Thewesternprovinceblog

A 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 history nerd travelling The New World. ¿What could possibly go wrong? Join me on my way to The fabled lands of Ar Wladfa 🇦🇷

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A 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 history nerd travelling The New World. ¿What could possibly go wrong? Join me on my way to The fabled lands of Ar Wladfa 🇦🇷 in 🇨🇴

  • Fairgrounds 🎪 and Thunderstorms ⛈️

    Hola todos or should I say Bore da?!? Because this place is the most climatically similar to Wales I’ve been so far on this Journey. Both day and night the temperature ranges from low teens to low 20’s in degs C and this place has no shortage of rainfall either! In fact it gets the 2nd most rain annually in all of Colombia, only slightly less than Buenaventura on the Pacific rainforest coast. The weather if not raining is foggy and overcast most of the time. All in all very similar to the UK around the time I left back in September.

    I get up and decide what to do today? I wanted to do a walking tour through the city but as feria and Sunday there was none going today so I take a look what else to do. There was this ecoparque up in the hills that was about an hour’s walk from my gaff and think yeah let’s walk up here need to get some exercise in anyway, so off I go.

    It’s quite a pleasant walk down into the valley and I stop at a little cafe in this small town for a cuppa and a bun thing. Unfortunately Cafe con leche in Colombia no me gusta! It’s a very milky coffee with more milk than coffee and the warm milk forms a sticky layer at the top and bottom……😣 Ask for an americano with leche al lado and you get odd looks. The universal drama of ordering a decent feckin brew abroad!!

    Anyways after this it’s a 20 minute walk up the hill to el ecoparque los yarumos. Get in free as it’s a sunday and when you get up there there’s quite a bit going on. Mostly different little carnival games for kids to play with family. It’s quite a sight to see but it also meant a lot of the proper park bits were not open because of the funfair so just had a look round watching the world go by. 

    After about half hour of this I feel it. First a dribble then some patter and then the full flow of the Welsh tap 🌧️🚰!!! Yes a big downpour comes down and everyone is running for cover in the tents and cafe. After about 2 hours of sheltering there’s enough of a break in the weather to get out of there and walk back to my gaff as couldn’t get an Uber or taxi from there. I manage to get back in time to jump on a zoom catch up with my old man and Simon who has been following this journey quite closely since we parted ways back in Mexico City. Was a decent little chat then from there I went out for some lunch.

    To skip over these details it turned into a right bogger of an afternoon with it chucking down for the next 8 hours. Basically one of those days where you end up sitting in a pub all afternoon because the weather is too crap to do anything else and that’s exactly what I did! Oh well at least the beer was cheap. Went back to the rock music bar but they were clicky and wouldn’t let me stay without paying when I could watch the band for free last night, so went for a wander and found a cute little salsa bar had a bit of a dance with a chica and had a good chat with the lad who run the gaff, gave me some recommendations for Ibague/Pereira when I loop back through this way heading down to Cali.

    Longer read then planned but that wraps up the first day here. Tomorrow we explore the city centre and Colombia’s tallest cathedral!

  • On the road again

    Hola todos! Today I’m writing on the bus between Manizales and Bogotá, the next blog or so is about my short stay in Manizales.

    That said getting to Manizales was quite the experience. It was a 12:30 bus out of of Terminal sur in Medellin and about a 6 hour ride to Manizales. I arrive at the station in good order and we are off. Once you leave Medellin the climb starts properly.

    Now to say these roads are mental is an understatement. Pretty much the entire main road between Manizales and Medellin is built into the side of mountains with a 1000 meter sheer drop either side in many places. Want to have a kip on the bus? Forget it it’s a white knuckle journey through these mountains and colinas. To add to the fun it started raining halfway through and by that I mean chucking it down Welsh tap style as we go round all these cliffside bends. It gets even better as being sat near the front of this bus I can see that there’s only one wiper working – luckily the one on Drive’s side but still not ideal. Drive seemed pretty unphased by it as if that has been the state of this bus for quite a long time. Fair play though he got us there smoothly.

    Getting into Manizales it was still raining but had eased off a bit. I message my Airbnb host of my arrival and he tells me easiest way from the bus station to him is to take a cable car 🚠. Yes that’s right to get from one side of the city to another the easiest way is to ride a cable car a mile up a mountain. I initially take one the wrong way but after some shenanigans I’m there and I check in. 

