Colombian Conquest - Day 0

Medellin. No, not meh-del-lin, it's med-eh-yin. Famous for?... Yep, unfortunately, Pablo Escobar and his drug cartel. Although he is regarded by some as a benefactor to the city and area, he remains a very controversial figure because of the huge damage he did to Colombia and it's reputation. There's an Escobar museum in the city, but many taxi drivers will not take you there because of this, and those that do reportedly receive a fee from the museum. 

The city sits in a bowl, surrounded by mountains. In the centre of the bowl is the hustle bustle of a modern city, shops, markets and cars - lots of them - but just as many motorbikes. Surrounding the centre, slightly higher, up are the suburbs. Then from the base of the mountains extending up to the top are the barios, containing the poorer neighbourhoods. Seen from the city at night-time, the bario lights appear as a cloud of stars hanging in the sky, it's very striking. 

We've all arrived by now, it's day 0, and day 1 we start our tour. But day 0 gives us a chance to explore the city again (some of us started yesterday, when we saw the sculptures in central square and the bario, Communa 13). We meet up a the fruit market, always a good source of pictures for Steve. Meeting for the first time, Ray and I run towards each other in slow motion before hugging biker style. A definite 10 moment.  There's Mick, Alan, Gerard, Steve (obvs), Hugo, Christopher, Someone new to me has joined us, Craig. I've not met him before but some of the others have ridden with him. Then I turn and see another unfamiliar face, and my brain clicks and whirs for a few brief moments. There's something strange. My mind struggles to pattern match this new face. Then suddenly, bloody heck! this is Mark! Mark, Big Mark. Darth Vader face mask, Mark. Except this is not Big Mark, this is new svelte Mark. New Mark, that is training for a half marathon, Mark. New Mark, de-bearded Mark. I can't believe the transformation. He's lost a huge amount of weight and is almost unrecognisable. He says hello, it's definitely him, but my brain still struggles to make the connection between how he looks and how he sounds. It will take some time. 

We're also joined by Esther, my ex-work colleague from many years ago, who Christopher and I met on our 2024 trip down to Morocco when she lived in Valencia. She now lives in Medellin and has been our local guide here.

We explore the fruit market, the highlight of which is the enormous avocados, almost as big as a baby's head. 

The Irish fellas discover a potato stall and give thanks to the patron saint of potatoes.

There's all sorts of colourful fruits and vegetables as well as fish and meats on the lower floor, but nothing as stomach churning as we've seen on some of our trips. It's pouring with rain outside, but it's dry and very humid inside. 

After wandering around for more than an hour we decide to brave the rain, but not for too long, as we catch Uber rides to our lunch stop near where Esther lives. We enjoy a varied local lunch. Colombia is not famous for it's food, but it's tasty and filling. 

Esther is sitting next to Mick and there's a great exchange of stories and lots of hand waving going on. 

We see the rain becoming torrential, so the lunch is longer than expected as there's no desire to get out from our shelter. Eventually it stops, but by this time there are no plans to do much in the afternoon so it's mostly chilling in hotel rooms. But that's a good opportunity for some to rest and get over the jet lag. 

Diner is a recommended restaurant across the road from the hotel. Craig, Gerard and I sugar overdose on some delicious cakes; Craig even goes for a coffee with his tiramisu - that's something he may regret at 3am, we'll find out tomorrow. 

Early night: both to get over the jetlag and to prepare for the first day of riding. None of us are too sure what the riding will be like and what to expect, but judging by the last few days wet weather gear will be de rigeur.