NEPTUNO ON TOUR - Day 4: Metro in Medellín and our long drive to the Coffee Region

For the next couple of days, we (Stephan and Torsten) are on the road, visiting different spots in Colombia to gather first hand information about the current travel situation in times of the Corona pandemia.

We will share our experiences and findings with you via videos, photos and brief explanations on this blog and on our social media.

Stay tuned!

Day 4, November 21st: FROM MEDELLÍN TO THE COFFEE REGION

Before continuing to the coffee region, we took a tour through Medellín. Is there any better way to explore the city of eternal spring than by Metro? Even on this public transportation, we felt extremel bio-secure. Everybody wears facemasks and there is plenty of signs stating that the air on the trains is constantly filtered. It was a little crowded, however, we did not feel uncomfortable at any moment. See for yourself...

Normally, it takes about 5-6 hours to get from Medellin to Manizales, but today it took us 8 hours...Just outside Medellin there was the first roadblock. The Vuelta a Colombia (one of the most important bicycle races in South America) was passing through this very day, so we had to take a detour via Fredonia. However, not a problem at all, as this route is also extremely beautiful. Shortly after Fredonia we faced our next involuntary stop - in the early morning, a power pole had fallen onto the road and was completely blocking it. How long would it take to get passed? The answers varied a lot...A bus driver told us it would take 30 minutes whereas the traffic police said at least 4 hours. So, what to do? We decided to take another detour on a small Andean road via Venecia and Bolombolo, which turned out to be quite tough one. It took us along partly unpaved roads, but the mezmerizing villages that we passed through and the breathtaking landscapes made up for it.
Our lesson learned: with a bit of patience even such unplanned detours can turn into unique, authentic and entirely positive experiences!

Back on the main route, we drove parallel to the Cauca river for about 2 hours until we arrived at our coffee finca Hacienda Venecia in the early evening. And we highly deserved that delicious dinner and a cool beer ;) 

Stay tuned for more interesting and adventurous updates...

Saludos from Trosten and Stephan!

Find more videos on our Youtube Channel