    On the way in I see it’s the annual feria – a sort of Eisteddfod type event in the stadium. I didn’t go in but taking a walk round everyone was dolled up for this event and was approached by a few touts selling tickets. I am able to easily get some scran and a gentle few beers near my gaff and I end the night at a rock music place right next door to the gaff. There was a band playing but they weren’t that  good. I end up turning in about half 12.

    Not a bad travel day all round. Good to be back on the move. Tomorrow we explore this crazy place.

  • Año Nuevo and speeding things up!

    Hola Todos. Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy new year! Blwyddyn newydd dda! 🎊 We’ve made it into 2026! Hope everyone has had a good Christmas and New year! This one is more of a general update blog as don’t think there is much point going over every day we spent in school as it is much of the same as week 1 albeit different topics. Si habías estudiado Español alguna vez en tu vida, pues ya sabes! 

    Entonces, Que Hicimos? What have we been up to? Well most days have been between 4-6 hours of classes with homeworks which left not a lot of time afterwards to go and explore much in the city. Outside of the school classes I had been doing some Salsa and Bachata classes 💃 to get the basics nailed down before heading south towards Cali. Think it will be useful going forward for meeting people especially locals in the next few places.

    New years day we had a day off but nothing much happened just a chill day to facetime family and friends for a catch up. No big dinner or anything much to say about though I did hit the whiskey on NYE and might have made a few too many wishes under the table🍇😂. All good fun.

    After a bit of indecision I decided to extend my stay here by one week for various reasons though  halfway through week 3 and I have been getting itchy feet. Been good but 100% ready to move on now. If I’m being honest 3 weeks of study was too much and especially on the back end of week 3. If I was to do an intense immersion in a language school for a longer time like 2 or 3 months as some here are doing I would do 2 weeks on 1 week off I think as this would allow more time to explore round and probably help with retention. It’s another one for the log I suppose. CONTINUED IN COMMENTS 👇 & WORDPRESS 

    ¿Where to now fearless leader? Well my next immediate destination is most likely going to be Manizales which is a chill small university city in the hills about 5 hours south of here by road. From there I will visit Bogotá the Colombian capital before heading south again to Ibagué or Pereira, both of which are meant to be pretty chill places and then down to Cali, the Salsa 💃 capital of the world or so I’m told. I had a catch up with a pal of mine who goes there a lot who tells me practically every hostel has a dance school and every bar is a salsa bar. Sounds exciting. 

    Will pass through there and then make my way South Towards Ecuador. I have a rough idea to get into Ecuador and reach Quito by early Feb but let’s see how it goes. I am anticipating the journey between Cali and Quito to be the hardest leg of this trip in more ways than one but that’s some weeks off yet. For now I will be slowly meandering my way through Central to Southern Colombia and hopefully the RNG will be kind for the next wee while!

    Ojalame buena suerte chicos!!

    Oh and it is probably also worth a quick word about recent events in Neighbouring VenezueIa I cannot speak for everyone there though I do have a Venezuelan Friend who is currently there and possibly still in Caracas. She told me people are generally glad that Maduro has been removed and credit where due, the US did it cleanly only hitting strategic targets and few if any civvie places got hit.  but now there is a lot of suspense and confusion and we won’t know how this plays out probably not for at least a couple of weeks. Life here is still going on as normal and a few locals I asked about it generally feel indifferent or slightly positive on it though on the other hand with trump saying Cuba/Mexico/Colombia may be next or there may be a 2nd US attack wave into Venezuela. From what we also know Colombia deployed (extra) troops to the border crossings but there hasn’t been a huge rush of refugees flooding in at least not right now. Who knows. I could write a whole thread speculating on this but I will not. That said we are watching history unfold here and it hits a bit differently when it’s practically happening next door to you. That said I will need to keep an eye on this I am not making any changes to my plans at this moment in time. The day after I wrote this passage Trump and Gustavo Petro had spoken over the phone and seems like things have cooled down a bit for Colombia but again see how it goes moving forward.

