Category: La Peñol

Medellín to Guatapé

Thursday, March 28, 2024: On Thursday, we hired an English-speaking driver, Peter from Belgium, to drive us from Medellín to Guatapé, a town about a 2-hour drive east of Medellín. Since we had our Medellín apartment for six nights, we decided to keep most of our things in our apartment and take only an overnight bag to Guatapé, where we would spend the night. We had originally intended to take only a day trip to Guatapé but decided we’d like to enjoy the spot at a relaxing pace.

Peter asked if we wanted to go the scenic route over the mountains rather than through the 8-mile-long tunnel through which we came from the airport. We chose the scenic route. Colombia is a big cycling country with many famous cyclists and we saw plenty of them climbing on their bikes on this route through the mountains. Peter stopped at a viewpoint  over Medellín, but sadly it was too hazy to get a good view of the city.

Guatapé

Outside of Guatapé, Peter stopped at our hotel, 1714 Boutique Hotel, to let us drop our bags and then drove us into the town of Guatapé, which is a major tourist attraction, especially for travelers from Medellín. El Peñón de Guatapé, a large rock that visitors can climb, and the famous zócalos (friezes or murals) that adorn many buildings in the town attract tourists.

The flamboyant town of Guatapé sits on the shores of the Embalse (Reservoir) Guatapé, a sprawling artificial lake dotted with islands and peninsulas. It is known for the fresco-like adornments of its traditional houses. Brightly painted bas-relief depictions of people, animals, and shapes cover the lower halves of many dwellings. Besides, there are plenty of painted murals adorning walls throughout the town. These sometimes advertise businesses but also tell stories of the town’s history.

Since it was approaching Easter weekend and the crowds and traffic were already heavy, we skipped climbing the rock on Thursday and made a plan to be there at 8 am on Friday morning. Instead, we wandered around the colorful town admiring all the vibrant buildings and murals. We had fun taking photos of the cutely painted motochivas, like tuk-tuks commonly found in other countries but much cuter.

We also saw the beautiful Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Carmen de Guatapé church on the main square, built in the Greco-Roman style. Its construction began in 1865 but it took 70 years to complete. Parishioners buzzed around the church putting finishing touches on their floats for the Good Friday procession.

We had lunch at Donde Sam, an Indian restaurant recommended by our Belgian driver Peter. We posed with Sam after we finished our delicious green shrimp curry and palak paneer.

After lunch, we continued our wanderings through the colorful town, which is wildly photogenic.

Besides the colorful buildings, we found streets shaded by a rainbow of umbrellas, and packed with people.  We made a stop to rest and have some coffee at a friendly and adorable coffee shop called Folklore, which we would adopt as our own and revisit the following day. I also couldn’t resist buying another hat despite Mike’s protests that I never wear hats that I buy while traveling once I return home. He’s not totally wrong, but every once in a blue moon I do wear them at home.

1714 Hotel Boutique

We took a motochiva back to our hotel, 1714 Hotel Boutique, quite a distance from the town of Guatapé. On our way, we passed the famous rock which we’d climb the following morning, El Peñol.

Once at the hotel, we changed into our bathing suits and relaxed in the pool and hot tub, enjoying beers at the swim-up bar. We chatted with one young couple who had driven 9 hours from Bogotá for a 3-day holiday weekend. Another young couple was from Uruguay visiting Colombia.

In the evening it was too much hassle to go back into town, so we had a nice dinner on the terrace at the hotel. I enjoyed a vodka tonic and Mike had a good pour of tequila. We shared a delicious cauliflower onion soup, I had Salmon ravioli and Mike had a steak. For desert we had a chocolate volcano cake which they delivered to our room. What a relaxing afternoon after all the crowds we’ve been fighting all week during semana santa (Holy Week).

Steps: 7,190; Miles: 3.05. Weather: Hi 74°, Lo 56°.

La Piedra, or El Peñol

Friday, March 29: On Good Friday morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the hotel and checked out early, leaving our bags in reception. Our driver was to pick us up at 2:30 today to take us back to Medellín.

We arrived at La Piedra, or El Peñol, by 8:00 a.m. to get ahead of the crowds. El Peñol is a granite inselberg or monadnock (an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain) that rises abruptly 200 meters from a gently sloping plain. This rock is near Guatapé; both the rock and the town are about 2 hours east of Medellin.

At the base of the rock are tourist shacks selling knickknacks and numerous restaurants serving lunch. At the top of the rock, shops sell fruit juice, ice cream and salpicón (fruit salad in watermelon juice), along with souvenirs.

A brick staircase of 659 steps (the number of steps varies by source) rises up through a broad fissure in the side of the rock. From the top, there are supposedly magnificent views of the region, the fingers of the lake sprawling amidst an endless expanse of green mountains.

We didn’t have the best views for two reasons. One, the lakes had been drained to a level about 30 feet lower than normal because of a 6-month bridge-building project. On the morning we went, it was very cloudy, so we didn’t get those blue sky views.

We decided any views we got would have to suffice as we hadn’t wanted to stand in a long queue to climb the 708 steps to the top. Luckily we arrived early enough that hardly anyone was there.

The first 650 steps lead to a large platform with souvenir shops and cafés. Then the other 58 steps lead up into a tower. The first 650 steps are one way up. The downhill 650 steps are on an intertwining staircase. Thus you don’t have to encounter people coming down when you’re going up.

The area around the rock and Guatapé is very scenic, with fingers of the lake curling in between the rolling hills.

We returned to Guatapé after we climbed El Peñol, hoping to beat the crowds. Our driver wasn’t due to pick us up until 2:30 pm to take us back to Medellin, so we had a lot of time to kill anyway. We enjoyed ourselves for the second time in this charming town.

We walked by the church as people were getting ready for the Good Friday procession.

We stopped into our favorite coffee shop, Folklore. When we visit a place more than once on a vacation, we tend to call it “our” place, so Folklore was “our coffee shop.”

After wandering around the town, and stopping into a shop for what would be my first mochila purchase, we stopped at Donde Sam again for a light lunch of veggie quesadillas.

It just so happened that a Good Friday procession went right past us as we sat at our table. It brought tears to my eyes to see the whole community walking along with the procession.

Here’s a short video of a motochiva in action, along with some of the Good Friday procession.

Returning to Medellín from Guatapé

Our driver on the way back to Medellín, Dino (a Colombian man who has lived off and on in the U.S. and spoke perfect English), told us a long and convoluted story about a young Canadian college student who got involved with the drug scene in Medellín. He was kidnapped and held hostage and the gang was extorting his mother in Canada for endless sums of money. Somehow the mother got in touch with Dino and arranged for him to go up in the hills to the house where the young man was being held. Dino was supposed to wait outside the house for a very short and specific time, early one morning. The young man watched for him from a window and escaped the house at that time, while his captors were sleeping. It worked out that Daniel rescued the young man and returned him safely home.

Who knows if this is a true story or not? But kidnappings in Colombia definitely do happen, according to the U.S. State Department.

Steps: 8,223; Miles: 3.48. Weather Hi 75°, Lo 56°.