Knowing I couldn’t take another lazy day in the hostel, I made plans with my German buddy Nick to go see Guatape. From what we read on a flyer, it’s a small village about an hour away with some nice lakes, trails and such.
Nick and I hopped on the Metro (a very nice and mercifully easy light rail system), and made our way to the bus terminal, where we were just in time to catch a minibus. An hour and a half later, we got off at the side of the road near La Piedra, the huge rock we saw pictured on the flyer for Guatape.
From the road, we walked uphill towards the rock, which we could now see had a crazy switchbacked staircase built into one side. We labored up the stairs for what seemed like forever (I’ve gotten weak from the past few weeks of partying, beaches, boats and city life). When we finally reached the top, we were rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree view of the surrounding lake and all of it’s small beautiful islands.
After the (much easier) climb down the stairs, we decided to hike the area a bit more. We ventured down a dirt path which took us through a valley and back up a small hill. We got great views of La Piedra, which made it look imposing and huge (and made me feel slightly better about all the gasping and leg pains I suffered on the way up). When we both started to get hungry, we headed back to the main road to catch a bus back to Medellin.
It was good to get out of the city and into some real physical activity again. There’s something rewarding about being exhausted for a good reason.