  • The Guatapé Excursion

    Hola todos, for this backdated blog I will go over the events of a very cheap and fun tour I did of Guatapé, famous for it’s giant Granite Rock and colorful colonial Town and lake. I had sorted this tour via the hostel and it closed 109,000 COP which is around £22. This included a breakfast lunch and boat tour as well as a guided bus tour there and back. Very good value for money.

    It was a 0700 pick up from the hostel which was very reasonable for me and we were soon on way. It was a busy busy full of mostly other people from other Latin American countries and the tour was done in both English and Spanish. His name was Luis or ‘Lucho’ as the nickname is for Luis here. He explained everything very well and was attentive to answer any questions we had. 

    First we stopped off for breakfast in this comedor (restaurante) and this place fills up fast with other buses as well. Breakfast is scrambled egg with an arepa and some cheese. Very traditional for these parts. It was good and included as part of the tour meaning no extra charge which is refreshing as in other countries they do this to rip you off.

    After this we head to the rock of Guatapé while passing though Nuevo Peñol – he explains that is is called new peñol becaus the old peñol was flooded in the 1960s by a company based in Medellín to create a reservoir to supply the city and nearby towns. Everyone moved accept for one guy who lived at the highest point who refused. Everyone else was relocated to the new peñol that got built during and after the flood…….cofiwch Dryweryn anyone?¿?

    After this we arrived at the rock and this bloody thing is huge. Lucho Tells us it was first climbed in the 1950s by a Colombian explorer who’s name I forget but after this it got turned into a tourist attraction when the lake was made and they built the stairway up there. I did not go up as was a big queue and not much space to move round on those stairs with all the people and I would have had to pay to do so. That said was an excellent thing to see even from below. Even below your several hundred feet up from the lake. I feel for the drivers of these buses having to manouever up these hills without much room with sharp drops off the side. Bastante Trabajo!

    After this we have an hour in the town of Guatapé itself. It is a very colonial and colorful place that looks like it really hasn’t changed much from the days of el Renacimiento. Included here was trying some sweets, coffee and a local liquor for free plus an hour to explore round town. I was impressed and had I not been in the school would have probably looked to stay here for a few days.

    After this we have again as part of the tour a one hour boat trip round the lake. They show us some of the mansions on the banks of the lake belonging to various people mostly footballers though there is one delapidated estate which belonged to Pablo Escobar. He never actually lived there but kept 120 guards there at all times back in the day. Today it’s a museum and been purposely left that way as a way of telling local history. The boat ride is pretty cool you can get a beer and a light snack for very cheap and everyone has a good sing song and dance on there. 

    After this we go back to the same restaurant as breakfast for lunch. It was a nice chicken Pechuga. Here I chat to some Argentinians who were on holiday here and tell them what I’m up to and where I’m going. They wished me luck but didn’t swap details.

    The final stop of the tour was Alto del Chocho which was a farm with a petting zoo where you could feed and pet alpacas and llamas. I passed on this as San Jose was a bit too fresh in my head for chancing another episode of that nature. It was soon wrapped up and I was dropped back at the school hostel.

    Sunday evening was uneventful and I got settled in for another week of melting my mind with more spanish!

  • Comuna 13 – A tour of Escobar’s hood

    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!

  • Christmas Away from home

    Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas, Nadolig Llawen! 🎄🎁🎅 (and happy new year!) I hope everyone has had a good Christmas day and is enjoying the Christmas break! This is the slightly delayed Christmas blog post to show what we got up to in Medellín over Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

    After class on Christmas Eve it was decided that there would be a little Christmas dinner and games session on Thursday for Xmas Day as no classes though everyone had to bring something. People had all sort of different ideas of what to cook. Me? I decided to keep it simple stupid and do a tapas nibble selection – seemed a better idea than trying to cook something when we got 12 people sharing one cooker and oven. So out I went to go get my groceries and that was hell. Nearly 2 hours in line to pay up but once we were sorted and done could have a well earned rest.

    Later that night the group go out partying but me I unfortunately had agoraphobia kicking in again so opted to go solo back to a taproom bar I was at when I arrived. It was okay but ended up getting charged extra for less which I got pretty mad about but talking to guys who were with me it was a huge misunderstanding but there was nothing they could do because how their system was set up. I turn in at about half 12 ready for Xmas Day.

