escobar's are incredible (what else would you expect from the summer home of the once 6th richest man in the world?), and paintballing was a riot. I got annihilated, and have been hobbling around in pain since, but so worth it. [PSA: Don't pick Ben to be on your paintball team. He just hides].
We spent the rest of our short time in Medellin exploring our neighborhood, Laureles, and drinking tintos (Colombian coffee). We had an AMAZING Airbnb right in the heart of Laureles, and ended up spending the whole evening chatting with our hosts (yay #spanishpractice!) and drinking wine.
After a crazy start to Colombia, we are excited to cool our jets for a week in the mountains before our last stop: the Colombian coast!
Did Ben use any Spanish? Es un broma.
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