Thewesternprovinceblog

Hola todos. Here is another backdated blog post, this time the blog of the tour of Comuna Trece (13), which is known for being the old hood where Pablo Escobar run his cartel empire from. It used to be one of the most dangerous places in Medellín, back when Medellín was a global murder capital back in the 1980s and early 90s. Today on the other hand this area has transformed into a big tourist attraction though it still looks largely as it did back then and the scars of those times are still felt here. That said this was a very interesting look around the place.

Saturday after boxing day I was up and went about my business and booked to do an early afternoon tour of Comuna 13. In the meantime I had a few hours to look round so took a walk around Poblado and ended up passing through district industriales which as you can expect was a lot of factories, garages and warehouses and a few shops but get on the metro from here and it’s about a 40 minute ride to San Javier, where I will walk to Comuna 13 from. 

Riding round the metro was interesting as you get to see how busy this city actually is. It is rammed as you get to the centre but then it thins out quickly as you change over then get to the west side. Arriving at San Javier station it’s another 20 minute moderate uphill walk to the start of Comuna 13 and the meeting point. 

1.30 our tour starts with this guy called Luis or Lucho as he is known taking us for a walk through these Barrios and the first stop is this little makeshift theatre area where we all grab a beer and watch a break dancing show. This is a common thing in this city, you can be out having lunch and 3-5 guys might show up and start break dancing. Obviously they want a tip at the end but is what it is. Before we start the ascent we pass through playground which used to be the cartel execution ground and Lucho explains that back in the day everyone would pretty much be made to watch when they were executing someone. Must have been brutal and to think this was happening here up until the early 90’s! 

After this we climb further up while stopping to have a look in this building that is supposed to represent the rebirth of this place in the artwork here. El renacimiento or something like that its called. 

Climbing higher up again we are shown some of the non touristy parts – this place is a labyrinth and it would be very easy to get completely lost here. If you was running from cops they wouldn’t catch you in here without bringing in the helicopter. 

It is quite the circus up here with a lot of crowds in tight spaces and plenty of touts flogging food, drinks and tat but nowhere near the same aggressiveness as Cartagena. Most of the time they didnt even shout at you here, which is a nice change to being followed down the street after you’ve told them firmly no twice!

We stop at some other places where we once again get a beer and some snacks. Where here we can get a good look at a viewpoint. Here Lucho points out the quarry in the distance and tells us that it is also a mass grave and every few years they excavate and find more bodies of people who went missing out of nowhere. Thanks to DNA tests they can find out who these bodies are and give the families some closure at least but yes the shadows of this citys dark past are everywhere.

We check out a few more viewpoints and to be honest this tour did drag on a bit and the crowds get annoying after a while and more so when break dancing shows block up the street so you have to shuffle through single file. Before long we descend down various stairways back to where we started. I take the metro back and that pretty much wraps up this one. I had a decent chat to other people on the tour but didn’t really click with anyone in particular. Oh well just how it goes sometimes ain’t it?

To add to this one rather than post it separately the week after I did another tour which took us on a bus tour round the city seeing various places of significance to Escobar such as where he died, his grave and a tour of the museum of his life back in Comuna 13. Not too much more to add on this one but if your interested to learn more I suggest you look him up yourself.

Next blog will cover the trip to Guatapé!