    Xmas Day I am up sort of late and have a phone call with my folks though the group chat says the vote is people dont want to eat Xmas dinner until half 6 in the evening quite late and people still had prep to do. Because of this I end up going out for a wander to some parks and eventually stumble across a place that was open. I sit down have a few Coronas and then head back at 5 once it’s time to prep my stuff.

    My prep is done quickly though others still having issues cooking but it gets sorted and we all head to a big classroom lay out the food and booze and we get stuck into the buffet. It was very good and turned out well despite the long wait. After eating we played a few games and it was quite fun. As everyone had class the next morning it was mostly wrapped up by around half 10. Quite a chilled out thing really. 

    That pretty much sums up my first Christmas away from home. Been strange but also quite fun.

    Next blog will cover the weekends trips.

  • Back to School!!!

    Hola todos. For this one I will sum up my time for the first week of Blink Spanish school minus Christmas day – will cover that separate.

    So Sunday was out of my hostel and moved round the corner to check into blink. Check in was quick and easy though and after that took care of some basics mainly ATM and more importantly getting pens and a proper notepad – you know not being the typical valleys kid who shows up not prepared for class!! 😂. Later I meet some of the other estudiantes, an English lad and a Hungarian Chica. We go out for some grub and a few drinks and call it rather early as Monday is an early start and expect chaos.

    Monday was the real first day in school. It was a little chaotic finding your class, paying for the room etc and having a bit of a welcome tour. After this we were straight into class by 0800. Our group was a small group with me, an American girl and Dutch fella. Mondays classes were all about objecto directo and indirecto and refreshing past tenses. Turns out we’ve had quite some issues there as if anyone has learned Spanish you know that there are a whole bunch of them and while what you say can be ‘correct’ there are other ways of saying something was something that are more ‘correct’ – that’s how they get you on those DELE exams I think. I also had private class on Monday which was more of a chit chat than a proper class but was okay. In the evening there was some social drinks and ended up hanging with the same people from Sunday while getting to know the others. I am pleased to say everyone was chill – it was not “Bros” and Bully Bois Antigua revisited. Rest of Monday is uneventful.

    Tuesday is a morning or more classes same subject as before working on the past tenses. After this wraps up we have a free afternoon until a Salsa and Bachata class in the evening which was fun but somewhat difficult to follow. No biggie we had fun and that’s what mattered.

    Wednesday was more of the same classes wise and then Christmas Eve. Had to go grocery shopping for Christmas day which was Thursday. I will cover Christmas on a separate post.

  • Things to see in Montería 🇨🇴

    Hola todos. The last 2 days I spent in Montería before heading to Medellín for Christmas. Expectations were rather low coming here however it has actually been a pretty nice short stop here.

    I will skip over night 1 here since that was still recovery from the stomach bug but eaten and had a few beers without issue so declaring that one over.

    Onto our full exploration day then. The main attractions for Montería are in it’s historic part and market district which is on the eastern bank of the Sinú River. It was about a 20 min walk from my gaff. Walking there is disorienting as it’s hot and humid and this city isn’t the most pedestrian friendly. Every road you cross is a dice with death because of all the motorbikes coming from everywhere and nobody signalling where they are going so you guess, pick your moment and leg it!

    Walking through the market area it all looks a bit run down and in need of a good scrub but once you push through that you get to the cultural centre on the riverside. This place has a Christmas market being set up in the empty space past the statues of the musicians in the Plaza Cultural del Sinú. Quite nice and different in what would otherwise be a drab empty concrete space. That said it really comes to life at night. Past that is the lovely Parque infantil de Sinú where you can see some interesting sights among them big iguanas which are clearly not shy around humans and even rarer, Red squirrels which are really endangered back in the UK and Europe. 

    It is a chill day walking through this park then on my way back I spot a company doing an evening river boat tour for £6. I tell them I’d like to book onto it for 17:30. Happy days. I go back to pick up my laundry chill for a bit then dice with death on the roads again over there. The boat trip is pretty short only an hour but you get to see a good bit of life outside of the city. It is poor round here and if you are not a farmer chances are your fishing in the river. It is a good vibe with a good sunset. I chat to some more folks from Bogotá on this trip but nothing much comes of it. 

    After this I have an early one as it’s a long trip to Medellín Tomorrow. Stay tuned.

