Our first two weeks in Colombia: buying motorbikes in Medellin 🇨🇴

We flew from Panama City to Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia, and famous for once being the most dangerous city in the world.

We booked to stay for a week at Masaya hostel in the El Poblado district of the city, and enjoyed having a balcony with views across the city. We liked El Poblado, though touristy it also felt safe, and there are lots of good bars and restaurants. After staying in Poblado, we moved to another hostel in a different part of Medellin - Laureles. Laureles is a more local district, and we hardly saw any other tourists. We liked the vibe there - it was more relaxed and laid back, and we found an amazing cafe just a few minutes walk from our hostel. The hostel had an underground carpark for the bikes which was ideal as Ash had a few bits of tinkering he wanted to do! 

Buying the motorbikes:

Aside from sight seeing and exploring Medellin, our main task was to get started with buying two motorbikes to ride around Colombia on. We started the day after we arrived in Colombia with a trip to an office to register for Colombian driving licences. Luckily Ash had met an ex-pat rider living in Medellin - Gregory, who helps people through this process, so we had his help with the paperwork and translation. Once our licences we’re being processed in the system, we took an Uber to the motorbike part of Medellin - an area of a few blocks that has everything motorbike related - shops selling bikes and gear, mechanics, tyre fitters, accessories… everything you could want. Actually we ended up spending a lot of time here over the coming weeks! On our first trip we went to the Suzuki dealer; Ash had done lots of research before we arrived and decided based on a lot of factors that the best bikes for us would be the Suzuki GN125. This bike is one of the most popular in Colombia, so getting parts is easy, it doesn’t stand out on the street, and it can handle both the city and mountain roads and terrain we’re going to be riding. We had a quick sit on the bikes to check they were comfy, chose what colour we wanted, then paid for them, so they could be delivered to the shop the next day. 

In Colombia you can’t legally ride your new bike until all the licence paperwork is completed, but you can push it down the street! So we spent the next three days pushing the bikes from the Suzuki dealership to nearby mechanics to have accessories fitted: usb chargers, new tyres, back boxes, anti-roll bars, spotlights, and side racks for paniers. We also needed to kit ourselves out with jackets, trousers, helmets, gloves, boots, rain gear, and waterproof bags for our luggage. Actually we got an Uber to what we thought was a shop selling waterproof backpacks and it turned out to be a factory in a random (and a bit dodgy) part of Medellin, we ended up buying the backpacks on the factory floor as women were making them around us! We also decided to buy some camping gear to use whilst we’re in Colombia - so we made a trip to Decathlon to buy a tent, sleeping bags and roll mats.

The whole process of buying the bikes and getting the accessories wasn’t so easy, and took way more time than we had imagined, mostly because the Colombia way is slow, and the Colombian people will always tell you what they think you want to hear rather than the truth, e.g. yes we can fit this tomorrow, when in reality they are fully booked and won’t be fitting it. We found this frustrating at times, but it was also an interesting insight into the Colombian culture which we wouldn’t have got to see if we didn’t buy the bikes. And honestly, all the people were met were so interested in our trip and plans, and wanted to be helpful to us. 

Test rides: 

Before starting our trip around the country, and once our licences and insurances were all sorted, we decided to do some day trip test rides on the bikes in the countryside and mountains around Medellin. Actually I was a bit scared to ride my bike for the first time in Medellin - it’s a big, busy city, and there are more bikes than cars, but also lots of buses and taxis which stop suddenly, and the traffic is insane! Gregory kindly agreed to come with us on our first test ride, and he rode my bike out of the city so that I could start on the quieter mountain roads. We did a loop around the mountains of Medellin for a few hours, and then Ash and I rode the bikes back into the city, which went ok. Though, as we were riding back the heavens opened and we had a tropical rainstorm as we were driving, we were soaked within seconds and didn’t have time to put our rain gear on. It took us several days to dry out our jackets, trousers and boots at the hostel!

The second trip we did on our own, out of the city and into the mountains. We stopped for a lovely coffee at a mirador (viewpoint), and made our way to a viewpoint of the river. However en route, Ash noticed his front tyre was flat, so we had to make a detour to a Taller (tyre shop) to have it sorted. The Taller had the inner tube changed and the tyre back on in 15 minutes, and charged us £3.50! We continued our ride to the second viewpoint, and ended the day with a pizza at a mirador restaurant with views overlooking the whole of Medellin. 

The next day trip we did was longer, a 200km loop around the East side of Medellin. There were amazing views in the mountains, and we stopped at a waterfall. We stopped in a few typical Colombia towns for coffee, we love the small towns around Medellin - and watching the locals go about their day. It rained and we tested out our rain gear which worked surprisingly well. We hit an off-road section which was muddy and rocky, and it slowed us down and tested out our control of the bikes! We met a couple who were also travelling around Colombia on a bike (their bike was huge, 1200cc!), and we chatted to them for a while.

Sightseeing in Medellin:

Though we had spent a lot of time in Medellin buying and sorting the bikes, and preparing for the start of our trip around Colombia, we did also find some time to explore as well! One thing we were both keen to see was Comuna 13 - a part of Medellin that historically was famous for being the most dangerous neighbourhood in the world, but that has worked hard to turn it’s fortunes around with investment from the government and a focus on art and dance. We went on a guided tour and it was really interesting to learn about the history of the Comuna, which was run by violent drug trafficking organisations in the 1980s and 90s, who used the poor, sprawling hillside barrio as a transit route in and out of Medellin. The Comuna also served as a stronghold for guerrillas, gangs and paramilitaries. Our tour guide was in her early 20s and talked first hand about the violence in the Comuna, but also to the changes and regeneration, which has been spear-headed by the younger generation. We enjoyed to see the street art, and watch the street dancers and rappers - art they have created to provide the Comuna with a new notoriety. We picked the Good Friday of Semana Santa (the Easter celebration in Colombia) for our visit, so it was really busy! We went on the escalators up the mountain side, and when it was installed was the largest open air escalator in the world. The installation cut commute time for residents and opened up opportunities for people to get jobs further afield (you can go from top to bottom of the mountainside in 5 minutes now!). 

We also visited the Botero plaza - a plaza filled with sculptures created by the famous artist Fernando Botero. Unfortunately the plaza is in a part of Medellin known for crime, drugs, prostitution and poverty. Though it was interesting to walk around the sculptures, it was a surreal experience because the whole plaza was fenced off with police guarding the perimeter and gates, and outside lots of people lying in the streets and doing drugs etc. It was the first time in our trip that we felt really unsafe and it was unsettling to be cordoned off as tourists to keep us safe. We swiftly called and Uber and left! 

Overall we both really loved Medellin, it’s a really cool city with lots to see and do. What made it for us was the people - everyone was so kind and friendly, and interested in us and our trip. We liked it so much we plan to come back to Medellin when we loop back round the east side of Colombia. 

Next step: starting our trip biking around Colombia - heading towards the Carribean coast