  • The Road to Medellín

    Hola todos. Little late but merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad, Nadolig Llawen 🎄 and all that jazz. Been very busy with Spanish school & Christmas here in Medellín and as such the next few blogs are retrospective. Vamos a empezar!

    After we left off it was time to leave Monteria and head for the city of eternal Spring. Per usual we were up and running for an early start. It was a 10 hour bus ride to Medellín. We were out on time and I got settled in for a long haul journey. 

    Leaving Montería we passed through Colombia’s cattle rancher country and I have to say it was very green. So green and forested I could show you a picture without any context and tell you it is Wales in the summer and you’d probably believe me. 

    The earth here is also highly rich in iron ore from the colours too. It was flatlands until about halfway into the journey once we got into Antiochia state and climbed up into the mountains. At this point there was an accident on the road and a big jam that we got stuck at for near 2 hours and I was at one point thinking oh shit this might end up being another San Jose but thankfully it wasn’t and we were moving again. Other than a brief food stop we move and arrive into Medellín about 1.5 hours late. Not that bad really.

    Terminal del Norte was pretty chaotic as it was rammed with people and bags waiting for presumably late buses. It takes me about half hour to find my way out of here navigating between the throngs but eventually get out. I look at using the metro but they try to charge me extra for a journey that would be 3 stops or at least what I presumed. Long day and tired so off that. End up having some dramas but eventually get an Uber to my Hostel and it ends up costing a few quid more than the metro but lo que hay. We drive past the metro station and up a hill that would have been a real pain to haul the bags up so can’t complain.

    I arrive and get settled in about 2030 pm. I have a look round the neighborhood get some food and beers and get ready to move into school tomorrow.

    Could have been a lot worse this leg it really could have.

    Catch you on the next one when we start in Blink Spanish school!

  • The Holy Trinity

    Hola todos! como están? I wasn’t going to drop a blog today but I’ve had another episode that just had to be shared since it’ll be funny to read once we were past it. Today Im in Montería for 2 nights before setting off to Medellín. So what have we been up to?

    Absolutely sweet nothing just chilling by the beach going in the sea for a few hours and maybe chatting up chicas willing to entertain our nonsense. I could have done some boat trips or tours but I just wanted the R&R. Been fun and I’m not normally a beach guy so goes to say it was needed. Then again too much time in paradise isn’t good for you in my humble opinion.

    Fast forward to my last day in Coveñas. After my dip in the sea I go back to the hotel clean myself up and go out for lunch. I have a res Pechuga which is a beef stake with rice and a soup served with it. Right as I pay my tab some locals order me a beer and so I go over to chat with them. Friendly middle aged couple and their friend from Medellín. I have a few with them but don’t go crazy. The friend runs a shuttle bus company and has contacts in Cali, Bogotá etc and gave me his number. Might come in clutch further down the line. After this back to siesta I go. The night is uneventful apart from a giant motorcade of bikes coming through blasting horns and waving the Barranquilla Juniors football team banner – they had just won their league so everyone was going party mad. Me I kept it sane, go back usual time and turn in.

    Here is where it gets nasty. I awake at 2.30 Am really needing a 💩 so awa te the boag wit ye 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! Once I get sat down it’s nasty and about halfway through the stench is so bad I can taste it. This turns into dry retching which soon turns into projectile 🤮 into the toilet and sink while same time taking a 💦 that I cannot stop.  Mierda! Mientras mi culo y garganta están quemando!! 🔥

    After a few rounds of retching we stop at last and clean up. I swig some water and go back to bed. 4.30 am we awake and do it all again! Then 6.30 I awake and puke in the sink again. Today is spent bedridden trying to slowly hydrate myself back to health ready for the trip to Monteria.

    At the time of writing (about 12:00 yesterday) we have managed 8 hours with no puking 🤮 so fingers 🤞 was a short and sharp bug. My guess is something I eaten in the last day or 2 did this.

    Note I tried to post this yesterday but the side was glitching on me. As of today the fever has gone and while gut is still a little on the delicate side I think I should be able to eat after a near 48 hour fast.

    Still what a fun time! It goes to show you never know what the RNG might roll us next! how many bad events we’ve had surely were due for something cool now?

    Catch you mañana!